Will Kings Begin Chase For Cup With A Suspended Captain

By: Mike Stone

The Los Angeles Kings are headed to the Stanley Cup Finals, yes those Los Angeles Kings. The 8th seed in the West defeated the Phoenix Coyotes 4-3 in overtime to win the series in five games. The win was controversial. At the 17:30 mark of the overtime, Kings Captain Dustin Brown delivered a hit just after an offside's whistle to Michal Rozsival that has the Coyotes fuming. Phoenix thinks there should have been a penalty called. There wasn't, and just 12 seconds after play resumed Dustin Penner scored, sending the Kings to the finals for the first time since 1993. As you can imagine the handshake line was not normal. Phoenix captain Shane Doan was visibly upset at Brown for the hit.

The referees probably should have called a penalty on Brown, since the hit was borderline cheap and was late. Many are calling for a suspension due to the nature of the hit. Although the hit did cause injury and was a little over the line, I don't believe a suspension is warranted. When you look at the video it's obvious Brown's leg did not go out of its way to make the hit. The leg was on the same track before the hit was made, so it was not your classic cheap shot. What do you think? Here is the video courtesy of the NBC Sports Network