There was something missing in the Staples Center rafters when the LA Kings played their home opener on Saturday. There was still all of the Lakers, Kings, and Sparks banners, but Taylor Swift’s “most sold out performances” banner was nowhere to be seen.
That was not a coincidence, according to Staples Center president Lee Zeidman. He said that there are no plans to remove Swift’s banner and the team solely made the decision to cover it up during their home games.
The LA Kings are blaming a Taylor Swift banner for why they’re bad. Not themselves for being bad at hockey. Not their management for making bad moves. A banner for a musical artist is the culprit.
— Leslie (@prurardi) October 13, 2019
The banner has become something of an albatross for Kings fans. LA had won Stanley Cup titles in 2012 and 2014 and were in the upper echelon of NHL teams before Swift’s banner was unveiled in 2015. Since then, the Kings have had several short playoff appearances and steadily declining play. They had the second worst record in the league last season. But surely the reason for their fall is because of a banner putting a curse on them and not because of their aging roster and questionable trades and coaching hires, or anything like that.
Don’t look now, but covering the banner may actually work. The Kings won their home opener against the Nashville Predators 7-4.
