Kings of the NHL

Picture credit: Palm Beach Post

Well, they did it. After I predicted my LA Kings would win the Stanley Cup in April, right after they upset the Canucks, they pulled it off. At 7:49 pm on June 11, 2012, 45 years of Kings fans' heartbreak and pain were erased. From Marty McSorley's illegal stick in the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals to the missed opportunities and bad teams over the years, it was all washed away when captain Dustin Brown raised hockey's ultimate prize, the Stanley Cup. It is said that the Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win in all of sports, but the Kings made it look relatively easy. I mean, think about it. Aside from dropping 2 in a row in the Stanley Cup Finals against the New Jersey Devils after taking a 3-0 lead, they had a pretty easy road to the Cup. Even the game that clinched the Cup looked easy. After Steve Bernier of the Devils got a 5 minute penalty and eventual ejection for checking Rob Scuderi, the Kings raced out to a 3-0 lead in the 5 minutes they held the power play advantage. The Kings then scored 3 more goals, including an empty net, and were never seriously threatened in a 6-1 win.

I was thrilled, excited, that the Kings were up 3-0 in the series and eagerly anticipated Game 4. When the Kings lost, I said, "Oh well, they don't lose on the road. They'll get it Saturday." Saturday and Game 5 came, Kings lost again. My frustration was starting to mount. I heard some Devils fans talking shit, saying the Kings were gonna choke, and that they would make history. I, for one, never believed it. I believed that if anyone was going to make history, it would be the Kings, ending a 45 year wait for Lord Stanley's Cup. Just like I thought, the Kings did raise the Stanley Cup on home ice, winning the only way they knew how: with Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Quick and the defense shutting down the Devils' offense, and our scorers coming through when it mattered. I truly believe this was one of the great playoff runs of all-time. The Kings went 16-4 in the playoffs, which is tied for second best since the best of 7 in all rounds format was introduced in 1988, with 3 other teams: the 1993 Montreal Canadiens (who, coincidentally beat the Kings the last time they went to the Stanley Cup Finals), 1995 New Jersey Devils (who, coincidentally, was the team the Kings beat to win the Cup), and the 1997 Detroit Red Wings. However, what truly makes this one special in my view, is the circumstances. The Kings were the 8th seed, got the last playoff spot in the final days of the regular season, then proceeded to not just beat, but dominate, the top 3 teams in the Western Conference (Vancouver, St. Louis, Phoenix) to go to the Stanley Cup Finals, then beat a very dangerous 6th seeded New Jersey Devils team to win it all. All in all, this was a Stanley Cup run that will go down as one of the greatest of all time.