Make a choice! Right now! Your two best friends are playing a game and you have to pick a side. What if it was your mother vs. your father? Brother vs. Brother? Santa vs. The Easter Bunny? Who do you choose? What criteria do you use to make that choice? However you do it, a choice has to be made.
I never thought the day would come when I would have to make this choice. As a life long hockey fan growing up in southern California I rooted for one team, the LA Kings. When I got a bit older I started rooting for a team 3,000 miles away, the New Jersey Devils. Why? I'll get to that later. The teams play once, twice, or sometimes don't play at all during the regular season so there was never any problem in rooting for two teams on opposite coasts...until now. I couldn't imagine these teams meeting for the holy grail of hockey, the Stanley Cup, until this year. With each round of the playoffs the prospect of these two meeting grew brighter and brighter, like a subway train's headlight as it pulls into the station. As both teams made the conference finals I just kept thinking that if they did make it to the finals, I would be happy for both teams and not think about who to root for. But before we look forward let's look back to my evolution as a Kings/Devils fan.
LA KINGS
I became a hockey fan in the early 80's. I watched many Kings' games on KHJ Channel 9 in Los Angeles with Bob Miller and Nick Nickson. One of my fondest memories was the 1st round playoff series in 1982 vs. Edmonton. The Oilers were heavily favored with players every hockey fan knows: Gretzky, Kurri, Fuhr, and Messier. But in a back and forth Game 1 the Kings outlasted the Oilers 10-8. 10-8! Can you imagine a playoff game ending 10-8 today? And the goalies were not minor league call ups. We're talking Fuhr and Mario Lessard. Many people don't know Lessard but he had a couple of good years for the Kings, leading the league in wins and making the All-Star team in 1981. I remember many a time where Miller would yell out, "Save Lessard!" during the broadcast. In Game 1 in 1982 the Kings were up 9-8 very late and guess who gets free on a breakaway? Gretzky. My heart was in my throat but Lessard came up huge. Go to 4:15 to see the save and empty net goal.
Back then not only was the game different, but the way the games were televised were completely different. My neighborhood, it seemed, was one of the last in the U.S. to get ESPN and cable TV. My family couldn't get it until 1987 so in the late 70's, early 80's we had ON TV. ON TV was similar to cable but the box was a little bigger and it had a big dial on the front of it. If you wanted to watch ON you turned the TV to channel 3 and the dial from Off to ON. However, ON only had programming at night. And it was a few movies and sports. Back then home games for our local teams: Dodgers, Angels, Lakers, and Kings were never shown on TV. Until ON TV came along and they showed many of these home games. The Kings announcers were Stu Nahan doing play-by-play and Dan Avey doing color. And I watched many a loss on ON TV but kept cheering for the Kings anyway. Well, Game 3 of the Edmonton series was not on TV, at least not locally, so I had to listen to Bob Miller and Nick Nickson on my clock radio. The Kings played terribly and were down 5-0 after 2. I turned off the radio and turned it back on to check the score and it was 5-1. I clicked it off and checked a few minutes later and it was 5-3 so I listened to the end of what was later called the Miracle on Manchester. Kings scored 5 goals in the 3rd period to tie it and won it in OT, 6-5. The biggest miracle is how much video there is of it today, because it was not shown in LA. And the call by Miller is his radio call which I listened to. Here is a video about that game.
The series eventually went back to Edmonton for a deciding Game 5 which the Kings won 7-4. The highlight of the game was Bernie Nicholls scoring and doing his patented fist pump celebration "The Pumpernickel" and as he was in mid-pump Miller said, "Do the Pumpernickel Bernie!" Classic Miller.
I continued to watch the Kings lose year after year in the 80's until Gretzky joined LA and there was a new enthusiasm for hockey. The Kings became the LA Oilers with players like Kurri, Marty McSorley, Charlie Huddy, Paul Coffey, and Mike Krushelnyski joining the now silver and black Kings. Don't know Krushelnyski? He scored one of the flukiest goals in NHL playoff history. In 1990 the Kings were up 3-2 in a series against the defending Stanley Cup champion Calgary Flames. They had to win Game 6 at the Forum or they were going to go back to Calgary for a Game 7 and an almost certain loss. The game was tied at 3 and I had promised my sister I would go to the movies with her that night. So instead of screwing over my sister I went with her and left near the end of regulation. I can't tell you what movie we saw because I was thinking about the game the whole time. As soon as we got home I ran straight to the TV to find the score. This was pre-internet and ESPN ran a score ticker only at :28 and :58 past the hour. So I turned on CNN Headline News and saw this goal.
In 1993 I went on the roller coaster ride called the Kings playoff run and everyone talks about the McSorley stick or the hat trick by Gretzky in Game 7 vs. the Leafs. But one of my fondest memories and one nobody talks about was probably the biggest goal of that playoffs. The Kings were playing Vancouver in the 2nd round and the series was tied 2-2. Game 5 was in Vancouver and if the Kings lost that game the only way they could win the series was winning Game 6 at home and 7 in Vancouver. I was glued to my TV and watched the whole thing as it went to OT and then double OT before Gary Shuchuk scored this goal. Go to 6:05 of this video to see it.
The loss to Montreal in the finals hurt a lot but that summer I attended a sportscasters' camp and Bob Miller was the co-director of the camp. I remember many people coming up to Miller and congratulating him on the Kings run through the playoffs and how the Kings were going to be contenders after so many losing seasons. We believed Gretzky was going to give us multiple Cups in the future. No one there ever thought it would take this long just to get back to the finals.
NJ DEVILS
In the mid 90's the Kings started sliding and I turned my focus to the New Jersey Devils. I get asked many times, how did a southern California boy become a Devils' fan? Let's rewind once again to 1980 when I fell in love with hockey. I was only 8 years old, but I got swept up in the patriotic hysteria known as the Miracle on Ice. I have read and watched more things on that than probably any other event in my life. And my favorite player from that team was Mark Johnson, #10. He's the reason why I always wore #10 when I played sports. I knew Johnson had signed with the Penguins after the Olympics but by 1988 I had lost track of Johnson. Again, this was pre-internet and the only NHL information I got my hands on back then were some box scores in the LA Times. So in 1988 I was wondering what happened to Johnson? Was he even in the league? I scanned the box scores all the time until I found him when he scored a goal. And he was playing for, you guessed it, the New Jersey Devils.
The Devils were having another mediocre season and had never made the playoffs before. I followed them in the standings the rest of that year and on the last day of the regular season they needed a win to get in the playoffs for the first time. I was watching ESPN and they cut in to the ending of the Devils game with Chicago. The game went to OT and the Devils needed a goal or their season was over. Go to the 1:00 and see what happened.
If John MacLean never scores that goal and the Devils miss the playoffs, I probably never root for them again. But not only did New Jersey sneak in but went on a miraculous playoff run. I remember goalie Sean Burke standing on his head during the playoffs and the power play was dominant. I've never seen two hotter defensemen rocketing shots from the points than Bruce Driver and Tom Kurvers that playoff season. That had to be the best offensive performance from two defensemen I ever remember. They beat the Islanders in the first round and then the Capitals to reach the conference finals. Now it's one thing to reach the conference finals as an 8-seed, but even more incredible to do it after needing an OT goal on the last day of the season just to get in!
The conference finals vs. Boston was a tough series and just about everyone has seen what happened immediately after the Devils Game 3 loss. Here it is if you forgot.
When the hockey coach of a team you're really starting to like attacks a ref in the hallway and calls him "a fat pig" and tells him to "have another doughnut" you never forget it. Six months earlier I wouldn't have cared anything about the Devils, now they were my team. Thanks Jim Schoenfeld.
I watched every game of the series in 1994 between the Devils and NY Rangers and was telling myself before Game 6, "Screw Messier! Talk is cheap. We're the better team and we're going to win this thing." Well we all know what happened. I watched Game 7 in a bar with a buddy of mine and was hoping for a win. I was on beer 4 or 5 when Matteau scored and had at least 6 more after that goal. The saltiest 6 beers I ever had because of the tears mixed in with the suds.
And then in 1995 there were more tears. Cheering on the Devils once again I knew we could beat the heavily favored Red Wings in the finals. I remember driving to a night class I had at the time and listening to Game 2 on the radio in my car when this happened.
Scott Niedermayer became one of my favorite players right there. Man could he skate. There are two people I would pay to watch do trivial things: Scott Niedermayer skate and Fred Couples swing a golf club. Things of beauty. Anyway, the Devils completed a surprising 4-game sweep and at the end of Game 4 Devils' tough man Mike Peluso had this reaction to realizing his dream. Cue more tears!
Part of the charm of the Stanley Cup playoffs is how much the Cup really means to the players. I wore the '95 Cup Champions T-Shirt around LA for the next couple of years. In 2000, I was living in Oregon and I remember the Devils falling behind 3-1 in the conference finals against the Flyers. I know I'm supposed to hate the Rangers more than all, but sorry fellow Devils' fans. There is no team I truly despise more than Philadelphia. So losing to them in the playoffs puts me in a depressed state to say the least. The Devils came back thanks to some big hits by the captain Scott Stevens (another one of my favorites) and one of my favorite goals ever.
The Devils went on to win the Cup and this time I was in New Jersey when I bought my Cup Champions T-Shirt and paraded it all over Oregon. My girlfriend at the time lived in Jersey and one of dreams was to see the Devils play in the Meadowlands. I was able to see them twice, once from the upper deck in a win over Anaheim and once when we got great seats for a game against Edmonton. The Devils got beat that night but it was still great to see them in Jersey.
My girlfriend became a big Devils' fan after that with Brodeur being her favorite player. We watched Game 7 of the Cup finals in the ESPN zone on the Vegas strip. And believe me, we were the only two Devils' fans in the sea of Ducks' fans and I'm sure the whole place could hear us cheering as the clock hit 0:00 and we had Cup #3!
2012 Stanley Cup Finals
So now what? I've laid out my history with both teams and have mixed emotions about this series. A Kings' win would make LA sports history. I would feel great for Kings' fans and it would definitely give a much needed boost to hockey in LA. But if they won I would think about Bob Miller, Jim Fox and Nick Nickson who have covered this team for so many years and have been there through thick and very very thin. It would almost bring tears to my eyes to see Miller holding the Stanley Cup.
On the other hand, a Devils' win would cement them as the best team the last 20 years. They'd have more Cups than the Red Wings and Martin Brodeur would tie Patrick Roy with 4 Cups. He'd cement himself as one of, if not the best goaltender ever. Brodeur and the Devils would be immortalized as the Montreal Canadiens of the modern era. And Lou Lamoriello would go down as one of the best GM's in the history of the NHL.
So what team do I choose? Do I choose history or immortality? No matter the outcome I will feel very happy and proud of the winner and disappointment for the loser. Gun to my head I'd probably choose the Devils but no matter what happens I'm going to enjoy the series...immensely. And by the way I'm picking the Kings in 5.
