Editor’s note: This is the Wednesday, June 14, 2023 edition of the “Game Day with Kevin Modesti” newsletter. To receive the newsletter in your inbox, sign up here.
Good morning. The Kings didn’t win the Stanley Cup this season, but a couple of Kings fan favorites did, providing viewers in Los Angeles with a sweet moment as the Vegas Golden Knights clinched the championship last night.
In other news:
- U.S. Open anticipation continues to build as columnist Jim Alexander thinks about the Los Angeles-area golfers who’ll tee off at L.A. Country Club tomorrow, and PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka looks for a sixth major championship.
- The Angels are on a roll at the right time, coming from behind for the second night in a row to beat first-place Texas, cutting their division deficit to 4½ games from 9 just a week ago.
- Tony Gonsolin got his ERA under 2.00 and the Dodgers got a one-sided win over the White Sox.
- The Rams opened a brief mandatory minicamp with coach Sean McVay talking about developing the team’s many rookies.
- The Chargers are looking forward to the return of Pro Bowl cornerback J.C. Jackson, who missed most of last season with a knee injury.
- Undefeated welterweight champions Errol Spence Jr. and Terence “Bud” Crawford are getting ready to fight for the “undisputed” tag July 29 in Las Vegas.
- A “reverse boycott” in Oakland drew a crowd of fans to the Athletics’ game against Tampa Bay to protest the A’s proposed move to Las Vegas.
- And columnist Mirjam Swanson tells us about the high hopes of the Armenian national basketball team, led by former Clippers assistant coach Rex Kalamian and featuring local talent; it faces France Friday and Saturday at Cal State Northridge.
The Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup by beating the Florida Panthers 9-3 in Game 5 last night behind Jonathan Marchessault’s hat trick in Las Vegas, giving America’s newest pro sports city its second championship in nine months, following the Aces’ WNBA title.
The Kings didn’t get close to the cup in another season of improvement, finishing third to the Golden Knights in the NHL’s Pacific Division and losing in the first round of the playoffs for the second year in a row.
Yet there was a Kings flavor to Vegas’ triumph, the Golden Knights roster including ex-Kings defenseman Alec Martinez, goalie Jonathan Quick, defenseman Brayden McNabb, defenseman Ben Hutton, center Michael Amadio and assistant coach John Stevens.
It was bound to mean something to Kings fans if Quick and Martinez won their third Stanley Cup after being big parts of L.A.’s titles in 2012 and 2014, Quick the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP in ‘12, Martinez scoring the cup-winning goal in ‘14.
Before the ‘23 Stanley Cup Final, SCNG hockey writer Lisa Dillman told Game Day newsletter readers that “a deep and lasting affection” for Quick and Martinez had caused many Kings fans “to quell (temporarily) a general disdain – or, in some cases, hatred – of the Golden Knights.”
It turned out to mean a lot.
Martinez scored the Golden Knights’ third goal in last night’s rout while Quick remained on the bench as he had throughout the series.
Then the two had their moment to remember during the on-ice celebration afterward. As Vegas players took turns skating with the Cup, it was Martinez who handed it off to Quick. (See the photo below.)
“Hockey’s poetic. Things happen for a reason,” Martinez told reporters later, elaborating on the significance of those few seconds. “I know this is just a sport, there’s a lot of bigger things in life than hockey. But guys go through a lot of emotional battles, a lot of physical battles in order to get here, and Quickie’s certainly one of them.
“The way it went down around the trade deadline for him, it’s poetic. I’m pretty happy to pass it off to that guy, because I sure as hell never thought I would.”
At the beginning of March, Quick, 37, was traded by the Kings to the Columbus Blue Jackets and then by the Blue Jackets to the Golden Knights. The deal brought the Kings goalie Joonas Korpisalo and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov. And, in a twist, brought Quick a Stanley Cup.
Martinez, 35, had his own battle after being traded by the Kings to the Golden Knights for draft picks during the 2019-20 season. In November 2021, he was the victim of one of those scary hockey accidents when his face was sliced by the blade of a Minnesota Wild player. He needed 50 stitches and missed 54 games.
Watching Martinez interviewed last night, Dillman reacted on Twitter: “So happy for him after all he’s gone through.”
Kings fans might have surprised themselves with their own reactions to seeing old friends win a Stanley Cup in another team’s uniform.
The NHL posted photos of Quick and Martinez lifting the Cup in 2014 and 2023. Kings fans replied: “Jonathan Quick gets the last laugh” and “Kings legends!!!!” Though somebody couldn’t resist proclaiming: “Blue Jackets legend Jonathan Quick.”
Somebody posted a video clip of the Cup handoff between the two ex-Kings, writing: “And there it is Kings fans … Martinez to Quick on the 9 year anniversary of the 2014 cup win.” In reply, somebody else spoke for many Kings fans: “Miss them but am very happy for them!”
Next for the Kings and Ducks is the June 28-29 NHL draft. Keep up to date on the teams online here for the Kings and here for the Ducks, sign up for The Royal Road newsletter here and the Ducks Soup newsletter here, and follow Kings writer Andrew Knoll (@AndrewKnollNHL) and Ducks writer Lisa Dillman (@reallisa) on Twitter.
TODAY
- Angels go for their ninth win in 10 games when lefty Ryan Detmers faces ex-Angels lefty Andrew Heaney in the third of four at Texas (5:05 p.m., BSW).
- Dodgers have Clayton Kershaw, back in form after a rough May, on the mound against the White Sox (7:10 p.m., ESPN).
- Sparks try to get back above .500 when they close out their trip at Dallas (10 a.m., NBA TV).
- LAFC is down to third in the Western Conference and has three wins in its past 13 games as Houston visits (7:30 p.m., Apple TV+). LAFC update.
BETWEEN THE LINES
The NBA champion Nuggets are favored to repeat next season, at odds of +475, on the first betting line released yesterday. The Celtics (+550) and Bucks (+650) are next. The Lakers (+1200) are sixth, the Clippers (+1500) ninth.
280 CHARACTERS
“I’m not sure a Major League Baseball team can succeed in a traditional hockey town like Las Vegas.” – Baseball columnist J.P. Hoornstra (@JPHoornstra), on the night the Vegas Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup while the Oakland Athletics’ management seeks to move the team to Las Vegas.
1,000 WORDS
Still champions: Defenseman Alec Martinez, left, and goalie Jonathan Quick, who were teammates on the Kings’ 2012 and 2014 championship teams, celebrate with the trophy after the Golden Knights beat the Panthers 9-3 last night in Las Vegas to win the Stanley Cup Final 4-1. Photo is by Christian Petersen for Getty Images.
YOUR TURN
Thanks for reading. Send suggestions, comments and questions by email at kmodesti@scng.com and via Twitter @KevinModesti.
Editor’s note: Thanks for reading the “Game Day with Kevin Modesti” newsletter. To receive the newsletter in your inbox, sign up here.
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Game Day: A Stanley Cup fit for two Kings - OCRegister
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