Los Angeles Kings

Few players have stood out in the mess that is the Los Angeles Kings this season.

The Kings have posted a record of 14-13-4 on the season, but despite their mediocre start to the season, it is not all bad news for the team that was supposed to contend for the Stanley Cup.

The list of players having a poor season is much longer than the list of players having a fine season for the Kings. Nevertheless, let’s look at three players who have played well in LA.

Mike Richards is expected to miss at least seven days after taking a hit from Florida's Sean Bergenheim Wednesday Night.

The hit that came at the end of the second period will put Richards on short-term injured reserve for the time being. Bergenheim was assessed a two-minute minor; however, the penalty was not for the hit but for the ensuing scuffle.

On the whole, the Kings have picked up their game as of late, winning four of their last six. Despite their modest success, Captain Dustin Brown appears to have lost his way. He has not been able to shake off the bad start he’s had to the season.

Brown just has not been the same player that Kings fans have seen over the years, and he has not been doing the things that he was given the captaincy for.

The Kings are falling.

They can’t score and something needs to be done to reverse the trend before things get out of hand.

The Kings sit at 23rd in the league with 36 goals in favor. They actually have allowed more goals than they have scored.

Only two teams sit in playoff position at the moment with more goals scored against them. One of those teams is hanging onto the eighth spot. The other team is the Toronto Maple Leafs.

With the Kings starting out the 2011-2012 campaign with a 6-4-2 record this may seem like a silly question right?

But I think it's a little more pressing and serious then some who look at a standings column might believe.

Running a shutout streak at over 126 minutes, Jonathan Quick has been stellar in goal for Los Angeles this season.

Los Angeles has looked more and more like the contender we expected to see coming into the season, and Quick has played a big part in that, stopping all 55 shots he’s seen in wins against St. Louis and Phoenix.

Jonathan Quick will start in goal Saturday night against the Dallas Stars at the Staples Center.

Through six games, the Los Angeles Kings are 4-1-1, with their only loss coming against Buffalo. The loss against Buffalo was played in Berlin and Quick was not in goal. Coach Terry Murray started Jonathan Bernier in what has been his only start of the season thus far.

It was a gritty and ugly win Saturday Night at Verizon Center for the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings overcame an early injury to star defenseman Drew Doughty and a parade of penalties to take the bout 3-2 in overtime.

The Los Angeles Kings finally bowed to the inevitable on Thursday signing 21-year-old defenseman Drew Doughty to an eight year $56 million contract.

General Manager Dean Lombardi was said to have taken the position that he wouldn't sign the young defenseman for more than last year's leading scorer: 24 year old Anze Kopitar. That dream is dead and Drew Doughty now officially leads the LA King cap parade with a $7 million a year hit for the next eight years.

In what has been a whirlwind summer for the Los Angeles Kings, they have made headlines with the trade for star Mike Richards, signed high-profile defenseman Drew Doughty to a reported eight-year $56-million dollar contract and look ready to be part of the NHL elite.