The LA Kings are the kings of hockey, for the first time in their history.
On Monday night, the Kings won hockey’s ultimate prize — the Stanley Cup.
Their quest for the Stanley Cup has been 45 years in the making.
Their dream became a reality after they beat the New Jersey Devils 6-1 in the sixth game of a seven-game series.
The win can be attributed in large part to a five-minute major penalty against one of the Devils’ players early in the game. During that penalty the Kings scored three goals.
The game then really opened up in favour of the Kings. Jonathan Quick, the Kings’ goalie, was solid in net. In fact, he was fantastic for the entire playoffs, setting NHL records. He was named playoff MVP (Most Valuable Player), and was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy.
The Kings are a remarkable story when you consider where they came from. They were second-to-last in scoring during the regular season. They brought in a new coach, Darryl Sutter, a third of the way through the regular season.
The Kings were lucky to even get into the playoffs. They were the eighth seed from their Conference – only eight teams per conference make the playoffs. No eighth seed has ever won the cup. But they didn’t let it affect their winning attitude. In the end the Kings finished with only four losses and 16 wins. (Four wins in each of the four rounds needed to win the cup).
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Kathleen Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
The article says, “No eighth seed has ever won the cup. But they didn’t let it affect their winning attitude.”
What is a ‘winning attitude’? How did the Kings show that they have a winning attitude during the playoffs?
Do you think a winning attitude is an essential part of winning? Why or why not?
Reading Prompt: Demonstrating Understanding
This article contains a lot of information. What is the most important idea in this article? How do you know?
Retell the story to a friend or family member. Make sure to start with the most important idea and then add supporting details from the article.
Primary
Demonstrate understanding of a variety of texts by identifying important ideas and some supporting details (OME, Reading: 1.4).
Junior
Demonstrate understanding of a variety of texts by summarizing important ideas and citing supporting details (OME, Reading: 1.4).
Intermediate
Demonstrate an understanding of the information and ideas in increasingly complex oral texts in a variety of ways (OME, Reading: 1.4).
Grammar Feature: Adjectives
Some journalists describe the LA Kings as big, strong and young. What other adjectives (describing words) can you think of to describe this winning team?
