Kings to open 07-08 Season in London

[rinkrat]

The NHL, in cooperation with the Anschutz Entertainment Group, announced today the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings will open the 2007-08 NHL regular season in London, England at Europe’s most state-of-the art entertainment venue, the O2 Arena.

“Our commitment to grow the game globally has never been stronger,” said NHL Deputy Commissioner, Bill Daly. “The NHL is extremely proud to be represented in London by two great hockey organizations in the Ducks and Kings as well as to be recording NHL history at such a fantastic facility in the 02.”

After three successful Game One events in Japan (1997, 1998 & 2000), NHL Premiere will mark the first time the NHL will have played regular-season games in Europe. The home-and-home series will take place on Saturday, Sept. 29, at 8:00 p.m. (GMT) and Sunday, Sept. 30, at 5:00 p.m. (GMT). It also marks the third trip to London by the NHL. In 1993, the New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs played a two-game preseason series at Wembley Arena, as did the Chicago Blackhawks and Montreal Canadiens in 1992. A complete NHL history overseas is available on media.nhl.com.

“This is a historic and exciting announcement for the Kings, the NHL and the new O2 Arena,” said Timothy J. Leiweke, who in addition to serving as Kings Governor serves as President & CEO for AEG, the parent company of the Kings and the owners and operators of the O2. “Everybody associated with the Kings and AEG are thrilled with the unique opportunity to take our team and the great game of hockey overseas, and there could not be a better venue than the O2 to host such an event. The Kings-Ducks rivalry has been a lot of fun for a lot of years in Southern California. The NHL Premiere 2007 series in England takes it to an unrivaled and unprecedented level.”

“This a great honor for us, to be chosen to play in the NHL’s first regular-season games in Europe,” said Anaheim Ducks Executive Vice President/General Manager Brian Burke. “Showcasing a great rivalry between two clubs from the Southern California market will be terrific for the NHL.”

More details on NHL Premiere will be released at a later date, including information on Ducks and Kings training camp and exhibition schedules.

Tickets on sale March 1 and are available online at www.theo2.co.uk or for U.S. and Canada through TicketMaster at 011-44-870-534-4444.

[FLINNSTER69]

Frozen Fury ..????
Just want to see it Official...

pass the pint!

[pg1067]

Did no one learn from what happened to the Clippers and the other NBA teams who played games in Europe before the current season?! Ugh....

[DMAN3474]

It looks like they couldnt figure out how to get the cranes out of the place, so they left them in. Or maybe a carnival tent on steroids?

[Exodus1045]

well...not like were going to win the cup next season

even with that said i kind of wonder if the travel schedual will scare away some free agents.

what was the clippers record the year they went to europe?

[24diving]

Unless the Kings want to look like a pee wee team in another country, Lombardi had better figure out a way to put together a team for this.

[empire]

I'll need a couple of tickets for my bros.

[girl4kings]

Damn tickets are already on sale and it looks like the Clippers will be there too.

[OntheFly]

So, lets see? Season ticket prices will be the same, but we have one less home game. Will Frozen Fury still take place?

[WingHater]

Not to mention there might not be any preseason tickets either

[dmpaquet]

Originally Posted by pg1067

Did no one learn from what happened to the Clippers and the other NBA teams who played games in Europe before the current season?! Ugh....

Because I'm sure that's the ONLY reason they tanked it....

I said it in another thread, a couple of days to re-adjust to the time difference and that's it. It's really not a big deal. Especially for professional athletes. Give them a couple of days to get used to being back in the US and they'll be fine.

I've been back and forth across countless time zones and it never stopped me from playing hockey, working, or anything else.

[WingHater]

Originally Posted by dmpaquet

Because I'm sure that's the ONLY reason they tanked it....

I said it in another thread, a couple of days to re-adjust to the time difference and that's it. It's really not a big deal. Especially for professional athletes. Give them a couple of days to get used to being back in the US and they'll be fine.

I've been back and forth across countless time zones and it never stopped me from playing hockey, working, or anything else.

Why not?