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Kings fans will make noise over San Jose writer’s column

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It seems Mark Purdy, a columnist for the San Jose Mercury News, thinks Staples Center is a quiet building and that the lack of support for the home team will give the Sharks an advantage Tuesday night when they play Game 3 of their first-round playoff series against the Kings.

Mark, Mark, Mark.

I hate to do this but…

Did you mean as quiet as the HP Pavilion was on Saturday when the undermanned Kings, minus the suspended Jarret Stoll, were routing the Sharks, 4-0, to tie the series at a game each?

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The man obviously has no clue about the passion of Kings fans, who have remained fiercely loyal through some bad times. “If HP Pavilion can be a Metallica concert when the puck drops, Staples is more of a Kenny G experience,” Purdy wrote.

Hardly.

It can get quiet in Staples sometimes. The arena is so cavernous sound simply disperses around the huge area. That happens with a lot of the new arenas around the NHL, which are built on a far grander scale than intimate places like the Forum or Boston Garden.

But quiet?

No. Not during the Kings’ playoff series last spring. Or their 12-3 start this season. Or any Ducks-Kings game this season.

And Coach Terry Murray doesn’t think there will be Kenny G-like serenity in the arena Tuesday night.

“I’m expecting it to be very revved up, very loud, noisy. A lot of energy. Lots of emotion,” he said. “You’ve got the L.A. Kings playing and you’ve got two California teams playing. And I think that means even more for the fans to come to the building and get it going here tonight.”

The man speaks from experience.

“Our fans are great fans. Last year I was very impressed,” he said. “Last year in the playoffs against Vancouver there was as much energy and enthusiasm and support in the building as any building that I’ve been in…. I’ve been through the Flyers organization. You get to the conference finals, finals, that’s incredible. Montreal is incredible. San Jose is a very loud building. But the L.A. Kings’ Staples Center is as good as anybody in the league.”

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A disclosure: Mark Purdy was the sports editor of my college newspaper, the Daily Northwestern, when I was a freshman. I recall one of the first assignments he gave me was to cover powder-puff football. I thought his judgment was lacking then and I know it’s off again now.

Check back soon for some hockey-related news, including an update from injured center Anze Kopitar.

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-- Helene Elliott

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