Redemption at hand as Kings seek unlikely coronation

Until this season, the Los Angeles Kings ice hockey team were really only known for one saga: the infamous big-money acquisition of Wayne Gretzky, a move that shocked the sport and tore the heart out of a city and a country in the late 1980s.

For a long time too, they were weighed down by the actions of the man who made the deal a reality, to the extent that they almost went out of existence while their former owner headed to prison.

Redemption is at hand. Tonight they get the best-of-seven Stanley Cup finals going against the New Jersey Devils and will be bidding to finally forge an identity which can be distinguished from the legacy of their giant former player (not to mention their fellow tenants at the Staples Center in downtown LA, the NBA’s iconic Lakers).