Matt Murray has been a Kings fan since the late '80s, when Wayne Gretzky grabbed headlines by defecting to the West Coast. Since then, he has been a card-carrying bandwagon member as the club soared in popularity with their sole Stanley Cup appearance to their position near the bottom of the Pacific. But things are looking brighter, as he is anxious to witness the rise of the new Kings.
London's calling... the Kings?
According to ESPN.com, the Kings will open next season across the pond. No, not the Honda Ponda in Anaheim, but the bigger one called the Atlantic.
Apparently, L.A. will be playing several games at the O2 Arena (formerly the Millenium Dome, renamed by the new owners and operators, AEG), one exhibition and two regular season games. The Ducks and the Canucks are two teams that are being considered accompanying the Kings to Great Britian.
One wonders if this will cancel the wildly popular Frozen Fury, the annual trek out to Las Vegas. FF is usually near the end of the exhibition schedule, and has grown to be a profitable venture. Obviously, the amount of West Coast Kings fans will miss out on this historic event. I, for one, would love to go see a hockey game in jolly old England. However, next season is Year Two of the rebuilding project, so I have reservations on how good the hockey club will be by then.
It also seems weird that the NHL would consider sending West Coast teams over East Coast teams, just from a marketing standpoint. I get the whole "Kings" angle, very clever. But wouldn't it be better to send the Bruins and Rangers? Aren't they more established?
Either way, I'm interested in seeing how this plays out.
Comments
Both of the the Ducks V Kings games at the O2 are Sold Out, have been for a while.
Posted by: Tony Wood | August 15, 2007 1:17 AM