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Kings end long wait for Stanley Cup success
Source: Agencies |
June 13, 2012, Wednesday
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THE Los Angeles Kings are finally champions of the NHL after 45 years of trying, taking the Stanley Cup to Tinseltown with an authoritative win on Monday.
The Kings steamrolled everyone in their path after barely making the playoffs, eliminating the top three seeds in the Western Conference in overwhelming fashion.
An early flurry of power-play goals helped the Kings trounce the New Jersey Devils 6-1 to clinch a 4-2 series victory. Captain Dustin Brown skated to center ice and thrust the giant 36-pound silver trophy skyward, never flinching under the weight. Long-suffering Los Angeles fans, who had never even seen hockey's greatest prize, went crazy.
Jeff Carter and Trevor Lewis scored two goals apiece, playoff MVP Jonathan Quick made 17 saves in his latest stellar performance, and the Kings became the first eighth-seeded playoff team to win the title.
Brown had a goal and two assists for Los Angeles, which ended its spectacular 16-4 postseason run in front of a crowd including several dozen Kings faithful who have been at rinkside since the team's birth in 1967. Every other year ended unhappily.
"Every single guy worked so hard for us this season," said defenseman Drew Doughty, who began the year as a contract holdout and finished with six points in the finals, including two assists in the clincher. "Everyone deserves this. We got used to each other, we developed a chemistry, and we just went sailing from there."
After taking a 3-0 series lead and then losing two potential clinching games last week, the Kings finished ferociously at Staples Center just when the sixth-seeded Devils appeared to have a chance for one of the biggest comebacks in finals history.
One penalty abruptly changed the tone of the series. Brown, Carter and Lewis scored during a five-minute powerplay in the first period after Steve Bernier was ejected for boarding Rob Scuderi.
The Kings steamrolled everyone in their path after barely making the playoffs, eliminating the top three seeds in the Western Conference in overwhelming fashion.
An early flurry of power-play goals helped the Kings trounce the New Jersey Devils 6-1 to clinch a 4-2 series victory. Captain Dustin Brown skated to center ice and thrust the giant 36-pound silver trophy skyward, never flinching under the weight. Long-suffering Los Angeles fans, who had never even seen hockey's greatest prize, went crazy.
Jeff Carter and Trevor Lewis scored two goals apiece, playoff MVP Jonathan Quick made 17 saves in his latest stellar performance, and the Kings became the first eighth-seeded playoff team to win the title.
Brown had a goal and two assists for Los Angeles, which ended its spectacular 16-4 postseason run in front of a crowd including several dozen Kings faithful who have been at rinkside since the team's birth in 1967. Every other year ended unhappily.
"Every single guy worked so hard for us this season," said defenseman Drew Doughty, who began the year as a contract holdout and finished with six points in the finals, including two assists in the clincher. "Everyone deserves this. We got used to each other, we developed a chemistry, and we just went sailing from there."
After taking a 3-0 series lead and then losing two potential clinching games last week, the Kings finished ferociously at Staples Center just when the sixth-seeded Devils appeared to have a chance for one of the biggest comebacks in finals history.
One penalty abruptly changed the tone of the series. Brown, Carter and Lewis scored during a five-minute powerplay in the first period after Steve Bernier was ejected for boarding Rob Scuderi.
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