Kings Ruling the West?
The Los Angeles Kings haven’t made a post-season appearance since 2002, but all that looks about to change with a performance this season that is nothing short of brilliant. Led by Anze Kopitar, the Kings have been climbing ever since they drafted the Slovenian at the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.
Now, with a vital game tonight against the Canucks, the Kings are tied for first in the Western Conference. Say what?
“This is actually a carry-over from last year,” Kopitar told the CBC. “You could see signs that we were becoming a pretty good team last year. The difference was we would play good for a while and then not so good for a while. This year we have been consistently good right from the start.”
Veterans Ryan Smyth and Justin Williams have certainly added to the cause, while the performance of one Jonathan Swift, erm I mean Quick, between the pipes has also contributed to the Kings’ success. They’ve gone 8-1-1 over their last ten games and will look to build on that tonight in Vancouver.
Still, Kopitar’s really been the big story for the Kings. When Smyth and Williams missed time with injuries, Kopitar was there with the coverage and the solid play to lift his team into contention for leadership in the wild and woolly Western Conference. At just 22 years of age, he’s shown poise beyond his years and has been stacking up points to sit at fifth in league scoring.
“I don’t think you can say it’s been one player for us,” said Kopitar. “Everybody is chipping in. Even with the injuries we’ve had we’ve been fortunate that we haven’t missed their production. Somebody else has stepped up.”
It is the offensive production of the Kings that has brought them to this point, with a sixth best 2.97 goals per game making it hard on opponents. Even so, a little defensive tightness would probably do the squad some favours with a rather dismal-looking 2.99 goals per game against so far this year.
Fans in Los Angeles, and there finally are some this season, will have something to look forward to in the post-season this year if the Kings can keep the pedal to the metal. As long as they keep their offensive attack consistent, they should have no trouble cracking the playoffs. Of course, when things tighten up and become more defensive in nature, there may be a crack in the Kings’ armour.
Posted by Jordan Richardson.
Tags: anze kopitar, los angeles kings
December 14th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Its Jonathan Quick. Not Swift. Although that is pretty funny. Was that done purposely?
December 14th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
That is pretty funny, actually. I wish I could admit to having done that on purpose, but that’s what I get for multi-tasking. I would also have accepted Jonathan Fast and Jonathan Rapid.