Los Angeles Kings Hockey Fest 2009

On Friday and Saturday, I was fortunate enough to spend part of my day helping out at the 1st Annual Kings Hockey Fest. The event runs from Friday through Sunday and is a celebration of both the Kings and the game of hockey. It was a great way to promote hockey in an area of the country where it is not as popular. The event was held in the LA Live section of Downtown, which is home to the Staples Center and the Nokia Theatre.

Kings Players and Alumni

Friday night featured an introduction of many different personnel in the organization, many past players, prospects, and almost the entire current team at the Nokia Theatre. There was a great turnout despite awful traffic and fans were giving loud ovations for many of the past greats. Players like Kelly Hrudey, Marcel Dionne, and Luc Robitaille (who is now the President of the team) all received some of the loudest applause.

Luc Robitaille Addressing the Crowd

The current team was also a big hit, with Dustin Brown giving a speech at the end. Brown, if you did not know, is actually from Ithaca and played hockey at Ithaca High School before moving on to bigger and better things. He's now the captain for the Kings and a great public speaker as well. Very cool to see!

Dustin Brown Addressing the Crowd

Saturday featured a ton of fan interactive areas inside the Kings Tent. There were many skill games featured such as Hardest Shot, Accuracy Shot, and the Goalie Challenge. I helped out at the latter where one person would shoot on another who was dressed in goalie gear. I sometimes had to stand in between the pipes and have plastic pucks ripped at me. It was quite fun though, and I met some really great people I will be interning with this season. There were also many autograph sessions that went on inside with current and former players. It definitely was a hockey fan's dream day!

Inside the Hockey Fest Tent

Finally, there were some panel discussions with Kings alumni inside the Nokia Theatre hosted by some of the broadcasters as well as John Buccigross from ESPN. It was cool to meet all of the announcers as well as John and just take in the entire atmosphere. They had several different discussion themes from Hockey Experts to Enforcers to a discussion with the Kings' famous "Triple Crown Line" of Marcel Dionne, Dave Taylor, and Charlie Simmer.

Interactive Fan Challenges

I had a lot of fun during my two days at the event and am now even more excited to be a part of the Kings organization. I feel like this team has a lot of good, young talent and a tradition of true appreciation for their fans. It should be a fun time this fall at the Staples Center!

Staples Center: Home of the Kings (Lakers, and Clippers too)