Conversations With The Los Angeles Kings
- Updated: March 28, 2015
1987
He walks to school wearing his new hockey jersey with pride. Some kids point at him and chuckle at the yellow and purple colored sweater, while others seemed to be confused by it but he ignored them all. It was “Hockey Jersey Day in Canada” and he had been waiting a long time to show the world the team he was cheering for. Most of the kids and teachers had their Toronto Maple Leafs or Montreal Canadiens jerseys on but there were also some wearing the colors and logos of the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings and the Philadelphia Flyers. No one was wearing the one he was wearing though.
As class started, his teacher, a middle-aged man with glasses and balding hair was proudly displaying his own jersey, a Buffalo Sabres sweater complete with the recently retired Gilbert Perreault’s name and number on the back. Mr. Dickson noticed one of his students wearing a jersey that he considered strange and completely outside of the box so he went out of his way to approach the boy.
Mr. Dickson: “What jersey is that?”
The boy: “Um pardon?”
Mr. Dickson: “What jersey are you wearing?”
The boy: “Um … the jersey of my favorite team.”
Mr. Dickson: “But that’s a Los Angeles Kings jersey.”
The boy: “Um..yeah I know. They’re my favorite team.
Mr. Dickson laughed so loud and hard that the whole classroom went suddenly quiet and started listening in.
Mr. Dickson: “Your favorite team? But they’re terrible! Why don’t you choose a real team that you live closer to? You might as well cheer for a team in Russia!”
The boy was confused and embarrassed by the surprise attack.
Mr. Dickson: “Why don’t you cheer for the Buffalo Sabres instead? Buffalo, New York is only 2 hours away and it beats cheering for the Leafs and the “Habs or a nothing team from California. Do they even have ice there? You can actually go watch the Sabres’ games in person in Buffalo and meet some of their players. You can’t do that with LA. You know your team has never won the Stanley Cup right?
The boy got angry, “Yeah I know but neither has your team”
The whole classroom gasped in shock.
Mr. Dickson frowned and looked down at the 9-year-old boy: “You know you’re right but we will win the Stanley Cup before you do boy.”
The boy decides to keep his mouth shut while holding his anger and what he really wanted to say to Mr. Dickson deep within himself.
…
Last month my wife and I made the voyage to the beautiful state of California and after a 2 day crash course of San Francisco, we flew to the vast Kingdom of the Los Angeles Kings. After getting off the plane and obtaining our rental car, we found ourselves at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo where the Kings were about to hit the ice for practice.
A friend of ours who is from the area was kind enough to take time off work and meet us at the TSC. Within seconds of entering the facility, we found Daryl Evans standing right there in front of us, having a conversation with a couple. Known more nowadays as the LA Kings color commentator for their radio broadcast, Evans was the first real Los Angeles Kings playoff hero in 1982 when he scored the game winning OT goal to win 6-5 over the Wayne Gretzky led Edmonton Oilers. This completed an awe-inspiring comeback by the Kings after being down 5-0 earlier in the game. That game and goal fully changed the momentum of the playoffs series as the Kings eliminated the heavily favored Oilers in a huge upset in the very next game. By the time I became a King’s fan in 1987, Evans was already playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs but his historic “Miracle on Manchester” goal was already well-known to me.
To our disappointment, Mr. Evans wasn’t wearing one of his trademarked “shiny” suits but to my surprise, I noticed that the man was built like a Mack truck! Wearing a t-shirt and track pants, Daryl Evans looked like a beast with muscles on top of muscles and I quickly wondered if I could take him in an MMA fight? 
While contemplating if it would be wise for me to shoot in for a double leg takedown while running the risk of Mr. Evans catching me in a headlock and uncorking my skull with his massive biceps, my wife elbowed me in the ribs and brought to my attention that the couple was now gone and Mr. Evans was standing alone by the rink glass. Realizing that this was now the perfect opportunity to meet him, it also finally dawned on me that the Kings practice had just started and I didn’t want to miss a moment of it so I quickly asked him for a picture and he was kind enough to take one with me. As soon as my wife took the photo, Mr. Evans started talking to me and asked me “Where are you from?” but I was now feeling way too excited, overwhelmed and distracted as Jeff Carter, Jonathan Quick and Anze Kopitar skated past us. I wasn’t fully sure what Mr. Evans had said to me (my wife told me afterwards what he had actually said) so I answered his question with, “Keep it shiny!” and giving him a thumbs up. After I heard my wife smacking her forehand with her hand in embarrassment I knew I had messed up but Mr. Evans laughed and patted me on the back so hard I almost tapped out immediately. Later on during the practice, when things in my mind finally settled down, I felt bad about not giving Mr. Evans my full attention. Hopefully I could get another chance to talk with him and show him the proper respect.
Watching a LA King’s practice at the TSC was an amazing experience for us as nothing like that is allowed up here in Canada or for any of the northeastern American teams (including Mr. Dickson’s Buffalo Sabres). If the Toronto Maple Leafs or the Montreal Canadiens held practices that were open to the public, there would be mass hysteria as hundreds of thousands of passionate fanatics would be scaling the walls and fighting each other to get a closer look at their heroes (or as in the Leaf’s current case, a chance to strangle their underachieving necks). We felt very fortunate to able to experience a Kings practice (or 3) in person.
After practice had ended, the encounter I previously mentioned with Drew Doughty happened.
Feeling a rush of adrenaline after meeting him, I noticed Martin Jones walking out of the building and making his way to the car. Our “conversation” went as followed,
Me (not learning from the previous Doughty experience that it was probably more wise to not call the players by their nicknames,)
“Hey Jonesy!”
Martin Jones: “Um…hi.”
That was pretty much it. I asked him if we could take a picture with him and he said yes. I have to say I was a little disappointed that he doesn’t walk around with a giant owl resting on his shoulder but what can you do?
He also signed an autograph for my wife but as he was doing that I noticed someone else walking out of the arena and noticed it was Jonathan Quick! Fearing I was about to miss out on meeting him I did what any level-headed and rational Los Angeles Kings fan would do and by that I mean I took a billion pictures of him while running towards him at a frantic pace while screaming, “Quickie! Quickie!.” Now, that was probably the worst thing I could do to someone like Quick who is well-known for his foul moods and “quick” temper. I was too late in fully catching up with him as he was just about to step into his car but we did have the following “conversation,”
Me: “Have a great day!”
Quick <growling with venom>: “Yeah, you too!”
Me thinking to myself, “Aww he hopes I have a great day too!”
A few minutes after the Quick encounter, Dwight King walked out and before I could speak to him, he gave me a look that chilled the courage out of my very soul. Of course for all I knew that could be just how he smiles but to be on the safe side, like when near a rabid dog, I decided to stay very still until the scary man went into his car and drove away. After he was out of sight I felt it was safe to breathe and move again before saying to my wife, “Did you see that? Dwight King smiled at me!” My wife just shook her head.
The second time we made it to the TSC for a King’s practice, we met up with my cousins that are from the area. This time I was more calm and not the rushing maniac I was the day before. I was able to be more steady and creative with my camera and take better quality shots of the practice. Most of those pictures from our first visit end up being blurry and ruined. This time I also walked around the inside of the TSC (where I was allowed to go of course) in hopes of seeing Daryl Evans again or even hoping to “accidently” walk into Luc Robitaille but sadly it didn’t happen.
Afterwards we hung out in the parking lot as it was such a lovely day. That’s when the Dean Lombardi encounter and “conversation” happened as previously written.
Feeling excited again after meeting “The Architect” of the Los Angeles Kings, I went back and walked to where my wife and my cousins were, only to find them standing in a circle and talking to … Anze Kopitar! (whaaaaaaattt?????)
I froze and was completely star struck to be in “Kopi’s” graces so I just stood there while my wife and my cousins talked to him as if they knew him by talking about his wife Ines’ pregnancy with their first child (who was born a healthy baby girl just shortly after on March 14th and named Neza) amongst other things. I was dumbfounded and numb and was trying to build the courage and strength to jump into the conversation and say something of worth to the LA King’s superstar when he looked at me funny (probably because I was staring at him without blinking and with my jaw wide open while standing completely still like I was frozen while sweating profusely). My cousin introduced me to Kopitar and our “conversation” went as follows,
Kopitar: “Hi, nice to meet you.”
Me: “Oh my gawd.”
My Wife: “Do you mind if we could take a picture with you?”
Kopitar: “Yeah sure”
Me: “Oh my gawd.”
We stood beside him for the picture and I noticed that for some reason “Kopi” was holding a stuffed animal that looked exactly like his dog Gustl?
Me while pointing to the stuffed animal, “Ca.. Can I hold that?”
Kopitar: “Yeah sure if you want?
I hold up the Gustl like stuffed animal for the picture.
Kopitar: “Did you guys want autographs?”
Me: “Oh my gawd.”
My Wife: Sure!
“Kopi” then waited for me to hand something over to him to sign but I went back to frozen mode. My wife elbowed me in the ribs and whispered,
“Give him your hat to sign.”
Me: “Oh my gawd!”
I handed over my hat to Anze Kopitar with a shaky hand and while he was signing it, I decided to man up and get some sort control of myself and the situation.
Me: “So…so wha..what do you thin..think of Ca…Canada?”
Kopitar: “Man, its….COLD!”
Me: “OH MY GAWD!”
Kopitar than smiled and said good-bye before going on his way. My wife and cousins started to break out in laughter as I came back to reality.
My wife
“You call Doughty and Jones by their nicknames as if you personally knew them, you almost ran over Jonathan Quick with our camera and you told Daryl Evans to keep it shiny after he asked where you were from? Now all of a sudden you get stage fright in front of Anze Kopitar, are you okay?”
More laughter erupted from my cousins and I answered the only way I could considering the current events,
Me: “I’m great! He let me hold Gustl!”
After those 2 fantastic experiences at the TSC, I wasn’t planning to attend anymore practices on this trip but the day before the Kings had traded for Andrej Sekera and I started entertaining the idea that wouldn’t it be cool if I witnessed his first practice as a King? So off I went back to the TSC. My wife decided to sleep in and rest up as we were going to the game that night at the Staples Center against the Ottawa Senators and were celebrating a friend’s birthday before the game but I was too excited to rest because of a faint possibility of meeting the new acquisition.
I arrived at the TSC and was pleasantly surprised to see Daryl Evans standing by the glass again watching the practice! This time I properly introduced myself to him and we had a fantastic conversation for about 10-15 minutes about where we were from (Daryl was born in Toronto which is around 45 minutes from where I live), life in Canada, the Sekera trade and what the Kings needed to do to make the playoffs. Now I was no longer star struck but I did still catch myself thinking how cool it was to be standing there and talking to Daryl Evans about life and hockey? What an experience and what a friendly and approachable man that Daryl Evans is. He informed me that today was only an optional practice and that Sekera was not going to be there due to his flight to LAX being delayed. I was okay with that as just having that conversation with Mr. Evans was worth another trip to the TSC. Now if I only I could’ve had a stronger conversation with Kopitar instead of looking like a freak and repeating, “Oh my gawd,” over and over again.
Afterwards, I hung out in the parking lot but this time not in search of meeting more players for “conversations.” I was out there simply because I felt blessed to just soak in the beautiful California and feeling like the luckiest guy in the world. In a funny twist, two female fans approached me and asked me where the best spots where to meet the players to get pictures and autographs. This now being my third time here at the TSC, I answered them as if I was a pro who had been there a thousand times and I gave them some advice. After they thanked me and headed towards to the hot spots I advised, someone accidently bumped into me. My first thought was that it was Daryl Evans, finally challenging me to an MMA fight! But it turned out to be some kid named Tyler Toffoli instead.
Toffoli: “Hey sorry.”
Me: “That’s ok Mr. Toffoli. Have a great game tonight!”
Toffoli: “Thanks!”
Before Toffoli got into his car and drove off, I was going to ask him for a picture but without my wife there, I had no one to take the photo of us. I tried getting the attention of the 2 girls I had just talked to but they weren’t paying attention so I just let it be. A few seconds after that, Matt Greene walked by and like Dwight King before him, he gave me a look that would even scare all the UFC champions and their entourages if they were all together and trapped in a room with the King’s assistant captain.
Matt Greene is an interesting subject for King’s fans as I have heard both positive and negative accounts of other people’s experiences with him. Milo from the “North End Bar” in Hermosa Beach highly praises him but some others have told me that “Greener” wasn’t the most nicest King’s player you could meet. Even though he was looking in a rather nasty mood, I thought it couldn’t hurt to give it a try and have a “conversation” with him anyway,
Me: “Go Kings Go!”
Greene just gives me another death stare.
Me: “Have a great game tonight Mr. Greene!”
Greene <growling with venom>: “Thanks.”
Matt Greene then jumped into his pickup truck and exploded out of the parking lot while I was left there thinking,
“WOW! He was a lot nicer than I expected!”
We made it to the Staples Center later that night and after we celebrated with our close friends for a fun birthday celebration at the “Rock’n Fish” at LA Live, my wife and I finally got to our third row seats. After many false starts and broken promises while growing up, school, work, life, layoffs and work again, plus a hockey strike during our last trip to California in 2012 (damn you Bettman!), I was finally sitting in the Staples Center, home to my precious Los Angeles Kings. A die-hard fan since 1987, I have been to many, many, many King’s games throughout my life in Toronto, Montreal, Buffalo, Detroit, Ottawa and even in Boston but I have never been to a game where the Kings were the actual home team. I can officially cross that off my bucket list now.
Back home in Canada it is almost near impossible to meet and talk to your favorite hockey players. You may be able to get a picture and/or an autograph of them at certain events but they are very rare unless the players are retired. Then it’s a little bit more easier but just a little. Hockey is too big there but even then, I know many who live in and around Los Angeles, many born and raised who have never been able to meet and talk to the LA King’s players that my wife and I got to. Maybe it was just blind old good luck and some immaculate timing that couldn’t be repeated 9 times out of 10 if I tried it again but be as it may, it was a trip that this long time Los Angeles Kings fan will cherish forever and never forget.
Yeah, sure I lost my cool a couple of times and the Los Angeles Kings fan boy fanatic in me came out too many times to count but I’m glad to say I wasn’t the only one. We ended up meeting one more famous Los Angeles King but this one I knew was happening ahead of time and this time I wasn’t the star struck fan who didn’t know what to say. This time it was my wife.
Months ago through Twitter and Facebook I was honored to have met Trasi Starr, a wonderful person who I can now call my friend who runs the “Bailey’s Buddies” booth in section 117, where you can buy items and all proceeds go directly the great charity cause that is the Kings Foundation. She works directly with a certain someone who my wife is a huge fan of (“He’s tied with Doughty,” she tells me), and Trasi helped me arrange a special meeting with this someone as a surprise gift to my wife.
At about the 5 minute mark of the first period, there was a sudden commotion to the right of us. My wife turned to look at what was happening and got excited as she noticed that Bailey the lion (and award-winning) mascot of the Los Angeles Kings was making his way down the aisle towards us.
My Wife: “It’s Bailey! It’s Bailey!”
Me: “Nice!”
Bailey stopped at our row, looked over to my wife and with his index paw/finger, signaled for her to come over to where he was standing.
Wife: “Oh my gawd.”
Me: “C’mon babe, he’s pointing to us. Let’s go take a picture with Bailey.”
Wife: “What?”
Me: “He’s signaling you to go over there and take a picture with him!”
Wife: “But what about the game?”
Me: “No worries babe.” Trust me, it’s time to take a picture with him. I arranged this for you.”
Wife: “WHAT?!”
Me: “Surprise!”
Wife: “OH MY GAWD!”
In shock, my wife made her way to Bailey and she sat right beside him and had the biggest smile on her face. She didn’t say a word as she got star struck and was too excited to speak but I have to admit, she did better with Doughty, Kopitar and Bailey etc, than I did with anyone on that trip. As I prepared to take a picture of them, Bailey waved his hand to tell me to hold on because the game was still in play. Perfectly understanding him for some reason like some sort of magic I patiently waited before Bailey motioned for me to continue and I snapped a few pictures of them. Bailey then motioned for me to join them so I can be in the picture too. I hand my camera over to Bailey’s assistant and sit to his right. As our picture was taken, I had this “conversation” with him,
Me: “Thanks Bailey, you’re the best!”
Bailey: <Makes a fart noise>
Life honestly couldn’t get better than this.
…
2015
His wife and he walked onto the red carpet that was laid over the ice and they walked over to Bailey the mascot, who was standing there awaiting them at center ice. Thanks to “Bailey’s buddies” and the Kings foundation, he and his wife were fortunate enough to get this rare opportunity to walk on the ice of the Staples Center where not only the Los Angeles King’s called home and had just played, but where Dustin Brown and the King’s lifted up and celebrated 2 Stanley Cup victories. The fact they were now taking their second picture with Bailey that day was just wonderful “icing” on the cake. This whole Great California Adventure had been a dream come true.
After the picture was snapped, they made their way back to the stands but before exiting the ice he decided to take one last look around the arena, the ice and at the 2 Stanley Cup banners that were hanging proudly in the rafters above. He imagined seeing the 9-year-old version of himself with his forum gold and blue LA Kings jersey on, standing there beside him while also looking up at the banners. He looks down at the boy as the boy looks up to him at the same time. They nod to each other and finally got to say out loud what they have been holding back within themselves since that “Hockey Jersey Day in Canada” back in 1987, “[Screw] you Mr. Dickson.”
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2 Comments
About Jeff Duarte
KC23
August 29, 2015 at 3:53 am
Very cool. Thanks for sharing that experience. Was fun.
Jeff Duarte
August 29, 2015 at 9:59 am
Thanks KC!