Talking About the Kings

Remember when the Los Angeles Kings lost their first three games of the season? Well, put those to rest. The Kings are 18-5-1 since then and look like they are ready to take the Stanley Cup crown.

Now obviously, it's still a little early to declare them the champs and we still have the playoffs to go through. But in my mind, they are like the Seahawks (my NFL team). They can do damage in the playoffs and they look ready to do that, but there are still months ahead for that.

There are several reasons why the LA Kings should be hard to beat.

1. Their history. The Kings are not the new kids on the street, but they have won a Stanley Cup 18 months ago, and two of them in the past 42 months. The core group has been responsible for most of those Stanley Cup wins, so look for them to do it again once they get there.

2. The puck control. For those of you who are analytical, the Corsi rating for the Kings is 57.6%. That's the best so far. If you don't know what Corsi is, it is the statistical measure of puck possession. That's pretty good for a very dominant team in the league.

3. Doughty is Norris Trophy candidate. Drew Doughty might just be a lock for the Norris Trophy when the awards come. So far, he's averaging 27:42 minutes a game and his Corsi rating is 59.75%. He's a difference-maker in the league, puck heads. Take notice!

4. Hot defense. The Kings are currently second in the league with a 2.07 goals-against-average per game. And Jonathan Quick in goal has also been responsible for that GAA. It's already tough to score against this team.

5. The Right time. Right now, the Kings look as good as anybody and they have the necessary players to win in the NHL again. There's your veterans, such as Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, and Jake Muzzin, and then there's your coach in Darryl Sutter who's been helping to build this team to look like a contender.

If you figure all of these reasons into the Kings' season so far, they look like a dominant threat to win the Stanley Cup. They could be the San Francisco Giants of the NHL. But, like they said, it's still too early. The season started two months ago, and it could easily slip away from them come February or March. But right now, right now, we got a team looking like they can go all the way.