All things being equal, a Sunday-afternoon practice — particularly on Easter Sunday — isn’t ideal for players, but given the alternative, the Kings couldn’t have been happier to be on the ice today. The alternative, of course, was sitting home and contemplating the end of the season. The Kings still something to play for — Game 6, tomorrow night at Staples Center — so they were happy to be on the ice for a medium-length practice today.
STOLL: “That’s for sure. Any time you’re facing elimination, it’s good to be coming to the rink the next day and putting on equipment, that’s for sure. It was a big effort from everybody last night. Quickie was great for us again. We needed him to be our best player. We knew that, coming into the series, and we still know that. They had a lot of shots, but a lot of them from the outside, a lot of them from the perimeter. They did have some good, quality scoring chances, and Quickie was great for us. We had some big penalty kills in the third. Coming out and getting that early lead like that always helps. The young line over there [Richardson, Clifford and Simmonds] did a great job again of getting the lead, and Pens [Dustin Penner] had a big goal to make it 3-0. We just kind of kept playing. This time, we kept playing.”
Dustin Brown also talked about the team’s attitude the day after an elimination-game victory…
BROWN: “We had a big win there and now we’re back on home ice, so we’ve got to take advantage of it and have the same attitude we did up there. Guys should be ready to go. Our backs are against the wall, so the only way we’re going to win is to find ways to take care of our own end. That’s the key for us as a team, especially against the type of team they have.”
I know rivalries are born in the playoffs but do you guys feel it in these series. I feel like the sharks hate us but we don’t hate them.
also has there been a fight in the series? I don’t recall one. They all get stopped.
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EJ Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 4:22 pm
@Subby, fighting in the playoffs is unusual.
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cpmc29 Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 5:50 pm
@EJ, Clifford $ Eager fought in game 1.
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ValleyKingsFan Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 4:26 pm
@Subby, Well the whole California rivalry dynamic in general is that NorCal people hate SoCal people while SoCal people are chill and completely fine with NorCal people. At the same time, I hated the Sharks even before this series and feel that they are the biggest scum in the NHL. I don’t recall any fights happening in this series either but they are supposed to be rarer in the playoffs.
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Happy Lappy Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 4:31 pm
@ValleyKingsFan, that’s true, unless your a Giants fan at Dodger stadium.
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KC23 Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 5:07 pm
@ValleyKingsFan, Grew up hating the Giants and 49ers is SJ sucks by association for me. Flyers are still my least favorite hockey team though.
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Ravens Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 6:02 pm
@KC23, I don’t like the flyers but I respect them very much,,I’m hoping Clifford does indead turn out to ba a Hartnell type player, and maybe even Forbert could be our Pronger,,,but with more class
Hockey G Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
@Subby, Clifford dropped the gloves in the first game of the series. If the Kings are blowing out the Sharks for tomorrow nights game, then do not be surprised if gloves are dropped at the end of the game.
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jofa6000 Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 5:01 pm
@Subby, cliffy got in to it in game 1.
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Goon Squad Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 5:14 pm
@Subby, I know what you mean. There’s only one guy on their whole team who’s been hard to play against, and that’s Clowe. And I hate the hell out of him! Vancouver was a lot nastier last year. If it goes to game 7, I’d expect the Sharks to have a change of attitude.
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To all the fans going tomorrow.Be LOUD and PROUD,lets make Staples the loudest building in the NHL.GO KINGS GO
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Just so they stay calm on the defensive side of the puck they will be ok…
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I know how to guarantee a Kings win in Game 6, but you’re not going to like it… http://bit.ly/ftIcqF
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OC Hip Check Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 4:28 pm
@wavesinair, LMAO!
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Pili Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 4:42 pm
@wavesinair, I’ll do anything lol
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Clifford got mixed up, can’t remember with who.
Rivalries happen with repeat post-season meet ups; this is only our first time meeting the sharks. If we get the opportunity to see the Canucks again, I would expect to see a rivalry start to form there, but even then, no guarantee.
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Kings Fan Vancouver,WA Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 4:51 pm
@Thanatossassin, He dropped Ben Eager. Eagers face was eager to meet the fists of Clif-fury!!
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There was a fight in game one. Eager and Clifford
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EpEV3Qpajr4
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Just one more reminder, I have an extra ticket for the suite event tomorrow, if anyone was not able to get one. I’ll be staying across the street at the Luxe hotel for the game and can meet you if you want to buy it for $1,000, just kidding, $75. I got 2 tix. in case any fans in Vegas wanted to ride down with me.
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wavesinair Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 4:35 pm
@Happy Lappy, What a fan. Have a safe drive and see you at Staples!
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puck73 Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 10:07 pm
@Happy Lappy, Me and @KC23 will be there in the suite as well, look forward to finally meeting you.
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KFII Reply:
April 25th, 2011 at 6:50 am
@Happy Lappy, You are a cool dude, I hope someone takes you up on that. If I didn’t live so far away, I’d be there. Have a great time!
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OnTheFly Reply:
April 25th, 2011 at 9:16 am
@Happy Lappy, Before you drive out from vagas, can you place a big bet on the sharks to win. If your gambleing luck is like mine..The Kings shpould win and you lose.
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I say we opt for Teal instead of a Blackout.
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wavesinair Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 4:34 pm
@Thanatossassin, See my post above!
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anyone watching the Preds game? I am so glad we have Miller anf Fox the Ducks announcers are so obnoxious, they just complain over and over about not getting calls and how the other teams are lucky to get goals and breaks. no class
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bulldog13lak Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 4:42 pm
@nking11, Totally agree, crass and no class!
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jonsey Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 4:46 pm
@nking11, embarassing. Avery was right -they are the reason we don’t have a national contract. Oh. wait. Well, they still stink. Always the other team’s fault. Never the Ducks fault. Refs are always against them. Whine-out.
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Jeff Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 5:00 pm
@nking11, Preds and Ducks are tied at 2 going into the 3rd. Chicago is down 1-0 to Vancouver, who started Scnieder over Luongo. If Chicago completes the comeback and the Kings defeat the Sharks, we would play the winner of the Preds/Ducks. Imagine a 2nd round matchup between the Kings/Ducks, it would be epic. Plus it would mean the Kings wouldn’t have to leave California until the third round.
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Simarosa Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 5:02 pm
@nking11,
Watching the game on Center Ice now and we are watching the Preds feed…..not a fan of the Ducks announcers either.
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jofa6000 Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 5:05 pm
@nking11, lol classic quack play-by-play.
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Jeff Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 5:40 pm
@jofa6000, Good Night DUCKS!!!!!
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nking11 Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 5:39 pm
@nking11,
wow and now they call a dive flat out. no class, oh well there season is 3-2-1 over!!!
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luckyluc13 Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 5:44 pm
@nking11, Hayward has been eliminated.Ducks will not practice tomorrow
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kingrussell Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 8:14 pm
@luckyluc13, Best news of the day.
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Wear the rallying purple and gold!!!
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Apologies for off point. How bout tomorrow night cutting down on the incessant music and stupid giveaways and letting the fans yelled to heart’s content. It seems that everytime the crowd gets into it, David Courtney stops the noise with some announcement. Let’s make Staples as loud as Buffalo and Chicago without the distractions.
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nking11 Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 4:48 pm
@Bruin18,
More AC/DC and less of the stupid emo pop music. I always love the hit of the game when they play Iron Maiden!! I’m just glad we don’t have to hear the horrible Kings rap that the Staples employee made.
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Subby Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 5:23 pm
@Bruin18, I see what your saying but it makes it more of an entertainment thing which a lot of people like. If we don’t do those things then people will complain we don’t do it.
I do agree that we need to get really into it. The sharks ain’t go crap on staples. Last when they cheered alllll they would say it “beat la” and when they did say lets go sharks they sounded bored.
The only reason it gets loud there because of the architecture of the building. Its small and they have like no suites and the roof is down low.
They cheered more for the anthem and the stupid shark thing that they lower to the ice (which took like 5 mins to bring down”
It felt like a highschool game.. They have all these dumb things they do. Like when they lower the head they all shake their pompom forward like some kind of ritual.
I like the traditions we have at Staples center and how we always queue in the fans to chant stuff. They don’t do that in Sj. I hardly saw their mascot at all either and they don’t do much on their jumbotron or anything.
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Brownkingsfan Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 6:09 pm
@Subby, After being in SJ last night, I have to admit it gets pretty loud in there, but it’s just mostly at the beginning of the game. After the Kings scored the 2nd goal, the noise went waaaayyy down! They have no ice girls, and their game entertainment sucks! I agree about the noise being more about the architecture than the crowd. I thought the intro pompom thing was a little cult-like, and pretty creepy. Our entertainment and fans are far better at Staples!!!
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lets hope its not the last one eitherlets hope we win tomorrow game Go Kings GO
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Congrats Preds on making it to the 2nd round for the first time in history. Now come on Hawks beat the Canucks and Kings beat the Sharks and we can play the Preds. I like our chances if that were to happen.
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Naturallawyer Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 5:48 pm
@Jeff, the Kings match up better with the Preds than most teams. You know the Preds are rooting for us, too, because they’d obviously rather play the Kings than the Red Wings or Canucks.
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bulldog13lak Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 5:51 pm
@Jeff, Me too, we have had good success against the Pred’s this season. So happy the Sucks are out before us! They have a pretty good team, but are always, crying, diving and take a lot of cheap shots against other teams. Bye, bye, Sucks.
Now, Kings, go get the Sharks and make us proud. Although saying that I’m proud of what they’ve achieved so far, considering, we’re playing without Kopi.
Quickers, you’re the MAN!
Please, boys give him all the support you can muster.GKG!
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The ducks are eliminated before us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Buster Reply:
April 24th, 2011 at 6:47 pm
@Naturallawyer,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsaTElBljOE
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I can’t believe that Sean Avery was right about anything but he certainly was right about Hayward. The worst color man in the business. Loved hearing him cry about injuries last night after ducks got eliminated.
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