Not Too Great in Sunshine State

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What do you want me to write about, three goals in Tampa? I’ve had easier times pumping out essays in Spanish 103 than jotting down hollow thoughts about this team. I’m not good at Spanish.

This five-day, two game stay in Florida may have been seen as a holiday to some. A lack of leadership with this group is starting to show.

Cloudy Results: After an abysmal start to the season’s longest road swing (6 games), which saw the Kings tally just one combined goal in two games (both losses), the Kings had the chance to make due to their rough showings in St. Louis and Carolina with what could be considered a ‘home away from home’ type of ordeal.

The next 5 days were to be spent in Florida, dates set in Tampa Bay and Sunrise. The next five days were to come with little excuse for anything but production; A setting with warm weather, extremely minimal travel, rare downtime during a road trip – and a crucial one at that.

A win was notched Tuesday in Tampa, but the Kings lost in an unfathomable funk Thursday in Sunrise to the Florida Panthers. This is where the locker room psyche starts to kick in. This is where you really are starting to see the club’s internal chemistry – or lack thereof, because it’s showing on the ice. It’s shown the majority of the year, it’s shown at home, and it’s nothing new to be shown on the road – a la this past week.

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I’m not here to say there are internal problems in the Kings’ locker room, because I doubt there are. What does seem to lacking though, is leadership. There’s no fire, there’s no continuity in effort and/or execution after a respectable win. Look, Dustin Brown is a good guy, he’s a staple to this franchise, but you just don’t see any honor and leadership coming from the Captaincy position.

And who knows, maybe there’s just too many odds and ends on the roster. It’s well known among athletes, and others who are in group-organized professions, that things always work better when there’s a pronounced leader, feeding chemistry among the core. That’s not happening, and at times chemistry can be strong enough to overpower skill.

Skill certainly isn’t the problem with this roster, yet many want to go after that proven sniper at this year’s trade deadline. Maybe that’s not a bad idea, maybe you could find a player with a strong enough aura to alter this club’s mindset, turn it up a bit.

I’m disgusted at this Florida swing, if Jonathan Quick and a few nice bounces didn’t win that game in Tampa Bay, then tell me what did, please. If tonight’s affair at the Bank Atlantic Center wasn’t one of the sorriest performances you’ve seen this season — which I know, it’s hard to rank ‘em, then give me a reason. Terrible.

If not for more success, the Kings should at least look a little more ‘together’ on a leisurely road trip like this five-day set in Florida. And yes, it’s bad when your All-Star goaltender gets yanked after two periods of play, just two goals allowed, even though he’s 23-13-9 playing under the absolute worst scoring team in the league. Almost forgot the 1.89 Goals Against Average and .935 Save Percentage, both of those chiming in as the 3rd-top ranking in the NHL.

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What was uglier? The Florida Panthers game, Darryl Sutter‘s tie, or Darryl Sutter‘s tie? No, actually that’s pretty awesome.

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Here’s a little light to be had from the trip, Kyle Clifford‘s dandy in Tampa Bay via a premature goal-horn and by way of a wonderful Rob Scuderi feed.

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