Kings Do Dallas

In a league where a majority of the teams make the playoffs, The Kings have haven’t appeared in a playoff game since the 2001 season. Since 1993, the Kings have only won one playoff series, and have missed the playoffs nine times. (It probably would have been ten, but the entire 2004 season was cancelled because of a labor dispute).

The Kings only escaped having the worst record in the Western conference last year because of a victory on the final day of the season. (They’re not even the best losers!)

For every other team in the NHL, “Goalie Controversy” means having two great goaltenders, and having the dilemma of figuring out which one to start. Somehow, for the Kings, the Goalie Controversy has always referred to having two or three mediocre netminders competing for the starting job. This year is no different. 19-year-old Jonathan Bernier has shown some promise early this season, but he’s young. Every NHL preview this year stressed the same point - the key to the Kings success in the future starts here.

Alarmingly, a lot of the previews also singled out the Kings defense as the teams’ sole bright spot; Citing Lubomir Visnovsky and Jack Johnson as a solid pairing, and alluding to Rob Blake and Jaroslav Modry as a stronger-than-average second line. If defense is the lone strength of the team, the future is bleak. The third line is a serious x-factor. Jack Johnson has potential, but is pretty much untested at the major league level. Modry looked over the hill three years ago, and, no disrespect to Rob Blake – he is possibly the greatest defenseman in the history of the game, but his glory days are far behind him as well.

Will the Kings be better this year? Of course. There’s only one direction to go. Will they be good? Of course not.