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

Justin Williams, Travis Zajac

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)

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.