One of my earlier blogs this year compared the Oilers and the Kings as two teams rebuilding and how both went about that Herculean task. Edmonton attacked their do-over with wide, broad and some might argue desperate choices. In fact, a statement could be made that Mike Richards and Alex Ovechkin have Kevin Lowe to thank for their 12 and 13 year deals. The scare of a potential offer sheet motivated the hockey equivalent of lifetime tenure in these recent contract extensions.
In contrast, the Kings approach is the exact opposite. Fine tune top to bottom, no player, contract or team vendor is too small for Lombardi to attack and rethink. Los Angeles’ take has opponents taking the Kings lightly and motivated more than one reporter to coin the phrase the “Lowly Kings”. In fairness, this year’s Kings could bring a sane soul to drink with their inconsistency.
A funny thing happened Tuesday. One team got started from minute one. One team skated nowhere in the first, took off in the second which turned out to be too little too late. In a nice change of pace, the Kings were the former and not the latter. The Oilers came into the game off a solid win against Calgary and in the midst of a four game home winning streak.
Committed and Confident (Carla Muller) 
Len-Det64
