Pipe dream? Of course.
And to further my psychosis, if the Kings win the Pacific, they’ll also finish 2nd in the West. That’s because the Red Wings are sliding big time. Their goalie situation is dire and they are in serious trouble coming down the stretch. Whoever wins the Pacific, will take 2nd in the conference.
My theory hinges on 2 things:
1. The Sharks tighten up as the pressure to perform in the post-season starts to get to them (as we know it will eventually).
2. The Kings win tonight against Vancouver.
With 6 games remaining for the Kings and Sharks, they are separated by 3 points with 12 up for grabs.
The Sharks play (in order) DAL, ANA, LA, ANA, PHX, PHX
Other than Dallas, all the other teams the Sharks play are playing better than they are (and the Sharks aren’t playing too bad). And Dallas, for what it’s worth, is in an almost must win situation. If Dallas pulls out a win tonight, it will get very interesting very quickly for the Sharks. And I will be watching with baited breath for their downfall.
As everybody knows, the Sharks are not only colossal chokes, they are not as good as they once were. Their reign atop the Pacific is quickly coming to an end, one way or another. So why not now? Let it be.
The Kings play (in order) VAN, DAL, SJ, PHX, ANA, ANA
The biggest question mark, by far, is how the Kings will respond in the 7 final games post-apocalypse. The first game against the Oilers went really well as we know. But going from playing the worst team in your conference to playing the best is, literally, as big a difference as you can get.
So the real test begins tonight for the Kings. With a victory, which by all accounts is unlikely, the Kings will have proved to themselves their team and system is far stronger than most everyone believed. Couple that with their apparent anti-letdown growth in the last 2 months and you have a team with sky high confidence and focus.
If, and that’s a big if, they pull it off tonight, I can see the Kings easily getting 6 out of the next possible 10 points, leaving them with 102 points for the season and giving them the Pacific title.
1) Canucks 2) Kings 3) Red Wings
The Sharks, in their infinite capacity to blow it, only get 2 wins with 6 games remaining to land them at 101 points and finishing with 41 real wins. How then do the Sharks finish 3rd in the Pacific?
Here’s the catch… the Ducks, sadly, win 4 out of their last 5, also giving them 101 points, tying with San Jose. They’ll have 44 real wins (or even 42 if they win 2 shootouts) giving them the tie break advantage and 2nd in the wild, wild west’s Pacific division.
This will leave the Western Conference standings looking something like this:
1. Vancouver
2. Los Angeles
3. Detroit
4. Anaheim
5. San Jose
6. Phoenix
7. Nashville
8. Chicago
Take a look at those first round match ups! I can see the top 4 seeds pulling out series wins, leaving the Kings to relive the glory of eliminating the Wings and giving a golden opportunity to the Ducks to shock the Canucks.
LA vs. Anaheim in the Conference final.
You heard it here first. 
I’d been thinking we’d be seeing the quacks in the first round as they are still shaky in goal. I like your scenario too. They play us well and we drop to their level, but just staying out of airplanes for the first round would be a nice little perk.
Yeah, in all likelihood, it’s more realistic for the Kings to play the Ducks or Yotes in the first round than my little fantasy.
Seeing the Ducks would pretty amazing. They would be the one team I would absolutely be crushed if they beat the Kings. To see them advance over us would just make the summer suck so much more.
[...] – And if you want another pipe dream scenario, but more closely rooted to the current playoff race, try Deepinsidethekings.com’s assessment of how the Kings could finish second in the West. [...]