Players won’t have to dodge bikes

The Kings will not, as Darryl Sutter suggested some might, have to dodge bikes on Sunday morning. Per their recant routine, the Kings will stay downtown tonight in advance of tomorrow’s noon game against Phoenix. It makes more sense than ever, given that the team certainly doesn’t want players stressed about traffic on the morning of the game, given the uncertainty involving the Tour of California race downtown. Noon starts aren’t common, certainly not on the West Coast, but the Kings also had one in the previous round. Darryl Sutter was asked if he likes the early starts, and indicated that the key to managing the early games is what happens in the hours before the game.

SUTTER: “You know, we talked about it when we had the last one. I don’t know, to tell you the truth. You wait and see how you play. You always have three or four guys that aren’t your perfect morning people. Your’e just kind of waiting to see, always. I remember, in the old days, playing those 1:20 (p.m.) starts, or whatever it was, in Boston Garden. You got woke up in a hurry. Everybody is different. I don’t mind those mid-afternoon ones. The problem you have with the noon ones is it affects…they’re people, and they’ve got to eat properly, so it’s their time and their routine, to get their fuel in them. That’s always an issue, I think. You don’t want to get them up too early, if they want to eat at 7 or 8. So you kind of let them decide. That’s what’s more important for me.”