Stanley Cup Champion Kings Hope to Win Big with Five Nominations at Tonight's ESPYS
Published on July 11, 2012 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release
LOS ANGELES, CA - The Los Angeles Kings, 2012 Stanley Cup Champion and parent club of the Manchester Monarchs, hope to win big tonight as the newly crowned champs are up for five awards at the 20th annual ESPYS. This year's ESPYS will be broadcast live on ESPN from Nokia Theatre L.A. Live tonight starting at 9:00 p.m (EST). Defenseman Matt Greene, left wing Dustin Penner and former Monarchs right wing Dustin Brown are scheduled to represent the team and attend the event as the Kings go for wins in the following categories:
Best Team: The Kings tied for the second best record in NHL playoff history, going 16-4 overall and 10-1 on the road en route to their first-ever Stanley Cup championship. The Kings won 10 straight road games to set a new Stanley Cup playoff record. They are the first NHL team to ever go up 3-0 in all four series in one playoff year and they are only the second team in NHL history to win Game 1 on the road in all four series.
Best NHL Player - Former Monarchs goaltender Jonathan Quick: Quick, a Second Team NHL All-Star and a Finalist for the Vezina Trophy (awarded annually to the NHL's best regular season goaltender), was selected as the Kings MVP (Bill Libby Memorial Award), Best Defensive Player and Most Inspirational Player (Ace Bailey Memorial Award). He also set franchise single-season records in the following categories: shutouts (10), save percentage (.929) and goals-against average (1.95). Quick also set a club record with three straight shutouts while posting a franchise record scoreless streak of 202:11. He's the first Kings goalie to win 30-plus games three straight seasons and the second to win 20-plus games four straight seasons. Quick's regular season NHL rankings were the following: first in shutouts, second in goals-against average, tied for fifth in wins, tied for fifth in save percentage and fourth in games played.
Best Championship Performance - Jonathan Quick: In 20 post-season games, Quick compiled 16 wins while leading all playoff goaltenders with a 1.41 goals-against-average (third best all-time for goalies with at least 10 games played) and a .946 save-percentage (tied for third best all-time for goalies with at least 10 games played). He also tied for first with three post-season shutouts while earning the Kings first-ever Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup Playoff MVP.
Best Upset: The Kings are the first eighth-seeded team to ever win the Stanley Cup after becoming only the second eighth-seeded team to advance that far. They are also the first team since 2004 to beat the first, second and third-seeded teams in their conference en route to the Final and the sixth team ever to eliminate a Presidents' Trophy Winner (Vancouver Canucks) in the first round.
Best Coach/Manager - Darryl Sutter: The Kings were 25-13-11 in 49 regular season games with the Kings after joining the team in mid-December. Under Sutter's guidance, the Kings became a more aggressive team and they climbed back into the playoff picture after under-performing for much of the first half of the season. The Kings never faced an elimination game during the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs and the team tied a record for least amount of games needed to advance to the Stanley Cup Final (14; 12-2 record). Sutter, who also led the Calgary Flames to the Stanley Cup Final in 2004, won his first championship with the Kings after 15 seasons as a coach (head, associate or assistant) and eight seasons as a player in the NHL.
Voting for this year's ESPYS continues on-line until 8:59 p.m. (EST) today. Fans can click on the following link to vote for the Kings in all five categories: ESPYS Voting
True excitement comes in a purple and gold package with Monarchs hockey! With Monarchs Ticket Packages, fans can reserve their seat for one of the best entertainment experiences in New England. Fast-paced, hard-hitting and full of fun for the whole family, the Monarchs invite you to join us in the Jungle! Visit www.manchestermonarchs.com or call the Front Office at 603-626-7825!
American Hockey League Stories from July 11, 2012
- Bruins Sign Defenseman Garnet Exelby and Forward Lane Macdermid - Providence Bruins
- Anaheim Ducks Sign Goaltender Frederik Andersen to Two-Year Contract - Norfolk Admirals
- Stanley Cup Champion Kings Hope to Win Big with Five Nominations at Tonight's ESPYS - Manchester Monarchs
- Rangers Agree to Terms with Brandon Segal - Connecticut Whale
- 'Canes Agree to Terms with Marc-Andre Gragnani - Charlotte Checkers
- Florida Panthers Agree to Entry-Level Contracts with G Michael Houser and D Josh McFadden - San Antonio Rampage
- Penguins Re-Sign Joey Mormina - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- IceHogs Re-Sign Brookbank for 2012-13 - Rockford IceHogs
- Capitals Re-Sign Center Zach Hamill - Hershey Bears
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