More thoughts on Cup names

There’s been some interesting debate/discussion about whose names did/didn’t make the cut, in terms of representing the Kings on the Stanley Cup. First, some perspective. Out of curiosity, I looked at the Kings’ list, compared to the last two lists (Boston and Chicago) and broke the names into five categories: players, coaches, ownership/front office, scouts and trainers/equipment staff. Here’s the breakdown…

PLAYERS: Kings 24, Bruins 22, Blackhawks 23.
COACHES: Kings 5, Bruins 5, Blackhawks 6.
OWNERSHIP: Kings 14, Bruins 13, Blackhawks 14.
SCOUTS: Kings 6, Bruins 6, Blackhawks 2.
TRAINERS: Kings 4, Bruins 6, Blackhawks 7.

Each team has its share of “Who’s that?” names. The Kings included Phil Anschutz’s wife and AEG’s general counsel. The Bruins included owner Jeremy Jacobs’ wife and three children. The Blackhawks included their team doctor and massage therapist. The suggestion that the Kings stacked their list with “suits” doesn’t really hold water, particularly when some of those suggestions designate scouts and equipment guys as “suits.” The equipment guys, in particular, would find that hysterical.

Then there’s Andrei Loktionov, who did not automatically qualify to have his name on the Cup. The Kings did not petition the league to have him included on their list, apparently because they knew his chances were quite slim. Personally, I would have tried to petition for him, but it’s true that his chances wouldn’t have been good. In 2010-11, Steven Kampfer played 38 regular-season games for Boston (one fewer than Loktionov last season). The Bruins petitioned the league to include him and they were denied. The Kings were able to petition to get the names of Davis Drewiske and Kevin Westgarth on the Cup, because they were a part of the team for the entire season. That makes sense to me. By being around the team all year, by working during (and long after) practices and by being supportive, popular teammates, they did more to assist the team than Loktionov. I understand that’s a subjective opinion, and I still would have at least tried the petition for Loktionov, but this doesn’t rise to the level of unforgivable sin.