Thumbs Up Thumbs Down Kings 2018
- Updated: December 31, 2018
As we head into a New Year, let’s hope we get some new Kings to watch, because the beginning of the 2018 season hasn’t been one for the books. The Kings are in the last place, winning only 15 of their 39 games so far. 8 teams have that few wins, but they either have more overtime points or haven’t played as many games or both. They are winning 0.423 of their games and are on track for being the 31st worst team in NHL history since the expansion in 1967-1968, of which there have been 1210 (thanks to Jesse Cohen for figuring that out. If you don’t follow the math, a figure that every team per season is one team, so somewhere, between all the teams, only 30 seasons in the NHL have been worse than this). Of all the things that have gone wrong, there have been a few that went right – here are my picks for the biggest blunders and biggest hopes for next season.
Thumbs Down – Special Teams
While the Kings power play has never been stellar, it’s currently 27th in the league, working at 12.8%. Their penalty kill, which was once top of the league, sits 20th in the league at 74.3%, ahead of only Chicago at 74.2%. (The Flyers and Senators are also close, with 74.4 and 74.5 respectively.) Penalty kills have always been the King’s strength, and when they’re failing this badly, it’s been telling in the scoresheet. Don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone? That’s the kill this season. And yes the power play has never been anything to write home about, but this season it’s been a black hole. SO much so that we’re actually asking if we can give them back. No thanks, we do better-5-on-5 thanks, no man advantage necessary. The other team will just ice the puck and we’ll waste 2 minutes.
Thumbs Up – Dustin Brown
Brown has 10 goals, 10 assists in 27 games more than any other player on the Kings roster. (I know this is supposed to be a thumbs up but in looking this up I found a really depressing statistic – as we stand Nikita Kucherov sits at the top of the league with 63 points, and Ovechkin the top goal scorer with 29. Brown only comes in at 115th in goal scoring, and Kopitar is the first King on the points list, coming in at 107th in the league. Literally, no King cracked the top 100. And here’s why Brown is on this list and Kopitar isn’t – Brown is making $5.5 million and missed the first 10 games of the season with an injury. Kopitar earns almost double that and has played every single game, yet he only has 5 more points than Brown. Brown has been gritty, going to the net, and basically getting the job done. He’s doing exactly what he’s paid to do, while others – let’s face it much higher paid others – have been disappointing.
Thumbs Down – Injuries
If my math is correct – and it’s entirely possible it’s not – the Kings have lost 168 man games to injury this season (which if I’m also correct does not include goalies). Brodzinski has missed the whole season with a shoulder injury and is still listed as out indefinitely. Martinez has been out since December 12th but may draw back into the lineup soon. Lewis has been out since November 27th and is still listed as week to week. (I miss him so, so much.) We had Hagelin for 5 games where he posted 2 assists before he injured his knee; he’s still listed week to week. Phaneuf was just activated after missing the past week. Every time we thought we were fine – hey Carter is back! – something else happened – hey Wagner has a concussion from a Karlsson hit. We lost Brown for the first 10 games, Kovalchuk for 10, Clifford (and while he’s not a huge goal scorer, the Kings have felt his absence), even Kopitar was out sick once, we’ve lost Carter twice, Quick twice, and during one of Quick’s absences we lost his backup Campbell, who is still out. I’m not a superstitious person, but the Kings have had enough trouble getting it together this season – disrupting the lines and pairings with injuries, one after the other – literally there hasn’t been a game where they’ve had a full, healthy lineup as intended – it does appear they’re somewhat cursed by the hockey Gods. I mean really, two goalies out with a groin strain at the same time? What even is that??
Thumbs Up – Drawing With Drew
Doughty hasn’t been his Norris Trophy-winning self lately, but we do have his jumbotron entertainment to consume, and it’s delightful. Some of the highlights are here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ylf-xjY20aA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqwTozxD1dg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkJ56IKTomw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzxO0gc-4_0
You feel better now, don’t you?
Thumbs Down – Puck Control
The Kings only have 88 goals for. They’re averaging 2.26 goals a game. They rank 26th in shots per game, with 29. (To put it in perspective, the worst is Anaheim at 27.4 and the best is Carolina with 37.3.) While their shots against aren’t bad, fairly average actually – 13th in the league at 31.5, the defense has been good at blocking shots, so it’s not that there haven’t been chances. All this to say – the Kings seriously lack puck control. They can’t get offense because they can’t get near their net. The neutral zone is a mess, their passes are sloppy and unfocused, and when they do manage to get into the zone, their shots aren’t what you need. But it all starts with being able to handle the puck, and the Kings just don’t have that this season.
Thumbs Up – Season Ticket Holder Event
This year Tip-A-King and the Season Ticket Holder’s annual Meet The Players event was combined, and it was a huge hit. It’s been easy to cry over the boys on the ice, but off it, they were delightful. The event was scheduled more like the Meet the Players rather than Tip-A-King – meaning it wasn’t after a game because typically, the Kings have lost those games and haven’t been in the best of moods. But this year I brought the annual K9 Calendar which I thoroughly recommend for its adorableness. I had each player sign by their dog, giving them the chance to talk about something they loved. Phaneuf was so excited he got out his phone and took photos of his page because he hadn’t seen it yet. We joked about giving her some headshot lessons. Lewis and Martinez, still injured, had something to focus on that wasn’t the Kings record, and who doesn’t smile at that calendar? In all the harshness of the season, it’s nice to remember the Kings are good people at heart who really want to do well. So let’s work on those special teams, puck control and stay healthy going into 2019, maybe this season can turn around.
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