Kings not worrying about East champion Rangers yet

The Kings held their morning skate at Staples Center on Friday ahead of their second chance to win the Western Conference championship from the Chicago Blackhawks and advance to the Stanley Cup finals.

The East winner was determined Thursday, when the New York Rangers eliminated the Montreal Canadiens in six games. Most members of the Kings said they were too busy to watch that game closely and that they’re more concerned with taking care of their own business, anyway.

Kings captain Dustin Brown said he didn’t watch the Rangers-Canadiens game even though his ties to the Rangers go way back. He grew up in Ithaca, N.Y., about 220 miles north of New York City, where was surrounded by Rangers supporters — but he wasn’t among them.

“Everyone was a Ranger fan in upstate New York, so I tended not to like the Rangers, just to be different,” said Brown.

Which team did he adopt?

“I started liking Vancouver, because [the Rangers] played them in ’94,” Brown said, recalling the Rangers’ previous trip to the Cup finals against the Canucks, a seven-game win for the Rangers. “And then I liked the Quebec Nordiques for some reason, and when they went to Colorado I was still a fan.”

Winger Justin Williams said he missed Thursday’s game but hadn’t thought about the fact the Rangers would have a bit more rest than the West winner. A seventh game between the Kings and Blackhawks, if necessary, will be played on Sunday at Chicago. The Cup finals will start on Wednesday at the home of the West winner.

“Not worried about them. Not at all,” Williams said. “Let the Eastern Conference do what they want. We’ll deal with us and see what happens.”