Kings get a date and a video re-airing *

While the Lakers and Clippers are still trying to close out their first-round playoff series, the LA Kings are gearing up to start round three. They knew where — in suburban Glendale, Arizona outside Phoenix — and now they know when. The NHL announced today that the series will open Sunday at 5 p.m. Los Angeles time, with the second game Tuesday at 6 p.m. Both games will air nationally on NBCSN (and for those who prefer the Canadian feed, on TSN and RDS.)

Tonight, Fox Sports West will re-air the two most memorable games from the only time the Kings ever made it to the third round of the Stanley Cup finals before. At 7 p.m. it's Game 6, the Toronto Maples Leafs versus the Kings at The Forum in Inglewood, a game played on May 29, 1993. Many Kings fans consider it their favorite game, and the team's biggest game, in Kings history. At 9:30 p.m. FSW will air Game 7, the deciding game played in Toronto on May 29. Wayne Gretzky factors big in both games, as do the Kings' Marty McSorley and the Maple Leafs' Doug Gilmour.

Regarding the Phoenix Coyotes and Glendale: "'If you need a poster boy for how to pour your whole budget down the drain of professional sports, Glendale is the place,'" says Glendale resident Ken Jones, a retired construction superintendent, who calls the team a financial albatross. By any measure, professional hockey in the valley of the sun has been an expensive proposition and the cost is falling heavily upon Glendale." Wall Street Journal

Not just Kings fans: Longtime LA Times hockey writer Lisa Dillman tweeted Thursday night that Game 6 in the '93 series was one of her all-time favorite games. And current King enforcer Kevin Westgarth watched the replay and tweeted his observations as the game went on.

Sports Illustrated photo