The Kings are getting closer and closer to squeaking into a bottom seed in the playoffs with every passing game.
And with every passing game that they come closer, the teams that may have to play them in the first round breath a little harder.
Despite playing a season where they may only, if at all, squeak into a bottom spot, there is a certain quality about the Kings. This quality makes them a daunting opponent, a fearsome opponent, and a potential favorite if they get into the final eight. You constantly hear national media talk about "Kings hockey" as if it were some arcane thing. As if the Kings have a sort of voodoo that makes them what they are. Nobody wants to play the big bad Kings in the first round.
While it seems like something mystical, Kings hockey has actually been systemic and practical. Put simply, when you play the right personnel in a way that suits them, it makes for a decent hockey team. Go figure.
While admittedly the qualities of experience and something of an intimidation factor has to come into play when it comes to Los Angeles and the postseason, it has been more bread and butter. It has been that way since they won the first cup under Darryl Sutter.
Here is what we mean by that.
The Kings have a formula. They have a formula for players. They have a formula for coaching.
That coaching comes in the form of Darryl Sutter, although he was not all that different from his predecessor Terry Murray. Nonetheless he has been credited with instilling a sense of toughness and relentlessness within the group.
If you watched any of the Road to the NHL Stadium Series shows by Epix, you heard a common refrain from Darryl Sutter throughout: "Hard on the puck."
Now what does that mean outside of a typical hockey cliche? In the Kings system, especially on offense, it has meant everything.
While possession and carrying the puck have become more prevalent over the years, the Kings have ran a variation of a suffocating 2-1-2 forecheck for some time. That variation is called a 2-1-2 spread. Here is what it looks like:
This, by default, is an incredibly aggressive forecheck. It is also something the LA Kings have relied on over the years in order to wear down opponents. Cut out all the superficialities and mystical definitions of the the team, this is Kings hockey at its core.
When Sutter is yelling "Hard on the puck" he is yelling the most basic of instructions for his forecheckers.
For this system to work you have to be aggressive and "Hard on the puck."
The idea is that after a dump in the two forwards into the zone have to immediately put pressure on the defenseman. This creates a sense of urgency on the defenseman with possession, and he will therefore look for an outlet. The defenseman generally has two safe options along the boards, and one risky one up the middle. (There is also one VERY risky one in front of his own net which is generally avoided at the NHL level.)
That "hard on the puck" mentality does not just apply to the first wave of forecheckers either. It applies to the centerman as the next wave of pressure, and also the defenseman if they see fit to pinch or jump in to intercept an outlet. Like this:
It also provides options for the forward if he wins that puck in the corner. It does not always follow the design to an exact science, and it does not always lead to goals. However, you can see it set up goals like this:
or this
Now the other factor that has made Kings hockey what it is is the personnel choices and the emphasis on certain areas of the ice.
The Kings ask a lot of their centermen in this system, basically because you are committing two wingers down low on a regular basis. A good quick outlet can leave you a man short coming back defensively. It requires a centermen who is exceptional at reading the game at a moment's notice. Knowing when to jump up and pressure the outlet or when to drop back and cover can make or break a play. Strength up the middle has been emphasized by the Kings from day one of their rebuild way back when. That is why you see players like Jarret Stoll, Mike Richards, Trevor Lewis, or Anze Kopitar fit so well into this system both past and present. Offensively oriented centers who may take more risks in the offensive zone would more than likely fall short in the Kings system. We have seen players like that in the past, ala Andrei Loktionov or Linden Vey. We have also seen wingers who were tentative on the forecheck fail to make it in Los Angeles.
The Kings do not always commit heavily to this forecheck style, but it is one that they use when not attempting a controlled zone entry, something they are also quite good at. The skilled players on the top lines will sometimes carry the puck in with speed if they feel they have an outnumbered attack or rush situation developing. We have seen more of that in recent years with the insertion of players like Toffoli, Carter, Gaborik, and Pearson. Teams have also been more open to ceding possession to the Kings in a way in order to avoid these sort of plays. Nevertheless, it is all about having forwards able to read the game. Most times though we will see the Kings lines fall back on the standard 2-1-2 spread in an evenly matched contest. Sometimes we will also see the Kings setting up for a 2-1-2 spread, only to see the wingers beat defenseman to the rush. Sometimes that can lead to goals that look like this:
The dump-in can sometimes concede possession, but when you have a mentality of being first in on the rush it can lead to a lot of possession based cycling shifts purely by beating defenseman to the puck.
The other element of this system is the relative size of the Kings forward group.
The Kings were the second heaviest team in the league by weight at the start of the season.
according James Mirtle. That weight was 208.3 pounds. The eight wingers the Kings use on a regular basis weigh in at a lofty 207 pounds on average.
That is 207 pounds bull rushing down into the corners on each and every forecheck. That is 207 pounds your defenseman is probably going to feel each and every time he does not move the puck quickly enough. That is 207 pounds you may have to deal with for seven games in a row in a playoff series.
Therein lies the real exhaustion that opponents face in playing against the Kings.
Then you look at the offensive side of the puck, where the Kings play an equally exhausting cycle and possession game. That size comes into play yet again, as attempting to move a 200+ pound forward off the puck or out from in front of the net can prove a task.
Ever since the Kings have become successful we have seen teams back off the Kings a little bit more and play into intercepting this style of play. That has led to more carrying of the puck, and more controlled zone entries from Los Angeles. It actually isn't the worst idea when you play such an eager and aggressive team. As always the grander game of hockey is a bit like chess. The Kings have been playing a certain way for some time, but we are starting to see that shift ever so slightly due to responses from opposing teams as well as the inevitability of age.
Regardless, the Kings have carried with them a sort of suffocating and daunting mystique that is built on basic X's and O's. It has been built on having the right players to execute those X's and O's as well.
This is not the same sort of team we saw win the cup back in 2011-12 or in 2013-14. The style has changed slowly over time and will continue to do so as players shift in and out and teams get wiser. That being said, the Kings still have a specific brand to them that has become ingrained. It is the same brand that has made top teams weary to match up with them in this year's playoffs. Only time will tell if it yields the same results for the Kings.
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