So, the Los Angeles Kings.

They barely qualify for the playoffs, with the No. 8 seed in the West, and then they streak though three rounds, and win the first three from the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup finals …

And then lose two chances to clinch a championship …

I think a list is in order.

What Kings fans might be thinking on the eve of Game 6:

10. Hey, it’s been a great run!

9. Any team that counts on a tubby guy who didn’t play hard for six months and hurt himself while sitting down for pancakes (hello, Dustin Penner) … well, any games that team wins after May 1 is gravy. Gravy, I tell you! (And yes, Dustin Penner will have some gravy, please.)

8. Hey, our coach was near the North Pole, herding caribou or something, before we hired him.

7. I never really have figured out the significance of the red line, so maybe my team doesn’t deserve to win.

6. It’s not like no team has blown a 3-0 lead in the Stanley Cup finals before. It happened just the other day. (Detroit, 1942)

5. When in the Tim Leiweke Era have the Kings failed to come through in the clutch? … Oh, yeah.

4. I know that Cap’n Dustin Brown would give his eye teeth to win the Cup. (Oh, he’s previously donated them? Hmm.)

3. Omigod, omigod, omigod … So this is what hyperventilating is about?

2. I bet Marty McSorley doesn’t feel so bad now.

1. There’s always next century!