Los Angeles Kings: Could the Staples Center Host a Frozen Four Someday?

Less than a week before the Los Angeles Kings commenced their startling 16-4 run to the 2012 Stanley Cup, the Tampa Bay Lightning savored the last lingering perk from their own title in 2004.

Eight years removed from hosting the local team’s Game 7 victory over the Calgary Flames, the Tampa Bay Times Forum (nee St. Pete Times Forum) hosted the country’s second-biggest hockey championship. It became the first facility in the southeastern United States to host an NCAA Men’s Frozen Four and the event’s southernmost host since Anaheim in 1999.

Now that the Kings have brought the Cup to the country’s most recognizable city west of the Mississippi River―sealing the victory on home ice, no less―there is no reason why they shouldn’t shoot for the exact same privilege. And there is no reason to assume they couldn’t pull it off if they tried to bring the Frozen Four to Figueroa.

Of course, the massive market and city size is what makes Los Angeles both an enticing and potentially lofty site to shoot for. The Frozen Four has never been held in a city with a population exceeding one million, though that will change it 2014 when the event goes to Philadelphia.

In addition, the unique fact that the Staples Center has three major wintertime tenants in the Kings, the NBA Lakers and the NBA Clippers might make for a tougher sell. All of those teams would likely need to vacate the premises for at least a week at a time when their regular seasons are just winding down.

Then again, that’s not stopping the arena from housing the West Regional in next year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament.



So why not the semifinals and finals of the hockey tournament? The aforementioned obstacles can be overcome, and the geographic barrier is long-shattered thanks to Anaheim and Tampa.

But whenever its turn might come to hold a Frozen Fou...

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