ESPN
On Monday, the Kings won the first game of their opening round Stanley Cup Playoff showdown with the Oilers with a 6-5 victory on home ice. The game also featured one of the most unique renditions of “The Star-Spangled Banner” that you’ll ever encounter, and Los Angeles might have unlocked a new secret weapon thanks to the senior citizens who performed it on harmonicas before the puck dropped.
Simply hearing the words “playoff hockey” is enough to make most NHL fans feel a little bit tingly due to the virtually unrivaled atmosphere we’re treated to when the 16 teams that earned the right to play for the Stanley Cup kick off the battle for that hallowed piece of hardware.
Players in every sport have a tendency to kick things into high gear once the postseason rolls around, and while it’s difficult to tangibly sum up why hockey feels different, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are simply injected with a level of intensity that’s very hard to match.
The Los Angeles Kings kicked off their quest for The Cup on Monday night when they hosted the Oilers for the opening game of their first-round series, and the home team had plenty of options when it came to trying to get the crowd amped up before things got underway.
Now, you might think an NHL franchise based in Los Angeles would try to tap a notable name to belt out “The Star-Spangled Banner” to try to set the tone at the start of a playoff series, but the Kings decided to go a slightly different route by recruiting a group of women enrolled in the harmonica class the Koreatown Senior and Community Center.
It was certainly an unconventional choice, but one that paid off in a big way; the crowd quickly joined in to belt out the lyrics to the national anthem, and a clip of the performance quickly took the internet by storm.
There was a special USA anthem performance in LA tonight by…a harmonica class? 😅 pic.twitter.com/XkwUijF7yG
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 22, 2025
There’s no way to prove that rendition was a factor in a game where the Kings pulled out to a 1-0 lead in the series, but they might want to keep inviting them back until an opposing team proves they can win a game after getting that particular anthem experience.