How good would it be to hear that? How plausible does it actually seem?
There are a few things, certainly, that the Los Angeles Kings as a whole have going for them. However, let's just talk a minute about how hard it actually is to repeat as a Stanley Cup champion.
There has yet to be a repeat Stanley Cup champion in the new NHL era. That's right, since 2005 we've had seven different winners in seven years. Dating back a little further, since 1990, there have only been two repeat champions: The 1991-92 Pittsburgh Penguins, and the 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings.
So to think about the Kings repeating, well it seems a little bit on the impossible side almost.
When you look at the rosters, however, from the '97 and '98 Stanley Cup Detroit Red Wings teams, one thing stands out that the Kings have done this offseason.
They had 21 players on the '97 winning team that they had on the '98 team. They retained the services of almost every key member of the cup-winning team. The Kings, this offseason, did exactly that and retained the services of every single player.
No new additions were made, and more importantly no big subtractions were made either.
It's smart general managing, and great scouting. The Detroit Red Wings of the late '90s had an ungodly amount of talent. How could a team have so many good players? Lidstrom, Yzerman, Fedorov, Kozlov, Shanahan, Draper, Holmstrom, Maltby, Knuble, Larionov, etc.
It was a combination of homegrown talent and well-constructed trades and signings. The Red Wings grew players like Lidstrom, Yzerman, Fedorov, Holmstrom and Kozlov, and they added the Maltbys and Shanahans of the world to an already existing strong core.
When you look at how the Kings have operated, you can see how they have tried to model themselves and their ascent to the Detroit Red Wings of t...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Kings
