This Day 9 Years Ago

[kingsholygrail]

I can't believe it was 9 years ago today that the Kings won their 1st Stanley Cup.

When it happened I took screenshots of the major sports new outlets:

NHL.COM

TSN

YAHOO

ESPN

LA TIMES

Where were you that day? What do you remember about it?

It felt kind of surreal to me.

I really miss NHL.com's old format.

 

[Bandit]

Was at the rink for every home game, watched every road game at a bar. Was totally shifaced when Stoll won round 1 at a bar in Silverlake, bought some Vancouver fans shots of Crown and stumbled across the street to a diner for pancakes. Was laughing so hard I couldn’t even order, my buddy had to do it for me.

Once the Kings started putting the puck in on the 5 minute major everyone in 301 knew this was really happening. Craziest I ever heard staples in 12 years of season seats. That three year run from 2012-2014 may never be topped in my lifetime. Glad I was there in person.

 

[BigKing]

I have had some doozies of posts, even some that generated death threats in PMs from a few Slovenians on LGK, but I don't think anything was ever hated as much as when I said that the Kings were going to win the Cup after Stoll's OT winner in Vancouver. That was a nervous time for our collective family, but dammit, I remember us prematurely toasting the Cup win during gescom and kat19s baby shower in Game 1 of the St Louis series with a whole bunch of old school LGKers. We were all so certain - and cocky as hell. So much faith in Mike Richards getting us over the line.

As far as Game 6, will never forget it, watching with my Dad who passed on in 2016 in their living room, standing for the last minute and my mom saying "I wish you would just sit down" over and over and over, and in that last 10 seconds telling her "Mom, shut the **** up" and my pop saying "Yeah Susie, shut the **** up"!

Hockey was always the only thing that really bonded my Dad and I, no matter how bad things were, the Kings were always there for us. Growing up in San Pedro in the 70s there wasn't a soul around who followed the game, but I would spend all my allowance money on hockey cards trying to get a JP Kelly, not knowing that it never existed. Kelly scored a late tying goal against Minny right in front of us in a game we were able to sneak down to sit next to the goal judge.

Can't thank Lombardi enough for letting my old man see the Cup hoisted in his lifetime.

That is a great story about your father. None of my family are Kings fans but I have shared similar moments in my life with my father over UM sports and golf (we both cried when Phil won the PGA a couple weeks ago), it makes moment like this all the more special. And even though my dad isn't a Kings fan I'll never forget getting a package a couple days later with a 2012 champs shirt and hat and a copy of the LA Times from Tuesday the 12th along with a nice letter. I wore the shirt basically everywhere I went the rest of that summer and framed the LA Times and put it on my wall, when I bought a house it was the first thing I put up in my sports man cave.

Good stuff. My dad didn't care about hockey but he passed unexpectedly on January 30th, 2010 and I found out shortly after Kopitar did the "Forsberg" against the Bruins for the Kings 5th straight win. The week that followed was obviously very rough but the Kings went on to finish the road trip with two more wins to move to seven in a row. I couldn't go to the first home game that Thursday against Anaheim due to the viewing and some family stuff but the Kings won to tie the franchise record winning streak. Got to go to the game that Saturday against Detroit which the Kings won to set the new franchise record with nine wins in a row.

Caring so much about something like Kings hockey seems so silly but then you have something horrible like your dad dying but, in the immediate aftermath, the silly Kings putting a winning streak together is the best thing you've got going. I like to think that the time and dedication put into following this team was paid back to me during that stretch. Even the Ducks waited to end the streak after they set the record instead of ending it at seven on that Thursday night. It's cool how sports sometimes works out like that.

 

[The Butcher]

One of the best days of my life. I was so happy for Bob Miller, Jim Fox, Nick Nickson, and Darryl Evans. Those guys got us through so many shit years, they deserved the celebration.

It's almost kind of embarassing to admit how much emotional energy, positive and negative, I've devoted to the Kings but 2012 was the peak. I don't think I'll ever hit the highs or lows I once did with sports again but it's fun to care about something so meaningless.

 

[cyclones22]

So before the series started, I was given the opportunity to purchase tickets through my long time season ticket holder friend. I wasn't sure which game I wanted at first, but I went with Game 3 because although I wouldn't get the chance to watch the Kings hoist the Cup in person, even if the Kings were down 0-2 in the series they could get back into it with a win in Staples. Since I was too broke and a college student in 1993 there was no way in hell I was going to attend a SCF game during the Gretzky era, I went big and bought a $500 ticket in the Premier section. Took the day off and hung out at LA Live from about 11am on. XTRA was set up there the entire day and broadcasted right in the middle of it all, 710 was setup in front of ESPN Zone and NHL Live was parked in front Staples. E3 was also going on that week and people were everywhere. It was very cool just soaking that all in. Watching the interviews and drinking about 10 Coke Zeros because they were free and having Mexican food for lunch.

Game time rolls around and the vibe was freaking incredible. The funny thing was that I felt way more relaxed in the arena than I do sitting tense in my home watching the games. Anyway, Dwight King scores the first goal and the crowd goes wild and I'm personally losing my shit. It must've been all the caffeine wearing off because during the goal celebration, I rocket up from my seat and start getting light-headed from yelling my head off and high-fiving people I'll never see again in my life. Kopi strikes, I had the perfect viewing angle for that one, and I almost pass out again from the celebration. I finally eat some "free" chocolate covered rice krispy treat that was part of my seating experience and that gives me the boost I need to not collapse during goal celebrations. Game's over and I decide I want to listen to the NHL Live crew for a bit before grabbing something to eat at the Lawry's Carvery. On the drive home I'm listening to Kings talk and it was just surreal listening to how the Kings were 1 win away from the Stanley Cup. Best $600 or so total spent ever.

Now I'm starting to get greedy because the Kings are winning this thing, I'm certain. How much is it gonna cost me to buy tickets from a scalper for Game 4? Way too much. The Kings lose that game anyway. My boss says "you should fly to NJ on the weekend watch the Kings clinch on the road". So I start doing research for Game 5 and I find that it would cost me like $800 total to make the round trip including game ticket cost since those prices were plummeting. Certainly less than the going rate for tickets for Game 6 were. In the end, I didn't pull the trigger and dodged that bullet. Imagine how shitty that trip home would've been? I would've been tired and miserable. Watched Game 6 at home and witness the Kings strangle the life out of the Devils after the major powerplay. Shed tears of joy as the clock wound down for only the 3rd time in my life for a sports related event.

Went to the parade and the rally inside Staples thanks to my season ticket holder friend again and purchased as much memorabilia as possible. Bob and Jim (was also cool congratulating them both as they walked by us all) were on the big screen in LA Live in the lead up to the parade and that's when Jim Fox goes into his story on air about how he would do speaking engagements to students at schools and how time and time again, they would ask if Kings had ever won the Stanley Cup and he would answer with no. He starts getting emotional about how he can now tell those students the Kings are champions and I swear I started tearing up. To this day, I never bad mouth the guy because he absolutely bleeds Kings colors regardless of his color commentary on air. The rally was great, players drunk out of their minds and just generally a great time. Only 2 negatives for me at the rally. First was the dog and pony show of politicians that I could have done without. Second was even though everyone received a good amount of well deserved cheers, I thought Lombardi should've been recognized with louder cheering from the crowd. Just an unforgettable experience from beginning to end. You never forget your first, that's for sure!

 

[johnjm22]

So I have a bit of a confession to make.

When the Kings won the SC, I felt a little bit...underwhelmed. Anti-climactic.

As a kid watching the Kings in the mid-90's, the SC seemed so far away; like something that would never happen. (I started watching in 93-94, so I missed the Kings 92-93 SC run).

Sometimes when you achieve a long term goal, you finally get there, and there's a feeling of emptiness. The journey is over. I guess I had a similar feeling.

Also, sometimes special moments don't always feel special in the moment. It's only when you look back on them with nostalgia that they live up to their greatness.

On the other hand, I was on cloud 9 when the Kings beat Chicago in 2014 and eventually won the SC that year.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

So I have a bit of a confession to make.

When the Kings won the SC, I felt a little bit...underwhelmed. Anti-climactic.

As a kid watching the Kings in the mid-90's, the SC seemed so far away; like something that would never happen. (I started watching in 93-94, so I missed the Kings 92-93 SC run).

Sometimes when you achieve a long term goal, you finally get there, and there's a feeling of emptiness. The journey is over. I guess I had a similar feeling.

Also, sometimes special moments don't always feel special in the moment. It's only when you look back on them with nostalgia that they live up to their greatness.

On the other hand, I was on cloud 9 when the Kings beat Chicago in 2014 and eventually won the SC that year.

I started following the Kings the same year you did....and 2012 was one of the most epic moments in my life.

 

[Bandit]

So I have a bit of a confession to make.

When the Kings won the SC, I felt a little bit...underwhelmed. Anti-climactic.

As a kid watching the Kings in the mid-90's, the SC seemed so far away; like something that would never happen. (I started watching in 93-94, so I missed the Kings 92-93 SC run).

Sometimes when you achieve a long term goal, you finally get there, and there's a feeling of emptiness. The journey is over. I guess I had a similar feeling.

Also, sometimes special moments don't always feel special in the moment. It's only when you look back on them with nostalgia that they live up to their greatness.

On the other hand, I was on cloud 9 when the Kings beat Chicago in 2014 and eventually won the SC that year.

When they won in 2012 I was out of my mind happy. After 2014 my interest waned quite a bit. In 2015 I was like “great you made the playoffs, wake me when you get to the conference finals”. Now I’m back to being excited if they can complete two passes in a row.