Author: Connor Doyle
US Navy Veteran and UCLA Class of 2024. Background in International Development Studies. Los Angeles born and raised. Following hockey for over a decade.
Questions Ahead as Championship Duo Enters Pivotal 23-24 Season
The formidable ‘Holy Trinity’ in hockey is a team that covets a: world-class goaltender, defenseman, and centerman. It is a recipe that has a proven track record, with the 2012-14 championship era LA Kings as a perfect example. They weren’t a juggernaut regular season team but were systematic in a seven-game series. The Kings won […]
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3 Forwards with “Make or Break” seasons going into 2023-24
In a year where the LA Kings were no longer playing with ‘house’ money, many blue-chip prospects stepped into more significant roles. Gabriel Vilardi has broken out, and with a hopeful bridge contract on the horizon, he seems to be a lock to score 50-60 points when healthy (iffy history). This is after a year […]
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LA Kings: What Does the Blue Line Look Like Next Season?
The LA Kings made the playoffs for back-to-back years for the first time since 2013-2014. While they played with house money last year, this year’s expectations were higher than ever. These expectations were expanded on with Rob Blakes’s potential rental move, sending franchise icon goaltender Jonathan Quick to Columbus for Vladislav Gavrikov and Joonas Korpisalo. […]
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A Sunrise, or Sunset for the LA Kings: The Aftermath
For the second year in a row, the LA Kings have been bounced out of the playoffs by the Edmonton Oilers. It took six games, three of which went to overtime, for the Oilers to advance to play the Vegas Golden Knights. In many ways, this series was a disappointment, regardless of the uphill climb […]
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Line Over The Boards: Pushed to the Brink
Last year for Game Five in Edmonton, the LA Kings and Oilers went back and forth to lead the game to an overtime match. Adrian Kempe sealed that game just 72 seconds in. It was the only overtime game in last year’s series. This year we have seen three overtime games in the first four […]
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Line Over The Boards: Kings Take Series Lead Amidst Controversial OT
In the first playoff game at Crypto.com area this season, the LA Kings have established themselves in a pretty good spot. Not only did they establish a lead in the series (again), but they finally played a first period where they outshot, outhit, and outscored the Oilers. The Oilers have outscored the Kings 4-0 this […]
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Line Over the Boards: Resiliency to a Tee
The Edmonton Oilers are clear-cut favorites in a series where the LA Kings, while threatening a Pacific, and Western Conference title, lost steam and traction when losing four key players to injuries. The Oilers, meanwhile, maintained their steam and traction, holding the best record in the NHL since Jan 1st. The Mattias Ekholm trade, Stuart […]
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The Injury-Plagued Kings Finally Bare Teeth
The Kings have been on the receiving end of some particularly dirty plays. Whether they got called for the exact nature of the incident is pointless now. Besides the glaring run and high hit on Kempe not just a few days ago, the knee-on-knee incident by Andrew Cogliano on leading point producer Kevin Fiala, the […]
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Pheonix Copley, Bill Masterton Nominee and Kings’ Savior
After making a surprise visit to the playoffs last year and dealing some damage, the Kings were poised to make more noise this season. The icon goaltender Jonathan Quick and the heir apparent Cal Peterson were the Kings goalie rotation to start 2022-23. Quick finished his year with the Kings before being traded to the […]
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Line Over the Boards April 8th: Descending the Throne
The LA Kings nipped at the heels of the Vegas Golden Knights and the Western Conference lead for most of March. They went on a dominant 10-0-2 run in March and looked like the top challenger out of the West. Since that run, the Kings have been slipping. Their defensive structure remains intact, but offensively […]
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