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California dreaming Kings don't buy into 'Detroit as easy favorite' theory
Posted: Wednesday April 12, 2000 07:33 PM
By George Johnson, Calgary Sun The Los Angeles Kings haven't so much as won a playoff series in six years. Many are already upping that to seven. "Well, the 'experts' didn't see us as any higher than ninth or 10th in the conference before the season started, either," points out coach Andy Murray. True enough. Murray's Kings may just be the wild card in the Western Conference playoff deck. No one is realistically expecting much of them, despite a solid regular season. Why, fans are already eagerly anticipating those sure-to-be-pulsating St. Louis-Detroit, Colorado-Dallas second-round matchups. But the Kings are getting hot goaltending from Stephane Fiset at the right time, have received outstanding seasons from L.A. poster boy Luc Robitaille and captain Rob Blake. Their biggest concern right now is depth, having lost both Bryan Smolinski (torn MCL, left knee) and Nelson Emerson (broken index finger). To make matters worse, both Blake (bruised knee) and Ziggy Palffy (strained shoulder) are coming back off injuries and how close they'll be to full throttle remains to be seen. Still, Murray doesn't pay any attention to the naysayers who don't rate his club with the big four out West. "Actually," he points out, "while we've struggled within our division, our conference record as a whole is actually pretty darn good. We're 3-1 against Colorado (pre-Bourque) and 2-2-1 against Detroit. We've only beaten the Stars once this year but we lost an overtime game to them and have played them tough. "Certainly (Detroit are the) favourites going into the series, as, going by their record, they should be. But we're not afraid of them." That said, Murray feels his Kings have made positive strides this season, regardless of what happens in the next few weeks (which could be interpreted as trying to soften a disappointment he can see coming). "I keep hearing the media and players and coaches saying that the playoffs are everything. That's the hype. "But, at least in my humble opinion, the regular season IS important. "Tell me, if the regular season has, in the final analysis, no meaning, why are we charging people $60 a night to come and see 41 games? Our attendance is up 4,000 a game and I think that's because we put out an entertaining product and come to play hard every night. "A year ago, we were last in the division and second last in the conference. We had the potential to have the fourth-highest point total in our conference. We could have finish as high as 10th overall, out of 28 teams. I think that says something about us, regardless of what happens from here on in. "Look, we're going to play as hard as we can in the playoffs. If we go four rounds and win the Stanley Cup, nobody will be happier than Andy Murray. Believe me. Nobody. "Even if we go out four straight in the playoffs, I won't consider the season a total disaster." 
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