NEW YORK: The National Hockey League (NHL) will have the Stanley Cup Finals it dreamed of when the New York Rangers face the Los Angeles Kings in a bone-jarring drama played out in the United States’ two biggest media markets.
Not since the New York Yankees took on the Los Angeles Dodgers for the 1981 World Series, have Tinsel Town and the Big Apple squared off for a major sporting championship and for the NHL the showdown between the Kings and Rangers is sure to mean unprecedented exposure.
The best-of-seven series which begins today in Los Angeles features two battle hardened teams in a compelling final rich in Hollywood type storylines and subplots.
Both Madison Square Garden and the Staples Center will be packed with celebrity.
A-list hockey fans like soccer great David Beckham and super model Kate Upton but it is the casual hockey fan the NHL will be focused on as the league seizes a chance to pull in new followers.
The Rangers, one of the league’s Original Six franchises, can claim some of the NHL’s most loyal supporters who have waited two decades for another shot at the cup.
The Kings, on the other hand, champions in 2012 return to the finals for the second time three years.
“The past few years, we’ve tried to earn the respect of the league,” said Kings forward Justin Williams.
“LA is not just a place to come and play a hockey game and work on your tan. “We want to put LA on the map, and put it significantly on the map with regards to hockey.”
Certainly there can be no disputing the Rangers and Kings both earned their spots in the finals.
After falling behind 3-0 to San Jose in their opening round series, the Kings had looked poised to make a quick play-off exit but have fought their way through to the finals by winning three best-of-seven series against the Sharks, Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks that all went the distance.
In elimination games this post-season the Kings are a perfect 7-0 clinching a berth in the cup finals by finishing off the defending champion Blackhawks 5-4 in a Game Seven overtime thriller.
“You need everybody when you get to Game Seven, you’re not into the individual part of it,” said Kings coach Darryl Sutter, after watching his team become the first to win three Game Sevens en route to the finals.
He added ahead of the final saying: “We prefer not to get to Game Seven. Game Seven is about winning the game, doing whatever it takes.”
The Rangers’ path to the finals was no less gruelling, New York needing seven games to see off Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins before defeating the Montreal Canadiens in six games to claim the Eastern conference crown. To reach a Stanley Cup Finals teams require quality netminding and the Kings and Rangers feature two of the very best in Jonathan Quick and Henrik Lundqvist.
Quick is a proven post-season performer having claimed the Conn Smythe trophy as the Stanley Cup playoffs most valuable player in leading the Kings to their first ever championship two years ago.
Like the Rangers, the Kings added a key piece to their post-season puzzle by acquiring Slovak Marian Gaborik from the Columbus Blue Jackets at the trade deadline.
REUTERS
