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How Staples Center ice found its way to LA Kings' three road Game 7s

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

Everyone knows the story of the 2002 Olympics and the “lucky loonie”.

Trent Evans, an icemaker who used to work for the Edmonton Oilers, was hired to work the Games in Salt Lake City. In order to mark the center spot in the E Center, he used a loonie; and when the Canadian men’s and women’s hockey teams went on to win gold, the legend of the “lucky loonie” was born.

So, if a Canadian dollar can have special powers, can some melted rink ice do the same trick? It worked for Nathan Horton in 2011. On Monday, we learned it also worked for the Los Angeles Kings.

Joe Loughlin is the Event Crew Supervisor at Staples Center. Before each of the Kings' three Game 7s against the Sharks, Ducks and Blackhawks, he made sure, with a bit of anonymous help, that melted ice from LA's home rink was sprayed onto the surfaces of SAP Center, Honda Center and United Center.

While he was able to pull off the move by himself while traveling with the team to San Jose and Anaheim, he almost was unable to complete the trifecta for the do-or-die game in Chicago.

From Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider:

“I’m going to leave that to the imagination to the people out there,” Laughlin said. “What happens on the ice, stays on the ice.”

Scraping, bottling and microwaving the ice that was eventually sprayed in San Jose and Anaheim didn’t require advanced logistics. But Laughlin – nicknamed The Captain – wasn’t planning on attending Game 7 in Chicago. At the last minute, a friend was able to secure tickets and flights, and prior to heading to LAX he stopped at Staples Center, lifted up a small corner of the basketball court, scraped the ice into a bottle, and away he went.

The Kings — at least as of now — haven’t gone the route of some previous Stanley Cup champions and started selling melted rink ice to their fans. They did, however, bottle some up as part of a very cool season ticket holders package for the start of the new year.

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That's totally a better idea than incorporating it inside of some delicious popsicles.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!