This is the question I have been asking myself over the past couple of days. Where do we go from here? I have finally had an opportunity to breathe for a moment after the Kings played five games in seven days. Four of those games being losses, with the last 3 games played at home, where the Kings have proved to be a very tough team to beat when they play in downtown LA. As of late, not so much. Four losses in a row…. Hmmm. The realism that comes with being a Kings fan kicks in which in turn creates doubt, and the nervous and very sad topic of conversation ice breaker is “what the hell is happening to these guys”?

Here come the many reasons. Passionate Kings fans jump out of their seat and dive heads first into a heated debate that is filled with a somewhat regular list of reasons as to why this is happening to our beloved hockey team. The key word here is REGULAR. Meaning that this happens more often than not, which really means, we suck and it hurts us. The juiciest reason that pops straight into mind is the whole not having a top ten goal scoring stud to help the team put more goals on the board. When are we finally going to go out and grab someone to come in and make our solid and promising, but inconsistent team into a confident and offensively proud team with real swagger and playoff potential. Everyone seems to have a mutual feeling on the subject, but why don’t the management do anything about it? It blows my mind. Really. It’s crazy.

Over the summer, we had a golden opportunity which seemed like was fate for the Kings. We had a chance to grab one of the biggest guns in the league. His name is Ilya the “dud in Jersey” Kovalchuk. I have created that name for him because it is exactly what he is. A dud, and a waste of talent on a team that prides themselves in being a defensively minded hockey club. They dump and chase the puck in to the corner 90 percent of the time(I don’t know the exact percentage but it has to be something like that) and they grind it out behind the net. Enter Zach Parise. And they bang bodies and work hard to create space. Kovy the dudsky… not so good at this strategy. Ten goals in forty games is proof in the pudding baby. But it doesn't end there, Kovalchuk is currently a league worst -29. Ouch.

Lets go grab someone, anyone who is not old and injury ridden. We will not be able to make it past the 2nd round of the playoffs with the roster we have right now. I love our team, I love the way we have been playing, but deep inside I know that we can’t be considered a premier team until we get the last piece of the puzzle. Without this piece, there is no parade. There will be nothing but excuses.

We are about halfway through the season now, and it looks like the West is getting stronger and stronger as the year goes by. Teams finding themselves in the 8th and final seed are not going to be as weak as the number shows them to be. The points race is going to be very close at the end, and I hope we can pick up our game and find a place towards the top of that list. There is still plenty of hockey to be played. Go Kings.