From Conn Smythe-winning goaltender Jonathan Quick to the top six defensemen to the top 12 forwards, every established NHL player on the Los Angeles Kings’ depth chart saw substantive action in their 2012 Stanley Cup championship run.
Leaned-on winger Simon Gagne, one of the few not to play at least half of the postseason, returned from a concussion for the last four games of the final round.
This means, come the tentative start of training camp on Sept. 21, head coach Darryl Sutter will have hardly a single set of fresh legs at his disposal. At least not in comparison to any of L.A.’s 29 adversaries, apart from perhaps the better part of the Cup finalist New Jersey Devils.
The same will apply on the night the Kings install their banner and officially commence their title defense on Oct. 12. Their top 20 are on pace to go 123 days, barely one-third of a calendar year, between meaningful games with a thoroughly unruffled roster that had a short, celebratory summer on top of a nine-month charge to a championship.
Nothing wrong with a freshly hardware-laden franchise avoiding tweaks for the long run, especially when one&rsquo ...
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Article written by Al Daniel
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