Jason Lewis: What Playing "Kings Hockey" has Meant

"Kings hockey" Also known as squeak into the playoffs in 8th place then wreck everyone as the 8th seed.

Its like the really smart kid that seems to fail everything until high school when it starts to matter; then far exceeds the low expectations they set before.

Lots and lots of diving.

Jason Lewis: What Playing "Kings Hockey" has Meant
- Jason_Lewis

Jason, you apparently didn't hear that the Kings won both cups because they cheat. The clutch and grab scheme the refs allow to be played in the playoffs by the Kings. Please get your facts straight will ya??

Lots and lots of diving.
- Scooby_Doo

shhhhh............dont tell everyone The knucks strategy. No one expects that!

shhhhh............dont tell everyone The knucks strategy. No one expects that!
- dprice818

- Scooby_Doo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoO651hj64k
keeping it classy as always. surprised burrows can even play after that near death experience he had with toffoli.

So why are you struggling to reach the playoffs if this system is so effective?

Surely you would put it together enough to clinch then relax if that's what you do? Looks like you are relying on 'other' results that doesn't sound like a team or organisation that has a system in place that is good enough. Winning 2 in 3 years is exceptional & I say congratulations but when you follow that up with a year like this one just doesn't appear that the Kings system is where it should be now. Prove me wrong but I don't think the 2-1-2 will be getting too much playoff time this year. Also rules change which appear to suit the Kings play so much more than other teams - that is funny because that may explain the struggle through 82 but I'm probably wrong.

I will say you guys did kick butt through NY.

Great read....... I'd add to the equation that the Kings throw in a top goalie and are built for the playoffs when more "suffocating" play is allowed which is why they are better in the playoffs than the regular season.

But larger picture IMO this kind of system and the personnel used in it has a better chance long term in a cap system. Much easier to draft enough players for it and keep them (cheaper when they reach FA status), less skilled and bigger and can be drafted in lower rounds, than to build a system on pure speed-skill (more expensive once they reach FA status).

That's why Kings-Hawks games and series are so fun to watch. Two very different styles/philosophies clash.

So why are you struggling to reach the playoffs if this system is so effective?

Surely you would put it together enough to clinch then relax if that's what you do? Looks like you are relying on 'other' results that doesn't sound like a team or organisation that has a system in place that is good enough. Winning 2 in 3 years is exceptional & I say congratulations but when you follow that up with a year like this one just doesn't appear that the Kings system is where it should be now. Prove me wrong but I don't think the 2-1-2 will be getting too much playoff time this year. Also rules change which appear to suit the Kings play so much more than other teams - that is funny because that may explain the struggle through 82 but I'm probably wrong.

I will say you guys did kick butt through NY.
- Aussiepenguin

I think the main difference is playing how we do, our ups and downs, coming into March and April, we tend to always be playing our best hockey.

Looking out West, teams such as Vancouver and Anaheim have been the top seeds usually these last few years. When you play at such a high level over a prolonged period of time, I think it's hard to keep that edge, especially come playoff time. Dominating games that become blow outs don't necessarily give you that mental edge needed come playoff time.

Kings come into the playoffs already playing their best, meeting a top seeded team who may have been keeping it safe the last week(s) of the season to stay healthy, while the Kings barrel through.

Great read....... I'd add to the equation that the Kings throw in a top goalie and are built for the playoffs when more "suffocating" play is allowed which is why they are better in the playoffs than the regular season.

But larger picture IMO this kind of system and the personnel used in it has a better chance long term in a cap system. Much easier to draft enough players for it and keep them (cheaper when they reach FA status), less skilled and bigger and can be drafted in lower rounds, than to build a system on pure speed-skill (more expensive once they reach FA status).

That's why Kings-Hawks games and series are so fun to watch. Two very different styles/philosophies clash.
- Mr Ricochet

You mean when McCauley and OHalloran ignore all the clutching, grabbing, interference and obstruction by the Kings? If the Hawks are healthy this year they may be better equipped to deal with it. Still a travesty the NHL has decided to ignore interference. It hurts the game. Great point on Lombardi's drafting. His draft style definitely fits the trend.

I think the main difference is playing how we do, our ups and downs, coming into March and April, we tend to always be playing our best hockey.

Looking out West, teams such as Vancouver and Anaheim have been the top seeds usually these last few years. When you play at such a high level over a prolonged period of time, I think it's hard to keep that edge, especially come playoff time. Dominating games that become blow outs don't necessarily give you that mental edge needed come playoff time.

Kings come into the playoffs already playing their best, meeting a top seeded team who may have been keeping it safe the last week(s) of the season to stay healthy, while the Kings barrel through.
- StayTunedMTC

Don't see it this year. You're backing in based on Monday's performance. That doesn't mean you roll through the 1st round and get hot again. I just don't get the "King's come into the playoffs already playing their best" statement. That game was a must win for you. You have probably been handed a spot by Buff's stupidity - not by tearing through the league the last several games.

You constantly hear national media talk about "Kings hockey" as if it were some arcane thing.

I only hear this statement from the sycophants like Engbloom and his crew. Sometimes from Jones. Not "constantly" from the national media.

You mean when McCauley and OHalloran ignore all the clutching, grabbing, interference and obstruction by the Kings? If the Hawks are healthy this year they may be better equipped to deal with it. Still a travesty the NHL has decided to ignore interference. It hurts the game. Great point on Lombardi's drafting. His draft style definitely fits the trend.
- tredbrta

You guys have a great team and lost a series that will go down as one of the greatest ever last year against the Kings. It had nothing to do with clutching, grabbing, interference and obstruction by the Kings. It had everything to do with the bounces and a great will to win. The whining has to stop!

So why are you struggling to reach the playoffs if this system is so effective?

Surely you would put it together enough to clinch then relax if that's what you do? Looks like you are relying on 'other' results that doesn't sound like a team or organisation that has a system in place that is good enough. Winning 2 in 3 years is exceptional & I say congratulations but when you follow that up with a year like this one just doesn't appear that the Kings system is where it should be now. Prove me wrong but I don't think the 2-1-2 will be getting too much playoff time this year. Also rules change which appear to suit the Kings play so much more than other teams - that is funny because that may explain the struggle through 82 but I'm probably wrong.

I will say you guys did kick butt through NY.
- Aussiepenguin

This is something I have mused on for some time. I will try to give my best rationale possible.

I think essentially what has happened is that the Kings have been, to a degree, figured out. A playoff contender, at least in my opinion, has about a 3-5 year window where they have a way of playing that has yet to be figured out. Once you start getting into years 4 and 5 you really start seeing a drop off. The Kings are in year 4 right now, arguably year 5.

Think about the run they had in the 2011-12 playoffs in which they ran through basically everyone with relative ease. I believe the team, at that point, was still trying to figure out the system to a degree. If you recall, Sutter was brought in halfway through that year. While the system was virtually the same between TM and Sutter, the message was different.

Enter 2012-13. The Kings actually made the playoffs with relative safety. They were still a bottom seed but they weren't scrapping it out on the last day or the last week. They remained strong most of the year and I don't think there was ever any doubt on them making it.

The playoffs were similar to 2011-12, where the team pretty much breezed through the first two rounds. The Blackhawks however, whom I have the utmost respect for as an organization, were just too good. What Chicago did was show the league, in a way, how to beat the Kings. It wasn't by playing equally as tough, or equally as physical. It was by turning games into a track meet kind of. Quickly executed puck movement and neutral zone pressure really limited the Kings possession and forced them into penalties, turnovers, and lackluster offensive zone time.

This makes sense considering the Kings have always struggled against A) fast teams, and B) good puck moving teams. Teams like Phoenix circa 2011-12, or San Jose, commonly try to "Out muscle" the Kings and end up playing into their strengths. 2013-14 was an example of teams starting to get wise to the Kings in a seven game series. Thus why you saw most of the series they played in go the distance. The Sharks were absolutely picking apart the Kings until they settled into playing them physically. That is when the series turned. Likewise with Anaheim. That Chicago series was one of the best series in the history of the game and the perfect example of the two best teams playing chess on ice.

So now you hit 2014-15. The Kings have not only lost some personnel but they have naturally had flaws in their games exposed over time. Not to mention the natural downturn of key players ala Stoll and Richards. Speed and quick puck movement have exposed some of the aging players in the past, but it is even more obvious now. It has also shifted the Kings play into more of "Carry-in" style versus a heavy forecheck. That carry-in style can lead to a lot more neutral zone turnovers and odd man attacks coming back at you. I think we have seen far more of those this year than any other year in recent memory.

I think it will be very interesting to see if teams continue to apply that sort of game to the Kings come playoff time when the mentality to "grind out opponents" becomes way more prevalent for some reason. If the Kings face any sort of opponent with a wide open style, ala Nashville or the Islanders, I do not believe it will end well. However, a team like Minnesota or Winnipeg would be hard pressed to win a seven game series against them.

TL;DR

Time and aging players have exposed weakness for the Kings. They have had to change their style based slightly on this, making them a less effective regular season team IMO.

Don't see it this year. You're backing in based on Monday's performance. That doesn't mean you roll through the 1st round and get hot again. I just don't get the "King's come into the playoffs already playing their best" statement. That game was a must win for you. You have probably been handed a spot by Buff's stupidity - not by tearing through the league the last several games.

- tredbrta

I don't see it this year either, I'm talking about the previous 3. That would hold truth.

Also, this years problems were due in large part to injury / suspension, as well as a lack of production from some important players.

I don't see us going deep this year, but if they did, it wouldn't completely surprise me either.

You mean when McCauley and OHalloran ignore all the clutching, grabbing, interference and obstruction by the Kings? If the Hawks are healthy this year they may be better equipped to deal with it. Still a travesty the NHL has decided to ignore interference. It hurts the game. Great point on Lombardi's drafting. His draft style definitely fits the trend.
- tredbrta

No doubt the rules are "different" come playoff time. Zero doubt.......... So what do you do? Build a team that plays heavy (built for playoff rules) and barely makes the playoffs or qualifies as a lower seed without home ice or a team built on skill/speed (regular season rules) and hope to overcome the change in the way the game is called, tilted towards "let em play" in the playoffs?.......Wish it was called the same way in the regular season and playoffs, but it ain't.

And the trend you speak of maybe true but it hasn't found it's way to Chicago yet!! They will live and die with the stick check, mobile defensemen that can move the puck and puck possession.

Since the inception of the cap and the Hawks having to purge much of their roster after having won a couple cups I've wondered if a speed/skill approach can have long term success in a cap world or if going heavy is the better alternative?

This is something I have mused on for some time. I will try to give my best rationale possible.

I think essentially what has happened is that the Kings have been, to a degree, figured out. A playoff contender, at least in my opinion, has about a 3-5 year window where they have a way of playing that has yet to be figured out. Once you start getting into years 4 and 5 you really start seeing a drop off. The Kings are in year 4 right now, arguably year 5.

Think about the run they had in the 2011-12 playoffs in which they ran through basically everyone with relative ease. I believe the team, at that point, was still trying to figure out the system to a degree. If you recall, Sutter was brought in halfway through that year. While the system was virtually the same between TM and Sutter, the message was different.

Enter 2012-13. The Kings actually made the playoffs with relative safety. They were still a bottom seed but they weren't scrapping it out on the last day or the last week. They remained strong most of the year and I don't think there was ever any doubt on them making it.

The playoffs were similar to 2011-12, where the team pretty much breezed through the first two rounds. The Blackhawks however, whom I have the utmost respect for as an organization, were just too good. What Chicago did was show the league, in a way, how to beat the Kings. It wasn't by playing equally as tough, or equally as physical. It was by turning games into a track meet kind of. Quickly executed puck movement and neutral zone pressure really limited the Kings possession and forced them into penalties, turnovers, and lackluster offensive zone time.

This makes sense considering the Kings have always struggled against A) fast teams, and B) good puck moving teams. Teams like Phoenix circa 2011-12, or San Jose, commonly try to "Out muscle" the Kings and end up playing into their strengths. 2013-14 was an example of teams starting to get wise to the Kings in a seven game series. Thus why you saw most of the series they played in go the distance. The Sharks were absolutely picking apart the Kings until they settled into playing them physically. That is when the series turned. Likewise with Anaheim. That Chicago series was one of the best series in the history of the game and the perfect example of the two best teams playing chess on ice.

So now you hit 2014-15. The Kings have not only lost some personnel but they have naturally had flaws in their games exposed over time. Not to mention the natural downturn of key players ala Stoll and Richards. Speed and quick puck movement have exposed some of the aging players in the past, but it is even more obvious now. It has also shifted the Kings play into more of "Carry-in" style versus a heavy forecheck. That carry-in style can lead to a lot more neutral zone turnovers and odd man attacks coming back at you. I think we have seen far more of those this year than any other year in recent memory.

I think it will be very interesting to see if teams continue to apply that sort of game to the Kings come playoff time when the mentality to "grind out opponents" becomes way more prevalent for some reason. If the Kings face any sort of opponent with a wide open style, ala Nashville or the Islanders, I do not believe it will end well. However, a team like Minnesota or Winnipeg would be hard pressed to win a seven game series against them.

TL;DR

Time and aging players have exposed weakness for the Kings. They have had to change their style based slightly on this, making them a less effective regular season team IMO.
- Jason_Lewis

So would you say that the Kings system must change for them to stay competitive? Coach change?

I would think the early on with Voynov out & a few injuries has hurt but that can be said about every bubble team. It just 'appears' that when the whistles are put away the Kings play better, & when they aren't they are frustrated?

Cleaned NY up extremely well then went 2-8 in 2 games where the seasons on the line?

It's all part of the game figuring out the opponents soft spots, but I believe if what you have said is true Sutter needs different personnel to be able to achieve his goals. The players like Richards & maybe Brown aren't getting you guys enough compete to be able to click & win (I only read reviews so I may be way off there). The ageing personnel may not have the capacity to complete 2-1-2 system so Sutter should change it or risk losing completely?

So why are you struggling to reach the playoffs if this system is so effective?

- Aussiepenguin

still think the heavy game has more impact when its a 7 game series than it does in the reg season. puck bounces, possession, etc tend to even out more than they do in isolated games during the season.

barely squeaking it still scares the sht out of me. have been convinced for a while this was the year they don't make it, but the odds are looking a bit better after running through the tri-state area like a team possessed.

I think the main difference is playing how we do, our ups and downs, coming into March and April, we tend to always be playing our best hockey.

Looking out West, teams such as Vancouver and Anaheim have been the top seeds usually these last few years. When you play at such a high level over a prolonged period of time, I think it's hard to keep that edge, especially come playoff time. Dominating games that become blow outs don't necessarily give you that mental edge needed come playoff time.

Kings come into the playoffs already playing their best, meeting a top seeded team who may have been keeping it safe the last week(s) of the season to stay healthy, while the Kings barrel through.
- StayTunedMTC

Yeah, I agree with that. In 2012, when Nux met the Kings they had been coasting for awhile and I think took it for granted they'd beat them as the eighth seed...

I don't think they'll be making that mistake again. I hope the Kings make the playoffs.I'd like to see the Nux play them or Anaheim in the second round... Both would have compelling storylines.

Jason Lewis: What Playing "Kings Hockey" has Meant
- Jason_Lewis

Happy Easter Jason and all Kings fans.

So would you say that the Kings system must change for them to stay competitive? Coach change?

I would think the early on with Voynov out & a few injuries has hurt but that can be said about every bubble team. It just 'appears' that when the whistles are put away the Kings play better, & when they aren't they are frustrated?

Cleaned NY up extremely well then went 2-8 in 2 games where the seasons on the line?

It's all part of the game figuring out the opponents soft spots, but I believe if what you have said is true Sutter needs different personnel to be able to achieve his goals. The players like Richards & maybe Brown aren't getting you guys enough compete to be able to click & win (I only read reviews so I may be way off there). The ageing personnel may not have the capacity to complete 2-1-2 system so Sutter should change it or risk losing completely?
- Aussiepenguin

It depends. The Kings have players in the minors and in development that still fit the mold of the style of game they like to play. Mersch, Kempe, Zykov to an extent. They may not need to do something so drastic like change a coach, especially since the system has proven worthy in the past. They may just need an injection of youth to replace the downturn of some key personnel. Next year is going to be an EXTREMELY important year for the Kings.

You mean when McCauley and OHalloran ignore all the clutching, grabbing, interference and obstruction by the Kings? If the Hawks are healthy this year they may be better equipped to deal with it. Still a travesty the NHL has decided to ignore interference. It hurts the game. Great point on Lombardi's drafting. His draft style definitely fits the trend.
- tredbrta

Remember how most of the Kings wins they blew Chicago out of the water? And how Chicago squeaked by LA in most of their wins? And those PP's that you got from all your flopping? Hell, game 7 as soon as Toffoli scored, it was like someone threw oil all over the ice.

LA was the better team last year. Chicago the year before. LA the year before that. You, know, Sports.

You mean when McCauley and OHalloran ignore all the clutching, grabbing, interference and obstruction by the Kings? If the Hawks are healthy this year they may be better equipped to deal with it. Still a travesty the NHL has decided to ignore interference. It hurts the game. Great point on Lombardi's drafting. His draft style definitely fits the trend.
- tredbrta

Go cry somewhere else.

It depends. The Kings have players in the minors and in development that still fit the mold of the style of game they like to play. Mersch, Kempe, Zykov to an extent. They may not need to do something so drastic like change a coach, especially since the system has proven worthy in the past. They may just need an injection of youth to replace the downturn of some key personnel. Next year is going to be an EXTREMELY important year for the Kings.
- Jason_Lewis

Well as I like saying 'time will tell', as this year is still in play & out of interest I would like to see if the Kings MO is again successful. All things are pointing to a negative but with their reputation & past history it will be very interesting. I think guys like Gaborik have to step up a lot more in the points department though.

Don't see it this year. You're backing in based on Monday's performance. That doesn't mean you roll through the 1st round and get hot again. I just don't get the "King's come into the playoffs already playing their best" statement. That game was a must win for you. You have probably been handed a spot by Buff's stupidity - not by tearing through the league the last several games.



I only hear this statement from the sycophants like Engbloom and his crew. Sometimes from Jones. Not "constantly" from the national media.
- tredbrta

no offense tredbrta, but that second Hawks cup doesn't happen if the NHL officiating weren't so shiite that the Kings got hosed in games 3 and 4 in San Jose... that series should have ended in five games instead of seven.

kings go into the WCF healthy and rested and the Hawks lose that and we have a 3 cup dynasty in L.A....