This Day in Hockey History – September 30, 2007 – Kings and Ducks Across the Pond

To start the 2007-08 season, the NHL’s two southern California teams crossed the entire continent and an ocean (something like eight time zones) to play their first two games in London, England. Game 1 took place on September 29, and Game 2 followed the very next day, September 30, 2007. The Premiere Games series marked the first time the NHL played regular-season games in Europe.

The idea for London’s O2 Arena to host the NHL games was pushed forward by Tim Leiweke, CEO of AEG (the Kings’ parent company) and the arena’s operator. Because of his connection to the Los Angeles Kings, slating them to participate was easy. Finding a willing opponent was not, so he was thankful to GM Brian Burke of the Stanley-Cup-champion Anaheim Ducks. “I hope there’s more games like this, and if we’re asked to participate, we will.” Leiweke also assured that in future, “It doesn’t necessarily have to involve the Southern California teams. I think now the league, hopefully, will play a greater role in working at going to other teams.” 

After all, Leiweke’s prime purpose was to encourage a stronger NHL presence in Europe. “In a day and age when some think of only their team, hopefully we’re going to encourage everyone that the only way we can grow this sport is if we do it all together and we’re all prepared to make some sacrifices in the short term for the good of the game in the long term.”

O2 Arena mostly worked out for the NHL. Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle praised, “The facility was first-class. And the ice improvement, from the first day we skated on it, I would have to say it was 200% better.” The only issue seemed to be with the lights on the night of the opening game. After a shaky “Star Spangled Banner” and rousing “God Save the Queen,” the house lights failed to brighten. The announcement made stated, “Our sincere apologies, there has been a failure of the lighting system that will take five minutes to repair.” The teams returned to their locker rooms, and Kings Coach Marc Crawford pondered, “I think maybe the delay, in some ways, may have helped us.” The delay only lasted 16 minutes before the game began.

The two games ended up having a few things in common. For one, the score was reversed with the Kings (as the “home” team) winning 4-1 the first night and the Ducks (as the “home” team) nabbing a 4-1 victory the second. Kings winger Michael Cammalleri scored two power-play goals on Saturday and the only Kings’ goal on Sunday. He deadpanned, “I love London.” The Ducks’ lead scorer was Corey Perry with two goals and an assist in the second game. His success was credited to having been repaired with center Ryan Getzlaf after splitting them for Game 1 proved ineffective. Getzlaf joked, “I lost him for only one game. I couldn’t get rid of him. Things were clicking. It was great to be out there handling that puck a little more.”

Another thing in common was that both wins could be laid at the feet of goalies making their NHL debuts. On Saturday, 19-year-old Jonathan Bernier (born two days before the Kings acquired Wayne Gretzky) opened for the Kings. The 16-minute delay did not seem to phase him, nor did the pressure of his first NHL game. Bernier explained, “It’s always the same game. I felt great in pre-season games and I just tried to do the same things.” He made 26 saves that night. Kings captain Rob Blake was impressed saying, “After they got that goal in the third he smothered two or three pucks right after that and you could see our team calm down. That’s what great goaltenders do.” Kings goaltending coach Bill Ranford commented, “He just relishes the opportunity to go out there and play. That’s always been his approach and I don’t think he’s going to change that.” For the following game, the Kings switched to give Jason LaBarbera a chance. Coach Crawford said, “We really like Jason too.” Plus, he wanted to “make sure we keep as fresh a lineup as possible.”

At the other end of the rink, for Sunday’s game, the Ducks brought in 25-year old goalie Jonas Hiller. It was his first NHL start, having played the previous season in Davos, Switzerland. He made 22 saves. Ducks captain Chris Pronger summarized the results, “I think we learned a lot about ourselves today, rebounding from that effort we had yesterday, the bad mistakes. We kind of took over the game today, and to be able to rebound the way we did shows a lot about this team.”

Interestingly, the teams had not been that thrilled about going overseas to start the season. Getzlaf remarked, “We had fun. Once we go over here it was OK. I think everyone was dreading it a little bit at the start when we heard about it, but as time progressed, we enjoyed ourselves and came out with a split.” His captain, Pronger, admitted, “It was a good experience, but I think the sentiment I had a couple of days ago is probably the same. It’s a long way to go for regular-season games and even playoffs. Figuring out how it would work logistically is above and beyond my pay grade and my brain power. Leave it to the smarter guys to figure that out, if that is, indeed, what they want to do.” Their coach weighed in saying, “I think the fans enjoyed both games from the standpoint of one thing: They didn’t really have a side to pick in this one.”

The fans that showed up for the games seemed to fascinate the teams and their staffs. They came from all over Europe wearing their home club shirts as well as NHL jerseys. The Kings coach noted, “Walking through the subway you’re hearing a lot of different languages. You’re seeing a lot of people wearing club sweaters from all over Europe. And that was unique for sure. And definitely I think everybody took notice of it at some point during the weekend.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, these fans were most roused by the fights (in both games) between the Kings’ Scott Thornton and the Ducks’ George Parros.

After the split start to the season, the Ducks had a much more successful finish than the Kings. Anaheim’s 102 points placed them second in the Pacific Division and fifth overall, though they did lose the quarter-finals during playoffs. Los Angeles only managed 71 points to fall last in their division and second-to-last in the league.

Additional Sources:

• Helene Elliott, “Super saver is ticket on Kings’ trip to London,” Los Angeles Times, 30 Sept. 2007, pp. D1 and D6.
• Helene Elliott and Chuck Culpepper, “Leiweke sees more continental drift,” Los Angeles Times, 30 Sept. 2007, p. D6.
• Chuck Culpepper, “Kings don’t let Ducks up for air in London,” Los Angeles Times, 30 Sept. 2007, p. D6.
• Helene Elliott, “Ducks’ Perry, Getzlaf together again,” Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2007, pp. D1 and D4.
• Helene Elliott and Chuck Culpepper, “Pronger isn’t a fan of games in Europe,” Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2007, p. D4.
• Chuck Culpepper, “Ducks put on a jolly good show,” and “Fans in tune with London,” Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2007, p. D4.