GameDay: Darryl Sutter About To Be Crowned
LOS ANGELES (CBS 5) - I wonder if Darryl Sutter will swing by the Sharks office with the Stanley Cup if the Kings finish off New Jersey.
"Hey guys, take a swing from 'ol Lord Stanley's Grail and see what victory really tastes like!"
Who doesn't like this story? This is Diamond Jubilee of Los Angeles where Kopitar is King. The Cinderella of tinsel town, where the shoe doesn't fit Kobe anymore.
Quick, as in Jonathon - Can you name the only hockey team to go 16-2 in the post season? That would be the one and only 1988 Edmonton Oilers who had no other choice but to win the Cup. With names like Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, McSorley, and Fuhr, it was Stanley Cup or be forced to live in Port Alberni.
The Kings, of course, had no such expectations. But now, at 15-2, they can match the greatest run in the history of the NHL. The Sharks have been playing since 1991 and have yet to win the Cup. Los Angeles' drought is 45 years…or, was 45 years.
The thing is, no one can quite explain how this happened. Another ex-Sharks guy, Dean Lombardi, brings in Darryl Sutter to right the sinking ship in December. Not only does Sutter save Lombardi's gig, he transforms the Bad News Kings into the '88 Oilers. How does this hockey team outscore the top three seeds by a mark of 49-24?
I know, I know. "Anything can happen with a hot goalie." But as the 8th seed? As a team that didn't clinch a playoff spot until game 81? How does a team take a 3-0 lead in every playoff series? And don't tell me it's happened before, because it hasn't.
Earlier this week, Darryl Sutter was asked where he was on the cold December day when the phone rang and it was Dean Lombardi. Sutter was in a barn. No, really. In a frickin barn trying to stay warm.
Do you think he's hot enough now?
See you on TV.
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