The L.A. Kings have arrived finally. No one is denying that. Los Angeles has two titles in the past three years. But can the L.A. Kings truly become a dynasty? NBC’s lead team of NHL experts doesn’t think it’s going to happen for them this year. The NHL on NBC’s lead announce team of Eddie Olczyk, Pierre McGuire and Mike “Doc” Emrick were on conference call for national media covering the NHL.
(and the L.A. Kings too)
DOC EMRICK: I see those teams out West being so strong and probably there will be a 97 point team that’ll miss, but there are physical battles that will take place involving probably St. Louis and Los Angeles and even Chicago before it’s all done, and I think the carnage factor, even though Los Angeles has disproved this in the past with their size and kind of hiding in the weeds until the Playoffs, I think this is Boston’s year.
I really think this is Boston’s turn. They’ve got almost everybody back, and they’ve just signed a couple of their very important younger players, and I just like the looks of what I’ve seen in Boston already in preseason, and I think this is their year to get it back again.
EDDIE OLCZYK: LA will not win because the numbers say we haven’t had a repeat winner in 18 or 19 years, whatever the number is since Detroit. It is so difficult. You need a lot of things to go right. You’ve got to have some luck, and you look at the hole they dug themselves out of last year. It’s well documented. But in this era now, with changeover and salary cap and what have you, two out of three, that’s pretty stealthy in my eyes. But the numbers say they won’t be able to because we haven’t had one in a long time.
PIERRE McGUIRE: I think another compounding thing is you just don’t know on the health of Jonathan Quick. He had another off-season surgery. He gave me one of the best lines I’ve ever gotten from a player when I asked him, do you think a lot of young people will try to copy your goaltending style over time because it’s proven to be successful. He goes, they may try to copy it, but they’re going to end up in an emergency room, and I think that the way he plays is so super aggressive, and Sam Flood has used this line many times when he used to talk about Tim Thomas, Tim Thomas plays the position like a linebacker in football. Well, Jonathan Quick does the very same thing, and I worry a lot about whether he’s going to have enough juice left in the tank, so I think that’s the end of what I can add to why I don’t think Los Angeles will win.
Transcript courtesy of NBC Sports Group
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