Los Angeles Kings May Be Done But Kings’ Hockey Is Not Over Yet

All eyes are on the United States (which was built by the Kings’ general manager and architect Dean Lombardi) and Canada as there could be a giant possibility (but you never know in hockey) that the 2 hockey superpowers could face off for the Gold Medal at the end of the tournament.  Both teams are playing with strength and determination, and have now seemed to be adjusted to the larger international ice surface of 200 feet x 100 feet as opposed to the smaller NHL ice measurements of 200 feet x 85 feet.  The larger ice allows for more room so therefore more opportunities to skate around and maneuver the puck (like we saw at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia).  This is great for players of greater skating skill or of smaller size.  The smaller NHL ice makes things more crowded as the less space a player has, the more likely of a chance they are gonna get checked or countered.

All six of our Kings’ are playing very well and despite what country you are rooting for, if its “first” line partners Kopitar and Gaborik squaring off against each other, Lewis scoring a big goal for Team USA against Russia or Martin Jones getting a shut-out for Canada then we should all be proud of them in the end!

https://youtu.be/LXSqDX-cMRs

Team Canada plays France (Sat, May 9), Switzerland (Sun, May 10) and Austria (Tues, May 12) next while Team USA plays Denmark (Fri, May 8), Slovenia (Sun, May 10) and Slovakia (Tues, May 12) before the elimination rounds begin.

Kings Stats –

Canada – T. Toffoli  GP 4, G 2, A 2, Pts 4, +5

Canada – J. Muzzin GP 4, G 0, A 2, Pts 2, +3

Canada – M. Jones  GP 1, 1-0 0, GAA 0.00, SHO 1, SPCTG 1.000

Slovenia – A. Kopitar  GP 3, G 1, A 1, Pts 2

Slovakia – M. Gaborik  GP 4, G 2, A 1, Pts 3, +1

USA – T. Lewis GP 3, G 2, A 1, Pts 3, +2

Fun Kings related Facts –

– Remember that 1994 Los Angeles Kings team that didn’t make the Stanley Cup playoffs after making the final in 1993? Well that allowed Kings’ legend Luc Robitaille to Captain Team Canada to a 1994 World Championship victory for Canada’s first Gold Medal in 33 years!  Robitaille scored the goal medal winning shoot-out goal while current Kings’ goaltending coach Bill Ranford made the shoot-out winning save to win it all! LA Kings’ legend Rob Blake as well as popular Kings’ defenseman Darryl Sydor were also a part of this historic team and victory.