2012 SCF : Los Angeles Kings vs. New Jersey Devils

[Din758 371]

just watching the highlights of the game on TSN website... really awkward to hear Kings crowd not only not booing Gary The Commish - they actually cheer him when he talks about great fans...

The fans that were actually there havent been bandwagoning long enough to know everyone is supposed to boo bettman

Good for them though. Nice run and seemmingly good squad of guys. I wont mind seeing the Kings lifting the cup on all the promos for the coming season. I can think of others that I hate..

[Seraph 240]

Let's not be hockey snobs, folks. This was an amazing run and gathered a lot of attention in what is potentially one of the biggest markets. The fans rallied and many will probably stick around. It's a great thing for the game. Plus, there is nothing Chris Prongerish about this team. They played their hearts out and earned it, so I have no problem with the cup going to southern California for a year.

[cusimano_brothers 1,655]

This is what I was waiting for:

[Guest Hatethedrake!]

unofficial source but... lol

[Nightfall 871]

Make no mistake, the best team won the cup thats for sure. Glad to see them win it. Now, its going to be a long summer with no hockey.

Maybe the Tigers can turn things around and give us a good run to the playoffs.

[wingslogo19 281]

Great to see the Kings win the cup!! Congrats to them they deserved it Me seeing the Kings hoist the cup really made me want to see the Wings be doing the same thing next year.

And how amazing is it that the Wings are still the last team to win back to back cups

[esteef 2,679]

I'm so sick of hearing about the "non-call". That f***** dove and he knew it. And so did the ref. Bunch of f***in divers. Glad they lost.

esteef

[j.hoop 64]

best part of this stanley cup was seeing this man raise it

[Guest Hatethedrake!]

[Tim.D 176]

Here's a video I made on the Kings' Stanley Cup Final Series. Watch in HD.

[Hockey13Playa 240]

Here's a video I made on the Kings' Stanley Cup Final Series. Watch in HD.

Nice video! I was upset however you didn't include Taylor Stevens in your video. I thought for sure she would of made the final cut!

Especially when 2Pac says "shake it mama"

[MulesWillFly93 199]

I'm so darn proud of them. I've been watching them a lot over the past 3 years when the Wings had the night off, so it's nice to see good things come to people you've gotten to "know" pretty well. It's not like getting to see the Wings win a Cup, but still, when you've watched somebody put a lot of hard work into something, it's cool to see it pay off for them. I'm really glad they got to win at home, too...as much as I didn't want them to lose Game 5 at the time, now I can look back and know it happened for the best.

On the subject of bandwagon fans, I'm sure they have a ton of them, but I've met enough real Kings fans to know that they're a great fanbase even if there aren't as many of them as there are Wings or Leafs fans, so I'm happy that they get to have this moment. They didn't have to be hockey fans - they're the lucky few if their parents steered them toward it - but they are by their own choice, and now they get to experience the full glory of being one. That's great to see, and makes up for all the last-second jerks who piled on for the playoffs.

[Dabura 12,228]

Wish we had a Dustin Brown.

[wingslogo19 281]

Good to see that New Jersey didn't riot either

[Firehawk 305]

I think it was kind of exciting to watch the underdog come out of nowhere and beat 3 top seeds and then win the cup. The way that they did it was amazing.

But who thinks it is good for hockey? Because I think it isn't. I don't mean to be so negative, but come on. I think it's a statement on how the parity in the league sucks. I don't think a team like that should be winning the cup. How can you look at a team like the 2002 wings or even the avalanche at the time and then have the same bunch of no-names that probably won't even make the playoffs next year win the cup?

I'm not trying to bash, and I'm definitely not trying to put LA down specifically, but more in general, why are the wings trying to go after high priced talent then when it is looking more and more like what it takes to win is really just grit and speed? Most people have no idea of ANY of the players on the kings. Is there really a superstar? Maybe one in the making, but right now is there really one?

I guess I just miss having two high talented teams going at it. I know I know...spilled milk. Sorry.

I just think we are in for more of these kinds of teams winning the cup.

It's crazy how essentially every highly offensive skilled team went out in round 1 this year. Is this just an aberation or is it a sign of more to come?

Edited June 14, 2012 by Firehawk

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

I think it was kind of exciting to watch the underdog come out of nowhere and beat 3 top seeds and then win the cup. The way that they did it was amazing.

But who thinks it is good for hockey? Because I think it isn't. I don't mean to be so negative, but come on. I think it's a statement on how the parity in the league sucks. I don't think a team like that should be winning the cup. How can you look at a team like the 2002 wings or even the avalanche at the time and then have the same bunch of no-names that probably won't even make the playoffs next year win the cup?

I'm not trying to bash, and I'm definitely not trying to put LA down specifically, but more in general, why are the wings trying to go after high priced talent then when it is looking more and more like what it takes to win is really just grit and speed? Most people have no idea of ANY of the players on the kings. Is there really a superstar? Maybe one in the making, but right now is there really one?

I guess I just miss having two high talented teams going at it. I know I know...spilled milk. Sorry.

I just think we are in for more of these kinds of teams winning the cup.

It's crazy how essentially every highly offensive skilled team went out in round 1 this year. Is this just an aberation or is it a sign of more to come?

I honestly agree that there is a downside to parity in that having powerhouse teams year after year creates great rivalries, but mostly this sounds like sour grapes.

People may not be very familiar with the Kings because they play on the West coast and don't have creepy identical twins or a drama queen for a goalie, but in terms of star players on the Kings there's several candidates. Mostly it's just that the team is so young that it's a lot of guys who are very good now that are becoming superstars.

Doughty - great young defenseman, norris trophy nominee and will likely win one very soon. 22 years old.

Kopitar - people are finally now noticing him in spite of three 70+ point seasons and great two way play. two time all-star. 24 years old.

Richards - former captain, all star and couple 70+ point seasons. hits, scores goals, plays the PP and PK and will fight when called upon. 27 years old.

Quick - probably won't but would be a worthy winner of the Vezina this year, and the Hart. Then there's his playoff run. 26 years old

Brown - maybe not a star, but a captain who hits more than almost anyone in the league, can score goals, play on the PP and kill penalties. 27 years old.

Then think about the Wings winning in 2008. What stars did they have?

Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Zetterberg. That's about it. There's a couple former stars in Hasek and Chelios but they weren't playing most of the playoffs.

More than anything it just sounds like a team won that you didn't know very much about and didn't feel any connection to, so it seems bad for hockey.

It's too bad more people don't get to see the Kings play because they've been a fun team to watch for a few seasons now. They're young, big, fast, will hit, fight. And now they're out of the goal scoring slump.

[Doc Holliday 1,888]

Bill Maher Tweet.

Stop congratulating me on Stanley Cup cuz I live in L A. No one here gives a **** about a winter sport played by Russians/Canadians in June

Dustin Penner Twitter Response.

Hey william (@billmaher) I'd guess a few more people care to watch us win then you reading a teleprompter. #moremakeup #lesshair

[Hockey13Playa 240]

Dustin Penner Twitter Response.

Haha that is awesome! In the words of Kelso from that 70's show:

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Bill Maher Tweet.

Dustin Penner Twitter Response.

I used to rip on Penner for not living up to his contract with the Kings, but ever since the pancake incident, it's hard not to love the guy.

It'll be interesting to see what the Kings do. I'm sure they're hoping to sign the Penner that they saw under Sutter, and not the floater they watched for nearly every other Kings game prior to that.

[kylee 727]

[Firehawk 305]

I honestly agree that there is a downside to parity in that having powerhouse teams year after year creates great rivalries, but mostly this sounds like sour grapes.

People may not be very familiar with the Kings because they play on the West coast and don't have creepy identical twins or a drama queen for a goalie, but in terms of star players on the Kings there's several candidates. Mostly it's just that the team is so young that it's a lot of guys who are very good now that are becoming superstars.

Doughty - great young defenseman, norris trophy nominee and will likely win one very soon. 22 years old.

Kopitar - people are finally now noticing him in spite of three 70+ point seasons and great two way play. two time all-star. 24 years old.

Richards - former captain, all star and couple 70+ point seasons. hits, scores goals, plays the PP and PK and will fight when called upon. 27 years old.

Quick - probably won't but would be a worthy winner of the Vezina this year, and the Hart. Then there's his playoff run. 26 years old

Brown - maybe not a star, but a captain who hits more than almost anyone in the league, can score goals, play on the PP and kill penalties. 27 years old.

Then think about the Wings winning in 2008. What stars did they have?

Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Zetterberg. That's about it. There's a couple former stars in Hasek and Chelios but they weren't playing most of the playoffs.

More than anything it just sounds like a team won that you didn't know very much about and didn't feel any connection to, so it seems bad for hockey.

It's too bad more people don't get to see the Kings play because they've been a fun team to watch for a few seasons now. They're young, big, fast, will hit, fight. And now they're out of the goal scoring slump.

I agree with alot of what you say. However, I don't think it's sour grapes becuase if a team like Vancouver won the cup, I wouldn't say what i said. The 2008 wings had more superstars/stars on that team than the Kings. Maybe Quick is an up and coming superstar, maybe not. People thought that about Giguere. Where's he now?

I'm just saying that in general, I don't think it is good for hockey. Now, if the Kings players go on to turn into super stars, then I can look back and say "ok, it was a super star team in the making". BUt I just don't think parity works in hockey at all, at least, not with 30 teams and the talent thinned out.

I don't know, I guess I just don't like how the league is changing. On one hand I like the speed of the game, but on the other, the balanced towards the importance of 3rd and 4th line players is too high in my opinion. The saying that "you have to have your stars come through for you" is really not accurate anymore. It's always been about having a solid supporting cast, I just think that the importance of 1st/2nd liners is not as high as it used to be. I don't know how else to say better what I'm trying to get across.

I was disappointed with the Wings this year, but I had no expectations toward the end of the year when they couldn't win much.

You compare the wings 2008 to LA this year, well I think the Wings had at least one player that is arguably the most exciting player in the league, and that's Datsyuk. And they have an all time great in Lidstrom on defense. The rest were not superstars, even Zetterberg I don't consider a superstar. But at least they had a couple of superstars that made the game a bit exciting. BUT EVEN THEN, looking at the wings of 2008, the excitement level was far less than the 2002 team, or even watching other high powered teams like the Avalanche back then (I hated them but they were almost a carbon copy of the wings and were unbelievably good).

LA won the cup, but they lose 1 more regular season game and they don't even make the playoffs. Then we are talking about a completely different team, maybe Vancouver goes on to win the cup. It's just funny how things work out. LA could not even come close to making the playoffs next year. Hell, maybe the wings don't. I guess I just want to see teams that have high flying offense and aren't primarily composed of grit. That's boring, and the league ratings say it.