So. Cal. NHL Report

LONDON (Ticker) -- Anaheim Ducks coach Randy Carlyle believes the National Hockey League's experiment in Europe has been a successful one after the Premier Series in London against the Los Angeles Kings finished tied at one game apiece. Each side won its "home" game as Los Angeles picked up a 4-1 win on Saturday evening before Anaheim bounced back with a 4-1 victory on Sunday.

The games were the first time in the history of the NHL that they had ventured into Europe and Carlyle thinks it was a move well worth making as the support was largely split for the two sides. "I think the fans enjoyed both games from the standpoint of the one thing: They didn't really have a side to pick in this one," he said. "It seemed like we had our share of fans, they had their share so it was an enjoyable thing. There seemed to be a lot of excitement. "It was atypical of an NHL crowd from the standpoint of people cheered when you scored, they liked the physical play, they liked the fight. It was an entertaining game from a fan standpoint I thought they got to see a little bit of everything in the two games." Carlyle was comfortable opening the season in London and there were no complaints at all from his organization. "I think the area, number one, in which we stayed in and the facility that's here made it pretty easy to be comfortable," he said. "This is a first-class facility. There was nothing we really could complain about. And believe me, when you travel with 35 in a group, there are complaints usually."

Los Angeles coach Marc Crawford echoes the sentiments of Carlyle and believes those British and European fans that witnessed the games at the O2 Arena enjoyed themselves. "I think they (the crowd) were excited," Crawford said. "I think this is a really good weekend series. Obviously we're not pleased with our result from Sunday but I think if you take a big-picture view of it, they had two very entertaining games. "Two games with sellout crowds here and a wonderful venue. They saw inspired hockey by both teams. If you're a fan of parity, it's as even as you can get. And I thought for early-season games, they played a great game on Sunday and we played a great game on Saturday." Crawford was quite impressed with the number of fans that were sporting either of the teams gear. "The atmosphere and the sweaters and the constant cheering was good for both teams," he said. "You're seeing a lot of people wearing club sweaters from all over Europe and that was unique for sure. And definitely everybody took notice of it at some point during the weekend."