Pennies from heaven

Back in August, when the lines were painted on the Staples Center surface, three pennies were placed at center ice. Luc Robitaille contributed a 2002 penny, signifying the year he won the Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings. The mysterious man behind the Bailey mascot contributed a 2006 penny, signifying the season in which his beloved Indianapolis Colts won the Super Bowl. The third coin, Robitaille said, was from 1893, the year that the Stanley Cup was first awarded, to the Montreal Hockey Club of the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada. On Thursday, Bailey dug the three coins out of the ice (picture courtesy of twitter.com/BaileyLAKings).

The only question now is, what happened to the game-ending puck? Isn’t that something the Kings would want to have? Nobody seems to know what happened to it. At the final horn, Jordan Nolan was the closest Kings player to the puck, but he appeared to peel off and join the celebration. One Kings official said that an on-ice official usually picks up the puck at the end of the game. Linesman Derek Amell appeared to be the closest official to the puck at the end of game. Perhaps nobody really cares, but wouldn’t it be a cool part of Kings history?