By Pia Toscano

The 25-year-old New York native and American Idol alum took a break from touring with Jennifer Lopez to explain how she became a talisman for the Kings -- and how she handles Twitter flak from Rangers fans back in her hometown.

Three years ago, I went to a regular-season game with my manager at the time, who's friends with [Kings executive] Luc Robitaille. I saw someone perform the national anthem and thought, "I want to do that." The Kings set it up, and I sang before a regular-season Dallas Stars-Kings game at the Staples Center in January 2012. Luc liked it and invited me back to sing during the playoffs.

The Kings started winning, so they kept bringing me back. Hockey people are very superstitious. They don't like to change anything. If I switch up my nail polish, the fans notice and freak out about it. So because the Kings went on to win the Stanley Cup that season, they continued to invite me back. Plus -- I hope -- they really like the way I sing.

I've become a diehard fan. If I'm not at the game or the Kings are out of town, I'll go to a bar or sit at home and text back and forth with my father about the game. My dad lives on the East Coast, so he has to stay up late to watch them. It's no longer about me singing, it's about whether they win or lose. It's kinda brought my family together because we're all such huge Kings fans now.

Hockey is such an exciting sport. There's constant action. I'm still learning things about the sport, so I ask a lot of questions. It's hard not to become addicted once you start watching it. And if you go to see a hockey game in person and don't love it, you're crazy.

Just being at the game when the Kings clinched the Cup in 2012 was incredible. They were the underdogs that season and to see them win, and be a small part of it, was so powerful and exciting. I didn't get to see the Stanley Cup up close in 2012. But when I performed at an event last year in Canada, I visited the Hockey Hall of Fame and got to see the Cup there. I got to see how the helmets and jerseys have changed. It was so cool to visit the Hall.

I'm from Howard Beach, Queens, so I respect the Rangers and the Islanders -- and I'm happy the Rangers are in the finals -- but the Kings gave me my first gig, so I'm very partial to them. I'm getting some flak from fans on Twitter. They keep telling me, "You better remember where you're from."

But the Kings have been so supportive and so good to me. There are no greater fans than the Kings fans. Last year, Tom Cruise came up to me at a game and said, "You're the team's good-luck charm" ... and complimented my singing. I couldn't believe he even knew who I was!

The feeling I get before I sing, when they announce my name and fans are chanting for me? It's overwhelming. It's an honor to be called the Kings' good-luck charm, but it's also a lot of pressure!

My record last season was awesome -- I was 17-0 at one point. But then I got sick during the playoffs. I came down with tracheobronchitis and lost my voice before Game 4 of the conference finals against the Blackhawks. It was the first time I couldn't sing. The Kings lost the game, and the fans were not happy with me.

I've had a good feeling about this year's team since the first playoff game. Toward the end of the series against San Jose, I said, "The Kings are going to win the Cup." Then I started to get nervous because I realized that I had some other opportunities -- like touring with J-Lo -- that might force me to miss a game.

I couldn't be there for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final because I was in New York -- of all places -- performing. But I had people giving me updates about what was happening. And I have a day off on Saturday, so I'm going to fly home to LA and sing the anthem. I can't wait!

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By Neil Sanderson

I grew up in Peterborough, Ontario, which is a hockey city if there ever was one.

We lived and breathed hockey. When it was summer, it was ball hockey. Birthday parties, we'd play mini-sticks in the basement (with the odd head injury from the concrete floor).

And when we weren't on the ice, we were playing a hell of a lot of road hockey. I can't count the number of Stanley Cup replicas I've made using Tupperware containers, aluminum foil and Scotch tape. It was the coveted trophy I'd battle over for hours with sticks and tennis balls on Risher Crescent with my buddies Hinzey and Kincaid.

A lot of the time, it was just the three of us. We had to get creative as to what game we were playing. Sometimes it was a straight-up one-on-one tournament, no goalies ... winner of the coin toss gets a bye to the finals (we'd knock the nets down so only the short part was exposed and it was harder to score), sometimes it was a straight-up skills competition between two of us, with the third kid as the judge.

We'd go neck-and-neck on shot accuracy, number of saves (usually without goalie equipment) and stick control around pylons, pop cans, or piles of snow, depending on what time of year it was. Anything to be able to hoist the crumpled foil prize before we had to get the kitchenware back to the kitchen.

We met NHL veteran Brad Lukowich years ago and became great friends. I think Luke always wanted to be in a band, just like we all wanted to be pro hockey players.

Courtesy Mike Filsinger

When he won the Cup with Tampa Bay in 2004, we got to hoist the real thing. He was having a cup party in Cranbrook, British Columbia, and we had just played a rock show in San Jose, California, so we figured, "Hey, 16 hours on a bus shouldn't be a big deal." Anything to be able to be part of a Stanley Cup party.

Twenty-two hours later, when we got there, Cranbrook was pretty much partied-out. But it became the perfect opportunity to snatch the Cup and take it to the bus for a minute, so we could check out all its details. (I paid special attention to the names listed for the 1966-67 season; yes, we will always be lifelong Toronto Maple Leaf fans.) So much nostalgia in one place. A few dings in it here and there; a lot of miles and a lot more kilometers on that trophy.