Los Angeles Kings Totally Explained

Everything about Los Angeles Kings totally explained

Marc Crawford |captain = Rob Blake |general_manager = Dean Lombardi |owner = Philip Anschutz
Edward Roski, Jr. |minor_league_affiliates = Manchester Monarchs (AHL)
Reading Royals (ECHL)
Ontario Reign (ECHL) |stanley_cups = none |conf_titles = 1992–93 |division_titles = 1990–91 }}
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles, California. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). Founded on February 9, 1966, when Jack Kent Cooke was awarded an expansion franchise in Los Angeles, the Kings called the The Forum in Inglewood, California, a suburb of the Los Angeles area, their home for thirty-two years until they moved to Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles to start the 1999–2000 season.
The Kings have not had a great deal of success in their history, winning their division just once in 1990–91, and failing to get out of the first round of the playoffs twelve times in the twenty-four seasons when they qualified for post-season play and advancing past the second round just once. Indeed, the high point in Kings franchise history was when they won their conference championship for the first and only time in their history, advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals in the 1992–93 season, only to lose the series to the Montreal Canadiens in five games.
The Kings' closest rival is the Anaheim Ducks, who play approximately to the south in Anaheim.

Franchise history

The "Forum Blue and Gold" years (1967–68 to 1987–88)

Prior to the Kings arrival in the Los Angeles area, both the Pacific Coast Hockey League (PCHL) and the Western Hockey League (WHL) had several teams in California, including the PCHL's Los Angeles Monarchs of the 1930s and the WHL's Los Angeles Blades of the 1960s. When the NHL decided to expand for the 1967–68 season amid rumblings that the WHL was proposing to turn itself into a major league and compete for the Stanley Cup, Canadian entrepreneur Jack Kent Cooke paid the NHL $2 million to place one of the six expansion teams in Los Angeles. Los Angeles has a large number of expatriates from both the Northeastern United States and Canada, which Cooke saw as a natural fan base.
   Cooke was officially awarded one of the six new NHL franchises joining the NHL in the 1967–68 season, which included the California Seals, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and the St. Louis Blues.
   Cooke wanted his new NHL team to play in the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, home of the Lakers. But the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission, which manages the Sports Arena and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to the present day, had already entered into an agreement with the Blades (whose owners had also tried to land the NHL expansion franchise in Los Angeles) to play their games at the Sports Arena. Frustrated by his dealings with the Coliseum Commission, Cooke said, "I am going to build my own arena...I've had enough of this balderdash." For the next two months, the Kings played their home games at Long Beach and at the Sports Arena. The Kings were the only expansion team that had a winning record at home, but were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Minnesota North Stars, losing the seventh game at The Forum on April 18, 1968, 9–4. In their second season behind head coach Red Kelly, the Kings finished fourth in the West Division—the final playoff berth. But after eliminating the Oakland Seals in the first round of the playoffs in seven games, the Kings were swept out of post-season play in the second round by the St. Louis Blues. The Kings' attendance also suffered during this time, leading Cooke to muse that the reason so many Northeasterners and Canadians moved to Southern California was that "they hated hockey."
   In 1973, the Kings hired Bob Miller as the team's play-by-play announcer, and he's held that post continuously since that time. Miller, considered to be one of the best hockey play-by-play announcers in the NHL, is often referred to as the "Voice of the Kings." He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 13, 2000 and his first book, Bob Miller's Tales of the Los Angeles Kings, was published in 2006.
   After being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in both 1973–74 and 1974-75, the Kings moved to significantly upgrade their offensive firepower when they acquired center Marcel Dionne on June 23, 1975, in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings. Dionne was already a superstar in the NHL and he made an immediate impact in the 1975–76 season, scoring 40 goals and adding 54 assists for 94 points in 80 regular season games. He led the Kings to a 38–33–9 record (85 points), earning them a second place finish in the Norris Division.
   After that first season that the Triple Crown Line played together, Dr. Jerry Buss purchased the Kings, the Lakers, and the Forum for $67.5 million, but the Simmer-Dionne-Taylor combination remained intact. The Oilers finished with 111 points, the second-best record in the league, while the Kings barely made the playoffs with only 63 points. The Kings won Game 1 in Edmonton on April 7, 1982, 10–8, in the highest scoring Stanley Cup Playoff game ever. The Oilers recovered to win in overtime in Game 2,
   Bozek's goal set the stage for what was to come. At 2:35 of the overtime period, Kings left wing Daryl Evans fired a slap shot off a face-off in the right circle of the Edmonton zone, beating Oilers goaltender Grant Fuhr over his right shoulder to give the Kings an incredible come-from-behind, overtime victory, 6-5. The Miracle on Manchester, the greatest comeback in NHL playoff history, is also the greatest moment in Kings franchise history as of 2007. But by this time, the Kings had new skaters to help lead them into the next decade, including star forwards Bernie Nicholls, Jimmy Carson, Luc Robitaille, and defenseman Steve Duchesne.
   Despite these shocks the Kings made the playoffs in the next two seasons, but they were unable to get out of the first round. Part of the problem was that the way the playoffs were structured made it very likely that they'd have to get past either the powerful Oilers or Calgary Flames (or both) to make it to the conference finals. In fact, the Kings faced either the Oilers or Flames in the playoffs four times during the 1980s.
   However, the 1988-89 season would be a big turning point for the franchise. McNall also changed the team colors to black and silver.
   In Gretzky's first season with the Kings, he led the team in scoring with 168 points on 54 goals and 114 assists, and won his ninth Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's Most Valuable Player. He led the Kings to a second-place finish in the Smythe Division with a 42-31-7 record (91 points), and they ranked fourth in the NHL overall.
   The Kings faced Gretzky's old team, the Oilers, in the first round of the 1989 playoffs. They fell behind 3 games to 1, but rallied to take the series in seven games, helped in no small part by nine goals from Chris Kontos, a little-known player who had just recently been called up from the minor leagues. However, the Kings were quickly swept out of the playoffs in the second round by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Flames. Over the next three seasons, Gretzky would lead the way, only to see his team bounced out of the playoffs each time by his former team, the Oilers, who won the Stanley Cup in 1990. Despite their eventual second-round loss to Edmonton, Gretzky spearheaded the Kings to their first (and at present, only) regular-season division title in franchise history in the 1990–91 season with a 46-24-10 record (102 points, the second best point total in franchise history). Notably, it was the first time in 10 years that a team from Alberta hadn't finished first in the Smythe. That season, however, wouldn't be the pinnacle of Gretzky's career in Los Angeles.
   The Kings would reach new heights in the 1992–93 season, but the campaign started badly when it was learned that Gretzky had suffered a career-threatening herniated thoracic disk before the season began. The concern wasn't mainly whether Gretzky would be able to play that season, but if he'd ever be able to play again. But even without their captain and leading scorer, the Kings got off to a blistering 20-8-3 start, with left-winger Luc Robitaille, who won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the 1986–87's NHL Rookie of the Year, filling in as captain for the ailing Gretzky. Robitaille led the team until Gretzky returned after missing the first 39 games. Robitaille would go on to retire at the end of the 2005–06 season as the highest-scoring left winger in National Hockey League history.
   Robitaille and Gretzky, along with former Oilers' winger Jari Kurri, forwards Tony Granato and Tomas Sandstrom, defensemen Rob Blake, Marty McSorley, and Alexei Zhitnik, and goalie Kelly Hrudey, guided the Kings through a rough middle portion of the season until they found their game once again in the last three months of the season to qualify for post-season action. Although Gretzky came back to score 16 goals and 49 assists (65 points) in just 45 games, it was Robitaille who was the Kings' impact player that season, leading the team in scoring with 63 goals and 62 assists (125 points) in 84 regular season games, setting new NHL all-time records for goals and points scored by a left winger in a single season. In the second round, the Kings faced the heavily-favored Vancouver Canucks, a team that had beaten the Kings rather handily five times in seven games during the regular season, and hadn't lost to the Kings in their four meetings in Vancouver. But the Kings would go on to eliminate the Canucks in six games, with the pivotal victory coming in Game 5 at Vancouver, which was tied 3-3 at the end of regulation play. The teams were still tied after the first overtime period, but winger Gary Shuchuk scored at 6:31 of the second overtime period, giving the Kings a 3-2 series lead, and dealing the Canucks an emotional and, as it turned out, fatal blow.
   In the Campbell Conference Finals, the Kings were even more of an underdog against the Doug Gilmour-led Toronto Maple Leafs. But with Gretzky at the helm, the Kings eliminated the Leafs in a hard-fought seven-game series that included two overtime games and a Game 6 win for the Kings, who were facing elimination after losing Game 5 in overtime—they trailed the Leafs in the series, 3-2. In Game 6, Toronto scored two third period goals and tied the game at 4-4 at the end of regulation play. But in overtime, Luc Robitaille fed Gretzky a perfect pass and Gretzky scored to give his team a dramatic 5-4 victory and send the teams back to Toronto for a Game 7. In the final contest, Gretzky scored a hat trick (three goals) and had an assist to lead the Kings to a 5-4 win and a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history.
   In the Stanley Cup Finals, the Kings faced the Montreal Canadiens, who had breezed through the playoffs and were well-rested. The Kings defeated the Canadiens in Game 1, 4-1. Game 2, however, proved to be the turning point in the series. Late in the contest, with the Kings leading by a score of 2-1, Canadiens coach Jacques Demers requested a measurement of Kings defenseman Marty McSorley's stick blade. His suspicions proved to be correct, as the curve of blade was too great, and McSorley was penalized. The Canadiens pulled their goalie, Patrick Roy, giving them a two-man advantage, and Eric Desjardins scored on the resulting power play to tie the game. Montreal went on to win the game in overtime on another goal by Desjardins, and the Kings never recovered. They dropped the next two games in overtime, and were shelled 4-1 in Game 5 as the Canadiens won their 24th Stanley Cup in franchise history.
   Despite the stinging defeat at the hands of the Canadiens in the finals, Gretzky and the Kings had generated excitement about hockey and the NHL that had never been seen before in Southern California. As soon as Gretzky donned a Kings jersey, the Forum was sold out for every game — virtually overnight, a Kings game became the hottest ticket in town. The popularity of Gretzky and the Kings also led to the NHL awarding an expansion team to Anaheim, California; in 1993 the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (who became the Anaheim Ducks on June 22, 2006) would become the Kings nearest rival, just 35 miles to the south. Gretzky's popularity in Southern California also led to the NHL expanding or moving into other Sun Belt cities such as Phoenix, Dallas, Tampa, Miami, and Nashville.
   McNall's profile also rose during this time. In 1992, he was elected chairman of the NHL's Board of Governors, the second-most powerful post in the league. His support of Gary Bettman tipped the scales in favor of Bettman's election as the league's first Commissioner. However, only two years later, McNall was forced to sell the team to IDB Communications founder Jeffrey Sudikoff and former Madison Square Garden president Joseph Cohen in the wake of a federal investigation into his financial practices. He ultimately pled guilty to five counts of conspiracy and fraud, and admitted to obtaining $236 million in fraudulent loans from six banks over 10 years.
   It later emerged that McNall had grossly mismanaged the Kings' business affairs. At one point, Cohen and Sudikoff were even unable to meet player payroll, and were ultimately forced into bankruptcy in 1995. They were forced to trade many of their stronger players, resulting in a roster comprised of Gretzky, Blake and little else. The Kings missed the playoffs for four seasons, from 1993–94 to 1996–97.

Staples Center era (1998–present)

Phillip Anschutz and Edward Roski bought the Kings out of bankruptcy court in October 1995 and began a rebuilding phase. Meanwhile, Gretzky, who was by this time on the downside of his career, stated publicly that he wanted the team to acquire a forward capable of scoring fifty goals per season and an offensive defenseman. If they failed to do that, he wanted to be traded to a team that was a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
   After all he'd done for the game by that time, Gretzky wanted another chance to win an elusive fifth Stanley Cup before retirement. But his public statements forced the Kings' hand, since no team would now give them equal value in a trade because of his demands — the Kings would be at a huge disadvantage in any trade, and this would badly hurt their rebuilding program.
   On February 27, 1996, Gretzky was traded, this time to the St. Louis Blues, for forwards Craig Johnson, Patrice Tardif, Roman Vopat, a first-round pick in the 1997 draft (Matt Zultek) and a fifth-round choice in the 1996 draft (Peter Hogan). None became stars for the Kings, although Gretzky himself was an unrestricted free agent by season's end, and only played 18 regular season games for the Blues. Like Marcel Dionne before him, Gretzky ended up with the New York Rangers.
   Shortly after Gretzky was traded, the often-maligned general manager Sam McMaster was fired and was replaced by former Kings winger Dave Taylor. But the rebuilding phase for Taylor was a tough one, as the Kings continued to flounder—they failed to make the playoffs until the 1997–98 season.
   But Taylor wasn't finished dealing that summer. Shortly after hiring Murray, Taylor acquired star right-wing Zigmund Palffy and veteran center Bryan Smolinski on June 20, 1999, in exchange for center prospect Olli Jokinen, winger prospect Josh Green, defenseman prospect Mathieu Biron and the Kings' first-round pick in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft. The Kings also made an even bigger move in 1999, as they left the Great Western Forum and moved to Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, which was built by Anschutz and Roski. Staples Center was a state-of-the-art arena, complete with luxury suites and all the modern amenities that fans and athletes would want in a brand-new facility.
   With a new home, a new coach, a potential 50-goal scorer in the fold and players such as Rob Blake, Luc Robitaille, Glen Murray, Jozef Stumpel, Donald Audette, Ian Laperriere, and Mattias Norstrom, the Kings improved dramatically, finishing the season the 1999–2000 season with a 39-31-12-4 record (94 points), good for second place in the Pacific Division. But in the 2000 playoffs, the Kings were once again eliminated in the first round, this time by the mighty Detroit Red Wings in a four-game sweep.
   The 2000–01 season was a controversial one, as fans began to question AEG's commitment to the success of the Kings because they failed to significantly improve the team during the off-season. Adding fuel to the fire was the February 21, 2001 trade of star defenseman Rob Blake, who had won the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman in 1998.
   In that deal, the Kings sent Blake and center Steven Reinprecht, to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for right wing Adam Deadmarsh, defenseman Aaron Miller, center prospect Jared Aulin and a first-round pick in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft (Dave Steckel). Deadmarsh and Miller became impact players for the Kings, who finished the 2000–01 season with a 38-28-13-3 record (92 points), good for a third place finish in the Pacific Division and another first-round playoff date with the still-mighty Detroit Red Wings.
   The heavily-favored Red Wings — many predicted another four-game sweep — made easy work of the Kings in Games 1 and 2 at the Joe Louis Arena, but the Kings got back in the series with a 2-1 win in Game 3 at Staples Center.
   That amazing win took all the wind out of the Red Wings' sails, and the Kings eliminated them in Game 6 in Los Angeles, having won four straight games after going down 2-0 in the series. It was the Kings' first playoff series win since 1993.
   In the second round, the Kings went up against another elite team, the Colorado Avalanche, led by superstars like Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Patrick Roy, Ray Bourque, and of course, Rob Blake. The Kings took the eventual champions to seven games but lost the series, 4-3. while still fighting for a playoff spot in which they clinched seventh place in the Western Conference where they were matched with the heavily-favored Avalanche. After being bounced out of the playoffs in the first round by the Avalanche, the next two seasons would be major disappointments, as the team failed to make the playoffs in both seasons.
   Even though the Kings refused to use it as an excuse, injuries were the primary reason for the team's failures. In 2002–03, the Kings just missed breaking the unofficial NHL record for the most man-games lost to injury in a season with 536. But they'd easily surpass the record in 2003–04 with 629 man-games lost.
   The Kings' 2004–05 NHL season was lost due to labor strife between the NHL and the NHL Players' Association.
   League play resumed for the 2005–06 season and saw the Kings acquire Valeri Bure, Jeremy Roenick and Pavol Demitra. Los Angeles began the new season strongly challenging for the Western Conference title. However, the second half of the season saw the Kings once again stumble badly, freefalling from second in the Western Conference in early January to tenth place.
   At the trade deadline, the Kings added another goal scorer in the New York Islanders' Mark Parrish, along with defenseman Brent Sopel, and they fired head coach Andy Murray on March 21, 2006, replacing him with interim head coach John Torchetti, but the moves failed to jumpstart the team, as they continued their losing ways. With three games left in the season, Luc Robitaille, the team's all-time leading scorer and the NHL's all-time highest-scoring left winger, announced that, at the end of the year, he'd be retiring from pro hockey.
   In the 2007–2008 off-season, the Kings signed six unrestricted free agents, including center Michal Handzus, left wings Ladislav Nagy and Kyle Calder, and defensemen Tom Preissing, Brad Stuart and Jon Klemm.
   Like all NHL teams for the 2007-08 season, the Kings changed jerseys to new Rbk Edge jerseys. The Kings kept their logo, and only made two minor changes to the striping; the shoulder trim was curved to fit the new style and the bottom (purple) stripe was removed, with "Los Angeles" remaining along the bottom edge (silver was changed to purple lettering on the road jerseys, and silver lettering remained on the home jerseys).

Season-by-season record

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Kings. For the full season-by-season history, see Los Angeles Kings seasons Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses/Shootout losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes 2001–02

82	40	27	11	4	95	214	190	1348	3rd in Pacific	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 3-4 Colorado Avalanche
2002–03	82	33	37	6	6	78	203	221	1146	3rd in Pacific	Did not qualify
2003–04	82	28	29	16	9	81	205	217	1163	3rd in Pacific	Did not qualify
2004–05	Season cancelled due to 2004–05 NHL Lockout
2005–06¹	82	42	35	--	5	89	249	270	1440	4th in Pacific	Did not qualify
2006–07	82	27	41	--	14	68	227	283	--	4th in Pacific	Did not qualify
2007–08	82	32	43	--	7	71	231	266	--	5th in Pacific	Did not qualify

� ¹ As of the 2005-06 NHL season, all games will have a winner; the OTL column includes SOL (Shootout losses).

Notable players

Current roster

As of April 6, 2008.

Goaltenders
#	align=left	Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of Birth
31	Erik Ersberg	L	2008	Sala, Sweden
35	Jason LaBarbera	L	2005	Langley, British Columbia
39	Dan Cloutier	L	2007	Mont-Laurier, Quebec

Defensemen
#	align=left	Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
3	Jack Johnson	L	2007	Indianapolis, Indiana
4	Rob Blake – C	R	2006	Simcoe, Ontario
17	Lubomir Visnovsky – A	L	2000	Topoľčany, Czechoslovakia
25	Jon Klemm	R	2007	Cranbrook, British Columbia
38	Kevin Dallman	R	2006	Niagara Falls, Ontario
42	Tom Preissing	R	2007	Arlington Heights, Illinois

Forwards
#	align=left	Player	Position	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
7	Derek Armstrong	C	R	2002	Ottawa, Ontario
8	Matt Ellis	LW	L	2008	Welland, Ontario
11	Anze Kopitar	C	L	2005	Jesenice, Yugoslavia
12	Patrick O'Sullivan	C	L	2006	Winston-Salem, North Carolina
13	Michael Cammalleri – A	RW	L	2001	Richmond Hill, Ontario
19	Kyle Calder	LW/RW	L	2007	Mannville, Alberta
21	Brian Willsie	RW	R	2006	London, Ontario
23	Dustin Brown	RW	R	2003	Ithaca, New York
24	Alexander Frolov	LW	R	2000	Moscow, U.S.S.R.
26	Michal Handzus	C/LW	L	2007	Banska Bystrica, Czechoslovakia
27	Scott Thornton – A	LW	L	2006	London, Ontario
29	Jeff Giuliano	LW	R	2005	Nashua, New Hampshire
41	Raitis Ivanans	LW	L	2006	Riga, U.S.S.R.
47	Ladislav Nagy	LW	L	2007	Saca, Czechoslovakia

Team captains

Bob Wall, 1967-69
Larry Cahan, 1969-71
Bob Pulford, 1971-73
Terry Harper, 1973-75
Mike Murphy, 1975-81
Dave Lewis, 1981-83
Terry Ruskowski, 1983-85

Dave Taylor, 1985-89

Wayne Gretzky, 1989-96

Luc Robitaille, 1992-93

Rob Blake, 1996-2001

Mattias Norstrom, 2001-07

Rob Blake, 2007- present

Hall of famers

Players

Paul Coffey, D, 1991–93, inducted 2004

Marcel Dionne, C, 1975–87, inducted 1992

Dick Duff, C, 1970, inducted 2006

Grant Fuhr, G, 1995, inducted 2003

Harry Howell, D, 1971–73, inducted 1979

Wayne Gretzky, C, 1988–96, inducted 1999

Jari Kurri, RW, 1991–96, inducted 2001

Larry Murphy, D, 1980–84, inducted 2004

Bob Pulford, LW, 1970–72, inducted 1991

Larry Robinson, D, 1989–92, inducted 1995

Terry Sawchuk, G, 1967–68, inducted 1971

Steve Shutt, LW, 1984–85, inducted 1993

Billy Smith, G, 1971–72, inducted 1993 Builders

Roger Neilson, Head coach, 1984, inducted 2002

Jake Milford, GM, 1973–77, inducted 1984

Broadcasters (Foster Hewitt Memorial Award Recipients)

Jiggs McDonald, 1967–73, inducted 1990

Bob Miller, 1973–present, inducted 2000

Retired numbers

16 Marcel Dionne, C, 1975-87, number retired November 8, 1990

18 Dave Taylor, LW/RW, 1977-94, number retired April 3, 1995

20 Luc Robitaille, LW, 1986-94, 1997-2001, & 2003-06, number retired January 20, 2007

30 Rogatien "Rogie" Vachon, G, 1972-78, number retired February 14, 1985

99 Wayne Gretzky, C, 1988-96, number retired by the league on February 6, 2000 and by the team on October 9, 2002

All time Kings team

As voted by the media and fans, an all time Kings team was selected to celebrate the club's 40th anniversary in the NHL The first and second teams were as follows:
Goalies: 1st team - Rogatien "Rogie" Vachon, 2nd team - Kelly Hrudey
Defensemen: 1st team - Rob Blake and Steve Duchesne, 2nd team - Larry Murphy and Bob Murdoch
Centers: 1st team - Wayne Gretzky, 2nd team - Marcel Dionne
Forwards: 1st team - Dave Taylor and Luc Robitaille, 2nd team, Charlie Simmer and Mike Murphy
Coach: 1st team - Bob Pulford, 2nd team - Barry Melrose

First-round draft picks

1967: Rick Pagnutti (1st overall)

1968: Jim McInally (7th overall)

1969: None

1970: None

1971: None

1972: None

1973: None

1974: None

1975: Tim Young (16th overall)

1976: None

1977: None

1978: None

1979: Jay Wells (16th overall)

1980: Larry Murphy (4th overall) & Jim Fox (10th overall)

1981: Doug Smith (2nd overall)

1982: None

1983: None

1984: Craig Redmond (6th overall)

1985: Craig Duncanson (9th overall) & Dan Gratton (10th overall)

1986: Jimmy Carson (2nd overall)

1987: Wayne McBean (4th overall)