How do you feel about the Los Angeles Kings going to the Stanley Cup Finals?

[LeeIFBB]

It makes think about how far San Jose's players, coaches, and its front office are from winning or even competing for a Stanley Cup. Different league.

 

[SHAR KS]

It makes think about how far San Jose's players, coaches, and its front office are from winning or even competing for a Stanley Cup. Different league.

Doughty and Kopitar > entire Sharks team

 

[OrrNumber4]

I want Henrik to get a cup. The man is a class act and deserves it. He won't though, so that sucks. LA is going to destroy NY.

So LA is favoured, for sure. But this NYR team has beaten the ECF RS runner-ups, with arguably the two best players int he game, the team that beat the best team in the East and the team that many thought would come out of the East, and the Flyers. The Rangers have gotten better with every series. They're the first team that LA is going to play that can fall back on that same defensive game that LA's opponents have found so frustrating.

"Destroy" is hyperbole.

 

[OrrNumber4]

It makes think about how far San Jose's players, coaches, and its front office are from winning or even competing for a Stanley Cup. Different league.

The Sharks need to face this truth honestly.

I remember when LA first won their cup, everyone was "lucky"...Sutter was lucky for having joined a great team, Doughty was lucky to get hot at the right time, Lombardi was lucky to have been able to acquire Carter and Richards, Quick was lucky to play so well, etc. etc.

Even their drafting...I've called them lucky for drafting Kopitar..but they really weren't. Sure, players like Doughty were acquired with a top-5 pick...but they developed him. The same for Kopitar, who has made huge strides as a player. They've squeezed a lot from players like Muzzin, Voynov, Pearson, Toffoli, Brown, etc.

Why is it when DW takes a risk on players like Martin Havlat or Bill Guerin, it blows up? But when Lombardi takes a risk on a player like Willie Mitchell or Marian Gaborik, it works so well?

Why is it when the Sharks make moves expecting youngsters like Carle, Goc, Mitchell, Bernier, Sheppard, Wingels, etc. to fill in the role, those players so often fail, but when the Kings (and the Hawks!) do the same, it seems to work?

Whatever the Kings are doing, it appears to be working...Sharks need to face that.

 

[Eighth Fret]

The Sharks need to face this truth honestly.

I remember when LA first won their cup, everyone was "lucky"...Sutter was lucky for having joined a great team, Doughty was lucky to get hot at the right time, Lombardi was lucky to have been able to acquire Carter and Richards, Quick was lucky to play so well, etc. etc.

Even their drafting...I've called them lucky for drafting Kopitar..but they really weren't. Sure, players like Doughty were acquired with a top-5 pick...but they developed him. The same for Kopitar, who has made huge strides as a player. They've squeezed a lot from players like Muzzin, Voynov, Pearson, Toffoli, Brown, etc.

Why is it when DW takes a risk on players like Martin Havlat or Bill Guerin, it blows up? But when Lombardi takes a risk on a player like Willie Mitchell or Marian Gaborik, it works so well?

Why is it when the Sharks make moves expecting youngsters like Carle, Goc, Mitchell, Bernier, Sheppard, Wingels, etc. to fill in the role, those players so often fail, but when the Kings (and the Hawks!) do the same, it seems to work?

Whatever the Kings are doing, it appears to be working...Sharks need to face that.

Doughty's talent is off the charts -- he would have blossomed anywhere. As for how the moves have panned out, the Kings aren't perfect. They gave up a lot for Richards, and he did play well in their 2012 run, but he's a vestigial appendage now with a huge cap hit that goes on into eternity. Same with Brown. Quick's contract is almost comically bad too.

As for Havlat, yeah he didn't pan out, but that deal also go us out from under Heatley's contract. Regardless of how bad Havlat was in teal, you have to keep in mind that keeping Heatley around would have been just as bad, if not worse, due to his higher cap hit.

And I would be more confident in saying that Wingels is a steady contributor than Pearson. Geeze, Pearson doesn't even have 30 games under his belt yet. Remember Trevor Lewis? He had a great 2012 playoffs, and he's not exactly lighting it up these days. Not to mention, even if Pearson is legit, he was a first round pick; Wingels was a sixth rounder.

 

[Juxtaposer]

The only people calling LA lucky in 2012 were the ones who weren't paying attention. Post-Carter trade they were the best team in the league.

 

[SJSharks408]

Wanting anyone but the Kings to win it. So go Rangers! Other than some oldtimers and minority of hardcore hockey fans down in Socal, they must have one of the largest group of fairweathers and one of the cockiest fanbases around (might have the Hawks beat there). I also despise the team's twitter handle. I'm worried the Rangers might get demolished but have faith they might surprise some of their West Coast doubters. Get the King a ring!

 

[richo]

Could never root for Rangers. As an Islanders fan when I was a kid I hated the Rangers and have never stopped hating them. Also, their mere presence in the finals shows how ridiculous the whole playoff system is. The best teams should be there, not someone whose qualification wasn't even secure until the final week. Plus, I don't hate the Kings. They play a very good brand of hockey and have won 3 tough series. They really do deserve it.

 

[TheDanceOfMaternity]

What the kings have done these playoffs is something this core will never be able to accomplish. Watch and learn.

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

The only people calling LA lucky in 2012 were the ones who weren't paying attention. Post-Carter trade they were the best team in the league.

Wouldn't the month and a half that they had Carter before the playoffs qualify as a "small sample size" in your world? And I don't care if it's Crosby, one player doesn't make an entire hockey team play that much better. To call them "lucky" may be a bit disingenuous, but they absolutely got hot at the right time. That was an average hockey team for most of the year.

 

[Sleepy]

Wouldn't the month and a half that they had Carter before the playoffs qualify as a "small sample size" in your world? And I don't care if it's Crosby, one player doesn't make an entire hockey team play that much better. To call them "lucky" may be a bit disingenuous, but they absolutely got hot at the right time. That was an average hockey team for most of the year.

Can't discount Sutter's influence either. They weren't lucky they were good. Maybe lucky to win every series so convincingly, but they were definitely the best team once the playoffs rolled around.

 

[VanIslander]

My feelings are no longer mixed. I'm gonna go with the majority vote!

 

[SalsaShark]

Mixed feelings here. I would live to see the Rangers take it as it would be a new winner. But I would also love to see LA take it just to rub that salt in a little deeper. However, with that said, I fear that many fans will try and justify the sharks loss because losing to the champion is nothing to hang your head over.

 

[Audio Outlaw]

Surprisingly I am not as big of a Kings hater as I probably should be. I just value hockey intangibles, and the Kings are loaded with clutch players and hard workers. I like watching them play. I want the Rangers to win though, I like seeing Cinderella stories. Too bad the Kings will win in 6.

 

[bigwillie]

I like the New York Henrik Lundqvists more, but I'm really hoping the Kings win and Joe Thornton finally loses his **** and goes all Liam Neeson in Taken and exacts revenge next season in the most brutal way possible.

 

[Transplant]

I'm a Ranger fan primarily and a Sharks fan secondarily thanks to several years of having a Sharkpak. And right now I'm mad as hell at the Sharks for not finishing off the Kings in the first round. Adding insult to injury, I paid for tickets to game 5 of that series. I didn't think I could possibly be angrier about the Sharks' effort that night than I was at the time . . . but if I end up watching the Kings hoist the Cup at the Rangers' expense, you can bet I will be.

 

[5H4RK5]

That guy Doughty is a damn good player and boy can they answer back. Our guys like to watch highlight plays instead of counter them.

 

[magic school bus]

It makes think about how far San Jose's players, coaches, and its front office are from winning or even competing for a Stanley Cup. Different league.

One game.

 

[Joev06]

The Kings have won 3 game 7 series this year and have won the last 2 games in which they did not have a lead in at all. The Sharks have a lot to learn from the Kings about not giving up and having heart.

 

[OrrNumber4]

I like the New York Henrik Lundqvists more, but I'm really hoping the Kings win and Joe Thornton finally loses his **** and goes all Liam Neeson in Taken and exacts revenge next season in the most brutal way possible.

I don't think that is how they would take it.

 

[Nighthock]

**** 'em

I honestly just want this god damn post season to end so this stupid franchise can walk the walk

 

[Zeroz]

The Sharks need to face this truth honestly.

I remember when LA first won their cup, everyone was "lucky"...Sutter was lucky for having joined a great team, Doughty was lucky to get hot at the right time, Lombardi was lucky to have been able to acquire Carter and Richards, Quick was lucky to play so well, etc. etc.

Even their drafting...I've called them lucky for drafting Kopitar..but they really weren't. Sure, players like Doughty were acquired with a top-5 pick...but they developed him. The same for Kopitar, who has made huge strides as a player. They've squeezed a lot from players like Muzzin, Voynov, Pearson, Toffoli, Brown, etc.

Why is it when DW takes a risk on players like Martin Havlat or Bill Guerin, it blows up? But when Lombardi takes a risk on a player like Willie Mitchell or Marian Gaborik, it works so well?

Why is it when the Sharks make moves expecting youngsters like Carle, Goc, Mitchell, Bernier, Sheppard, Wingels, etc. to fill in the role, those players so often fail, but when the Kings (and the Hawks!) do the same, it seems to work?

Whatever the Kings are doing, it appears to be working...Sharks need to face that.

Theres gotta be something in the water down there in L.A.

 

[dwood16]

The Sharks need to face this truth honestly.

I remember when LA first won their cup, everyone was "lucky"...Sutter was lucky for having joined a great team, Doughty was lucky to get hot at the right time, Lombardi was lucky to have been able to acquire Carter and Richards, Quick was lucky to play so well, etc. etc.

Even their drafting...I've called them lucky for drafting Kopitar..but they really weren't. Sure, players like Doughty were acquired with a top-5 pick...but they developed him. The same for Kopitar, who has made huge strides as a player. They've squeezed a lot from players like Muzzin, Voynov, Pearson, Toffoli, Brown, etc.

Why is it when DW takes a risk on players like Martin Havlat or Bill Guerin, it blows up? But when Lombardi takes a risk on a player like Willie Mitchell or Marian Gaborik, it works so well?

Why is it when the Sharks make moves expecting youngsters like Carle, Goc, Mitchell, Bernier, Sheppard, Wingels, etc. to fill in the role, those players so often fail, but when the Kings (and the Hawks!) do the same, it seems to work?

Whatever the Kings are doing, it appears to be working...Sharks need to face that.

This.

It probably doesn't help that our AHL team seems to do whatever the opposite of develop is. Plus, they don't have anything close to a winning culture down there either.

 

[hohosaregood]

This.

It probably doesn't help that our AHL team seems to do whatever the opposite of develop is. Plus, they don't have anything close to a winning culture down there either.

Its kind of seems like American education. If you can get out of the garbage high schools(Worcester Sharks), you can go to some of the universities(San Jose Sharks) in the world.

 

[BCShark]

**** the Kings, can't stand them, the fans or the city.

this. another rival having success, not to mention the team came back on us 0-3. does it get any worse?