Viking’s Darryl Sutter coaches LA Kings to first ever Stanley Cup victory

Some 45 years after the franchise came into the NHL, it took Viking’s Darryl Sutter to come in late in the year and coach an under-achieving Los Angeles Kings hockey team all the way through the grueling Stanley Cup playoffs and finally victory in six games over the NJ Devils, Monday, June 11/12.

Kings won game 6 of the final 6-1 and the best-of-seven series. They also set a Stanley Cup playoff record by winning 10 straight road games.

It probably should have been Sutter’s second cup victory as coach, as his 2004 low-on-talent, high-on-work Calgary Flames would have won the Stanley Cup in 6 games against the Tampa Bay Lightning when a disallowed goal was proven on the replay to have gone in. His Flames would have won the Stanley Cup but at the time there was no instant replay allowed to decide goals in the NHL. The game ultimately went into overtime where Tampa Bay won and followed it up with a game 7 win as well.