This has been the longest summer I can remember. Almost since our last home game on April 11th, I've been dreading the long hiatus without my Kings. Following the Stanley Cup playoffs held me over for a while, but by June I was pretty much ready for the season to start. So thank goodness the Kings found a way to end my suffering and make summer a little more bearable by putting on an entire weekend of hockey activities! The first annual LA Kings Hockey Fest started tonight with a big pep rally at the Nokia Theatre, right across from Staples Center.
This event is about more than just the current lineup of Kings. The organization brought back many noteworthy alumni, including a reunion 30 years in the making with the participation of the Kings famous "Triple Crown Line" - Marcel Dionne, Charlie Simmer and Dave Taylor. In their heyday, these guys were a goal scoring machine together, and it was so fun to watch the video montages of them playing. I got chills realizing the team I love has this kind of history behind it.
The alumni were announced first, and since they're old dudes they got to sit. Then the current players came out and stood in a row behind them.
It's so great to see Drew and the boys back together. Everyone looked tan, rested, and healthy, which I hope means they're ready to kick some major ass this season. In the photo below, Drew is 4th from the left.
But my favorite moment of the rally was a speech by our captain, Dustin Brown.
He's such a quiet and humble guy, and I have to imagine speech-making is his least favorite part of the captain gig. But he talked a lot about all the efforts the team has made to become more cohesive over the summer, training together and really getting to know and trust each other. In his mind, this group of individuals is finally becoming a team, and I know his leadership has a lot to do with that. He also owned up to the fact that success is now up to this team, and they've got no more excuses not to win. I know in my heart they're gonna leave it all on the ice this season. And I got a little choked up thinking about how far Brownie has come - from an 18 year old in a strange city getting bullied by Sean Avery to a man ready to lead his team into battle. I can't imagine a better captain for our team.
And on the eye candy front, can we take a moment and marvel at the Greek-God perfection of my favorite enforcer, Kevin Westgarth?
Kevin will get his chance to make the big club in camp starting in a week. I'm pulling for him!
The rest of the weekend is going to be full of autograph signings, speaker panels, games, and more cool hockey-ness that you can imagine. And I can't wait to do it all!
No comments:
Post a Comment