The Los Angeles Kings’ underdog story highlights the good in sports: a No. 8 seed rolling to the Stanley Cup finals, a hockey power representing a city that doesn’t exactly fit a stereotypical puckhead hotbed. It adds up to a powerful tale. Blah, blah, blah.
Here’s the reason we’re glad the Kings remain alive: more chances for their public relations staff to entertain.
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On Friday, late night talk show host Conan O’Brien tweeted, “The @LAKings are playing the @phoenixcoyotes? I wonder which city that shouldn’t have a hockey team will win.” (Never mind that the Kings had clinched this series two days earlier).
To which the Kings’ PR staff responded, “@conanobrien Clearly, that joke wasn’t meant for prime time.”
Actor Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute on “The Office”) addressed a tweet to the Kings that he had never been to an NHL game — hint, hint. So the Kings tweeted to him that they would deliver the tickets but in jello — a bit pirated from an episode. And they did just that.
After beating the top-seeded Vancouver Canucks in Game 1 of the first round, the Kings tweeted, “To everyone in Canada outside BC, you’re welcome.”
And one tweet mocked Vancouver’s Ryan Kesler’s flopping, saying “looks like a gust of wind sent Kesler tumbling.”
Since the playoffs began, the Kings have added nearly 57,000 new followers.
“Twitter’s all about saying things that are funny,” said DeWayne Hankins, the Kings’ director of digital media, told Yahoo! Sports. “If you’re not going to do that, then you’re wasting people’s time.”
– John Keim
