Jonathan Quick

Stanley Cup Preview: Game 2

June 2, 2012

"Gross." - Every Flyers/Rangers/Kings fan. "Cool!" - I guess everyone else. (Photo courtesy of Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Wednesday night’s Game 1 didn’t fall too far from the format of a typical series opener. The game play became rather ugly at times, due largely to both teams’ inexperience with one another and the acknowledgement that one small mistake could cost you the game. The scoring chances were minimal, save for, of course, the three combined goals and Mark Fayne’s swing-and-a-miss (or a swing-and-a-wide, however you want to look at it) at a wide open net late in the t...

Runs, Hits and Errors

May 31, 2012

Mike Flannery

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There are 126 derivatives of the word run. You might have a run in your hose, a runny nose or an unfortunate case of the runs. You could also enjoy a four-year run as Stanley Cup Champions, run your banner up the flagpole and then run and hide for the next several years.

Hits are similar. You may score the game winning hit, lead the NHL in hits for a season, hit it off with a member of the opposite sex (or whatever is politically acceptable this year) or relax and enjoy a hit on the controlled substance of your choice after a run of good luck.

Errors, however, enjoy fewer distinctions. Whether in performance (Bill Buckner) or judgment (the O. J. Simpson verdict), an error is an error and some have long memories. In a few short weeks hockey fans will watch the smartest, most informed hockey minds on this planet make their teams’ first round selection( in the 2012 NHL Entry Level Draft, and errors will be made. Fans, pundits and ‘experts’ with less than 2% of the background info available to those making the selections, will ingest, second-guess and spew out their opinions on who should have been selected, and more errors will be made. As a hockey fan, I will follow the first round with interest. It is the later rounds that prove most interesting because this is where the errors of omission occur and form the talent pool that forms the rosters of the teams in the AHL.

TCL Predicts The Stanley Cup Final

May 30, 2012

TCL Staff

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2012 Stanley Cup FinalNew Jersey Devils vs. Los Angeles Kings Every year, we predict, we project, we try to come up with logical conclusions to what's going to happen in the latest NHL season. Everyone has their opinions, everyone comes up with their own regular season and playoff winners, their own Final, their own Stanley Cup Champions. Usually, those predictions end up being wrong. Sure, you might get lucky with a high seed, but if the playoffs prove anything year-in and year-out, it's that the National Hockey League is absolutely unpredictable. This season has ramped that up to a degree we've never seen before. To give you a brief summary, the fir...

Stanley Cup Preview: Kings vs. Devils

May 30, 2012

Ty Fisher

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Oh, it will be fun. (Photo courtesy of Andy Marlin/Getty Images)

It’s a Stanley Cup Final no one saw coming—unless of course one watched the last month and a half of playoff hockey unfold. Two teams that admirably underperformed over the course of an eighty-two game regular season have quickly and loudly transformed into two of the most solid Cup contenders of the last few years.

On one side sits the Eastern Conference Champion Devils, fresh off a vanquishing of heated rival New York Rangers. I know I used the word “loudly” in just the previous paragraph, but the Rangers’ eventual undo...

Western Conference Final Predictions: Phoenix Coyotes vs. Los Angeles Kings

May 14, 2012

TCL Staff

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2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs - Western Conference FinalPhoenix Coyotes ( 3 ) vs. Los Angeles Kings ( 8 ) The Los Angeles Kings are eliminating teams in numerical order in this year's Stanley Cup playoffs. First, it was the top-seeded Vancouver Canucks. Then the little team that could in the St. Louis Blues, the second-best team in the West. Now, LA looks to the final division winner, the Phoenix Coyotes, on their potential route to an unlikely appearance in the Stanley Cup Final. If they make it, it'll be their first such appearance since 1993 when they lost to the Montreal Canadiens, and they've alread...

TCL Round 2 Staff Predictions: St. Louis Blues vs. Los Angeles Kings

April 30, 2012

TCL Staff

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2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs - Western Conference SemifinalsSt. Louis Blues ( 2 ) vs. Los Angeles Kings ( 8 ) Also Read: Ty Fisher's Series preview for the Kings. Once again, we're looking at a series that most definitely has to be about the battle between the pipes, as St. Louis and Los Angeles face off as unlikely second round opponents. Jonathan Quick absolutely lit up the west this season and may have been the only reason the Kings even made the playoffs. On the other side of the ice, the Blues have two (count 'em!) goaltenders that could have and maybe should have been up for the Vezina trophy in Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak. We may be soun...

Series Preview: (2) Blues vs. (7) Kings

April 28, 2012

Ty Fisher

1 Comment

Just as everyone expected, the Los Angeles Kings quickly dispatched of the President’s Trophy-winning Vancouver Canucks in five games. Also (and just as expected) was the latter squad’s complete no-show on offense, perpetual state of disarray on defense and lack of physicality in nearly every single one of the five games. What took place last week was a meltdown of an unacceptable degree. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.

However (!), just because Vancouver lost the series does not mean Los Angeles didn’t deserve to advance. Vezina Trophy candidate (and deserving winner) Jonath...

Who Are You Rooting For?

April 27, 2012

Shane Blackburn

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As a hockey fan first, and an Islander fan second I am still able to watch and enjoy the playoffs even though the Islanders are not involved. Now my question to all the Islander fans who read this blog (don't worry I'll give my answer too) is who are you rooting for in the second round of these playoffs. Whether it be your second favorite team, or your significant other's team or just a team you've always liked but won;t admit to it who are you backing? (Photo Credit: The Business of Sports)

Checkmate: Kings eliminate Canucks; move on to 2nd round for first time since 2001

April 23, 2012

Hockeybroad

1 Comment

The odds were on Vancouver's side, but the fates favored the Kings.

After winning the President's Trophy for the second year in a row, it seemed possible for the Canucks to make another deep Cup run. After all, they were 60 minutes from taking it all last year, losing 5-2 in the Cup Final vs. the Bruins.

The Canucks made some trades and decisions over the summer that made the difference in the late season. German defenseman Christian Ehrhoff - who put up 50 points for Vancouver in 2010-11 - was allowed to become a UFA last summer; he signed with the Buffalo Sabres. The Canucks also traded away Mikael Samuelsson and Marco Sturm to the Florida Panthers, and rec...

TCL Round 1 Staff Predictions: Vancouver Canucks vs. Los Angeles Kings

April 11, 2012

TCL Staff

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( 1 ) VANCOUVER CANUCKS vs. ( 8 ) LOS ANGELES KINGS

The Vancouver Canucks aren't exactly the most liked team in the NHL, especially after the antics of both their players and their fans in last year's playoffs. Add to that their injuries and woes this season (despite finishing first in the West), and you'll have a hard time finding too many people openly cheering for them to go too far this year. But it's hard to deny their depth and their talent. Luongo not playing well? No problem, you've got Schneider. Daniel Sedin still out with a concussion? Plenty of forwards to try and ease the pain. But on the other side of the ice is a hungry Los Angel...