It’s been a long, long time since the Los Angeles Kings franchise has been this close to that elusive first Stanley Cup victory. That doesn’t mean that the roster is devoid of players who’ve “been there” before, though.
Helene Elliott points out that four (or at least three-and-a-half) Kings players have been a part of a Stanley Cup-winning run before: Rob Scuderi, Justin Williams, Dustin Penner and Colin Fraser. (Fraser is the “half” since he only played three games for the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks.)
Williams was a big part of the Carolina Hurricanes’ surprise 2006 run (along with Phoenix Coyotes scorer Ray Whitney) and had this to say about the Kings.
“I think we have all those factors right now that every championship team needs,” Williams said. “In saying that, we’ve won two rounds. There [will be] four teams left ... and we want to be the last one standing.”
Rob Scuderi combined with Hal Gill to be a solid shutdown duo for the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2009 Stanley Cup run and advised his teammates to embrace the situation for what it should be: fun.
“It’s OK to be excited,” Scuderi said. “It’s OK to have fun with it. But you have to realize that it’s not our end goal.”
The Kings are eight wins away from the real fun and that end goal, then.