KINGS AT 37: NOW THE FUN STARTS

LOS ANGELES, CA — As the Los Angeles Kings embark on a two-game roadtrip in Seattle, they arrive in the Pacific Northwest in a position that only the most optimistic of observers placed them off a 1-5-1 start in late October – a race for a post-season berth.

It’s difficult to handicap the race for the final two playoffs spots in the Pacific – we’re being assumptive the Vegas Golden Knights will win the division – with the disparity of games played by Edmonton and Calgary, but the Kings’ improved play over the past month (9-3-1 over the last 13 games) has placed them in the conversation for the final 45 games.

The past two weeks have been eventful, on the heels of General Manager Rob Blake’s exclusive interview on Kings Of The Podcast, my podcast partner The Mayor John Hoven broke the news that affirmed his disclosure that his desire was to continue the GM’s chair. The news was significant on the heels of former Montreal GM Marc Bergevin being named as senior advisor – a move that some speculated was a precursor to a transition in the front office given Blake’s contract expiration at season’s end. The reported and yet-to-be-confirmed multi-year deal puts those rumors to rest (though we hope Bergy can give Blake a primer on how to make significant trades) and continuity to the front office at a pivotal time.

Before the season started, we outlined why this season was pivotal to The Plan that was sold to the fans. Significant parts of the championship core were chipped away in favor of draft picks and prospects (to great reviews) to move the organization past the underwhelming and uninspiring hockey that is required in the first step of a rebuild. The third season of the rebuild is the proof-of-concept season, not the contender season that some believe it should, but with the poor start, the critics were correct to question if the scheme would work. Given the management team had no previous experience (much less success) in running the hockey operations side of the business – and remember they had the legacy of Dean Lombardi and his two Stanley Cup championships as a comparable – the early weeks of the season became a referendum as to if they should continue running the show.

But on the heels of the poor start and with the prospect of another non-contending season in front of them, both the remaining championship veterans and untested youngsters have responded.

They will not scare the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning or any of their legitimate pursuers, but they play a highly competitive brand of hockey that has them in the top 10 defensively – a standing even more impressive Drew Doughty has missed half the season. When they stick to their identity – that of a well-checking, defensive-minded team, they are rarely out of a game. When they fail to stick to their identity, the outcome is predictable (the 6-3 home loss to Vegas coming out of the holiday pause is Exhibit A, B and C) as they lack the offensive talent throughout the lineup to overcome a departure of that identity.

The newly forged identity placed an exclamation point on a successful 5-2 homestand Thursday night. Continuing the theme of dominating puck possession in their prior three contests, Los Angeles limited the hot and dangerous Pittsburgh Penguins. The consistency of the effort is forging team identity but the quick-strike rapid response to Pittsburgh tying the game in the early third period was a new wrinkle. The ability to separate from the opposition and close out a game is one of the signatures of a good team and had been missing in the Los Angeles toolbox. While their competitive nature keeps them in games, their lack of offense kept the opposition in the game, as well, even when they control play for long stretches of time.

At Game 37, their play is no longer a good run or start since starting 1-5-1 and with some vultures circling the team; they have gone 18-8-4 in their last 30 games. The record has primarily been fashioned by the defense and goaltending, the backbone of winning, as they stand seventh in goals against per game. The ranking is stunning to some degree given their left side defense is comprised of Olli Maatta, a 22-year-old (Mikey Anderson) and a 20-year-old (Tobias Bjornfot).

I’ve been in McLellan’s corner since his installation and his ability to navigate the daily roster contortion and forge an identity validates the decision by Blake to bring him to Los Angeles on a five-year deal. What impressed me the most this season is not necessarily the integration of youth into the lineup, because that was assumptive, but when he turns to the kids (the latest one being Samuel Fagemo, who replaced the non-Covid ill Brendan Lemieux on Thursday), they are not overmatched. The moment doesn’t appear to be too big for them and although they may not be producing offensively (it doesn’t appear that Alex Turcotte is going to rival Trevor Zegras), they are not committing the costly mistake that turns a win into a loss. Through 37 games, McLellan has slotted the substitutes as to not overburden them and have placed them in support roles to ease them into NHL play.

The two front office moves that brought in established talent were equally criticized – the free agent signing of Phil Danault and the trade for Viktor Arvidsson – have had diverse levels of success.

Danault has been invaluable and a key cog in the identity change. He will never be the 25-goal scorer some want at the second line pivot, but his tenacity on the puck and his taking some stressful minutes away from Kopitar should reap benefits on the season’s back end.

Arvidsson, well suffice to say he hasn’t met a shot he didn’t like, and you can count of him missing the net by 20 feet on an impossible angle shot once a game. While those attempts may cause some eyes to roll, on a team that features more facilitators than shooters you can live with one straight shooter; and despite his uneven start, he probably lands in the mid-20s in goal production by Game 82.

So, while Kings fans should bask in the euphoria of a convincing win over the hottest team in the NHL, they need to be mindful of an old sports maxim – you’re never as good as you are during a winning streak, you’re never as bad during a losing one.

If the Kings are going to stay in the conversation for the post-season, they’ll have to become road warriors. The disparity between home and road games is significant (23 vs. 14) will be made up over the next six weeks, playing only two home games with the opponents being the champion Tampa Bay Lightning and the Colorado Avalanche. And the growth of this team won’t necessarily come against the champs and one of their legitimate pursuers, it will be measured in the next two games against the Seattle Kraken and San Jose Sharks. Can they deal with prosperity, the increasing chatter around their post-season potential and focus on opponents who if they play their game can emerge with victories?

In the big picture, the next 25 games will determine if Los Angeles is a playoff team. Apart from Vegas, the balance of the division isn’t playing well (Vancouver is 7-2-1 over the last 10 games but I question their ability to sustain that level of play). If they can get to the final 20 games of this season in the same approximate range of the playoffs, they should be a buyer at the trade deadline (a goal scoring winger and an offensive-minded left defenseman on my list) and will have turned the corner on the rebuild timeline.

JUICE FINALLY WORTH THE SQUEEZE

Adrian Kempe was named the Kings’ representative to the All-Star Game on Thursday, a nomination worthy of his play – he’ll shatter his previous season goal-scoring high – with perfect timing from a contractual aspect. His value deal at $2 million per over three seasons expires at season end as he rolls into restricted free agency status with arbitration rights.

I’ve always seen this player’s potential and when he failed to actualize it, was critical of his inconsistency. The word I associated him with throughout his career was “flashes,” numerous times he’d show signs of emergence, followed by disappearing acts for weeks at a time. The organization was responsible for some of the inconsistency as it took multiple seasons to figure out where he was best suited to play. His game worked best in the middle of the ice, but the skillset needed to be an NHL center (faceoff and defensive aptitude) did not emerge. Finally settling in on left wing and given another, and possibly final opportunity to produce with Anze Kopitar, has him on track for a 35-goal season.

“I think Adrian is a man now,” McLellan said when asked his emergence as a top line winger.

A man, not from the aspect of his physical presence, but being an alpha dog, shunning deference to more established players and understanding what it takes to be an 18 minute-per-night forward.

It’s been a longer journey than expected for a player who was a healthy scratch in the early days of the Toddfather regime.  It’s the combination of talent along with confidence and decision making that has the Los Angeles All Star representative in 2022 finally not named Kopitar or Doughty.

IN MEMORIAM

I was profoundly saddened to learn of the untimely passing of my friend Brian Blessing last weekend. Brian was a rare individual who made his mark in the sports media landscape of two cities, Buffalo and Las Vegas.

I met Brian through his Vegas Hockey Hotline radio show, growing up in New York City, I wasn’t aware of his renown in Western New York. As my personal and professional relationship grew, my friends who reside in Southern Ontario all knew of his work covering the Bills and the original Hockey Hotline with former Sabre Mike Robitaille.

Brian was one of those cats that if you knew for a minute you couldn’t help but love. Passionate about sports, a master storyteller and most importantly a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. He was always looking to brighten your day with a story or rejoicing about how he hit that $12 exacta at a track in Louisiana I’d never heard of.

My appearances on Vegas Hockey Hotline were classics, broadcasting on the tiny KSHP outlet in Vegas, I’d call in at 1:07 Pacific and we would go non-stop for 45 minutes, mostly agreeing, sometimes disagreeing, but always in good humor. Once I became a regular on the show, he would text me for availability and our running joke was my response, “please hold for an operator,” my humorous attempt to big time him. Going forward, I expected the weekly, “Is the Malibu Operator available” text that often evolved into a 30-minute phone conversation about hockey, horses and life.

There was not a more aptly named person than Brian Blessing because that’s what he was to those who crossed his path.