Kings' road back to respectability looks like a long one (Daily News)

[rinkrat]

The Kings needed to identify a No. 1 goalie. They didn't. They needed to find defensemen who put even the slightest fear into opponents. They couldn't.

To little surprise, they sunk to the bottom of the NHL.

Unless the Kings earn two points today in their season finale against the Ducks, they run the risk of finishing last in the league for the first time since 1969-70, the franchise's third season.

This is progress? In the second season with general manager Dean Lombardi and coach Marc Crawford in charge, the Kings will finish 15th (and last) in the Western Conference, compared to 14th last year.

This is the sixth anniversary of the Kings' last playoff appearance, and although magangement continues to preach patience during a rebuilding process, this season should have been a step forward, not backward.

"I think we expected to be in the (playoff) hunt," Lombardi said Friday. "I think it was realistic to think. That was a realistic expectation. ... We had to tighten up in our own (defensive) end and we didn't do it."

Kings' road back to respectability looks like a long one - LA Daily News

[empire]

The kids we draft this year won't be here for a couple of years, so what does our team look like in October..
Will it be in the playoff hunt.

[Hockey53]

Originally Posted by empire

The kids we draft this year won't be here for a couple of years, so what does our team look like in October..
Will it be in the playoff hunt.

I would say yes te Kings will be in the playoff hunt next year. With a few major suprises in the offseason. DL will make a couple trades at the Draft and depending upon where the Kings finish in the Draft Lottery this Monday, I could see DL trading down. Ofcourse a first overall pick will mena STAAAAAMMMMKKKKOOOOOSSSSS.