Stanley Cup Playoffs postcard: Los Angeles, California 

NHL.com writers will be sending postcards from the eight first-round series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Today, staff writer Derek Van Diest checks in from Los Angeles, California:

LOS ANGELES -- I love LA.

Crypto.com Arena is one of my favorite NHL stops, not just because of the iconic venue, but everything surrounding a Los Angeles Kings home game.

For someone who grew up in Western Canada, there is an enormous appeal of walking to a hockey arena in the warm sunshine without the need of a heavy jacket.

They love their hockey in Southern California and the Kings have given Angelenos plenty to cheer, winning the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014.

Those championship teams set a high bar in Los Angeles, and hockey fans demand a lot from their Kings.

The Kings' Stanley Cup championship banners hang from up high in the rafters of Crypto.com along with the retired numbers of Wayne Gretzky (99), Rogie Vachon (30), Dustin Brown (23), Luc Robitaille (20), Dave Taylor (18) Marcel Dionne (16) and Rob Blake (4).

Prior to games, fans party outside the arena in the shadow of the greats who have been immortalized with statues in Star Plaza. There are 12 individual statues in addition to the Los Angeles Kings Monument, which was erected in 2016.

Of the 12 individuals immortalized, four are associated with the Kings: Gretzky, Robitaille, Dustin Brown and longtime broadcaster Bob Miller. I suspect Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty will find themselves a spot of pavement outside of the arena for their statues once they retire.

Until next time,

DVD