About Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings were founded in 1966 and joined the NHL year later as an expansion team. The franchise was having great regular season runs through the seventies and eighties that would finish a bit too early in the playoffs as the team struggled to carry the momentum.
The team reached its first Stanley Cup Finals in 1993 only to be defeated. Then the Kings faced some financial problems that showed also in team’s play and the franchise disappeared from regular playoff appearances registering only 4 postseason trips between 1994 and 2009.
Eventually matters in Los Angeles got ironed out and the team came back to regular playoffs appearances, winning two Stanley Cups on the way, in 2012 and 2014.
The Kings are members of Pacific Division in Western Conference that was formed in 1993. The team are yet to claim the division’s title having only one in their previous division which was called Smythe. The Kings’ colours are silver, black and white and their mascot is lion called Bailey who wears jersey number 72 that represents an average temperature in Los Angeles.
The head coaching duties are Darryl Sutter’s job who used to play ice hockey as the left wingman. He is from a very well-known Sutter family, which six brothers out of seven reached the NHL with four of them becoming coaches or GM’s. He joined the franchise as their coach in 2011 and led the team to two Stanley Cups.
Jonathan Quick is the team’s starting goaltender and after a phenomenal season and playoffs of 2012 the franchise locked him to a long deal keeping him with the team until 2023. That season Quick beat NHL record of consecutive playoff road wins with 12, he was named the playoffs MVP, having Conn Smythe Trophy awarded. He remains one of the most important assets of the team with his goaltending craft.
The Kings’ nominated captain is Dustin Brown whose lead by example approach to the captaincy and very physical plating style are his trademarks. The veteran who plays on right wing, contributes mainly in hits and penalties drawn.
The team relies on Tyler Toffoli and Anze Kopitar to deliver the points through their actions.
Toffoli who plays center/right wing was drafted by the Kings in 2010 and started playing for them in 2013 and he was an important piece of their second Stanley Cup.
Kopitar made his name well known as he became the first Slovenian to play in NHL when he started in 2006. He was drafted overall 11 in 2005 draft initially to be an offensive weapon. As the years went by he developed his defensive skill making him one of the better two way forwards in the league.
With so much success in recent years and a great mixture of experience and youth the Kings are poised to make a lot of noise in post season soon.
