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NHL season opener in London proves to be a big success

Francois Beauchemim, left, J.S. Giguere, bottom center, and Ryan Getzlaf, right, of the Anaheim Ducks look for their names on the Stanley Cup in London on Sept. 26. The Ducks split a pair of games against the Los Angeles Kings over the weekend in London. PHOTO: AP

The NHL's season-opening series in London proved to be quite a success and the league expects to make more trips to Europe.

The Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings split a pair of games at the O2 Arena over the weekend in the first regular-season NHL games to be played in Europe.

"The fans were cheering. The tube was packed," NHL senior vice president Ken Yaffe said on Monday. "It was like a playoff championship game atmosphere."

Fans from Britain, some wearing shirts bearing the emblems of Elite Ice Hockey League teams Manchester Phoenix and Belfast Giants, mixed with other European, Canadian and US fans who made the trip to fill the O2 to capacity. The Kings won the first game 4-1 and the Ducks won the second by the same score.

But the outcome meant little to many of the local fans who came to see a pair of hockey games in a country obsessed with soccer.

"I know what our value is in many European countries," Yaffe said. "I had little sense of it in the UK."

Yaffe said the main criticism he heard about the weekend was the lack of coverage in the local media.
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