The Los Angeles Kings tonight wrapped up their second Stanley Cup championship in three years. And though I, like most native southern Californians, am not a hockey fan, we must concede this:

Los Angeles would be confronting a potential championship drought, about now, if the Kings had not had not turned into world beaters.

During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, sports fans in SoCal could pretty much count on the Dodgers or Lakers winning a championship sometime soon.

A major sports champion was crownd in L.A. in 1959 (Dodgers), 1963 (Dodgers), 1965 (Dodgers) 1971 (Lakers), 1980 (Lakers), 1981 (Dodgers), 1982 (Lakers), 1984 (Raiders), 1985 (Lakers), 1987 (Lakers), 1988 (Lakers and Dodgers), 2000 (Lakers), 2001 (Lakers), 2002 (Lakers and Angels), 2007 (Anaheim Ducks), 2009 (Lakers) and 2010 (Lakers).

Aside from a dry spell in the 1990s, when L.A. teams reached two finals (Lakers, 1991; Kings, 1993) but couldn’t seal the deal, greater Los Angeles has had a nice run of champions, from 1959 through 2010 — 19 of them, to be exact.

But this decade was shaping up as lean times.

The Dodgers don’t look ready to win anything important, even under new ownership; the Lakers are in a rebuilding phase that could last quite some time; the Clippers are winning more than they lose, but have no championship vibe to them.

But the Kings!

This is where hockey has delivered.

After most of four decades of only occasional relevance, the Kings are one of the two best franchises in hockey, along with the Chicago Blackhawks.

They had a great run this year, which did not go unnoticed, even on this side of the world, coming back from 3-0 down to eliminate San Jose, then beating the Ducks and Blackhawks in seven, and now polishing off the New York Rangers in five.

The club is well run, has numerous stars, including an elite goalkeeper (Jonathan Quick), and could be competitive for years to come.

Good thing. Not sure the Dodgers, Angels, Lakers, Clippers or Ducks are going to be serious contenders any time soon, and most of us will be in the Great Beyond before the NFL actually returns to SoCal.