Area Residents Relish Kings' Crown

Los Angeles Kings fan Gary Rivera was watching Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on television Monday night while working late at Surefire, the company that he owns in Diamond Bar.

Rivera, a fan since the late 1980s who is from Whittier, was planning on going to the biggest game in Kings history -- a game where the Kings clinched the title, after a 6-1 rout of the New Jersey Devils at Staples Center. It was the first Stanley Cup in the 45-year history of the Los Angeles franchise, which began wearing purple and gold uniforms, just like the Los Angeles Lakers. The team returned to its more recent silver-and-black threads, similar to ones introduced in 1988, when Hall of Fame center Wayne Gretzky was acquired from the Edmonton Oilers, in the most famous trade in NHL history.

“I was actually supposed to be going to the game,” Rivera said. “Work took precedence over (the game) that day. I was more just happy it finally happened. It was good for the city of Los Angeles, good for the Kings. To not have won it for more than 40 years and to be so close, it was good to see happen.”

The Kings finished the playoffs 10-1 on the road, including winning their first 10, an NHL record. They also finished 16-4 in the playoffs.

Rivera said he felt he knew the Kings were going to win after team captain Dustin Brown, Jeff Carter and Trevor Lewis all scored during a five-minute span for a 3-0 lead.

Those goals were all scored during a power play, thanks to a game misconduct penalty by New Jersey fourth-line forward Steve Bernier. Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi, who was playing the puck behind the Kings’ net, was checked hard by Bernier headfirst into the glass, with his neck snapping in the process. Scuderi suffered a cut to his nose, but got back up and played much of the rest of the game.

Kings goalie Jonathan Quick, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the Stanley Cup playoffs, stymied the Devils. Quick only allowed seven goals in the six-game series, two of which that hit off of Kings defenseman Slava Voynov. Quick was airtight the entire playoffs, allowing just 29 in 20 games. In the playoffs, he also posted NHL records among goalies who played at least 15 postseason games, with a goals-against average of 1.41, a save percentage of .946.

“That guy literally caught fire at the right time,” Rivera said. “The goalie is everything. He couldn’t be scored on.”

Janet Farlow, who works for the San Gabriel Valley Chamber of Commerce, also saw the game on television in a local business, where she was a customer. Farlow has followed the Kings since 1992 and is also a Los Angeles Clippers fan.

The Kings jumped ahead in the series, 3-0, then held off the Devils, who cut it to 3-2.

“That is phenomenal for them to go 3-0,” Farlow said. “I was getting my nails done. I was just cheering for them. They were an eighth seed (out of eight teams). To be under like that is awesome. It’s phenomenal to beat the No. 1 team (Vancouver, 4-1), No. 2 (St. Louis, 4-0) and No. 3 team (Phoenix, 4-1) in a row like that. For this game Monday, they were on fire. They played like it was do-or-die and they handled it. The energy was so contagious.”

There were also two fans who watched the game who sat on one of the very top rows of Staples Center, both of whom wished to be anonymous. One of them drove all the way from Calgary on Monday to watch the game.

His friend, a Kings fan since 1974 who is from Toronto, was crying after the game, just like several Kings fans both in Staples Center and around the world. What he said summed it all up.

“This is for my dad, who died recently,” he said. “He introduced me to hockey, he was a season ticket holder since the beginning. I sure wish he could see this.”

And all Kings fans witnessed history – both in Diamond Bar and Walnut, as well as throughout Kings Nation.