LOS ANGELES — In a normal year, they might be golfing right now. Or spending time at the lake. Or travelling the world.
They would certainly be paying the odd visit to the gym with a mind on being ready for training camps that are just three months away.
Instead, members of the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers play on, continuing a season that must feel like it will never end. They are only assured of one more day — Friday, June 13 — when the Kings will attempt to close out the Stanley Cup Final with a win in Game 5.
That will be their 26th game of the playoffs, which would represent the highest total of any champion in NHL history. What a slog. What fun.
“It’s been long, but it’s good,” Kings forward Tyler Toffoli said Thursday. “To be here, it’s pretty surreal.”
This is basically down to survival now. Scraggly beards hide gaunt faces. Ice packs soothe wounds that will take a summer to heal.
Chilean sea bass and Gatorade — no, that’s not a typo — fuels the engine of high-level athletes fighting to have their names engraved in Lord Stanley’s Cup.
“It was fine,” Jarret Stoll, the veteran Los Angeles centre, said of the cross-continent flight home. “Had a good Chilean sea bass. Really good catering on the flight. Got about three hours sleep, lots of guys were sleeping.”
The Kings decided to leave immediately after a 2-1 loss at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night, completing a six-hour trip on a commercial airline in five hours 22 minutes. Most of their heads didn’t hit pillows until 4 a.m. local time.
New York didn’t fly out until 11 a.m. and held an optional practice at Staples Center upon arrival that was basically attended by everybody. The flight gave coach Alain Vigneault time to break down the previous night’s game tape and he concluded that the team played better defensively in the third period than it did in the second despite being outshot 15-1 overt the final 20 minutes.
“We gave up a few rush chances (in the second); that didn’t happen in the third,” said Vigneault. ‘You know, we found a way to win. We had no choice. We have no choice tomorrow.”
If there is a bonus for players at this time of year, it is this: Everything gets awfully simple right now. All that really matters are wins and losses — although $60-million Rangers centre Brad Richards is currently feeling some heat after being dropped to the fourth line for Game 4.
Even the Kings weren’t left with much time to stew over the missed opportunity to finish off a sweep in this series. It was simply rest, rehydrate, refuel and refocus.
The next step is pretty straightforward, too.
“Just win — that’s with a big period and exclamation point after it,” said Kings forward Justin Williams. “I don’t care where it is. Win one more.”
For what it’s worth, the Stanley Cup never even made up the ramp to the fifth floor of Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. Cup keeper Phil Pritchard likes to make a late entrance into the building on nights where the trophy might be presented.
He’ll be waiting on Friday, when we will learn one way or another whether New York has any chance to make this a truly compelling series. The Rangers blew four two-goal leads while dropping the first two games of the Final here and felt like they were unlucky to do so.
However, goaltender Henrik Lundqvist has been lights-out in potential elimination situations and is only focused on playing one more game in Manhattan this season.
“They’ve been on both sides,” said Lundqvist. “They’ve been up, they’ve been down. They’re pretty consistent with the way they play. …
“I know if we win tomorrow, they’re definitely going to feel the pressure.”
That Game 5 falls on a Friday the 13th should give both teams a little something to consider. There has been so much talk about luck in this series — much more than you’d typically hear — and the Rangers believe they may finally have some back on their side.
The Kings? Well, they’re not buying that notion while trying to win a second Stanley Cup in three years.
“Puck luck is for cop-outs,” said Williams, who has points in 14 of his team’s 15 wins this spring. “I don’t believe in that at all. I’m a true believer that you get what you put into it. Last night we simply weren’t good enough and we didn’t get paid off.
“In the grand scheme of things, we need to be better in Game 5 than we were in Game 4.”
Better how?
“Better in terms of finishing, better in terms of forechecking, better in terms of little things,” he said.
“Yeah, we’ll be ready, we know what’s at stake,” Williams added. “We don’t want to go back there. That was a long plane ride.”
The miles are adding up, but the end is in sight.