Two Days…Four Decades
By…Erik Schuman
Ten years ago,
today, was Monday, June 11, 2012. Big deal you may be saying. Who cares about this
one random day of the year? A day approximately midway between Memorial Day and
the start of Summer.
THE MOST LOYAL, DEDICATED, DEVOTED FAN BASE IN SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA CARES! For it was on this
day 10 years ago that “45 years of Cubs on Skates” ENDED!
It was on this
day 10 years ago THE LOS ANGELES
KINGS WON THE STANLEY-MOTHERF*****G-CUP FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!
It was on this
day 10 years ago we no longer had to hear the dumbest and worst fan base of any
team outside of Atlanta boast they had a Cup, and we didn’t. We did hear from
this JV NHL team that plays across the street from that city’s baseball team how
they got theirs, FIRST. And they are right. But knowing how that baseball team
plays in “Los Angeles” while the team further North plays in Anaheim – who cares
what they think. But the “fans” of a team my Kings’ fans friends call “The
Inferior Southern California NHL Team” or “The Inferior Ones” or even shorter “The
I.O.” had to shut up because just over 2 years later, Friday, June 13, 2014, the
Kings got their SECOND Cup and-in-every-sport but Golf and Track & Field, 2
> 1. We have 2 STANLEY CUPS, and they only have one and they will shut up
even more because the next Cup won by a team in this area will be the Kings making
the tally “3-to-1.” Patrick Roy speaks for all Kings’ fans here when talking
about The I.O. “fans.”
Looking at the
headline of this entry you see me mention a pair of games and four decades. The
reason or that it, almost 40 years before the Kings won the team’s first Cup, I
attended the single-greatest sporting event I have ever seen…in North America
(I add the “North America” part because on February 21, 1992 – almost 9 years
later – I was in Albertville, France, working for CBS at the Olympic Games. I
had an all-access pass which I found out could get me ANYWHERE. So, I abused
that privilege and used it to finagle my way into events for which I did not
have a ticket for and that included a Men’s Hockey Semifinal game between Team
USA and the “Unified Team” which is what Russia was called. This was the first
meal-round game between the two since the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” and the intensity
and atmosphere for this game was unreal. You could feel the electricity in the
air and when the USA tied it late in the second period at 2-2 the place was
buzzing heading into the final 20 minutes only to see Unifieds score three
goals and win 5-2).
Thursday, February
24, 1983, I was part of a record crowd of 5,015 people who jammed their way into
4,100 seat Titan Gym to see Cal State Fullerton host #1 ranked UNLV in a Men’s
Basketball game that saw something previous unimaginable happening for a home
game – and something that has never happened since: SCALPERS! Face value for
most seats was $6 yet scalpers ere getting upwards of $50 for tickets to a game
that was shown locally on TV. This was a rematch of a game played a month
earlier in Las Vegas, which saw the Runnin’ Rebels win 76-71. Heading into the
game we KNEW we were going to win and “experts” who followed the PCAA Conference
kinda/sorta knew, too.
The game
started at 7:30 (I think – might have been 7?) but by 6 pm the place was packed.
I could only get General Admission seats for the game so I got there around 2
pm and waited so I could be the first one inside and get the best GA seats.
That I did. My father, brother and a friend and his father all saw the game and
sat right under the basket Fullerton went to the second half. Fullerton is 17
miles from John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana. If you stood directly under a plane
taking off from that airport it would have been quieter than the game that
night. When you exceed capacity of a building by almost 1,000 you can only
imagine how hot and stuffy that place can get, and you would be right in this
case. Fullerton could have moved the game a few miles away to the 7,000+ seat Anaheim
Convention Center and easily sold out that place but wisely kept the game at
home to keep the huge home-court advantage,
UNLV led early
and at halftime but led by All-American point guard Leon Wood, as well as 1984
Olympian and the #10 overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft, Fullerton won 86-78.
Within seconds of the game ending the court was flooded with jubilant fans.
This is a copy of the game and if you go to the 1:47:35 mark when the score is
shown, and you see fans in the background you will see me. I vividly recall
celebrating and then I saw the camera had a red light and even then, I knew
that meant it was “hot” (live on air). I have no idea what time we went home. I
do recall I had an 8 am class the next day and for reasons I cannot explain I
actually attended class even though the instructor for that class wrote the book
for the class and thus there was never any reason to attend class except for
the test but because I was a Freshman, and too stupid to realize it, I went to
class almost every day! The only good thing about going to class the next day
was picking up the school newspaper and reading about the win. I still have
that copy almost 40 years later as well as the Los Angeles Times!
For those who might doubt I was at the game - here I am:
In the years
after this game, I was fortunate enough to see all of my sports teams win
championships:
- Dodgers (2): 1988 and 2020
- Broncos (3): SB XXXII (32) and XXXIII (33) and 50
- Fullerton Baseball (3): 1984, 1995, 2004
- Lakers (9): 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2020
All of my teams, Except one. The one I most care about: Los Angeles Kings.
When I was 7
years old, Dad got a job in HELL. Illinois. Same thing. I say that because I
hated living there. I was mercilessly teased and mistreated. It was a good
night when I did not cry myself to sleep because of how bad the kids were to
me. Only two good things happened while there. The first was my mother broke her
arm stepping on “black ice” one New Year’s Eve and ended up breaking her arm.
That was not the good part. I still recall to this day my siblings (Bro/Sis are
a little over 3 years younger than me) waking up and going to Mom/Dad’s bedroom
and finding out what happened to Mom. They told me since I was the oldest child,
I had to help with the household chores as well as cooking. I had no idea how
to cook but eventually learned and because of that I am a great cook.
The only other
goo thing to come from living in Illinois was learning to love hockey! Sadly,
we never went to a Hawks game at Old Chicago Stadium. I have seen clips of
games there and it looked like an incredible place to see a game. When we moved
back to Los Angeles after I finished the 3rd grade my love of hockey
stayed with me. I was a diehard Kings fan when few were. My brother and I would
get Dad to take us to Kings’ games – not Lakers. With the exception of a few
teams no one went to the games so we could buy crappy seats and sit wherever we
wanted.
It was at a
game during the 1981-82 season where my brother and I went down low to watch
the pregame skate. Towards the end of the skate sometimes players would flip
pucks into the crowd to people begging for them. One game I got lucky. Rookie
Daryl Evans flipped a puck up my way. He flipped it right to me, so I easily
caught it. I left my brother in the dust as I flew up the stairs to show dad what
I got. Never mind I lost the puck days later. Evans wore #15. Ever since that
day I have worn #15 as my way of saying “Thank You” to Evans for what he did.
Evans is best remembered to Kings fans for a goal he scored on April 10, 1982.
In this game the Kings trailed the mighty Edmonton Oilers 5-0 heading to the 3rd
period. Somehow the Kings tied the game then Evans won it in OT on a shot
Oilers Hall of Fame goalie Grant Fuhr still hasn’t seen. The game is called “The
Miracle on Manchester.”
Take away this
one moment and being a Kings’ fan is like being Charlie Brown trying to kick
the ball with Lucy holding it. You know how things are going to end and it won’t
be pretty:
The Kings actually made the Stanley Cup Final in 1993 against the Montreal Canadiens. The Kings went to Montreal and won Game One and if not for an illegal stick from Marty McSorley in Game Two would have won that and come home up 2-0. But McSorley had an illegal stick and Montreal won Game Two and all three in Los Angeles and the Stanley Cup. Incidentally, this was the last time a team from Canada won the Cup.
Being a Kings
fan meant suffering through seasons where the team played more like the
Washington Generals than the Harlem Globetrotters. Even more maddening was
truly incompetent (mis)management. The Kings were (in)famous for trading away
high draft picks for washed up players then seeing those draft picks turn into
Hall of Fame players. It was bad enough Tom Barrasso was drafted with a pick
the Kings traded away but four years earlier Ray Bourque was drafted by the
Boston Bruins with a pick obtained from…any guesses?...the Kings! Bourque only played
22 season and is one of the greatest players in NHL history. The player the
Kings acquired was goaltender Ron Grahame. Looking at Grahame’s NHL/Kings’ stats
the team would have been better off playing Heather Graham, instead!
The Kings made
the playoffs in the 2001-02 season but then missed them the next six seasons.
The two after that saw first round exits – both times in 6 games so while there
was some hope for the 2011-12 season, realizing what team we are talking about
quickly tempered expectations. It didn’t help any when the team changed coaches
just before Christmas. With a month left in the season the team was still 10th
in the West, two spots out of a playoff spot but a hot streak saw the team get
the final spot in the playoffs.
Still, there
were no expectations of any kind with the team facing the #1 seed Vancouver Canucks.
A first-round loss was expected. Albert Einstein said the definition of “Insanity”
is: “Doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result.”
Kings’ fans had “seen this ‘movie’ before” and knew what to expect. Although
this time Einstein was wrong.
In a sign of
things to come the Kings won the first two games on the road – something they
did in all series. Add in a home win in Game 3 and the Kings led every series 3-0
after 3 games including an NHL record 10 straight road wins.
Dispatching
Vancouver in 5 games, St, Louis Blues in 4 and the (then) Phoenix Coyotes in 5
games meant the unthinkable was happening. The Kings were actually GOOD! Even
though the Kings did not have home ice advantage over Phoenix and then New
Jersey (Cup Final) the Kings were favored to win each series and favored by a
decent margin!
The Kings could
have swept the Devils in 4 but lost both Game 4 and Game 5 setting up Game 6 on…Monday,
June 11, 2012.
The morning of
June 11, I was in Las Vegas. My nephew graduated 8th grade that
weekend and the family went out to see it. The nice thing about being in Vegas
that morning was I could place a legal bet on the game. That I did. I knew the Kings
were going to easily win so instead of betting them to just win I bet them on
the “puck line” – meaning they had to win by 2+ goals – and getting a much
better payout for it.
I knew they
were going to win but it’s not like I have never been wrong before when making
a bet. I remember being as nervous, yet excited, as I have ever been. All of my
nervousness went away early in the game when the Kings got the benefit of a
missed official’s call. Juts over 10 minutes into the game the Kings got a -minute
powerplay on a major penalty called against the New Jersey Devils. It was the
right call, but the play never should have happened. Seconds earlier the Kings
should have been called for a penalty but were not. If that penalty was called
the Kings not only don’t get the powerplay they are shorthanded.
The Kings scored
3 goals on the powerplay, putting the game out of reach. The Kings led 4-1 in
the 3rd period and got an empty-net goal then one more to go up 6-1
with a few minutes left. I recall being in delirium. After suffering through
decades and decades of ineptitude, MY TEAM WAS ABOUT TO WIN THE STANLEY
CUP!!!!!!!!!!!!! 45 years of "(Chicago) Cubs on Skates" FINALLY came to an end!
As the last
seconds ticked down, I did what all those did at the game – counting down the
final few seconds. Once the final horn sounded and reality hit, I am not 1% ashamed
to admit I teared up some. Even though I hoped to live at least another 30+
years I had pretty much given up any hope of the Kings winning Lord Stanley’s
Cup. Yet, here it was, about to happen.
I have said if
you take away all family events – birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, etc.,
Monday June 12, 2012, is the single-greatest day of my life. For the first time
ever, I could hold my head up high and be proud to be a Kings fan. My team was
the one who won the final game of the season. My team could finally put Marty
McSorley’s illegal stick in the rearview mirror. The feelings I felt could best
be described by something that happened 18 years earlier. In the 1994 season
the New York Rangers won the Cup for the first time since 1940, beating
Vancouver in Game 7 at Madison Square Garden. A pair of Rangers’ fans made the
most iconic sign ever. Just 6 little words expressed the thoughts of long-suffering
fans. Now Kings’ fans could say the same!
While I was
happy for myself, like almost all other Kings’ fans, we felt happiest for Bob
Miller. Miller was the long-time voice of the Kings. He is to the Kings what
Vin Scully is to the Dodgers or Chicken Hearn to the Lakers. Miller’s fear, and
that of all Kings’ fans, is that he would never get to see the Kings win the
Cup when Miller was working for the team and could do play-by-play for it. June
11, 2012, changed all that as both Bob and Nick Nickson (Long-time radio voice)
called the historic moments:
This may have
happened 10 years ago but every time I watch this (and it is easily 2-4 times a
month) I shake my head in disbelief and go as bonkers as I did when it
happened.
The next
season, 2012-13, started late because of a work stoppage due to players and
owners unable to come up with a contract between both sides. The good thing to
come from that is with the season delayed the Kings paraded the Cup around the
local area. On October 12 I went to one of them and got a few pictures with the
Cup. I used them for my Holiday card that year. I have pictures of me with my
arm around it and kissing it:
Like with the
Fullerton/UNLV game in 1983 I have the newspapers from June 12, 2012. I also
invested in a jersey to commemorate the special moment and one that took place
just over two years later, the Kings SECOND Stanley Cup title.
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