Royal Rants About the Los Angeles Kings
Let’s face it. The LA Kings have not been a good hockey team thus far. In their last seven game home stretch, they went 1-2-4. I’m sorry…let me repeat that.
1-2-4!!!
Going into the seven game stretch, the Kings were at a comfy 15-6-5 at home. Yeah, doing some tricky math, I just came to the conclusion that the Kings are now 16-8-9 at home. Now one thing you must understand about how I see these numbers is important. I don’t see 16-8-9, I see 16-17. Props to the Kings for getting into OT, but seriously, one point isn’t going to get us anywhere.
Being under FanSided rules, I cannot express the amount of discontent with those numbers. But the biggest discontent doesn’t come from the number two, but from the number four. It’s never a good sign when you have more overtime losses than you do losses. First off, you shouldn’t have to go into overtime that often in the first place. Secondly, you should at least be able to come out with a decent amount of wins.
But here’s the worst part. The Kings are 5-6-8 in their away games. To have a losing record in away games, and to have just gotten destroyed at home doesn’t bode well for the future. Tonight, the Kings will be playing the San Jose Sharks in their first away game after the seven games at home. Perhaps the Kings can go out and get a win tonight to break their woes and perhaps spark some excitement in the locker room.
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So far this year, the Kings have seven shutout losses, and that’s just the tip of iceberg. To top it all off, the Kings have one hell of a record with one shootout win! Go Kings Go!
More like: No Kings No!
That’s simply unacceptable. And don’t think that I joined Rink Royalty to bash the Kings, because I love this team with all my heart, and I truly want them to succeed, but rants do what teams won’t, and that’s just face the facts.
We suck.
And most of it can be attributed to these overtime losses. The Kings are not playing like a competitive team when they go into OT, they’re being outlasted and OT has become a struggle. I could easily blame the defense, but it’s not that simple anymore. Typically, when a team doesn’t do well, the first people to be vilified are the defensemen. But right now, let’s take a look at LA’s offensive production so far this year. Here is a list of the Kings who are currently the most productive this season.
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Union and Blue
1. Anze Kopitar – 43 games played with 11 goals and 24 assists, totaling 35 points. He has a +/- of -5.
2. Jeff Carter – In 46 games played he tallied 11 goals and 21 assists, totaling 32 points. His +/- is a +4.
3. Tyler Toffoli (now out) – In 41 games played, Toffoli has 12 goals and 15 assists, totaling 27 points, just two points shy of his points total last year with 62 games played. Has the highest +/- total with a +16.
4. Marian Gaborik – In 33 games played, Gaborik leads the team in goals scored with 15, and has 10 assists to total 25 points. He has a +1.
5. Justin Williams – 45 games played, tallied up 13 goals, and 12 assists, getting 25 points so far. Has a +6.
Currently, the only player playing up to expectations is Tyler Toffoli, and he’s out with mononucleosis, so he won’t be coming back in a while. Last year, Kopitar lead the team in points with a whopping 70, coming 16th overall in the NHL. This year, he has half of that with more than half of the season already gone by. It would seem that Kopitar will not reach that total this year.
While Jeff Carter may be on track to reach the 50 points he had reached last year, it doesn’t provide the Kings with the boost they need to be competitive. So what does this all look like to you?
It looks like a team that has begun to rely too heavily on Kopitar’s production. So far this year, Kopitar doesn’t even break that top 30 in points, and is on track to not even reach the numbers he had last year. And it shows on the scoreboards, which end up showing in the record books.
Remember, if you’re reading this, you’re probably a Kings fan. And for that, I salute you. But we have to be realistic, and that is the Kings are nothing like they were last year.