Thanks to their lo s to the on Tuesday night the enter their game in Calgary on Thursday night in danger of joining a very short -- and infamous -- group in NHL history.The group: Teams that have mi sed the playoffs the year after winning the Stanley Cup.With , or an overtime lo s combined with the earning a point against Colorado, the Kings will officially be eliminated from postseason contention.To find the last time a defending Stanley Cup champion mi sed the playoffs the following season you have to go back to the 2006-07 season when the fell short after winning their first -- and only -- championship the previous season. Before them, you have to go back to the 1995-96 (Champions in 1994-95).Overall, it's happened just seven times in NHL history, and only three times since the league expanded beyond six teams in 1967 (the aforementioned Hurricanes and Devils teams, as well as the when they mi sed in 1969-70 Jorge De La Rosa Jersey between championships in '69 and '71).So it's a pretty rare thing.Having won two of the past three Stanley Cups and played in three consecutive Western Conference Finals it would seem to be a rather stunning fall for a Kings team that has been a thorn in the side of every other contending team in the West, all of whom are probably cheering like hell for the to take care of busine s on Thursday night. But when you look a little deeper you should see that there really isn't much different about this year's version, and the team that crushed everything in its path in the previous three postseasons. And Yasmany Tomas Jersey that should be terrifying for rest of the Western Conference.Even though the Kings' defense hasn't been quite as good as it's been in recent years, they are still one of the toughest teams in the NHL to score against and control the pace of the game from a po se sion standpoint as well as anybody in the league, and even though their goal scoring is actually a little better than it's been in recent seasons they still play a tight, close games that often times end up going to overtime where a single shot, call or bounce changes everything.Their style of play has never resulted in a dominant regular season performance when it comes to the standings. When they won the cup in 2012 they had 95 points and finished in eighth place in the West Daniel Descalso Jersey . The following year they finished with 59 points during the lockout shortened season (a 100-point pace over 82 games) for the fifth best record in the West, and a season ago they were sixth with 100 points. As of Thursday, they currently sit at 93 points. They're not far off from what they've done in recent seasons.If they do end up falling short there are two things you can point to as mi sed opportunities.The first was a 17-game stretch between Dec. 22 and Feb. 4 where they managed to win only four games due in large part to a lengthy slump from and some struggles defensively. When that stretch started, they were in a wild card spot, three points ahead of Calgary -- at the time the first non-playoff team in the West -- and only two points out of second place in the Pacific Division. When it ended, they were in 12th place in the West (ahead of only the and Edmonton Oilers), five points out of a playoff spot and nine points behind Andrew Chafin Jersey Calgary for second place in the division. They have been trying to play catch-up ever since.That stretch also included five lo ses in overtime or a shootout, which brings us to the other mi sed opportunity: The Kings are only 3-15 this season in games that required extra time, including a 2-8 record in shootouts (after going 8-6 a year ago). There is an element of luck to games that go to overtime, and when you're a team like the Kings that plays a style that keeps games so close and so tight that is the risk you run. Sometimes your number is going to come up in those games, and sometimes it isn't.You also have to wonder if there is any kind of a fatigue factor at play here.Three deep playoff runs in a row, while playing a pretty physically demanding brand of hockey the whole time A. J. Pollock Jersey , is a and is going to eventually start to wear on a team. Especially for the 15 players that have been a part of each of those deep playoff runs.The Stanley Cup is a brutally difficult trophy to win and requires not only talent and skill, but also a ton of luck and good fortune along the way (that includes everything from health, to sometimes getting the right matchup, to just having a couple of bounces go your way in a close game). Having everything go your way four years in a row is asking a lot. Still, the crazy thing about the Kings is that, if they do get in the playoffs, they are the type of team that is going to be a nightmare for whichever team has to face them in the first round or beyond. they get in.