No love lost in Western Conference Finals

The Western Conference is down to just two teams; both
of whom were widely predicted by most ‘experts’ to be
eliminated in the first round. The two have met each other
time and time again in the regular season, but never in
postseason play.

The Los Angeles Kings entered the playoffs as the 8th seed
in the
Western
Conference, but were just two points behind the Phoenix
Coyotes
who won the Pacific Division and entered as the 3rd
seed.

They met six times in the regular season,
and split them evenly, but haven’t met since late
February.

Both teams play a very similar style and play very
aggressively when matched together, to say the least.

“They’re going to play hard, and it’s a fun type of hockey
to play. They enjoy it, and I think our team enjoys it a
lot,” said Coyotes captain Shane Doan. “We’re very
comfortable
playing that type of game, and obviously they’re very
successful doing it.”

There is, however, no love lost between the two teams.
Their February 16th match-up earlier this year featured
four fights and a small brawl early on, and that’s not to
forget a hard hit by the Kings’ Dustin Brown that left
Rostislav Klesla on the sidelines for 10 games.

“In the playoffs everything is taken to the next level,”
said Coyotes right wing Radim Vrbata. “It was
pretty chippy in the regular season, so the intensity will
be a little higher.”

Two weeks later, in their last matchup of the regular
season, Kings forward Kyle Clifford was ejected for a
vicious hit on Coyotes center Gilbert Brule.

“Obviously you respect them, they’re pro athletes. But on
the other hand, we don’t like them. That’s pretty clear,”
said Coyotes right wing Mikkel Boedker. “We’re not very
far from each other, we play each other six times a year
and it becomes a grind. Obviously we don’t like them.”

Doan did, however, offer a bit of praise for the rival
Kings.

“Look what they’ve done to Vancouver and St. Louis; they
would have been a lot of people’s picks out of the West,”
Doan said.
“L.A. did a good job of making it look almost easy at
times.”

Though the Coyotes and Kings have never met in the
playoffs, the two cities have plenty of experience
battling each other. Phoenix Suns fans have chorused the
phrase
‘BEAT LA,’ through frequent matchups against the Lakers
and the
Clippers, and Coyotes fans could be heard chanting the
same phrase Monday night before even leaving their seats.

Though they’ve exceeded expectations once again, the
Coyotes know their job on the ice isn’t done. A
series that may again come down to the two men between the
pipes, Coyotes goalie Mike Smith knows the challenge
they’re up against in Kings goalie Jonathan Quick. Quick
has given up
1.55 goals per game, to Smith’s 1.77 in the playoffs.

“Obviously they’ve dismantled some really good hockey
teams,” said Smith. “They’re a deep team with a
really good goaltender. They play their system to a tee,
so it’s going to be a really good test for our club.”

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