a little weak on the poll options here. Before the season I thought we would be in the position of the Blackhawks last season where we are just barely in the playoff race, yet unlikely to jump enough teams to make it in. Now since being teased since the end of January the playoffs started tasting too sweet not to want them. Overall, baring a 10 game losing streak the season is a success although I would love for them to be in it until the last game

I said finishing above .500.

We expected to be better this yeat with all the new talent and we expected to have better defensive play as has been the focus since training camp. The goal with this young team is to have all of that preparation lead to something and while the playoffs would be ultra nice, finishing above .500 would be considered a successful byproduct of our work this season.

This poll is indicative of the core problem of the Kings. If the question is as open-ended as “What would you consider a successful Kings season?”, how can there be any legitimate answer other than “Stanley Cup Championship?” And yet… that’s not even an option. This has been a franchise content to wallow in mediocrity so long that nobody even thinks to measure success in championships. It’s a mental state that nobody running the Kings in 45 years has seriously attempted to break.

However, not making the playoffs next season would be a failure.

p.s. this year’s numbers (since, you know, it’s not over yet…):

final pts/record needed/odds of playoffs

92pts/12-2-0/99%
91pts/11-2-1/93%
90pts/11-3-0/79%
89pts/10-3-1/52%
88pts/10-4-0/26%
87pts/9-4-1/8%
86pts/9-5-0/0.2%
85pts/8-5-1/0%

Looking at the schedules of our opponents, I think it’s likely that 89 points will be enough this year. Now, I would be pretty happy if the Kings got to their last four games of the season and a record of 3-1 in those games would get them into the playoffs. So, I break the rest of the season down into three chunks:

games 1-3 (pre-Williams return); 4-10; last four.

2-0-1
5-2-0
3-1-0

Progressive improvement culminating in a Stanley Cup. But I will tell you that I’ve never met a nicer bunch of people than those in the Kings organization that I met last week at the Kaboom playground event. They were even nicer than the Ducks people I met last year at Shoot for the Cure.

This seems pretty pathetic, but as a long suffering Kings addict, I was excited and satisfied at the draft! So, for me it’s all been exciting, particularly with the emergence of the rookies and goalies. I can’t wait to see what DL does over the summer. After a bad start with Plan B (which I think was his reaction to a mandate of the idiots at corporate, he seems to have gotten his trade legs. Clearly he is something we have never had i.e. an effective GM at the draft table.

Thanks for the update Quisp.

The Kings “culture of losing” is rearing its ugly head in this poll.

Anything short of the playoffs, after how many years???? is a FAILURE!!!

Sure, we had some great moments. Sure, we have some great players who are only going to get better.

But PLEASE don’t confuse your low expectations with what is a basic benchmark for any franchise.

Playoffs. Period.

I’d call the season a success.

Sure we didn’t make the playoffs, but defense improved, penalty kill and power play improved. Got a lot of ice time for younger players. All players building up their defensive play now instead of next season when we’re in the playoffs.

Consider also where the team was last season, what we got out of the trades and what most people expected out of the team this season. Big improvements and surpassing many expectations( but not blowing them out of the water ).

Next season I would expect the team to be in the playoffs for it to be a success though.

Finishing above .500 this year constitutes success, as hard as it is to concede. That San Jose game clearly showed, in case there was any doubt, that this team does not know how to win, yet. This year was crucial as far as preparing these young players with the mental fortitude and knowledge of what it will take for next year and beyond. Next year will be the watershed moment for Dean Lombardi and the Los Angeles Kings. If they do not make the playoffs next year, start worrying.

Quisp–Just gotta love your statistical breakdowns of GamesToGo…

For all of you who believe that it’s Stanley Cup or Bust: Bully for you! Too bad you’ll be so unhappy, most of the time…

For all of you who believe that it’s Playoffs or Bust: Bully for you, too! However, from where I sit, it’s not whether the glass is half-full or half-empty, it’s how are the Kings filling up the glass. It can’t be by stealing another glass’s water, because that water is most likely rancid and infected, unless the source is truly pure. The only way to fill my Kings’ glass is from below, dribbles at a time, from good drafting and player development. That way, when the glass is full, it stays that way as all spills are slowly replaced with home-grown talent.

I guess I am too patient for some of your, perhaps because I am a perfectionist. I want a series of playoff appearances, and multiple Stanley Cups. I want the Kings to be the best organization in the NHL. There is only one way to achieve that, and it takes PATIENCE.

I said making the playoffs because they were attainable. It would be different if we were out-classed most nights, but we’re not. And it’s pretty easy to think of three games that we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, even more where we “settled” for an OT loss (9 of ‘em). Staying with JLB so long cost us points that we didn’t have to lose. I also think that some roster and line decisions were detrimental. And some players just did not execute at key moments (2 on 0 played worse than a Pee Wee would have!)

That we didn’t come through I guess is objective proof that we weren’t good enough, but in hindsight I think the playoffs were attainable and if we don’t make them, then we did not play to our potential, and that is the opposite of success.

I feel we are so close. We are only 3 or 4 wins from being in the playoff. Had the team not blown late period leads in a few games. We would be in the palyoffs.

With that. I voted for making the playoffs. Anything else this season is a failure.

“Yog S’loth said:
This poll is indicative of the core problem of the Kings. If the question is as open-ended as “What would you consider a successful Kings season?”, how can there be any legitimate answer other than “Stanley Cup Championship?” And yet… that’s not even an option. This has been a franchise content to wallow in mediocrity so long that nobody even thinks to measure success in championships. It’s a mental state that nobody running the Kings in 45 years has seriously attempted to break.”

…and plaqued by unrealistic expectations of Kings fans!

Ha ha…Anthony got dogged by a non Kings fan on a Kings site..Even the outsiders know your posts are ridiculous.

I think the season has already been a success. We’re in the middle of March and we’re playing hard for a possible playoff spot. If you follow the Kings and believe in what the organization is trying to do, this is exactly what we were hoping for…A good, young, competitive team that will continue to get better.

Rich can we do a poll like this at the start of the next season? Maybe two polls: What do you expect the Kings to accomplish this season, and what do you hope the Kings accomplish?

Then we would have most posters here on record.

I think offensively the team has regressed,but defense wins championships.Of course it helps if you can make it into the playoffs.With the bad trade,and inability to utilize the prospects in Manch,this team has been set back one more year which means next year, “I hope we can make the playoffs “,is the cry yet again.

When I say I think 89 points will “likely” get us into the playoffs, I should probably have said, “more likely than the 52% odds given by the randomized model, in which each team has a 50/50 chance of winning each game. I think as we get down to the wire, each game is going to be more playoff-like than the last, and the outcomes will be distinctly not random; rather, teams competing with each other will be knocking each other out of contention; some teams will be tanking; others will be streaking. By definition, the Kings have to be streaking in order to get to 89 points in the first place. This places extra pressure on the other teams, many of whom the Kings will have had to beat in order to get to 89. Therefore, I do think that getting to 89 will give us significantly better than a coin-toss’s chance of getting in.

Which is a hell of a lot better odds than we thought we’d be getting.

And, p.s., it’s already the middle of March, and the Kings are still playing meaningful games. Who thought that was possible?

Fan for 25 years and it gets harder to believe year after year. For an org like the Kings this is a success. For a good organization with a winning tradition or a true desire to have a winning tradition, this isn’t enough. I am glad fans feel good about this year, but I really feel that we still deserve better. A rebuild period would be easier to swallow if it followed a successful period. This org has had varying levels of garbage over the years. Better this year? Perhaps. Does cat crap smell slightly less bad than dog crap? Perhaps.

Knowing that in my heart of hearts I didn’t think this team had a snowball’s chance in hell of being any better than last in the West, I consider it a major accomplishment if (and when) they finish 13th. Still, it’s another huge FAIL for a franchise that has sucked hind tit for the better part of 41 years. The good news is that mediocrity is just a season away, and 8th or 9th will be within reach. I like most of the young nucleus, though the O’Sullivan trade still stings and stinks in my book. The problem is parity, and we’re still going to see the Atlanta’s dominate the Washington’s every once in a while (as we did last night)and so those nights when the Kings get pasted by a “bottom feeder” or a Sharks or Wings team looks beatable by a young upstart Kings team will skew the fan perception, but STAY THE COURSE. Don’t fall into the trap that would have you believe this is a top team, because it isn’t even close, but know that as they get better, and as the pundits who believed 15th was the best they could do start to see 13th as an upgrade, well, success might be defined as it will be defined in Columbus this year. Get to the show, and when the curtain goes up, maybe your actors will perform well enough to earn a curtain call. My guess… not even next year, but soon…

The goal of every franchise is to win the Stanley Cup, every year, stated or not. With that said, the season is a failure.

Or is it? No, it’s not. They may fail to win the cup, BUT, the progress made on and off the ice by the youngest team in the NHL will pay dividends in the coming years in tring to obtain that goal.

For those speaking of constant mediocrity…your right. Your also wrong…If you can’t see the overall improvement of this team, well, your as blind as Stevie Wonder.

Of all the years watching this team play (going on 26 now), I’ve never had this much fun. Yes, that includes the run to the finals.

We all know this franchises futile history. Rehashing does what for this debate? Nothing…it’s just that…history. Previous regimes never learned from their mistakes…seems to me, this one is.

Constant improvement towards the goal is all ANYONE can ask for, and will get. IF you don’t get that, then management gets canned. That’s how it works.

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