NEW YORK (Reuters) – Hockey royalty in name only, the Los Angeles Kings have a chance to finally be crowned National Hockey League (NHL) champions as a seed planted 45 years ago by an ambitious league is finally bearing fruit.

Los Angeles is not yet planning a victory parade through its gridlocked streets but hockey fever has gripped the city with the Kings in the Stanley Cup final, starting May 30 against the New Jersey Devils, for the first time since 1993.

The Tampa Bay Lightning, Dallas Stars, Carolina Hurricanes and Anaheim Ducks have all proven you can ice a Stanley Cup winner in steamy southern U.S. markets better suited for pools than pucks.

But it was the Kings that established the NHL’s southern initiative in 1967 with Canadian business tycoon Jack Kent Cooke buying in as part of the league’s grand expansion plan of adding six new teams.

The NHL endured a bumpy ride trying to establish the game in non-traditional markets and that includes Los Angeles, where the team went from Kings to paupers surviving bankruptcy, fan apathy and flamboyant owner Bruce McNall who was responsible for the franchise’s biggest boom and bust.

Before his empire spectacularly collapsed and landed him in prison on fraud charges, McNall put hockey on the map in the southern United States, pulling off what is widely regarded as the most important NHL trade of all-time.

Needing a star to make a splash in city packed with the rich and famous, a brazen McNall went after hockey’s biggest name and acquired Wayne Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers in 1988.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – While the cities they represent are as different as hot dogs and sushi, the contrasts between the Stanley Cup-bound Los Angeles Kings and New Jersey Devils are not as obvious.

New Jersey, long portrayed as home to mobsters, may be the polar opposite to Los Angeles, the sunny home to the rich and famous, but the Kings and Devils are remarkably similar, setting the stage for what should a challenging best-of-seven series starting on Wednesday.

Shoot first, ask questions later:

Loaded with offensive panache and flair, the Devils and Kings have been among the two highest-scoring teams in the post-season and play an attractive attacking brand of hockey.

New Jersey captain Zach Parise, Ilya Kovalchuk and Travis Zajac all have seven goals while rookie Adam Henrique stepped up to the occasion with two overtime-winning goals, including one that clinched the Devils’ berth in the finals.

Kovalchuk, who signed a 15-year $100 million deal with the Devils in 2010, is earning his money by leading all playoff scorers with 18 points in 17 games.

The Kings can also flex some offensive muscle, hard-nosed captain Dustin Brown leading the way with seven goals and 16 points followed closely by Slovenian sensation Anze Kopitar with 15 points and reunited Philadelphia Flyers team mates Mike Richards and Jeff Carter with 11 and nine points respectively.

QUEBEC CITY (Reuters) – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) ticked some major items off the ‘to do list’ as executive board meetings wrapped up on Thursday, but the issue of Saudi women competing at the London Games remains unresolved.

After trimming the list of candidate cities for the 2020 Olympics from five to three on Wednesday, the IOC announced it had resolved a long-running dispute with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and finalised a new revenue-sharing agreement.

However, other nagging issues remain as Saudi Arabia continue to resist IOC efforts to have women compete in London while the IOC ethics commission wrestled with a scandal swirling around Pal Schmitt, the former-Hungarian president and IOC member accused of plagiarism.

IOC President Jacques Rogge, under pressure from human rights and sports groups to force Saudi Arabia to have female athletes as part of its London delegation, refused to consider the possibility of sanctions against the Gulf state or allow Saudi women to compete under a neutral flag.

“We are continuing to discuss with them, and their athletes are training and we hope that they will qualify in due time for the Games,” Rogge told reporters. “There is absolutely no reason to consider the participation of Saudi women under an IOC flag.

“There is a commitment (to allow women to compete), it is not an easy situation and we are working with them to find a solution.”

If the issue remains unresolved, Saudi Arabia would be the only country competing in London without a female representative.

QUEBEC CITY, May 24 (Reuters) – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) ticked some major items off the ‘to do list’ as executive board meetings wrapped up on Thursday, but the issue of Saudi women competing at the London Games remains unresolved.

After trimming the list of candidate cities for the 2020 Olympics from five to three on Wednesday, the IOC announced it had resolved a long-running dispute with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and finalised a new revenue-sharing agreement.

However, other nagging issues remain as Saudi Arabia continue to resist IOC efforts to have women compete in London while the IOC ethics commission wrestled with a scandal swirling around Pal Schmitt, the former-Hungarian president and IOC member accused of plagiarism.

IOC President Jacques Rogge, under pressure from human rights and sports groups to force Saudi Arabia to have female athletes as part of its London delegation, refused to consider the possibility of sanctions against the Gulf state or allow Saudi women to compete under a neutral flag.

“We are continuing to discuss with them, and their athletes are training and we hope that they will qualify in due time for the Games,” Rogge told reporters. “There is absolutely no reason to consider the participation of Saudi women under an IOC flag.

“There is a commitment (to allow women to compete), it is not an easy situation and we are working with them to find a solution.”

If the issue remains unresolved, Saudi Arabia would be the only country competing in London without a female representative.

QUEBEC CITY (Reuters) – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to approve a 20-year revenue-sharing deal with the United States on Thursday that ends a long-running feud which paralyzed American efforts to stage an Olympic Games.

The announcement by IOC president Jacques Rogge clears the path for future bids by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), which had held firm on its pledge to not seek a Winter or Summer Games until a new deal was in place.

The dispute over how to divide billions of dollars in TV rights and sponsorships had dragged on for years and left the USOC a virtual outcast within Olympic circles.

“This is a very happy moment for the International Olympic Committee but I believe also for the USOC as this agreement will definitely strengthen both sides,” Rogge told reporters. “The IOC will be in a position to better function while the USOC would enhance its possibilities of having a leading role in sports in the world.

“This has been quite a long process, we started negotiating in May 2005, the beginning was a bit difficult and then it accelerated and we came to this very good conclusion.”

Before Olympic leaders arrived in Quebec City this week for executive board meetings there were no hints an agreement was imminent, USOC chairman Larry Probst telling reporters recently that he hoped a deal would be reached by the end of the year.

Few details of the agreement were immediately available but the IOC did say the new deal will begin in 2020. The USOC will also be required to contribute to the IOC’s administrative costs associated with the Olympic Games.

QUEBEC CITY, May 24 (Reuters) – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to approve a revenue-sharing deal with the United States on Thursday that ends a long-running feud that had paralyzed American efforts to stage an Olympic Games.

The announcement by IOC president Jacques Rogge clears the path for future bids by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), which had held firm on its pledge to not seek a Winter or Summer Games until a new revenue deal was in place.

The dispute over how to divide billions of dollars in TV rights and sponsorships had dragged on for years and left the USOC a virtual outcast within Olympic circles.

Before Olympic leaders arrived in Quebec City this week for executive board meetings there were no hints an agreement was imminent, USOC chairman Larry Probst telling reporters recently that he hoped a deal would be reached by the end of the year.

Few details of the deal were immediately available.

The IOC had argued that the USOC received more than its fair share from global marketing contracts and U.S. broadcasting revenues and wanted a fairer distribution of the Olympic pie.

The USOC felt it was entitled to a larger share, claiming that it is American TV rights and sponsors that keeps Olympic coffers flush with cash.

QUEBEC CITY (Reuters) – The chase to host the 2020 Summer Games was reduced to a three horse race between Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo after Doha and the Azerbaijan capital Baku were dropped from the running by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Wednesday.

The announcement in a packed Quebec City ballroom brought smiles but few cheers from the surviving cities as all three know the challenges that lie ahead after having previously cleared the first hurdle with recent bids.

“It is the third time we have been invited to participate in the final run and we are very excited to bring this to Spain,” Spanish IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., son of the former IOC president, told Reuters.

“This is a kind of Olympic competition with only a gold medal. We have bronze, silver and now we go for the gold.

“My father would not waste one second wasting how happy we are, he would have us all meeting in a room right now thinking what’s next.”

Next for Madrid, Istanbul and Tokyo is 16 months of furious campaigning as they try to convince the IOC they are up to the task of staging the world’s biggest sporting spectacle.

The high stakes run-off reaches the finish line in Buenos Aires in September 2013, when the IOC will vote on the 2020 host city.

QUEBEC CITY, May 23 (Reuters) – The race to host the 2020 Summer Games is now a three-way battle between Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo after Qatar’s Doha and Azerbaijan’s Baku were dumped as candidates, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Wednesday.

The shortlist of candidates to host the world’s biggest multi-sports event was announced at the IOC’s executive board meetings in Quebec City.

Baku, which invested more than a billion dollars in sports venues in the past 10 years, was bidding for a second successive time after falling at the first hurdle for the 2016 Games.

Doha, which was proposing to hold the 2020 Olympics in October rather than the usual July/August schedule to avoid the Gulf Arab state’s searing summer heat, is already hosting the 2022 World Cup soccer tournament.

The IOC will announce the winner between bids from Tokyo (Japan), Madrid (Spain) and Istanbul (Turkey) in September 2013.

Rome (Italy) pulled out of the running in February due to the country’s efforts to head off a debt crisis.

London will host the 2012 Summer Games from July 27-Aug. 12 while the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro will stage the 2016 Olympics.

QUEBEC CITY (Reuters) – An elusive revenue-sharing deal between the United States and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is close to being finalized, officials said on Wednesday, ending a bitter dispute that has paralyzed American efforts to host an Olympic Games.

Protracted negotiations between the IOC and United States Olympic Committee (USOC) over how to split billions of dollars in television rights and sponsorship appear to have ended in a sudden agreement that could be confirmed this week during IOC executive board meetings.

“We are very close to a deal,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams told reporters.

“The (IOC) president (Jacques Rogge) said this morning that until it has gone to both executive boards and is signed off by the presidents it is not a deal but we are very positive that things are heading in the right direction.”

Over nearly two years of sometimes tense negotiations, there have been several false dawns but this time there is a sense that a real breakthrough has been made in Quebec City.

The IOC has argued that the USOC receives more than its fair share from global marketing contracts and U.S. broadcasting revenues and has sought a fairer distribution of the Olympic pie.

The USOC has maintained it is entitled to a larger share since it is American television rights and sponsors which keep Olympic coffers flush with cash.

QUEBEC CITY, May 23 (Reuters) – An elusive revenue-sharing deal between the United States and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is close to being finalised, officials said on Wednesday, ending a bitter dispute that has paralysed American efforts to host an Olympic Games.

Protracted negotiations between the IOC and United States Olympic Committee (USOC) over how to split billions of dollars in television rights and sponsorship appear to have ended in a sudden agreement that could be confirmed this week during IOC executive board meetings.

“We are very close to a deal,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams told reporters.

“The (IOC) president (Jacques Rogge) said this morning that until it has gone to both executive boards and is signed off by the presidents it is not a deal but we are very positive that things are heading in the right direction.”

Over nearly two years of sometimes tense negotiations, there have been several false dawns but this time there is a sense that a real breakthrough has been made in Quebec City.

The IOC has argued that the USOC receives more than its fair share from global marketing contracts and U.S. broadcasting revenues and has sought a fairer distribution of the Olympic pie.

The USOC has maintained it is entitled to a larger share since it is American television rights and sponsors which keep Olympic coffers flush with cash.