The Kings were swept out of the Stanley Cup playoffs by a team that didn't exist a year ago. The Ducks were swept by a team they had passed in the Pacific Division standings during a late-season surge that fizzled when the playoffs began.
We've gone from a glorious Ice Age in Southern California to being frozen out of Cup contention just when things are getting interesting.
The 82-game regular season is essentially a rehearsal for the playoffs, when three-on-three overtime and the gimmicky shootout are replaced by unlimited, nerve-fraying, knee-weakening sudden-death play. There's nothing like it, a two-month test of will and pain thresholds, of players taking pucks to the face or shin and taping an aspirin to it before they go back out for more.