- Commissioner’s statement on Ventura, Marte
- Ronnie O’Sullivan: Masters champion ‘felt so vulnerable’ in final
- Arron Fletcher Wins 2017 WSOP International Circuit Marrakech Main Event ($140,224)
- Smith challenges Warner to go big in India
- Moncada No. 1 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Braves land 2 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Kingery makes MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- New Zealand wrap up 2-0 after Bangladesh implosion
- Mathews, Pradeep, Gunathilaka to return to Sri Lanka
- Elliott hopes for rain for Poli
50 Kings – Adam Deadmarsh
- Updated: August 5, 2016
It has to be a good feeling for any guy who ends up playing for a team he cheered for as a kid. Former LA Kings forward, Adam Deadmarsh, happens to be one of those guys.
Deadmarsh grew up in Canada, where he was a fan of the Edmonton Oilers and his favorite player, Wayne Gretzky. When Gretzky was traded to Los Angeles in 1988, Deadmarsh’s allegiance followed him.
“Growing up I was a Gretzky fan, and when he went to the Kings, that became my new team because of him,” says Deadmarsh, who was 13 at the time of The Trade. “When Gretzky went to LA I think that really helped the game in general, and it definitely opened up a lot of eyes to the game when he went there.”
Just 13 years after the trade that brought Gretzky to LA, Deadmarsh himself was traded to the Kings from the Colorado Avalanche with Aaron Miller, a player to be named later, and a first round pick in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft for Rob Blake and Steven Reinprecht. Deadmarsh had been drafted by the Avalanche organization and had won a Stanley Cup in Colorado in 1996. A couple months prior to his trade, Deadmarsh and his wife, Christa, welcomed their first children to the world, twin girls.
“It was a little bit of a shock and I really didn’t know what to expect, but when I got to LA the guys were great, the fans were awesome, and looking back, I was truly honored to be part of that team, it was a lot of fun,” recalls Deadmarsh, who didn’t really know any of the Kings players at the time. “It was really easy to fit into the locker room, and it was a quick transition as far as feeling comfortable around those guys.”
Continues Deadmarsh: “Hockey in general, I think a lot of guys feel that way. Everyone’s kind of on the same even keel, and it’s one sport that I think guys really get along well in.”
Later on that same season, Deadmarsh became a playoff hero of sorts, when he helped propel the Kings past the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference Quarterfinals. At one point during that series, the Kings were down by three goals in Game 4, while trailing the series 2-1. Not only did the Kings come back to win that game to tie the series, but they won the next two, including Game 6 in overtime, in which Deadmarsh …
continue reading in source kings.nhl.com
