Wednesday 13 June 2012

The Kings End One Stanley Cup Drought, But Two More Continue

The Los Angeles Kings win the Stanley Cup for
the first time in franchise history.
PHOTO: NHL.com
The Los Angeles Kings have won the Stanley Cup for the first time in their history. The season had many ups and downs for the Kings, but they managed to make their way into the playoffs by capturing the eighth and final spot in the West. But when the playoffs started, the Kings put their regular season struggles behind them and rolled through each of their opponents with relative ease to capture the Stanley Cup.

The Kings, joined the National Hockey League back in 1967, along with five other teams. This was the league first major expansion and would be the start of many more to come over the next several decades. The downside for cities which already had teams in the NHL was the increased competition, and with that  came a lower chance of success. Although the Kings managed to break their drought, which lasted nearly half a century, there are two more droughts dating back to that same season where the NHL expanded from six to twelve teams.