6 Reasons to be a LA Kings Fan This Year

21 Jul, 2009 | by Keith

Matt GreneAs a fan of the Los Angeles Kings, we are conditioned to slow starts, rapid fall-offs and just not making the playoffs. It happens. With only one Stanely Cup Finals appearance in 43 years, it’s understandable for an LA Kings fan to expect very little. Since the lockout we’ve seen the likes of Jeremy Roenick, Brian Willsie and Yutaka Fukufuji come through the ranks. We also saw a significant regime change that resulted in three consecutive top 5 picks. To date there’s nothing to hang our hat on. Fans laugh at us, mock us and expect us fizzle out in the bottom of the Pacific Division yet again. Well, I’m here today to tell you that this is not the case anymore. Be on notice, NHL fans, the Los Angeles Kings are coming for you. With a fresh dose of confidence, here’s why:

1. Ryan Smyth – While this 33-year old former Oiler-for-life may have had his injuries and could be “past his prime”, his 26 goals and 33 assists for 59 points last season will drastically help this offensively anemic team. Why? Matt Moulson started on the top line last season and in 7 games he had 1 goal and 0 assists. So Kyle Calder took over. He scored a slightly more but still dreadful 8 goals and 19 assists for 27 points in 79 games. That’s a 31 point differential. Not to mention Ryan Smyth is loaded with character while Matt Moulson looks like Snoopy and Kyle Calder was on the Price is Right.

Yutaka Fukufuji2. Consistent goaltending – Sure, the young and relatively unproven tandem of Jonathan Quick and Erik Ersberg could be a flash in the pan but I prefer them to the following netminders who have passed through the organization: Mathieu Garon, Jason LaBarbera, Dan Cloutier, Barry Brust, Yutaka Fukufuji, Sean Burke (the guy practically qualified for AARP when with the team) and Dan Taylor. If Quick or Ersberg should stumble or succumb to injury, Jonathan Bernier (who seems like he now has his head on straight) will be ready for the challenge.

3. Dean Lombardi – Regardless of the fact that he has given us three seasons of consistent losing, he is re-building the right way. Long gone are the days when you trade Jeff Tambellini and Denis Grebeshkov for Mark Parrish and Brent Sopel just to make the playoffs with no shot at winning a Stanley Cup. Dean Lombardi has ripped apart and re-built our scouting system, development programs, video development and team. After a bit of losing, I’m happy we have Drew Doughty, Thomas Hickey, Wayne Simmonds, Oscar Moller and many others. We have a strong stable of rookies who are already making an impact and many more coming up.

4. Defense – Remember Nathan Dempsey, Jeff Cowan, Mike Weaver and Olev Tverdovsky? They have now been replaced by Drew Doughty, Jack Johnson, Rob Scuderi, Matt Greene and Sean O’Donnell. This team was seventh in the league on the Penalty Kill last season without Rob Scuderi and, for much of the season, Jack Johnson. Think you’ll miss Kyle Quincey? Not if Jack Johnson’s strong performance at the IIHF World Championships this year holds up (7 points in 9 games). Drew Doughty lead all rookies in Average Time on Ice by a large margin (a full 2:17 over second place Luke Schenn). Will he suffer that sophomore slump? I don’t think so.

5. Kings Vision – The fine folks behind the scenes of the on-line world at the Los Angeles Kings had a bit of a makeover as well when Dean Lombardi took the helm. Gone is that wretched website that no one could use and would always crash on my Mac. Instead, they hired Heidi Androl and started covering the Kings with regular video shows on Kings Vision. Now, instead of a small blurb in the Los Angeles Times, we get ’round the clock video interviews and features that can satisfy the hunger of even the most rabid LA Kings fan (combined with episodes of Overtime by KingsCast). Kings Vision has personality and it’s engaging. The website is great and the Kings are even breaking news on Twitter. Giving this level of access to the fans is key.

Staples Center6. Downtown LA – Remember when commuting to Staples Center meant gambling with your life as bullets whizzed by? Having a drink after a game meant getting a forty from the 7-11 and drinking it from a paper bag? No more as AEG has almost completed the spectacular LA Live which hosts a theatre, a plethora of good restaurants and, soon, a Ritz Carlton (with residences starting at a paltry $1.8 million). Downtown Los Angeles has been revitalized, despite the sluggish economy. Restaurants and bars have been opening to a great deal of fanfare. In fact, I hang out in downtown now as much as I do the rest of the city (even on non-game nights).

So, yeah, I’m (still) excited to be a Los Angeles Kings fan. I think this team is going to be a force this year. We’re not winning a Cup but we’re going to make some noise in the playoffs. And, hey, if not, there’s a lot of ways to drown my sorrows after the game.

So are you excited this year or are you going in expecting the worst? What are your 6 reasons to be a LA Kings fan this year? For that matter, what are your 6 reasons not to be?

Bookmark and Share

Related Posts

  • I think Lombardi will wait until training camp before he acquires another defenseman. Let's see what Drewiske, Hickey and Voynov look like. If they are truly ready to make the jump, it makes sense to use one of them. We've got some good depth and all defensive pairings should be good. Remember when it was Weaver-Dempsey on the bottom line? We've come a long way.

    Joe, I still disagree that we need to get another scoring forward. Stick Moller on the third line and he can score. Hell, we've got Purcell too.

    The fourth line is the most intriguing. They need to shut it down. So far I don't see anyone who can do that there. This is a good year for Trevor Lewis to make an impression.
  • brianguy
    I really think we've already seen what we're going to get from Drewiske. solid, no surprises. though yes, he may be even a little better this year with his NHL/AHL experience last season and an extra year of development. Hickey I'm most curious about, for obvious reasons, but if I had to bet I'd say he makes the team.

    Voynov I don't think is nearly ready but will be interesting to see.
  • I think Drewiske is a perfect 7th defenseman. He's solid defensively and doesn't make any glowing errors. I like him better than Harrold.

    I saw Hickey at Frozen Fury last year and thought he could make the team. He was solid with Manchester down the stretch and, I believe is ready to make the NHL. I could see Lombardi giving him more time in Manchester and using him as an injury call-up. Either way, this draft pick that made us all go "WTF!?" is looking like a solid pick-up.
  • brianguy
    I agree, good analysis. the Kings have no major holes this year. when was the last time we as fans were able to say that... damn, too long. does that mean they're going to win the Stanley Cup? HELL NO...

    does it mean they'll make the playoffs? well the odds just went up precipitously. it will be interesting to see how this team gels with all the new shiny parts, and watching the line combos stabilize and work themselves out. but in Terry Murray's system, a lot of good is bound to come out of our lineup this year. under several other coaches, I might not be as optimistic, or just a bit more skeptical. and the goaltending, for once, instead of being a weakness or the usual big question mark, may actually be a borderline strength. they've got 3 levels of good between the pipes. Quick = quite quite good. Ersberg = consistently good & solid. Bernier = young punk good
  • Nice article, I was just hoping to read that Staples introduced an all-you-can-eat nachos and beer section (nirvana incarnate)
  • They did and they do. I believe hot dogs are also included.
  • brianguy
    yeah it's pretty embarrassing actually. it's sad enough the Dodgers first came up with such a ridiculous idea (not only do you have to watch the Dodgers, though this year their record is good, you have to sit in the scary dangerous/"I'm a loser who can't drink 1 less beer and sit anywhere decent" bleacher seats). but the Kings needed something silly to fill 20 extra seats a game last season I guess.

    the one thing about hockey vs. baseball is, if you're at a hockey game you're pretty much already spending $30 to be there, unless some buddy had an extra ticket and spotted you. but in baseball a bleacher seat is really only worth about $10. so if you're paying $40 for all you can eat, you're spending $30 just to eat bad hot dogs and nachos. and it doesn't even include a voucher for like 1 free beer. just sodas.
  • collector Joe
    I am really excited about the potential that this years Kings team has. for the first time in a longtime, i am actually hearing confidence in the each players voices whenever i hear an interview concerning this upcoming season. i am still hoping that we acquire one more person for additional scoring on the second or third line or a strong center to replace the loss of army with more firepower..i.e, Peca or Dominic Morre..either way, we should have a much better team both defensively and offensively

    Glad to see that Calder's name is no where to be found on the kings roster
  • I'm exactly the same way... I think I'm going with "cautiously optomistic for $200 Alex." It might not have as much to do with the Kings vs. the rest of the West as it is THIS year's Kings vs. previous versions of the team.

    Remember last year's defensive corps in the days leading up to the season? At this time last year, the Kings didnt have Quincey, didnt have O'Donnell, had just traded away Lubo and just lost Blake (good or bad, he was penciled in to play significant minute by most fans). We were accepting Denis Gauthier as a 2nd pairing guy, didnt know what we were getting in Matt Greene and were warming up to the idea that our 2nd overall pick was going to have to play significant minutes as an 18 year old.

    Fast-forward to this season. Doughty established himself as a legitimate top pairing guy, Quincey was good enough to help us land Smyth, Quincey was expendible because of the Scuderi acquisition, we know that we have a warrior in Matt Greene and have 3 great prospects that will fight for the 6th and final defenseman spot in the lineup. I have high hopes for Voinov, Hickey AND Teubert-- and as of this season, there's only room for one of them.

    The difference between last season and this season is that we dont NEED all of those rookies to succeed. There's enough organizational depth that there's real competition for the first time in a long time.

    Yeah, cautiously optomistic.
  • I have to admit that I feel different this year. And not in the pathetic, overly hopefully, we could win it all this year, kinda way. If our young core steps it up a notch (like Deano implied), the goaltending continues to make strides and the Kings put some streaks together, I can see the playoffs happening.
blog comments powered by Disqus
IceJerseys.com
Not the Season Finale...Yet Subscribe via iTunes View All

Bad Behavior has blocked 23639 access attempts in the last 7 days.