There’s a game to be played tonight in Anaheim, and then tomorrow morning it’s off to Las Vegas for the “Frozen Fury” game against Colorado tomorrow night. Who was there 20 years ago, when the Kings played in Las Vegas for the first time? It was Sept. 27, 1991, when the Kings and New York Rangers played outdoors, on a temporary rink in a Caesars Palace parking lot. The temperatures were in the mid-80s, the game was put in peril hours before it started, when a tarp fell and damaged the ice, and players had to skate around (and through) a ton of grasshoppers that invaded the ice. And, don’t forget, the “Hrudey Cam.”
The Kings started their annual Las Vegas game in 1997 and have been back every year since, except for the lockout-canceled season of 2004-05. For a look back at that first game, here’s a story and a video…
Awesome. I might go at the last minute
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Thanks Rich. I was 10 then and had no clue! Great history lesson!
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Very cool. Thanks Rich!
Bring the frozen fury out to the West coast!
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fridgemagnet57 Reply:
September 30th, 2011 at 6:05 pm
@fridgemagnet57,
Whoops meant to say Winter Classic.
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I was there, we beat the Rangers… Have fun tomorrow night everyone!
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murf Reply:
September 30th, 2011 at 5:51 pm
@Kings Win, Ducks Lose, I was there also it was a great time GKG !
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Osaka Reply:
September 30th, 2011 at 5:56 pm
@Kings Win, Ducks Lose, I was there too……. from what I remember.
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murf Reply:
September 30th, 2011 at 6:17 pm
@Osaka, from what I remember lol.I believe it was the first NHL outdoor game since 1909
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JayGoLAKings Reply:
September 30th, 2011 at 7:58 pm
@Kings Win, Ducks Lose, I was there with a group of friends. Good times!
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I guess the play-by-play audio went down? Sucks not to hear Bob say, “Gretzky shoots. He scores!”
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I was there it was assume, My oldest lost a bundle playing blackjack at a table with Gretzky, McSorley and I not sure who else.
Seemed hotter than in the 80′s but I guess that is just my aged memory.
Aa someone once said Oh what a night….
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I was there and have been to every kings game in vegas since…..GO KINGS
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always heard ‘the great one’ could score from the parking lot
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Fond memories. I’ve talked with quite a few Kingsfans over the years thta attended that game, and it’s always fun to reminisce. Sucks that I have never made it out to Vegas for Frozen Fury.
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Osaka Reply:
September 30th, 2011 at 6:01 pm
@Dominick, The game almost didn’t happen, the tarp that was covering the ice protecting it from the sun was lowered or fell onto the ice and melted into it. The ice quality was a joke but they played. From what I remember I had fun.
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Dominick Reply:
September 30th, 2011 at 6:44 pm
@Osaka, I seem to remember fog too I think. I know it was hot as hell out there. For Las Vegas 95, or something degrees is a walk in the park, but I was hot. It was 2 nothing before I even sat down. I came back with some food and we were losing. Was fun to get the win, and a day I’ll never forget.
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Here’s all the video I took of Doughty’s skate today in HD now. Thanks to tip from a fellow fan, I was able to get back to the TSC just in the nick of time to capture DD finish his interview and jump on the ice…
http://deepinsidethekings.com/2011/09/perfect-timing-doughtys-entrance/
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Kingsfanone Reply:
September 30th, 2011 at 5:45 pm
@wavesinair,
Nice job, waves! Great timing too!
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YoBro Reply:
September 30th, 2011 at 10:21 pm
@wavesinair, Great scoop Waves! Cool vids too. I see they’re still using them little Go-Kart tires, I’ll have to send ‘em some of my take-off Hoosiers to make the shooting part a little tougher! lol
Go Kings
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I still remember watching that event on prime ticket back then. It was really strange and yet exciting to see something that had never been tried before, Hockey in the open air desert. It is something that I will never forget, especially the Hrudey cam !
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I was there and it was utterly amazing!
Following the final buzzer, my parents, friends and some fellow fans filed quickly out of the stands in order to avoid the usual mad crush of exiting fans.
We thought we would be smart and we ended up trying to get clear of the crowd by taking a back route through the casino. As we made our way through the bowels of the casino, we came to a “Y” intersection, where we entered a narrow hallway, and sure enough, the entire team (sans Gretz) filed through this narrow hallway directly beside us. We literally stared in disbelief! We we’re absolutely dumfounded.
My friend Jim and his brother Keith razzed poor Bernie Nichols (freshly traded to the Rangers the year before) all night long!
Thanks Rich. Great memories…
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wavesinair Reply:
September 30th, 2011 at 5:43 pm
@kiosku2, Great story. Too bad you were too dumbfounded to get a picture!
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kiosku2 Reply:
September 30th, 2011 at 6:54 pm
@wavesinair, We were just happy to see the guys close up. In their full gear, they looked masive! Lol!
Truly memorable trip. Seeing that video reminds me how much I miss all those guys; it was a great time in Kings’ history even if we didn’t end up winning any championships…
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Wow! The Great One. Luc. Tony G. Hrudy Cam.
And the inevitable “Hi, Mom” at the end.
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Is the game tonight on line or on radio?
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Very cool of Quick have Doughty and Lokti over for dinner… I’m sure Lokti’s bummed but it’s great to see the guys stick together.
http://twitter.com/#!/JonathanQuick32
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Otto Ped Reply:
September 30th, 2011 at 5:54 pm
@wavesinair, Hopefully they are convincing him not to leave for the KHL
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blahblah Reply:
September 30th, 2011 at 7:50 pm
@wavesinair,
someone finish this joke….
what happens when you have a canadian hockey players, an american hockey player, and a russian hockey player all have dinner together?
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Rich,
Does Mike Richards avoid doing interviews? We haven’t heard much from him.
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Kings win, Ducks lose Reply:
September 30th, 2011 at 6:21 pm
@Osaka, good article on SI today!
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/adrian_dater/09/30/mike.richards.kings/index.html
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They need to hold the Winter Classic at Dodger Stadium.
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Edward Reply:
October 1st, 2011 at 12:03 pm
@WhatHappendedToKingston?, I agree!!!!! Have Vin Scully introduce the lineups on the PA and have him drop the puck! I LOVE that idea!
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Attn; We are going to meet at the New York New York Times Square Bar tonight at 9. All Insiders in Vegas welcomed to attend. Come on down and have A drink and celebrate this upcoming season. See you there!!!
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Freakin Awesome!! See you at the Honda Center tonight. GKG!!
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i was at the game, and even better then that i got to skate on the ice with some of the players because i was in the youth program here in vegas and our team got to skate with them under the tarp.
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The Duckbasher was there. When I got there the day of the game I saw a young Rob Blake while entering Cesars. It was hot and I thought no way they’d get a game in. It was a lot of fun.
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I was at the Caesers game. Interesting side story, my wife and I bought tix for the game a couple months in advance. About 2 weeks prior to the game she went splitsville! Then she demanded her ticket to the game, the nerve right!!?? Anyway, I ended up going with a couple of friends and she went with some people from work. Obviously we didn’t sit with each other, one of my friends sat in her seat and I spent the whole night avoiding noticing where she was sitting, awkward to say the least! But in the end the Kings won and life went on! Anyway, as weird as it was, that’s my story from the Rangers vs Kings at Caesers Palace 1991!
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I was there too, but I can’t believe it was 20 years ago! Seemed hotter than 80′s too, but that was probably game time. Me and my girlfriend at the time checked out the rink about 3pm, it was behind Caesars, in the parking lot actually and the whole rink was a big puddle. It was blazing hot, I thought there was no way the game would go off, but sure enough it did, must have been a miracle because they never tried it outside again. I remember being impressed by a rookie for NY named Tony Amonte, he sure was flying through the puddles, went on to a decent career.
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I was there that night with a buddy of mine. Seemed warmer than in the 80s. A lively feisty crowd all enjoying the game. After all these years I still see a bag of popcorns flying through the crowd. Kings win and the rest of the night was mostly forgetful since my buddy’s Vegas pals were all under age. Time sure flies.
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I was there that night at Caesars, with my wife and some friends from work. It was pretty warm but the atmosphere was electric. I was also impressed by Amonte, and I remember Tie Domi, in his first full year with the Rangers, was all over the ice doing what he does. And it was Jari Kurri’s first year with the Kings, back with Gretz. Those two were awesome together. Lots of puddles and water splashing up when someone went down, and they’d get up and you could see their uniforms were soaked, causing some obvious discomfort. They had inadequate toilet facilities–just a handful of those blue porta-potties–and my wife spent about an hour waiting in a massive line. Sorry, I hadda stay and watch the game, boy was she pissed. The Kings won but I can’t remember the score. It was a real satisfying and fun evening though, and I’m proud to say I was there.
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I was there at that game! Center Ice, about 14th row, My late ex girlfriend and I spent $150 bucks on those tickets ($75 each) It was a great game, proves that even in temps of 80, you can still play hockey on ice….if it’s done right! I recall pre-season games later in the week in Tampa…..game got shortened to 15 minute periods because of bad ice and several days later, in Charlotte, game was cancelled because of bad ice….go figure!
It is also ironic that the NHL has yet to mention about the first outdoor game until just recently on the NHL network. It was treated like an “oh by the way” when they interviewed John Vanbiesbrouk. So every time I watch the Winter Classic, I look back to the first outdoor game in NHL history and ask myself, how come Doc Emerick and “Mr. Blackhawk Homer” Eddie Olczyk don’t mention this on the broadcast.
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that was cool, I cant belive it was 20 years ago, time tic tic tic…
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I was there. I haven’t missed one yet.
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