The National Hockey League (NHL) will have the Stanley Cup Finals it dreamed of when the New York Rangers face the Los Angeles Kings in a bone-jarring drama played out in the two biggest media markets in the United States.
Not since the New York Yankees took on the Los Angeles Dodgers for the 1981 World Series have Tinsel Town and the Big Apple squared off for a major sporting championship and, for the NHL, the showdown between the Kings and Rangers is sure to mean unprecedented exposure.
The best-of-seven series, which begins on Wednesday night in Los Angeles, features two battle-hardened teams in a compelling final rich in Hollywood-type storylines and subplots.
The Rangers, one of the league’s original six franchises, can claim some of the NHL’s most loyal supporters, who have waited two decades for another shot at the cup, while the Kings, champions in 2012, return to the finals for the second time three years.
“The past few years, we’ve tried to earn the respect of the league,” Kings forward Justin Williams said. “LA is not just a place to come and play a hockey game and work on your tan. We want to put LA on the map, and put it significantly on the map with regards to hockey.”
There can be no disputing the Rangers and Kings both earned their spots in the finals.
After falling behind 3-0 to San Jose during their opening-round series, the Kings had looked set to make a quick play-off exit, but they fought their way through to the finals by winning three, best-of-seven series against the Sharks, Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks that all went the distance.
In elimination games this postseason, the Kings are a perfect 7-0, clinching a berth in the cup finals by finishing off the defending champion Blackhawks 5-4 in a Game 7 overtime thriller.
“You need everybody when you get to Game 7. You’re not into the individual part of it,” Kings coach Darryl Sutter said after watching his team become the first to win three Game 7s en route to the finals.
The Rangers’ path to the finals was no less gruelling. New York needed seven games to see off the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins before defeating the Montreal Canadiens in six games to claim the Eastern Conference crown.
To reach the Stanley Cup Finals teams require quality netminding, and the Kings and Rangers feature two of the best in Jonathan Quick and Henrik Lundqvist.
Quick is a proven postseason performer, having claimed the Conn Smythe trophy as the Stanley Cup play-offs’ most valuable player in leading the Kings to their first championship two years ago.
At the other end of the rink, the Rangers’ Lundqvist has long been considered one of the tops in the puck-stopping business, taking Vezina Trophy honours as the NHL’s top netminder in 2012 and backstopping Sweden to a gold medal at the 2006 Turin Olympics and a silver at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.
“When it’s only two or three seconds left and you realise you did it, it’s an unbelievable feeling,” Lundqvist said after the Rangers cemented their first appearance in the finals since hoisting the cup in 1994. “But what took us there is the entire team really stepped up in key moments throughout the year, but especially the play-offs.”
Having traded away their captain, Ryan Callahan, and with a new coach, Alain Vigneault, the Rangers have emerged as this season’s team of destiny.
At the trade deadline, New York dealt Callahan to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Martin St Louis, a former NHL most-valuable player and ageing dynamic offensive force who became the Rangers’ inspirational touchstone.
When St Louis’s mother suddenly passed away during the East finals against Montreal, the Rangers rallied around their grieving teammate, who found solace on the ice and scored the overtime winner in Game 4 against the Canadiens to keep New York’s cup push on track.
The close-knit Rangers can find similar inspiration up and down their bench.
Dominic Moore, who scored the only goal in the 1-0 victory that eliminated Montreal, sat out the 2012/13 season after losing his wife to cancer, while Derek Stepan played the last two games of the series with a broken jaw and has been unable to eat solid food for six weeks.
Like the Rangers, the Kings added a key piece to their postseason puzzle by acquiring Marian Gaborik from the Columbus Blue Jackets at the trade deadline.
Gaborik, who had just 11 goals during the regular season, leads the play-off scoring with 12. Only Wayne Gretzky, with 15, has scored more goals for the Kings in a single postseason.
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Where to buy art books in the UAE
There are a number of speciality art bookshops in the UAE.
In Dubai, The Lighthouse at Dubai Design District has a wonderfully curated selection of art and design books. Alserkal Avenue runs a pop-up shop at their A4 space, and host the art-book fair Fully Booked during Art Week in March. The Third Line, also in Alserkal Avenue, has a strong book-publishing arm and sells copies at its gallery. Kinokuniya, at Dubai Mall, has some good offerings within its broad selection, and you never know what you will find at the House of Prose in Jumeirah. Finally, all of Gulf Photo Plus’s photo books are available for sale at their show.
In Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi has a beautiful selection of catalogues and art books, and Magrudy’s – across the Emirates, but particularly at their NYU Abu Dhabi site – has a great selection in art, fiction and cultural theory.
In Sharjah, the Sharjah Art Museum sells catalogues and art books at its museum shop, and the Sharjah Art Foundation has a bookshop that offers reads on art, theory and cultural history.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
more from Janine di Giovanni
More on animal trafficking
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Bareilly Ki Barfi
Directed by: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring: Kriti Sanon, Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao
Three and a half stars
SQUADS
Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (capt), Azhar Ali, Shan Masood, Sami Aslam, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Usman Salahuddin, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Asghar, Bilal Asif, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Abbas, Wahab Riaz
Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (capt), Lahiru Thirimanne (vice-capt), Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Rangana Herath, Lakshan Sandakan, Dilruwan Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Gamage
Umpires: Ian Gould (ENG) and Nigel Llong (ENG)
TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough (ENG)
ICC match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
The biog
Most memorable achievement: Leading my first city-wide charity campaign in Toronto holds a special place in my heart. It was for Amnesty International’s Stop Violence Against Women program and showed me the power of how communities can come together in the smallest ways to have such wide impact.
Favourite film: Childhood favourite would be Disney’s Jungle Book and classic favourite Gone With The Wind.
Favourite book: To Kill A Mockingbird for a timeless story on justice and courage and Harry Potters for my love of all things magical.
Favourite quote: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” — Winston Churchill
Favourite food: Dim sum
Favourite place to travel to: Anywhere with natural beauty, wildlife and awe-inspiring sunsets.
The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Power: 480hp at 7,250rpm
Torque: 566Nm at 4,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: L/100km
Price: Dh306,495
On sale: now
MATCH INFO
Uefa Nations League
League A, Group 4
Spain v England, 10.45pm (UAE)
THE BIO
Mr Al Qassimi is 37 and lives in Dubai
He is a keen drummer and loves gardening
His favourite way to unwind is spending time with his two children and cooking
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
The specs: 2017 Maserati Quattroporte
Price, base / as tested Dh389,000 / Dh559,000
Engine 3.0L twin-turbo V8
Transmission Eight-speed automatic
Power 530hp @ 6,800rpm
Torque 650Nm @ 2,000 rpm
Fuel economy, combined 10.7L / 100km
Movie: Saheb, Biwi aur Gangster 3
Producer: JAR Films
Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Jimmy Sheirgill, Mahie Gill, Chitrangda Singh, Kabir Bedi
Rating: 3 star
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
The bio
Studied up to grade 12 in Vatanappally, a village in India’s southern Thrissur district
Was a middle distance state athletics champion in school
Enjoys driving to Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah with family
His dream is to continue working as a social worker and help people
Has seven diaries in which he has jotted down notes about his work and money he earned
Keeps the diaries in his car to remember his journey in the Emirates
The biog
Favourite food: Fish and seafood
Favourite hobby: Socialising with friends
Favourite quote: You only get out what you put in!
Favourite country to visit: Italy
Favourite film: Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
Family: We all have one!
The Kites
Romain Gary
Penguin Modern Classics
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E 300 Cabriolet
Price, base / as tested: Dh275,250 / Dh328,465
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 245hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,300rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
Fireball
Moscow claimed it hit the largest military fuel storage facility in Ukraine, triggering a huge fireball at the site.
A plume of black smoke rose from a fuel storage facility in the village of Kalynivka outside Kyiv on Friday after Russia said it had destroyed the military site with Kalibr cruise missiles.
"On the evening of March 24, Kalibr high-precision sea-based cruise missiles attacked a fuel base in the village of Kalynivka near Kyiv," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine confirmed the strike, saying the village some 40 kilometres south-west of Kyiv was targeted.
THE BIO
Favourite book: ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren
Favourite travel destination: Switzerland
Hobbies: Travelling and following motivational speeches and speakers
Favourite place in UAE: Dubai Museum
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
Turkish Ladies
Various artists, Sony Music Turkey
Sour%20Grapes
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5