I bought a ticket for this Saturday day game knowing I could use a $10 Metrolink Weekend Pass that would allow me to not only ride the train but also subway and light rail for that low price. I arose and after doing my chores, drove down to the Santa Ana station and parked then purchased my Metrolink ticket and walked over to Track 1 via the Santa Ana Boulevard grade crossing.
The Santa Ana station on a beautiful clear morning.
My Metrolink Weekend Pass.
Pacific Surfliner 566 arrived just before my Metrolink Train.
Metrolink 651 came in and I boarded the bicycle car for my trip to LA Union Station, calling Let's Talk Trains just arrival there. I detrained and headed down to the subway.
I took the subway from Union Station to 7th/Metro then walked the rest of the way to the Staples Center, arriving on the north side where the LA Sport Statues are.
The sixth statue was of Los Angeles Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the all-time leading National Basketball Association scorer, which was unveiled on November 16, 2012.
There is a statue of Magic Johnson.
Boxer Oscar De La Hoya is here.
The fifth statue was of Los Angeles Lakers legend Jerry West dribbling and was unveiled on February 17, 2011.
This is the statue I wanted to see, Wayne Gretzky, the all-time leading National Hockey League scorer.
The fourth statue was of the late long-time Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn, behind a Laker desk with a chair for fans to sit down for a picture.
The north entrance to the Staples Center. Doors opened at 11:30 AM and once through Security, I visited the Team LA Shop inside to buy my Official Story of the 2012 Stanley Cup Champions Los Angeles Kings book.
The LA Kings banners now hang from the ceiling.
Retied LA Kings jerseys are 30 for Rogie Vachon, 16 for Marcel Dionne, 18 for Dave Taylor, 99 for Wayne Gretzky and 20 is Luc Robitaille.
The Stanley Cup banner has really improved the Staples Center.
The Los Angeles Lakers banners are on the other end.
The Staples Center scoreboard.
The ice was ready for team warm ups.
The LA Kings come out onto the ice.
The Colorado Avalanche have taken the ice.
The LA Kings start their pre-game warm ups.
The Colorado Avalanche are still warming up.
The LA Kings are warming up.
The Colorado Avalanche are still warming up.
Team warmups are something that is not shown on television.
Center Ice is always interesting to watch during warm ups.
All players on the teams are required to fully warm up before the game commences.
The LA Kings are almost finished warming up.
Today is Ian Laperriere Tribute Day. He played for the Kings from 1995 to 2004 before being traded to the Colorado Avalanche from 2005 to 2009 then finished his playing days with the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Zambonis came out to resurface the ice.
It is always fun to watch the Zambonis do their work.
The Zambonis have finished their jobs.
The ice surface is now ready for play.
Before the game, there was a green laser light show which was accompanied by Emerson, Lake & Palmer's Karn Evil 9 Part 2 played over the loud speakers.
Ian Laperriere was honored today for his excellent hockey playing for the LA Kings.
The LA Kings returned to the ice for their pre-game warm up skating.
Pia Toscano sang the United States National Anthem.
Ian Laperriere dropped the puck at the pre-game faceoff.
The game started with the faceoff which the Kings won. Dustin Brown scored the first goal of the game for the Kings at 0:58 of the first period with assists going to Justin Williams and Anze Kopitar. Next Jeff Carter scored the second goal at 14:22 of the first period with assists going to Mike Richards and Slava Voynov. At the end of the first period, it was Los Angeles Kings 2 and the Colorado Avalanche 0.
During the period break, we were treated to a game of the LA Kings 5-7 year-old players game before the Zambonis smoothed out the ice surface for second period play. During period 2, Milan Hejduk scored with assists going to PA Parenteau and Gabriel Landeskog at 1:16. Next at 2:51, a short-handed goal was scored by Trevor Lewis with an assist from Jarret Stoll. Later at 16:42, Anze Kopitar scored with assists going to Dustin Penner and Dwight King. At the end of two periods, the score was LA Kings 4 and Colorado Avalanche 1. There was no scoring in the third period, so the game ended as Los Angeles Kings 4 and the Colorado Avalanche 1. As we exited everyone was given a Ian Laperriere 22 hockey puck.
My Trip HomeI walked over to the Blue Line station and boarded the first train to the 7th/Metro station.
My Expo Line Train going out of service.
Another trolley out of service at 7th/Metro. I walked down the stairs to the subway station and boarded a Purple Line train for LA Union Station.
My Purple Line train at the LA Union Station Subway station. I stopped by Wetzel Pretzel before walking up to my Metrolink train for home.
Metrolink 664 which took me home to Santa Ana, ending a great day in my life.
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