Sept. 29: Kings, Ducks open 2007-08 NHL season in London

THIS DATE IN HISTORY: Sept. 29
2007:The Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks bring the
NHL to England for the first time
when they face off at O2 Arena in London for the first of two regular-season games in the Premiere Series.

The Kings get a 26-save performance by rookie goalie Jonathan Bernier and defeat the
defending Stanley Cup champions
4-1 in front of more than 17,000 fans.
Michael Cammalleri
scores twice for Los Angeles, then jokes that "I love London."
But hockey and the NHL are the biggest winners of the day. The crowd includes fans from England and several other countries wearing jerseys from their favorite European and NHL teams.
MORE MOMENTS
1963:
Dave Andreychuk
, one of seven members of the Hockey Hall of Fame's Class of 2017, is born in Hamilton, Ontario. Andreychuk plays 1,639 games during his 23 seasons in the NHL and scores 640 goals, including a League-record 274 power-play goals. He goes more than two decades without making the Stanley Cup Final until 2004, when as captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning he helps them
win the Cup for the first time
. He's elected to the Hall in his ninth year of eligibility.

1997:The St. Louis Blues name 22-year-old defenseman
Chris Pronger
as the 16th and youngest captain in their history. Pronger spends six seasons as captain before relinquishing the role to
Al MacInnis
on Sept. 15, 2003.

On the same day, the New York Rangers acquire center
Pat LaFontaine
from the Buffalo Sabres. LaFontaine, who becomes one of the few players in NHL history to play for all three teams in New York state, has 62 points (23 goals, 39 assists) in 67 games before he sustains a career-ending concussion on March 16, 1998. He officially retires seven months later and is inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2017,
LaFontaine
is named to the
100 Greatest NHL Players
.
1999:
Kelly Buchberger
is named the first captain of the new Atlanta Thrashers. Buchberger, a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Edmonton Oilers, plays 68 games with the Thrashers before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings on March 13, 2000.
2010:
Brian Gionta
is named the
28th captain of the Montreal Canadiens
. The native of Rochester, New York, is the second captain in team history born in the United States. He takes over after the Canadiens played the 2009-10 season without a captain following the departure of center
Saku Koivu
, Montreal's captain from 1999-2009.
2016: Team Canada scores twice in the final three minutes of the third period to
defeat Team Europe 2-1
and complete a two-game sweep of the best-of-3 final in the World Cup of Hockey 2016 at Toronto. Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins ties the game 1-1 with 2:53 remaining, and his Boston Bruins teammate, Brad Marchand, scores a shorthanded goal with 43.1 seconds to play for the game-winner. Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins is named MVP after leading all scorers in the tournament with 10 points.