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| A real, live Kings bandwagon passes Grauman's Chinese Theatre in L.A. |
LOS ANGELES -- There is a real, living, breathing L.A. Kings bandwagon. I have the picture in my phone to prove it.
At least that’s what the words said -- “THE LA KINGS BANDWAGON” -- painted on the side of what looked like a rebranded tour bus. It traveled down Hollywood Boulevard on Saturday past Grauman’s Chinese Theatre where those movie “characters” suck in the tourists while sucking the life out of cinema history.
I spotted Zorro -- mask off -- checking his phone outside the Crumbs bakery. Marilyn Monroe looked surprisingly lively considering this year marks the 50th anniversary of her death.
There was a 4-foot-11 human of some origin dressed like Chucky from Child's Play holding a smaller, though inanimate Chucky. Think of Jeff Dunham on acid. Better yet, think of yourself on acid while watching Jeff Dunham.
My wife let out a little shriek at Dos Chuckys. I steered clear. The puppet thing wasn’t exactly “The Beaver” but weird enough. Who knew? Mel Gibson could have been moonlighting. I hadn’t seen him since those religious and racists blasts at Moonshadows in Malibu.
How can a try-too-hard bandwagon compete with that freak show? Soon, my camera phone may hold the only evidence that the vehicle actually existed.
What I’m trying to say is, I’ve spent the better part of the week in this town looking for that figurative bandwagon. Kings’ Stanley Cup souvenirs wouldn’t be too much to ask. I’m a sucker like that. It’s a hockey thing, not a Kings thing. It remains the best sport to watch in person. You’ve heard it all before so I’ll let it go at that.
Oh, and I was on vacation here, too. Conclusion: If there was ever a time to be a hockey fan in L.A. … this is certainly among them. When you have actually create a bandwagon, something is wrong.
This should be the second-biggest moment in L.A. hockey history. The only one bigger was the buzz created by the Wayne Gretzky-led team that lost the 1993 Cup Final to Montreal. The highlight of that series was the penalty handed to Marty McSorley for having too much of a curve in his stick in Game 2. The Canadiens, on the brink of 2-0 series deficit, capitalized on the power play and won in five.
Still, it was a golden time for the Forum Blue and Forum Gold as first owner Jack Kent Cooke demanded the colors be referred to in 1967. (Really, they were purple and yellow.) Gretzky turned on the town. He made it fashionable to show up at the Forum even if some of the “stars” included Kurt Russell.
Momentum created by The Great One is credited with jump-starting the NHL’s expansion into the Sun Belt. Who knows, he may have saved hockey in L.A.? It has taken only 19 years for the Kings to get back to this point.
It will be a heck of a Cup Final series with the New Jersey Devils but there may take some convincing of the locals. Sure, it’s a jaded town. The Lakers playoff exit is bigger news than the Kings playoff run. USC is on the brink of reclaiming its status as the city’s best “pro” franchise. The Clippers suddenly matter.
But none of them is playing right now. The Kings are. However, as the bandwagon, er, repainted tour bus rumbled past Grauman’s Chinese Theatre over the weekend, it was a rumbling, metal reminder that a lot of people don’t give a flip.
I slipped into one of those Lids stores near the Kodak Theater. There were a few cheesy Kings’ Stanley Cup T-shirts. An overpriced sign or two. No Stanley Cup pucks, no mention of there actually being an opponent in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Is it too much to carry gear with the 2012 Stanley Cup logo on it? Hockey fans love their gear. I will admit to recently having purchased a Dave Schultz framed picture and signed puck at a silent auction. The closest I came in L.A. was running into was a guy wearing a '70s-era throwback bright yellow Kings jersey. I mumbled something cheerily about going “old school”. He mumbled … something.
On Saturday, Hermosa Beach held its 40th annual Fiesta Hermosa celebration near the ocean. Walking the few blocks from our car, I noticed a sports apparel store that sold nothing but jerseys, hats and jackets. There wasn’t one Kings’ Stanley Cup item among them.
The tickets will be sold and the crowd will be lively when the series comes here next week for Games 3 and 4. The way the Kings are playing, that might be all the hockey they need to finally win a Stanley Cup.
By that time maybe even the freaks in front of Grauman's will jump on the bandwagon.
The prediction: C’mon admit it. In mid-April you had no idea Ilya Kovalchuk had this in him. Or Dustin Penner. Or the other Dustin … Brown. Marty Brodeur and Jonathan Quick? Sure. But at some point, the players in front of the goalies have to perform. That’s why this has been a postseason for Adam Henrique, Bryce Salvador, Drew Doughty and Jeff Carter. It’s the names that don’t roll off the tongue that have gotten both teams here.
Darryl Sutter didn’t even take over as Kings coach until midway through the season. The Devils’ Peter DeBoer was kind of this meek-looking guy who kind of flopped in Florida. Then he gave it back to Torts in the conference finals and we found out these Devils carried pitchforks to go along with their backbone.
That’s the key to this Stanley Cup Final. It will be agonizingly close-checking. Sutter got the Kings turned around by convincing them they could be offensively creative as well as defensively sound. The Devils? DeBoer can coach, actually, and Kovalchuk -- the playoffs' leading scorer -- is earning his $100 million.
Put it this way: Whichever rink has the most lively boards could produce the winner. Each team will forecheck like mothers. The stiffer the boards, the more injuries for defensemen going back to retrieve pucks.
Vancouver, St. Louis and Phoenix never saw it coming from the Kings. The Rangers were simply worn down slowly and surely by the Devils.
Expect the same to happen in this Final that will rattle the wisdom teeth of even TV viewers. Don’t be surprised if the Kings go up 2-1 early in the series but lose their edge, same as the Rangers. Brodeur establishes himself as the 40-Year-Old Surgeon, Kovalchuk leads all playoff scorers and Zach Parise wins the Conn Smythe.
