Kings bring Stanley Cup to Beach Cities [2012 Newsmaker]
Two months before local Olympians returned from London with gold around their necks, the L.A. Kings displayed shining silver in the Beach Cities in the form of the Stanley Cup. On June 11, the Kings completed a storybook playoff run with a 6-1 win over the New Jersey Devils to win the first Stanley Cup in franchise history and become the first 8th-seeded team in North American professional sports to win a championship. The outcome was totally unpredictable. The team barely made it into the playoffs, entering the postseason as the lowest seed (8th) in the Western Conference. The Kings were the lowest scoring team in the NHL when head coach Terry Murray was fired on Dec. 12, 2011. Los Angeles Kings’ center Jarret Stoll hoists the Stanley Cup while a motorcade moves up the Strand from Hermosa to Manhattan Beach. Photo Former Calgary general manager and San Jose Sharks coach Daryl Sutter was named as the new head coach with the hopes of inspiring a team many hockey analysts considered soft and underachieving. Near the end of the regular season, things suddenly clicked for the Kings. They eliminated defending Western Conference Champion Vancouver and the top-seed St. Louis Blues in the…
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