THE KINGS DYNASTY

The Kings are a modern ( Cap era) NHL dynasty and are 1 Stanley Cup away from being a dynasty in any era. The Kings have won 2 Cups in 3 years and went to the semifinals the other year. There have been 5 great teams in the post lockout era. The Penguins, Bruins, Blackhawks, Red Wings and Kings, of those teams only the Blackhawks have equaled the Kings 2 Cups. The Penguins and bruins have owned the Eastern Conferences regular seasons but have only 1 Cup apiece. The Red Wings started the Cup era on top and have maintained a playoff presence for the last decade but are not in the same class as the other 4 teams I mentioned.

The Kings have the best goaltender in hockey and certainly the best goaltender of the elite teams. Jonathan Quick is an amazing big game performer. Lunqvist maybe just as good but the Rangers are only a better than average team. Rask and Crawford are steady but not spectacular and Fluery can be spectacular but not always steady. Quick’s back up Martin Jones is no slouch either letting Quick take a breather in the regular season.

The Kings Drew Doughty is the best defenseman in hockey. He’s Kris Letang with a brain and 40lbs. Both the Blackhawks and the Bruins have Norris trophy caliber D men at the top of their 6 ( Duncan Keith, Zdeno Chara) but fall off sharply at the bottom of their 6 ( ancient Michael Rosival, midget Tory Krug). Every King defensemen 1-6 is tough, fast enough and good enough with the puck. Some are better than other but with the exception of Greene , a heart and soul guy, they’re all top 4 on every other NHL team.

The Kings are the best 4 line team in hockey. The addition of Marian Gaborik at the deadline gave the Kings one of the 3 best lines in hockey and the purest best 1^st line in hockey. The Penguins with Sid and Geno and the Hawks with Kane and Toews have amazing 1^st lines but those lines come at the expense of the the 2^nd lines which get broken up to make them. The Kings first line Has a Selkie finalist and all around great player/ beast at center Anze Kopitar , pure sniper who gets his nose dirty Marian Gaborik and the best captain in hockey Dustin Brown.

The Kings 2^nd line is centered by long time NHL lamp lighter Jeff Carter and his wings Tyler Tiffoli and Tanner Pearson are young, fast ,big and both got nice hands.

What more do you want out of your 3^rd and 4^th lines. You got the NHL’s best face off man Jared Stoll and one of the clutchest guy of all time , this year’s Conn Smythe Justin Williams on the 3^rd line  and the win at all cost Mike Richards centering your 4^th line. Most of the Kings 3^rd and 4^th liners would have played on the Pens top 2 lines this year. Boston’s bottom 2 lines never recovered from trading Tyler Seguin and Rich Peverly to Dallas. The Blackhawks are the closest to the Kings in forward depth and may even be stronger up top. That is why they are the Kings biggest challenge to cementing an all time dynasty in Southern California because they’re working on one of their own next to a great lake.