Simpler Timers

It was November 8th. The Los Angeles Kings were sitting in first place of the division, and were one of the top teams in the NHL. Sure, it was only a month into the season, but the Kings had only dropped points to a fellow division leader at the end of a very long road trip, and a red hot young team on the same trip. There were two overtime losses, sure. One was the maddening Flames, and another was the end of an insane rally where the Kings should be happy to come away with a point at all.

The Ducks were defeated in an overtime comeback the night before. The top line looked set as a threat for all opponents. Adrian Kempe looked like a reasonable second line center. Jonathan Quick was elite again.

Then everything went to shit.

Or the Kings just came crashing back to earth. Dustin Brown was not going to be a fifty goal scorer. Kempe was less dynamic at a young age then he had shown. The defense was getting exposed for some less than optimal plugs. Quick was in fact not elite.

L.A. dropped seven out of eight. Five of those were at home. They weren’t all losses to big hot shot teams like the Lightning either, though they did torch the Kings too. It was the string bean Canucks. A medical ward roster of Boston Bruins. Has-been Sharks. An AHL team in Vegas. Fucking Winnipeg. And most recently, the league’s worst, with the Coyotes.

I talked about the depth of the Kings being an issue going into the season, and how it was now a glaring problem. The problem the Kings display currently has been the defense breaking out of their own zone (with Jake Muzzin back in full bonehead mode), and not sustaining any offensive zone time AT ALL. Part of that is depth with available personnel. Part of that is the system.

The Kings have a hellish four game road trip coming up after the dumb shit “freeway fuck off ya fuck face” or whatever this bullshit rivalry is called with the Ducks. I don’t think John Stevens makes it to 2018 if things continue as they have been. I’m not saying he deserves it, that’s just my read of the situation. I did mention he probably had a very short leash with the Kings and the first swoon they experience may be his death rattle with the organization. Not being any good in any three zones of the ice is probably a bad sign regarding job security.

So the Kings face Anaheim, who have their own clearly awful coach, with a dead center, questionable AHL talent, and large lapses in any form of consistency (besides being consistently shit covered dick heads). The Kings are skating by thanks to an initial large lead and the fact the Pacific division is fucking awful.

Anyway, what do you think Cory?

Cory?

Oh yeah, that motherfucker is dead.

Prediction

KINGS FUCKING LOSE SOME MORE