NHL Playoffs 2012: Los Angeles Kings' Surge Should Come as No Surprise

In the waning days of the Los Angeles Kings’ 2011-2012 regular season, the words “desperation” and “must-win” resounded far louder than the “Let’s go, Kings!” chants the Staples Center crowd loyally roared on as the Kings finished as the eighth and final-seeded team in a stacked Western Conference.

Two back-to-back extracurricular losses to their Cali-rival San Jose Sharks (in which they wasted two-goal leads in each game) squandered any momentum they could have mustered as they dragged their season-worn blades into the playoffs with absolutely no opportunity to start a series on home ice. To call the regular season a disappointment would be a tragically gross understatement.  How do you approach the playoffs after such a psychologically challenging year?

“We’ve done it before and we’ll do it again,” responded Kings head coach Darryl Sutter, addressing the Kings’ opening round matchup with the Presidents' Trophy-winning Vancouver Canucks. "Once they announced the Coyotes' [division-clinching] game, it seemed the team was satisfied with just being in the playoffs. Now it is my responsibility to make sure they're not satisfied anymore."

Whatever Sutter’s miracle cocktail is on the Kings, it’s working. His team stormed through the first two rounds of the playoffs, dispatching the top two-seeded teams in their conference in a grand total of nine games. They’ve jumped to 3-0 leads in every series, and so far have only lost one game in the entire postseason.

But should this dramatic uprising come as a surprise to anyone?

The Kings have tremendous depth both offensively and defensively. They have six former 30-goal scorers, a tight-checking defensive unit (led by a former Norris Trophy candidate) and an impossibly talented netminder who is currently in Vezina contention as best goalie in the league. They have a wonderful balance of seasoned vets who can lead the way and ambitious youngsters who can provide energy and excitement. Really, when you give it due consideration, it was only a matter of time before this crop of talent clicked and became the dominant, omni-balanced team that could steal away both the promise of their higher-seeded counterparts and possibly the Stanley Cup.

Their Cinderella run has been well-documented, and the press has been buzzing over their improbable dominance over such highly-skilled contenders, but in the end (and as they have proven), they can be a powerhouse of a team.

"It probably means a lot more to other people being a big upset and them being the Presidents' Trophy winner," said Kings team leader Dustin Brown, after resigning the Canucks players to the golf course for the rest of their summer. "For this team, it was what we were going for the whole time."

Nothing has changed for this Kings team but their determination and team chemistry. So long as their best players play like superstars and they don’t allow their hearts to circumvent their composure, look for the Kings to be hoisting their first ever Stanley Cup come this June. Because the talent is there.