L.A. Kings Win Their First Stanley Cup in 45 Years
Los Angeles is used to partying, even rioting at this time of the year, but it’s normally because the Los Angeles Lakers are winning titles. Not this year though. Folks in Los Angeles are celebrating, and they are looking forward to the parade honoring the Los Angeles Kings 6-1 win over the New Jersey Devils to win the series 4-2. The Kings are celebrating their first Stanley Cup in the franchise’s 45-year history.
The game swung in favor of the Kings with ten minutes to go in the first period after New Jersey’s Steve Brenier got a five minute boarding major and a game misconduct for his hit on on Rod Scuderi. It turned out to be the most crucial five minutes of the series as the Kings scored three power play goals during the five minute major. That was more than enough for the Kings with Jonathan Quick in net. Jeff Carter had two goals and Dustin Brown had a goal for the Kings in their beatdown of the Devils.
The Kings completed their magical, cinderella run in the postseason and gave their long-suffering fans something to celebrate. Their stretch of 45 years before their first championship is the third most all time in sports history. They went a remarkable 16-4 this postseason after entering the playoffs as the underdog Eighth Seed in the West!
The Los Angeles Kings barely made it into the playoffs. They fired their coach in the middle of the season. They made a couple of drastic roster changes at the trade deadline, dealing away one of their star young defenseman for a couple of veteran players who could help push them into the playoffs. And look what happened. All of the moves paid off as the Kings lifted Lord Stanley’s Cup skating around Staples Center Monday night. It was a truly exciting and amazing moment.
Goaltender Jonathan Quick was named MVP of the playoffs and won the Conn Smythe trophy. Captain Dustin Brown was presented the Stanley Cup. Both Quick and Brown are Americans. It is pretty cool that the top two players on this team hail from the United States.
And congrats to the Devils too. They had a very good season, something to be proud of. The sixth seed in the Eastern Conference was able to make it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. They have a fantastic young star in rookie Adam Henrique, but questions surround this team: will Zach Parise resign with the team? Will Martin Brodeur come back? He says he wants to play. It will be a very interesting offseason for the Devils.
But last night and today and at least part of the future is all about the Los Angeles Kings. 2011-12 NHL Stanley Cup champions! Congrats to the Kings. Congrats to their fans. Congrats to the city of Los Angeles. We’ll have a more in-depth look at the finals later this week or early next week.
It was a great NHL season. Now let’s just hope there isn’t an NHL lockout next year.