Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
For the first time since 2007, the Stanley Cup playoffs will be played without the reigning champions taking part as the Los Angeles Kings failed to qualify this season. The team’s track record of marginalizing the regular season and turning it on in the postseason finally caught up with them, and in some ways it could go on to become a blessing in disguise if the early summer is handled correctly.
For starters, for the first time in four years the team won’t be playing into the month of June meaning players will have time to recover from any nagging injuries from this season as well as have a period of rest. For a player like Drew Doughty, who plays nearly 30 minutes per game against the best players in the world every night and has been an integral component of two Stanley Cups and two Olympic Gold Medals in the past five years, time off could be the best possible scenario. After playing nearly 80 playoff games since 2010 — essentially an additional season’s worth — the rest could really be what allows this nucleus to reload and come back stronger than ever in 2015-16, an image that is surely a nightmare for other teams in the Western Conference.
Going a step further, missing the postseason could also led to Dean Lombardi and Darryl Sutter re-evaluating their regular season approach and taking games No. 1-82 slightly more seriously. Doing this would make it so the Kings aren’t scratching and clawing their way into the playoffs down the stretch, allowing the team to be in a better place psychologically going into the postseason.
Despite their season ending prematurely, have the utmost confidence the Kings will be back with a vengeance next season as they look to put the nightmare of missing the playoffs behind them. The team’s track record speaks for itself, and they’ve proven time and time again they know how to overcome adversity. This should be no different.
