Los Angeles booming with Kings success in Stanley Cup Finals against New Jersey Devils
Citizens of Los Angeles never knew that they would be celebrating hockey this much as their Kings team is now just one win away from grabbing their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.
Los Angeles has seen many hockey greats come and go, including Wayne Gretzky, but fans still have not had the opportunity to march down the streets of Downtown with their players hoisting the most coveted prize in the sport.
For the Kings, the timing could not have been any better. With big sports teams like the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB), Kings were barely known to have ever existed
after Gretzky left the city.
Now with hockey regaining their spot in the limelight, Kings are focused on taking full advantage of this situation.
"What the Stanley Cup provides is an opportunity to build on your fan base," Kings’ forward, Jeff Carter, said. "You have to see it as a marketing opportunity."
The STAPLE Center, home stadium of the Kings, also saw a major boom this past regular season as they sold out 37 of 39 games along with merchandise stores acquiring record profits with dedicated fans and celebrities showing up to support the team.
The LA Lakers were also in the NBA Playoffs this year, but as soon as they saw an early exit, hockey fans came to the occasion to go wild with the Kings going strong and now being known as already have taken the cup as opposing club, New Jersey Devils, are
just one loss away from elimination.
"I don't know what 45 years of pent-up energy sounds like, but if we play our game [Wednesday], maybe we will find out," Dustin Brown said. "I'm sure I'll think about it tomorrow and tonight, but when you get to the rink ... it is kind of hard to explain
the emotions, but you've got to come focused and ready to go. You don't really think too much about it.”
With the possibility of winning the Stanley Cup at home on Wednesday in Game 4, Los Angeles Kings fans are ready to celebrate their hearts out and go down in history for sure.
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