NHL Stanley Cup Finals: Los Angeles Kings and 11 Most Unexpected Finalists Ever

The Los Angeles Kings were supposed to be contenders when they began the NHL season. However, they failed to play well out of the gate and quickly fell out of the race. When the Kings barely made the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Western Conference, no one expected that they would make it to the Stanley Cup Final.

Everyone thought that the New Jersey Devils would make it past the Florida Panthers, but not a lot of people thought they would make it past the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers.

The 2012 edition of the Stanley Cup Final is definitely an unexpected matchup.

Over the years, there have been surprising teams that made the final. From eighth-seeded teams that found a way to make it past the first round and farther, to fourth-seeded to teams that defeated heavily favored defending champions on their way to the final.

Here are the 11 most surprising Stanley Cup finalists.

2012 Los Angeles Kings

Opponent in the Final: New Jersey Devils

Path to the Final: Defeated Vancouver in five games, St. Louis in four, Phoenix in five

Place in Conference: Eighth

As I said in the introductory slide, the Los Angeles Kings have been a huge surprise this season. They have fought their way through the top-, second- and third-seeded teams in the Western Conference under the strong efforts of Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar and the stellar Jonathan Quick.

The Kings have huge momentum heading into the final and could very well be bringing the Stanley Cup back to California for the first time since 2007.

2012 New Jersey Devils

Opponent in the Final: Los Angeles Kings

Path to the Final: Defeated Florida in seven games, Philadelphia in five, New York Rangers in six

Place in Conference: Sixth

The New Jersey Devils entered the playoffs as the favorites against the third-seeded Florida Panthers. However, it took them a full seven games to get past them. When they faced the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round, they were given a shot, but with the Flyers boasting the playoffs' leading scorer in Claude Giroux, the Devils were expected to go home.

After making it past the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers, the Devils are now entering the final against a team that is on the same footing as them.

2007 Ottawa Senators

Opponent in the Final: Anaheim Ducks

Path to the Final: Defeated the Pittsburgh in five games, New Jersey in five, Buffalo in five

Place in Conference: Fourth

The Ottawa Senators might have been the fourth-seeded team but their opponent in the playoffs all had some challenge to them. Their first-round opponent, Pittsburgh, boasted Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury in their first playoff appearances. In the second round, they faced the team that kept them from making the Stanley Cup Final in 2003.

In the third-round, they faced the first-place team in the Eastern Conference in the Buffalo Sabres. Yet, they fought their way past them easily and made to the Stanley Cup Final. Twenty-three goals off the hands of Ottawa's first line of Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza was a big part of it.

2006 Edmonton Oilers

Opponent in the Final: Carolina Hurricanes

Path to the Final: Defeated Detroit in six games, San Jose in six, Anaheim in five

Place in Conference: Eighth

Under the strong efforts of Dwayne Roloson, Edmonton surprised everyone by making it past the league-best Detroit Red Wings, the fifth-seeded Sharks and the sixth-seeded Sharks.

While taking out San Jose and Anaheim weren't huge surprises, the fact that they were able to make it past the Steve Yzerman- and Brendan Shanahan-led Red Wings was a huge surprise.

2004 Calgary Flames

Opponent in the Final: Tampa Bay Lightning

Path to the Final: Defeated Vancouver in seven games, Detroit in six, San Jose in six

Place in Conference: Sixth

The 2004 Calgary Flames have one thing in common with the 2012 Kings: Darryl Sutter as their head coach.

Just like the Kings of this season, the Flames fought their way through the top-, second- and third-seeded teams in the Western Conference.

One of the hardest-working teams of that year, the Flames were led by "Rocket" Richard Trophy winner Jarome Iginla as well as Miikka Kiprusoff, who had five shutouts in the playoffs.

2003 Anaheim Ducks

Opponent in the Final: New Jersey Devils

Path to the Final: Defeated Detroit in four games, Dallas in six, Minnesota in four

Place in Conference: Seventh

One of the few times that a member of the losing team won the Conn Smythe Trophy, the Anaheim Ducks were led to the Stanley Cup Final by goaltender Jean-Sebatien Giguere.

Defeating the defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings and the Western Conference-leading Dallas Stars, the Ducks faced off against another surprise team in the Minnesota Wild in the Western Conference final.

Giguere fully established himself as a great goaltender in that series, only allowing one goal.

1996 Florida Panthers

Opponent in the Final: Colorado Avalanche

Path to the Final: Defeated Boston in five games, Philadelphia in six, Pittsburgh in seven

Place in Conference: Fourth

The Florida Panthers were one of the newer teams in the league when they made it to the Stanley Cup Final in 1996. Led by John Vanbiesbrouck, Brian Skrudland and Scott Mellanby, the Panthers weren't a team to be trifled with.

This is also the year that the rat craze in Florida started and that definitely gave them some good luck.

1994 Vancouver Canucks

Opponent in the Final: New York Rangers

Path to the Final: Defeated Calgary in seven games, Dallas in five, Toronto in five

Place in Conference: Seventh

The Vancouver Canucks have had some bad luck in the Stanley Cup Final, but when they make it there, it's fun to watch.

Scoring upset after upset, the Canucks were led by Pavel Pure and Trevor Linden. Bure was the leader in scoring by a forward in the playoffs, second only to Brian Leetch of the New York Rangers overall.

1993 Los Angeles Kings

Opponent in the Final: Montreal Canadiens

Path to the the Final: Defeated Calgary in six games, Vancouver in six, Toronto in seven

Place in Conference: Sixth

Los Angeles' run to the final in 1993 will always be remembered for what happened in the Clarence Campbell Conference final. The missed high-sticking call on Wayne Gretzky by Kerry Fraser will always be the first thing brought up by anyone who watched this series.

1991 Minnesota North Stars

Opponent in the Final: Pittsburgh Penguins

Path to the Final: Defeated Chicago in six games, St. Louis in six, Edmonton in five

Place in Conference: Seventh

The Minnesota North Stars may have had the worst run of opponents a lower-seeded team could have had.

They first took on the league-leading Chicago Blackhawks, taking them out in six games. Then they faced the second-place St. Louis Blues, who were finished in six games as well. To top it all off, the faced the defending Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers, taking them out in five games.

Unfortunately, their luck ran out facing the sixth-overall team, the Penguins, losing to them in six games.

1967 Toronto Maple Leafs

Opponent in the Final: Montreal Canadiens

Path to the Final: Defeated Chicago in six games, Montreal in six

Place in League: Third

The Toronto Maple Leafs of 1967 were one of, if not, the oldest teams in the league that year. They were not even supposed to make the playoffs, but they made into the top four and made it past the first-place Chicago Blackhawks in the semifinals. They then took out archrival Montreal to win their last Stanley Cup to date.