Series Wrapup: Los Angeles Kings 4-1 Vancouver Canucks

I'm gonna do my best here to remain as objective and impartial as possible in describing this series, but being that I'm a Kings fan and my team just beat the Vancouver fucking Canucks in five games, that's gonna prove a little difficult. 


Aside from a few brave predictors, most everyone had the Canucks taking this series in at most six games. For the Kings, the matchup was ominous: the Western Conference Stanley Cup finalists coming off their second straight President's-Trophy-winning season. But there was a glimmer of hope that came in the form of Roberto Luongo.


When I found out that my Kings, by virtue of losing the last two games of the regular season to the Sharks, were going to face off against the Canucks instead of the Blues, I was a happy motherfucker. That's not to say that the Canucks aren't a great hockey team, but they are and were an incomplete one. Missing one Sedin and with perpetual choker Luongo in net, the Canucks looked human. And they were. 


Not only did the Kings steal the home ice advantage, they won all three games they played in Vancouver. Were it not for the momentum boost brought on by Daniel Sedin's return in Game 4 in Los Angeles, the Kings would have almost surely swept the series. The Canucks made the right call in switching to Cory Schneider for Game 3 and onwards, but it was too late. The Kings had all the momentum going back to Los Angeles and there was really no point where winning the series was ever in doubt thanks to the outstanding performance of Jonathan Quick. Cue goaltending controversy, Luongo trade request, and Canuck fan excuses ("That was totally a penalty by Lewis on Hamhuis!").


Noticeably absent from the series were Jeff Carter (big surprise) [5GP - 0G - 2A] and Ryan Kesler [5GP - 0G - 3A]. The latter's absence was crucial for Vancouver, who were lacking Daniel's offense already. The former's absence was not debilitating but he'll need to show up for the rest of the playoffs for the Kings to make any noise.


Looking at the flip side of the coin, a talented Sharks team lost in five games to the Blues. Do I think the Kings would have suffered the same fate? Most definitely. This Blues playoff group has not had a lot of time to form playoff cohesion, but it's a deep and well-rounded group that plays Ken Hitchcock hockey. There are no easy wins against the Blues. That said, the Kings now enter the semifinal with plenty of momentum from their first-round upset. They're also not as bad of a team as their seeding indicates. It's going to be one hell of a (low-scoring and probably boring) series. Doesn't matter. That the Kings made it this far (and created all kinds of issues for Vancouver going forward) is a successful season in itself. Anything else is gravy.

Flavor of the Series:

Brouwerij 't IJ Columbus. Why?

You don't expect that kind of quality from a little Dutch brewery.