Brown on Prudential Center ice: “It was like playing with a tennis ball, quite honestly”

May 31, 2012, 12:43 AM EDT

NEWARK, NJ - MAY 30: Justin Williams #14 of the Los Angeles Kings handles the puck against Travis Zajac #19 of the New Jersey Devils during Game One of the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Final at the Prudential Center on May 30, 2012 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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The New Jersey Devils are worthy of their position as the Eastern Conference champions, but their ice wasn’t Cup-caliber on Wednesday.

“It was like playing with a tennis ball, quite honestly,” Los Angeles Kings captain Dustin Brown said regarding the poor ice conditions in Game 1 at the Prudential Center.

Teammate Justin Williams was more diplomatic in his remarks, but did say “the ice wasn’t very good.”

You won’t find a dissenting opinion from Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur. He attacked Madison Square Garden a couple weeks ago for its “awful” boards and ice that’s “not good.”

After Game 1, he wasn’t afraid to call out his home arena for having what he felt was a poor playing surface.

This isn’t the first time that the Prudential Center ice has been criticized. Panthers coach Kevin Dineen bashed the conditions after their morning skate prior to Game 3 of their first round series, and the issue came up again in the second round.

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6 Comments (Feed for Comments)

acieu - May 31, 2012 at 3:09 AM

Perhaps the ice is bad
bergencountyjc - May 31, 2012 at 8:22 AM

Props to the Kings – out hustled us in nearly all aspects of the game. Great goal at the end in OT, I think either way Brodeur put his leg, Kopitar would have been able to finesse the shot in the open space. Devs need to regroup, definitely re-ice that rink and come out more aggressive. It only gets harder from here.
t16rich - May 31, 2012 at 10:47 AM

It’s true. I doubt the Devils have a ringing endorsement for their own ice either. It was awful, and CBC brought up a good point, why is the zamboni door in the Devils own zone? Can anyone say bad bounces?
dougyfresh9981 - May 31, 2012 at 10:55 AM

Softer ice means a nice, cushiony landing when Brown flops. He should be thrilled
- yearsbehindhockey - May 31, 2012 at 12:17 PM
  
  i think he was too busy being thrilled with winning.
barkar942 - May 31, 2012 at 1:00 PM

Gee, wasn’t it about two weeks ago that someone named MARTY was ripping MSG’s ice? That puck last night was bouncing around no more than it was in game 6 against the Rangers!