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Twitter Games: Kings account fires salvo at Canucks fans

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Before we all get our knickers in a tweet …

Let’s just say the mini-controversy that erupted late Wednesday night after the official Kings Twitter account circled and jabbed at the Canucks is way more interesting than most back-and-forth between teams.

Or mayors.

Thankfully, we haven’t been subjected to some boring, cliched bet between the mayors of Los Angeles and Vancouver for this first-round playoff series. Hmm, has Antonio Villaraigosa been to a game in the Jeff Carter era?

Back to the tweet in question after Game 1.

From the @LA Kings: “To everyone in Canada outside BC, you’re welcome.”

If the Kings, 4-2 winners of the opener in Vancouver, were looking for a franchise record for retweets, they surely are on their way. That and a few new unfriendly followers from British Columbia.

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Not only did it push the (expected) buttons of the Canucks’ fan base, the cheeky tweet wasn’t received well by some media members.

That is understandable for two reasons. Those who have been covering the Canucks aren’t overly familiar with the Kings’ twitter feed and its tone, which runs the gamut. If they, for example, looked at the feed during a Kings-Ducks game, the tweet after Game 1 would not have been a shocker.

Secondly, the tweet stands out in the otherwise bland NHL landscape. Trust me, most of the official Twitter feeds from around the league are about as edgy as minutes from a weekly school board meeting.

Still, this landed the Kings in the midst of a social media storm.

And meant for one hectic morning for Mike Altieri, the Kings’ vice president of communications and broadcasting. He told The Times on Thursday the team was sorry if anyone was offended.

“We encourage our digital team to be creative, interactive and to apply a sense of humor whenever possible,” he said. “To anyone who found this offensive, we sincerely apologize.”

[Updated at 1:30 p.m.: General Manager Dean Lombardi issued a statement before the team practiced Thursday. “In no way did this reflect the opinion of the players, coaches or staff of the LA Kings toward an organization and fan base we respect.”]

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