NHL Playoffs 2012: Los Angeles Kings’ Surge Should Come as No Surprise

May 19th, 2012 by Daniel Robaczewski Leave a reply »
In the waning days of the Los Angeles Kings’ 2011-2012 regular season, the words “desperation” and “must-win” resounded far louder than the “Let’s go, Kings!” chants the Staples Center crowd loyally roared on as the Kings finished as the eighth and final-seeded team in a stacked Western Conference.

Two back-to-back extracurricular losses to their Cali-rival San Jose Sharks (in which they wasted two-goal leads in each game) squandered any momentum they could have mustered as they dragged their season-worn blades into the playoffs with absolutely no opportunity to start a series on home ice. To call the regular season a disappointment would be a tragically gross understatement.  How do you approach the playoffs after such a psychologically challenging year?

“We’ve done it before and we’ll do it again,” responded Kings head coach Darryl Sutter, addressing the Kings’ opening round matchup with the Presidents' Trophy-winning Vancouver Canucks. "Once they announced the Coyotes' [division-clinching] game, it seemed the team was satisfied with just being in the playoffs. Now it is my ...

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