Local Photographer Captures Fans Reveling in LA Kings Victory

A local photographer has captured scores of LA Kings fans in victory and loss, and after their hockey idols held the Stanley Cup high over their heads Monday night, the motley crew of LA hockey fans came together for the ultimate celebration.

“What it means to be a Kings fan. We shot, obviously kids, everyone in the Kings gear, young, old, everything and that’s also the point, too. To show that we are an eclectic bunch and Kings fan, you’re kind of born into that and it’s eclectic,” said Chaz Curry, a freelance photographer and lifelong Kings devotee who is celebrating the Kings Cinderella run for the Stanley Cup by capturing the joys of those who have waited so long.

The wait ended Monday night when the Kings won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, defeating the New Jersey Devils 6-1 in Game 6 at the Staples Center.

At a Long Beach apartment blocks from the Pacific, 30-year-old-Alaina Clark smiles for a man she just met. They became instant friends brought together by a common love, LA Kings hockey.

“It’s definitely unexpected, this whole thing is unexpected, but it’s pretty great,” Clark said.

Curry plans on turning his documentation of the Kings’ loyal fans, who waited more than four decades for a Stanley Cup win, into a short film which will include a few frames of Danielle Ramirez who played the sport in college and knows well the power of the cup.

“I will take off work to go to the parade,” Ramirez said of the Kings win.

A loyal 19-year-old Kings fanatic who died last year of a rare bone cancer didn’t make it to see the Kings dominate the Devils in Game 6 to win the Cup, but family said he was there in spirit.

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Even those who never met the teenager, among them Curry, know how much he would have loved Monday’s win.

“The one thing he really, really loved was watching the Kings with his uncle,” Curry said.

Tanner was one who, like the other fans now in Curry’s computer, had wished for this moment with such fervor and passion for the team and the journey.