You know as a hockey fan, there are certain teams that I think will simply never win a Stanley Cup.  The Hartford Whalers, Florida Panthers, and Washington Capitals come to mind.  In fact until the past couple of years I had the Los Angeles Kings on that list as well.  They were just a team that I thought would never win a Stanley Cup.  I mean this team could not even win a Cup with Wayne Gretzky.  However after a number of years sub-par play and being also-rans, the Kings have assembled a team of young workhorses and now under the coaching leadership of Darryl Sutter are one win away from capturing the Holy Grail of hockey, the Stanley Cup.  The Los Angeles Kings have done it in style no less.  A team that is spending at or around $54 million on their roster is going to capture the Stanley Cup.

The Los Angeles Kings Dominant 2012 Playoff Performance

Nobody and I mean nobody expected the Los Angeles Kings to dominate the regular season league leading Vancouver Canucks in a mere five games.  Let’s take a look at some of the dominance that the Kings have had in the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs.  The Kings have not made the finals since 1993 where they lost to the Montreal Canadiens.  There is no shortage of Kings coverage, but here are a few reasons why the Los Angeles Kings are about to be crowned Stanley Cup Champions.

10 Areas of Dominance from the Los Angeles Kings

• Jonathan Quick has turned aside all but two of the 72 shots New Jersey has mustered so far, perfect with 22 saves for his third shutout of the postseason on Monday night.  Should the Kings win game four Quick will have gone 16-2 in the 2012 NHL Playoffs.  He has a save percentage floating around 95% with a mere 24 goals allowed in his first 17 games.  This stuff is just unheard of.  Not only should Quick wing the Conn Smythe, but the Vezina and the Hart trophies as well.  He has had a dominating year.
• The Kings are just the fourth team in Stanley Cup playoff history to lead all four series by a 2-0 margin.
• The Kings are the only team in history to knock off the top three seeds in their conference
• The Kings have set a record for consecutive road wins in the playoffs
• Of the 21 skaters who have played in at least one playoff game for the Kings in this postseason, 17 have scored at least one goal and 18 have recorded at least a single point.
• Should the Kings win game four and sweep the Devils, the Kings will have won 16 out of 18 playoff games.  This is a staggering .889 winning percentage.
• The Kings penalty kill has been perfect in the Stanley Cup Finals.  After game three, New Jersey’s power play is 0-for-11 in the series.
• The Kings will be the first eight seed team to win the Stanley Cup (the Edmonton Oilers as an eighth seed lost in seven games to Carolina in 2006).
• The Los Angeles Kings became the first team in NHL history to take a 3-0 lead in all four playoff series.
• The Kings have a solid lineup in Kopitar, Doughty, Brown, Richards, Carter, Williams, Mitchell & of course Quick; with a supporting cast of Penner, Greene, Bernier, Stoll and a decent fouth line as good as any that we have seen in a while.

However, there are some who suggest that the Kings style of play is simply bad for hockey.  Their defensive style, reliant on the shot block, drains the life out of hockey.  There is some truth to this.  Had it not been for Johnathan Quick the Kings, one of the lowest scoring teams in the league, would not even be in the playoffs.  Some say “Los Angeles Kings, Stanley Cup Champions” just doesn’t sound right.  As a hockey fan I used to think this as well, however in 2012 using Los Angeles Kings and Stanley Cup in the same sentence just makes sense stifling hockey or not.