LA Kings: Los Angeles Has Three All Stars Selected

The NHL All Star weekend will head to Tampa Bay this month, and there will be three LA Kings going. This year will be the most LA players selected to play since 2002 when there were also three.

The LA Kings finally got some decent recognition this week as three of their starters were named to the all star team. Drew Doughty, Jonathan Quick, and Anze Kopitar all earned the honors, with Jake Muzzin as a possible injury replacement. The Honda NHL All Star game is set to take place on Sunday, January 28th in Tampa Bay. For the Kings, this will be the most players they have had selected to the all star team since 2002. There were two times after that where they had two players and a coach selected.

For Doughty, it will be the fourth time in his career that he has taken the ice for an All Star match-up. This will also be the fourth year in a row that Doughty has been selected to the all star team. Last year, he was able to play at home in Staples Center last season. Doughty, much like the entire Kings’ roster, is experiencing a revitalized season in 2017-2018. After a disappointing campaign last year, he has really come to life lately. Overall, he has 30 points and a +/- of +21 over his 42 games played. That +/- mark puts him in the top four in the NHL, and is nearly a career best.

Jonathan Quick has to feel great coming back from an entirely wasted season and be selected. This will be Quick’s third all star team played on in his 11th year in the NHL. While he hasn’t had a lot of success over the past two games, he’s been lights out the entire season. Through 34 games, he has 19 wins and averages 2.31 goals against per game. That number puts him as one of the top six goaltenders in the league, slightly behind Corey Crawford at 2.27.

Anze Kopitar will also be appearing in an All Star game for the fourth time in his career, this first since 2015. Kopi is experiencing one heck of a season as well, potentially on pace for career highs. The 12th year forward has 17 goals to go along with 27 assists, closing in on his career high point total of 81 in 2009-2010. If Los Angeles is going back to the playoffs this year, Kopitar will certainly need to be one of the guys leading the charge.

Next: Looking Ahead to January

Overall, not a bad year in terms of selections for the Kings. They lead the Pacific Division with the most selections at three. The league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning have the most at four selections, convenient as they are the home team.