Staples Center event crew supervisor Joe Laughlin did everything in his power to make sure there was some Staples Center ice sprayed onto the playing surfaces in San Jose, Anaheim and Chicago during the Kings’ Game 7s at each arena.
How did he do this?
According to LA Kings Insider, Laughlin scraped, bottled and microwaved the Staples Center ice and eventually sprayed it onto the road ice surfaces. For Laughlin, this is elementary.
The most difficult challenge came in the Chicago series, because he was originally not supposed to attend the game. When he got tickets at the last minute, he went to Staples Center, lifted a corner of the Los Angeles Clippers’ basketball floor and scraped some ice before jetting to Chicago.
The Kings, of course, went on to win three consecutive Game 7s to advance to the Stanley Cup Final before dispatching the New York Rangers in five games.
Thanks to Laughlin, the Kings had home-ice advantage all along while being away from Los Angeles. Apparently it worked.
Photo via Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports Images
h/t Puck Daddy