'Twas the night before playoffs, and all through Vancouver
slept overconfident fans unaware their team would be losers.
The skates were all hung in the lockers with care,
awaiting the players that soon would be there.
Luongo was nestled, all snug in his bed
while nightmares of Mike Richards appeared in his head.
Carter rushing forward, King with him on the attack
As Lou braces for position, then falls on his back.
As that first of many, many pucks whistled by
Luongo rolled over, with tears in his eyes
When out of nowhere, his cellphone did ring
and he woke to the voice of his teammate, Henrik Sedin.
"Lou, I'm afraid... and feel a little bit sick,
I'm afraid I can't get one past top goalie Jonathan Quick..."
Luongo interrupted, and was a little bit stern,
"I can't help you there, I've my own concerns!"
When he got back in bed, and tried oh so hard to sleep,
He remembered Kopitar, and Williams, and started to weep.
And Doughty! And Mitchell! And Brown, and Stoll!
He shuddered at visions of goal after goal.
He knew it right then, that his team would fall,
and that once they'd bested Vancouver, the Kings would take all.
... Meanwhile across town, the Kings slept just fine,
each with only one vision, "The cup will be mine!"
Go Kings Go!
OK that's just epic.
I'm hereby banishing myself to this thread. I fear that if I venture outside to the main board, or god forbid the Canucks board, I will be infracted into oblivion. I'll be staying here where it's safe and warm.
Looking at the point totals 95 to 111, that is only 8 victories, the Kings should have had a good shot at first in the west if they had been more offensively consistent. The gap isn't as great as people make it out to be, this team can win the series if they don't play stupid.
'Twas the night before playoffs, and all through Vancouver
slept overconfident fans unaware their team would be losers.
The skates were all hung in the lockers with care,
awaiting the players that soon would be there.
Luongo was nestled, all snug in his bed
while nightmares of Mike Richards appeared in his head.
Carter rushing forward, King with him on the attack
As Lou braces for position, then falls on his back.
As that first of many, many pucks whistled by
Luongo rolled over, with tears in his eyes
When out of nowhere, his cellphone did ring
and he woke to the voice of his teammate, Henrik Sedin.
"Lou, I'm afraid... and feel a little bit sick,
I'm afraid I can't get one past top goalie Jonathan Quick..."
Luongo interrupted, and was a little bit stern,
"I can't help you there, I've my own concerns!"
When he got back in bed, and tried oh so hard to sleep,
He remembered Kopitar, and Williams, and started to weep.
And Doughty! And Mitchell! And Brown, and Stoll!
He shuddered at visions of goal after goal.
He knew it right then, that his team would fall,
and that once they'd bested Vancouver, the Kings would take all.
... Meanwhile across town, the Kings slept just fine,
each with only one vision, "The cup will be mine!"
'Twas the night before playoffs, and all through Vancouver
slept overconfident fans unaware their team would be losers.
The skates were all hung in the lockers with care,
awaiting the players that soon would be there.
Luongo was nestled, all snug in his bed
while nightmares of Mike Richards appeared in his head.
Carter rushing forward, King with him on the attack
As Lou braces for position, then falls on his back.
As that first of many, many pucks whistled by
Luongo rolled over, with tears in his eyes
When out of nowhere, his cellphone did ring
and he woke to the voice of his teammate, Henrik Sedin.
"Lou, I'm afraid... and feel a little bit sick,
I'm afraid I can't get one past top goalie Jonathan Quick..."
Luongo interrupted, and was a little bit stern,
"I can't help you there, I've my own concerns!"
When he got back in bed, and tried oh so hard to sleep,
He remembered Kopitar, and Williams, and started to weep.
And Doughty! And Mitchell! And Brown, and Stoll!
He shuddered at visions of goal after goal.
He knew it right then, that his team would fall,
and that once they'd bested Vancouver, the Kings would take all.
... Meanwhile across town, the Kings slept just fine,
each with only one vision, "The cup will be mine!"
Sometime in the early 1980s, Bill James of "Moneyball" fame noted that a baseball team's true strength could largely be determined more accurately by looking at runs scored and runs allowed than by looking at wins and losses. To be more specific, he found that one can predict future win-loss records more accurately using only past runs scored and runs allowed, as opposed to using only past wins and losses. The same can be said for hockey using goals-for and goals-against. Here is the formula, known as the Pythagorean win expectation: Goals for^2 divided by (Goals for^2+ Goals against^2).
For example, when this year's President Trophy winning Vancouver Canucks scored 249 goals and gave up 198, using the Pythagorean formula we could expect them to win 60.6 percent of their games, or 50 wins. They ended the season with 51.
Knowing a team's Pythagorean win expectation also allows us to figure out who is more likely to win in a head-to-head matchup over a seven-game series. Over Vancouver's last 35 games they scored 72 goals while giving up 55 -- almost identical to the Los Angeles Kings (71-57), their first-round opponent -- making this matchup almost a coin flip, albeit one in Los Angeles' favor.
There can be no doubt the Kings have goaltending good enough for an upset over the Vancouver Canucks. Jonathan Quick had 10 shutouts in the regular season, which led the league, and he had another 15 games where he allowed two goals or fewer and suffered the loss.
It is still unclear if Vancouver will be without Daniel Sedin, who led the Canucks with 30 goals before being elbowed by Duncan Keith in a loss to Chicago on March 21. Sedin was back at practice Monday, but if he doesn't return to the lineup, expect Vancouver's power play (which is 2-for-35 in the past nine games) to continue to struggle.
Chance of Los Angeles Kings winning series: 53 percent
Looks like he won't participate for a while he had headache after his last ice pass a couple of days ago and that is not a good sign. I don't believe we will see him in this series.
'Twas the night before playoffs, and all through Vancouver
slept overconfident fans unaware their team would be losers.
The skates were all hung in the lockers with care,
awaiting the players that soon would be there.
Luongo was nestled, all snug in his bed
while nightmares of Mike Richards appeared in his head.
Carter rushing forward, King with him on the attack
As Lou braces for position, then falls on his back.
As that first of many, many pucks whistled by
Luongo rolled over, with tears in his eyes
When out of nowhere, his cellphone did ring
and he woke to the voice of his teammate, Henrik Sedin.
"Lou, I'm afraid... and feel a little bit sick,
I'm afraid I can't get one past top goalie Jonathan Quick..."
Luongo interrupted, and was a little bit stern,
"I can't help you there, I've my own concerns!"
When he got back in bed, and tried oh so hard to sleep,
He remembered Kopitar, and Williams, and started to weep.
And Doughty! And Mitchell! And Brown, and Stoll!
He shuddered at visions of goal after goal.
He knew it right then, that his team would fall,
and that once they'd bested Vancouver, the Kings would take all.
... Meanwhile across town, the Kings slept just fine,
each with only one vision, "The cup will be mine!"
Go Kings Go!
Wow. That is terrific. Nice job.
We know we can beat them and we have the team to do it. Get the job done. GO KINGS!
__________________
"It has not been a good day. I lost my glasses early this morning and I had to go buy a pair of 79 dollar reading glasses today. 79 bucks. You can literally get them at Costco, three-for-20." - Darryl Sutter's response to going up 2-0 in the series.
Such a great gif - while we know what Keith did to Vancouver, this is what the Kings did to Keith.
In all seriousness, though - watching numerous Vancouver games on CI this year, they are more physical, tough, and in your face than in previous years - gritty. I think that's their biggest improvement. The Kings need to come out flying and hitting - hard.
Such a great gif - while we know what Keith did to Vancouver, this is what the Kings did to Keith.
In all seriousness, though - watching numerous Vancouver games on CI this year, they are more physical, tough, and in your face than in previous years - gritty. I think that's their biggest improvement. The Kings need to come out flying and hitting - hard.
I disagree. It's the same group of sackless clowns minus one head hunting a-hole in Torres. The Kings need to take it to them physically for 60 minutes each game if they want to take the series. This Vancouver squad can be intimidated and worn down. They usually only come out hitting for half a period, take a lead, then clamp down defensively. Weather that early storm, over power them throughout, and the Kings can win this series in 6.
Kings need to get through the 1st 10 minutes without giving up a goal. If they do that, they've got a very good chance of taking game 1.
Get that great forecheck going that we've seen over the past 15-20 games and they'll come out with the win. Get the puck in and crash and bang the hell out of the Canucks d-men. Create turn overs and get the puck back to the point, get the point shots through and crash the net like crazy. Get in Luongo's face and don't let him see anything coming from the point.
Win at all costs. Get tonight's game and put doubt in their minds and force a must win situation for the Canucks heading toward game two. That will tighten their sphincters.
Can't wait to make the trek down from Canada and to be in LA at Staples for Games 3 & 4 with my fellow Kings fans.
