How the mighty have fallen: Chicago and LA

ColbyChaos

Marty Snoozeman's Father
Sep 27, 2017
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Team A has been a contender for more than a decade now

Team B had a few good years and then fell of the map so i'd say Team A is more good and Team B is lucky

hope that helps

Having only 2 good players make team A the lucky/worse team by default 09 Pit is a worse cup winner than any of the LA teams.
point is people should want their teams to be more like the pens and keep both nuts

win 3 cups, play for a 4th, and be a consistent contender for over a decade rather than have a few good years and then stink

that is nothing to admire, when comparing them to the pittsburgh penguins

Pit wasnt sniffing contention pretty much all the way between their 09 and 16 cups. For 2010, 11, 12, 14, 15 if they made any of those finals they would have been blown out of the water there were western teams eliminated in round 1 that were better in some of those years. When Max Talbot, Matt Cooke, old farts like Fedortenko, Guerin and other washed up nobodies that people stopped caring about were consistently in your top 6, you have bylsma as your coach, you have a starter goalie who consistently puts up a sub .880 sv% in the post season, when they were the easiest team in the league to throw off their game and play dumb you weren't a great team. Pit was getting dunked on in the opening rounds Boston, New York, Tampa, MTL those years for good reason and it was due to the above if Sullivan doesn't come in and change them we go back to seeing posts about much of a disappointment the pens stars have been.
 

Zegs2sendhelp

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Jul 25, 2012
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Meh, ill take 3cups(las 2 cups)… and a few down years to restock over a decades time.

Chicago/Kings already drafted some really solid players, 1 or 2 down years and they might be right back in the picture.
 

Maestro84

Registered User
May 3, 2018
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The Blackhawks got murdered by the salary cap or else they probably could've won more cups, while the Kings massively overachieved between 2012-14 imo
 

Thucydides

Registered User
Dec 24, 2009
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I watched the Hawks win 3 cups. That will hold me over for awhile , it’s only natural that after a period of time the team would fall off, due to salary cap, aging players, etc.

It’s unrealistic to think they would be cup contenders year in and year out , especially in a league with so much parity .

Keeps the league interesting. :)
 

Maestro84

Registered User
May 3, 2018
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The Kings were the 8th seed in 2012 and were down 3-0 to SJ in the first round in 2014. I'm not saying they weren't deserving champs as they absolutely were but if you were to tell any NHL fan in early 2012 that this LA Kings team would win 2 of the next 3 cups, most would've thought you were nuts.
 

Little Psycho

I solemnly swear I'm up to no good
Feb 4, 2007
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The Kings were the 8th seed in 2012 and were down 3-0 to SJ in the first round in 2014. I'm not saying they weren't deserving champs as they absolutely were but if you were to tell any NHL fan in early 2012 that this LA Kings team would win 2 of the next 3 cups, most would've thought you were nuts.
All the media outlets were saying that the Kings were the strongest 8th seed team ever and they were one of the best teams the second half of the season. In the summer most were predicting the Kings to be in the top but they underachieved under Terry Murray and his lifeless system. 2012 was a breeze but 2014 they went through a grind; 7 games in 3 rounds. They were the bullies back them, they forcheck hard and they hit hard- they were difficult to compete with. Only Chicago was able to withstand them because they played a fast-paced game and weren't startled by the Kings heavy style.
 

RoloTonyBrownTown

Registered User
Oct 31, 2018
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The idea that the league would be better if only one or two teams won the Cup every decade is ridiculous. Forget OP's misunderstanding of basic age progression and team building. Currently, any of the sixteen teams that make the playoffs have a shot at making a run at it all. That's exciting! The fact an expansion team went to the Finals last year was a f***ing story and a half. This is all so much better than the regular season and playoffs being pure formalities so that the Warriors can play the Lebrons in the final and that being the only thing that matters. That's boring as all shit and, in my opinion, just about ruins the sport for all but the fans of those teams and a few casual observers who don't care otherwise.
 

No Fun Shogun

34-38-61-10-13-15
May 1, 2011
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The Hawks and Kings combined for five Stanley Cups in a six year period. That means both teams played excessive amounts of hockey, which added considerable mileage to players on both rosters, and necessitated either paying very well-performing players or trading them, thereby either squeezing the cap or watering down their talent/depth. As a result, both teams gradually entered decline phases where the reality of all that wear and tear caught up to them and they no longer had the young bodies to handle that. Couple that with coaching messages seemingly being lost, as even ridiculously accomplished coaches have shelf lives as other teams catch on to what they were doing, with GMs that got rightfully arrogant and assumed they could do no wrong only to get smacked in the face, and you have a situation where excellent teams eventually fall.

Same was the case prior to the cap as well. The Oilers, Habs, and Isles dynasties all eventually ended and the teams fell to the basement, so this is nothing new.

And call me crazy, but I don't think anyone is shedding tears over the current roster struggles for either team, and I say that as a Hawks fan. Show me a promising team and offer them the exact decade that either the Kings and Hawks have had, and their fanbase would accept it in a heartbeat. "What's that? We win 2 or 3 cups in a handful of years but then start to stink after that? Sign me up!"
 

AD1066

Registered User
Sep 30, 2011
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The Blackhawks got murdered by the salary cap or else they probably could've won more cups, while the Kings massively overachieved between 2012-14 imo

The salary cap also helped them land Hossa, and gave them a competitive advantage with the Keith deal. The timing and structure of both deals worked out extremely well considering that they'd no longer be allowed under the current CBA, and other teams weren't in a position to replicate at that the time.
 

Raccoon Jesus

Todd McLellan is an inside agent
Oct 30, 2008
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The Kings were the 8th seed in 2012 and were down 3-0 to SJ in the first round in 2014. I'm not saying they weren't deserving champs as they absolutely were but if you were to tell any NHL fan in early 2012 that this LA Kings team would win 2 of the next 3 cups, most would've thought you were nuts.


I watched the odds that the Kings would win the Cup in 2012 change from 25-1 to 8-1 overnight in Vegas with the Richards trade.

The 2011 Kings were a 95 point team that pushed a Cup Finalist in the first round before their exit and added Richards and Simon Gagne as a depth scorer.

They were also only 1 point away from being the #3 seed, and don't forget Clowe Stickgate influencing that :laugh:

Calling the Kings an "8 seed" to cheapen them ignores their hot streak after Carter/Sutter.
 

King'sPawn

Enjoy the chaos
Jul 1, 2003
21,812
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The Kings were the 8th seed in 2012 and were down 3-0 to SJ in the first round in 2014. I'm not saying they weren't deserving champs as they absolutely were but if you were to tell any NHL fan in early 2012 that this LA Kings team would win 2 of the next 3 cups, most would've thought you were nuts.

So they were overachieving deserving champs?
 

GeeoffBrown

Registered User
Jul 6, 2007
6,052
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IMO the Blackhawks and Kings will be right back to being annoying with the right moves. Rob Blake is a little unproven but Stan Bowman makes way more good moves than bad ones IMO. Just wait, he'll trade Toews for a big return and everyone will get pissed off LOL.
 
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WHOneedsSOX

Registered User
Mar 1, 2015
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Kings players, especially Doughty, are soft. They didn't want to play Sutter's style anymore even though it worked. Fine, better play your asses off for the next coach. Nope, didn't like that either. Doughty comes out to the media after practice one day and called it boring. Your alternate captain calls practice boring. That must be a great influence on the guys looking at him for leadership. John Stevens calls out the team to the media saying they played like shit after they get blown out by Buffalo and unnamed Kings players decided to quit on him for that.

As has been mentioned by many others, pretty much every single Kings player outside of possibly Kopitar and Doughty have regressed. Some a lot. Kings traded away first round pick after first round pick so they have no good prospects coming up right now when they could use them. Also didn't help that Mike Richards' career was basically over at the age of 28 while the Kings 2nd best d-man was arrested and out of the country at the age of 25. Two key pieces in their prime lost for nothing.

Shoutout to the Kings and their fans. Never really was a rivalry of disdain. Was all respect from both fanbases and some amazing hockey was played. That 2014 WCF was one for the ages. But that Martinez goal off Leddy still hurts...
I only ever hated the Blackhawks because they kept the Kings from possibly winning 3 cups in a row. Always hoped for a 3rd matchup in the WCF to settle the score.
 
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Toews2Bickell

It's Showtime
Nov 24, 2013
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I find it humorous fans of other teams criticize organizations like Chicago and LA for paying guys that won them cups when their organization would do the same thing and they wouldn’t say a word.

Tom Wilson anybody. How about Justin Schultz. Or Dumolin. Not saying those are bad signings but this is standard for most organizations to keep players from cup teams.
 

Little Psycho

I solemnly swear I'm up to no good
Feb 4, 2007
34,320
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Shoutout to the Kings and their fans. Never really was a rivalry of disdain. Was all respect from both fanbases and some amazing hockey was played. That 2014 WCF was one for the ages. But that Martinez goal off Leddy still hurts...
What an amazing time it was. That's why I'm kinda in the "you can do it, Toews" comeback boat.
 

Toews2Bickell

It's Showtime
Nov 24, 2013
23,373
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Kings players, especially Doughty, are soft. They didn't want to play Sutter's style anymore even though it worked. Fine, better play your asses off for the next coach. Nope, didn't like that either. Doughty comes out to the media after practice one day and called it boring. Your alternate captain calls practice boring. That must be a great influence on the guys looking at him for leadership. John Stevens calls out the team to the media saying they played like **** after they get blown out by Buffalo and unnamed Kings players decided to quit on him for that.

As has been mentioned by many others, pretty much every single Kings player outside of possibly Kopitar and Doughty have regressed. Some a lot. Kings traded away first round pick after first round pick so they have no good prospects coming up right now when they could use them. Also didn't help that Mike Richards' career was basically over at the age of 28 while the Kings 2nd best d-man was arrested and out of the country at the age of 25. Two key pieces in their prime lost for nothing.


I only ever hated the Blackhawks because they kept the Kings from possibly winning 3 cups in a row. Always hoped for a 3rd matchup in the WCF to settle the score.

Which is kind of funny because Hawks fans feel the same way about winning in 13 and 15 but falling short in 14.
 
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