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Kings, Lombardi honored at L.A. Sports Awards

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The Los Angeles Kings were recognized with a pair of honors at the 10th Annual LA Sports Awards Sunday night, as the club’s Stanley Cup triumph in double overtime over the New York Rangers on June 13 was named Los Angeles’ top sports moment of the year, and Dean Lombardi received the Sports Executive of the Year award.

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw and Angels outfielder Mike Trout were honored as 2014’s Sportsmen of the Year, while U.S. figure skating champion Gracie Gold was named the Sportswoman of the year. Clippers Head Coach Doc Rivers was named the Coach of the Year.

The overall Top 10 moments are selected by a media panel combined with results of online fan voting and are presented by the Los Angeles Sports Council to honor the top athletic achievements of the year in the Los Angeles and Orange County area.

The Kings-Ducks Stadium Series game at Dodger Stadium was selected as the eighth best “moment.”

Via the LA Sports Council, a “moment” can be a specific instant in time (a winning goal, hit or shot), an individual or team milestone, an upset victory, a remarkable game or series of games, a special event or a career achievement. Nominated moments must have taken place in the local area or have involved a local athlete or team.

Fox Sports Prime Ticket will televise the ceremony on Wednesday, March 25 at 7:30 pm PST. More airings will follow.

The top 10 moments, courtesy of the Los Angeles Sports Council:

1. Kings Win Stanley Cup—By defeating the New York Rangers 3-2 in double overtime of Game 5 at Staples Center, the Kings won the Stanley Cup for the second time in three years by winning a remarkable seven straight elimination games during the playoffs (June 13).

2. Clayton Kershaw Wins National League Cy Young and MVP Awards—With a won-loss record of 21-3, including a June 18 no-hitter against the Rockies, and an ERA of 1.77—the lowest in baseball in 14 years—Kershaw was a unanimous selection as NL Cy Young Award winner as well as the first pitcher to win the NL MVP Award since 1968 (November 12 and 13).

3. California Chrome Wins Kentucky Derby and Preakness—Local favorite California Chrome (he trained at Los Alamitos) won the first two legs of horse racing’s Triple Crown under jockey Victor Espinoza and might have won the third had he not suffered a heel injury at the start of the Belmont Stakes (May 3 and 17).

4. Landon Donovan Sets MLS Scoring Record, Wins All-Star Honors and Retires as a Champion—In a final season befitting his stature as the greatest-ever American soccer player, Donovan set the MLS scoring record by notching his 135th career goal, was named the MVP of the MLS All-Star Game after scoring the winning goal against Bayern Munich, and ending his playing career by helping the Galaxy defeat New England to win the MLS Cup (May 25, August 6 and December 7).

5. Gracie Gold Wins U.S. National Figure Skating Title, followed by Olympic Bronze in Sochi—In Boston, Gold’s first national championship title propelled her to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, where she clinched a bronze medal for the USA in the team event by nailing all 11 of the jumps in her long program (January 11 and February 9).

6. Galaxy Win MLS Cup—The Galaxy defeated the New England Revolution in extra time, 2-1, to earn their third Major League Soccer championship in the last four years and fifth all-time, at StubHub Center (December 7).

7. Steve Ballmer Buys the Clippers—Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer purchased the Clippers from Shelly Sterling for $2 billion, one of the highest prices ever paid for a North American professional sports franchise (August 12).

8. Ducks, Kings Face Off at Dodger Stadium in L.A.’s First-Ever Outdoor Hockey Game—The participating teams walked between the palm trees and through the Dodger Stadium outfield to get to the rink as the Ducks defeated the Kings, 3-0, as part of the NHL’s Stadium Series (January 25).

9. Mike Trout Wins American League MVP Award—In combining offensive firepower (36 home runs; leading the league in runs scored and runs batted in) and spectacular defense, the 23-year-old Trout was a unanimous choice as AL MVP and is the third Angel to ever win the award (Don Baylor and Vladimir Guerrero are the others) (November 13).

10. Kobe Bryant, Passing Michael Jordan, Becomes 3rd Leading Scorer in NBA History—With a pair of free throws against the Timberwolves at Minnesota, Bryant passed Michael Jordan on the all-time NBA scoring list with 32,293 points, trailing only Karl Malone and all-time leader Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (December 14).

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