Los Angeles Kings

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Los Angeles Kings
Conference	Western
Division	Pacific
Founded	1967
History	Los Angeles Kings 1967-present
Arena	Staples Center
City	Los Angeles, California
Local Media Affiliates	FSN West FSN Prime Ticket KTLK (1150 AM)
Team Colors	Purple, Silver, and Black
Owner	Philip Anschutz Edward Roski, Jr.
General Manager	Dean Lombardi
Head Coach	Marc Crawford
Captain	Mattias Norstrom
Minor League Affiliates	Manchester Monarchs (AHL) Reading Royals (ECHL)
Stanley Cups	none
Conference Championships	1992-93
Division Championships	1990-91

The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles, California, USA. They play in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Contents 1 Franchise history 1.1 The "Forum Blue and Gold" years 1.2 Black and Silver Era 1.3 Staples Center Era 2 Season-by-season record 3 Notable players 3.1 Current roster 3.2 Team captains 3.3 Hall of Famers 3.4 Retired numbers 3.5 First-round draft picks 3.6 Franchise scoring leaders 4 NHL awards and trophies 5 Franchise individual records 6 Miscellaneous 6.1 General Managers 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Franchise history

[edit] The "Forum Blue and Gold" years

Both the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Hockey League had several teams in California, and minor pro hockey found success there in the early 1960's. There was also a sizeable colony of Canadian expatriates. However, the lack of a suitable arena in the area was the primary factor in the National Hockey League's decision before the Sixties to not expand to Los Angeles, even though it was the third-largest city in the United States at the time).

When the NHL decided to expand for 1967-68 amid rumblings that the Pacific Coast Hockey League 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 form a new team in Los Angeles as one of the expansion teams to be added for the 1967-68 NHL season, and on February 9, 1966, Cooke was awarded a new NHL franchise, behind his promise to build a new arena for his team. The terms of a new television agreement with CBS called for two of the new teams to be located in California, the other being the California Seals who would represent the Bay Area. The Kings opened the 1967-68, their first season in the NHL, at the Long Beach Arena on October 14, 1967, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-2. For the next two months, the Kings played their home games at Long Beach and at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.^[1]

As for the new arena, Cooke stated that the new team would play in "the most beautiful arena in the world." True to his word, the first home of the Kings, the "Fabulous Forum" in Inglewood, California, opened to rave reviews on December 30, 1967, even though the Kings were shut out by the Flyers, 2-0.^[2] Cooke chose the colors of purple (or "Forum blue," as he called it) and gold for his new team; the colors had long been associated with royalty. They were also the same colors worn by the Los Angeles Lakers, which Cooke owned too.

The Kings made the Forum their home for the next 32 seasons. Players like Bill "Cowboy" Flett, Eddie "The Jet" Joyal, Eddie "The Entertainer" Shack, and Real "Frenchy" Lemieux helped introduce the Los Angeles area to the NHL in the team's first few seasons. Such player nicknames were the brainchild of owner Cooke, who felt that colorful nicknames would make hockey more user-friendly to the Southern California market. He even insisted that his radio and television commentators use the nicknames in preference to the players' given names.^[1]

In their first season, the Kings finished a very respectable second place in the Western Division, just one point behind the Flyers, but would be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Minnesota North Stars in seven games.

In their second season behind head coach Leo "Red" Kelly, the Kings would finish fourth in the West Division — the last playoff position. 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.

After two fairly successful seasons, the Kings hit hard times, mostly due to poor management, who would establish a history of trading away first-round draft picks, usually for veteran players, some of them NHL stars, on the downside of their careers.

In 1972, the Kings moved to bring some credibility back to the franchise when they hired former Toronto Maple Leafs winger Bob Pulford as their head coach. It took him just two seasons to lead the Kings back into the playoffs, where they lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in five games. Pulford would eventually lead the team to five of the most successful seasons in franchise history.

In 1973, the Kings brought in Bob Miller as the team's new play-by-play announcer. He has held that post continuously since that time, and has gone on to become a Hall of Fame announcer.^[3][1]

Despite qualifying for post-season action in the 1973-74 and 1974-75 seasons (eliminated in the first round in both years), the Kings finally moved to substantially upgrade their offensive firepower when they acquired center Marcel Dionne on June 23, 1975, in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings.

Dionne, already a superstar in the NHL, had an immediate, resounding 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 James Norris Division.

Behind Dionne's offensive prowess, the stellar goaltending of “Rogie” Vachon, and the speed and scoring touch of forward Butch Goring, the Kings swept the Atlanta Flames out of the first round of the playoffs, but were eliminated in second round by the Boston Bruins in seven games. The Kings would beat the Flames and lose to the Bruins the following season as well.

On January 13, 1979, Dionne found himself on a new line with two young, mostly unknown players, second-year right wing Dave Taylor, and left wing Charlie Simmer, who had been a career minor-leaguer. But this line combination would go on to become one of the highest-scoring line combinations in the history of the NHL.^[1][4]

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 Triple Crown Line remained intact.

The next season, the Triple Crown Line dominated the NHL, scoring 146 goals and 182 assists, good for 328 points. The entire line, along with goalie Mario Lessard, was selected to play in the NHL All-Star Game that season, which was played at the Forum. In that 1979-80 season, Dionne won the Art Ross Memorial Trophy for winning a NHL scoring title that season with 137 points on 53 goals and 84 assists.

But even with the Triple Crown Line's ability to dominate, the Kings still could not get out of the first round of the playoffs until 1982.

That year, the Kings opened the playoffs against the Edmonton Oilers, who were led by a young, but fast-rising star by the name of Wayne Gretzky. Gretzky was only in his third year in the league, but he dominated the NHL like no other had before from the moment he stepped onto NHL ice in his rookie season. And by the 1981, he was already the most dominant player in the league, and he made the Oilers one of the elite teams in the NHL, on their way to winning four Stanley Cup championships in the 1980s. The Oilers finished with 114 points, the second-best record in the league. Given that background, what happened in Game 3 of the Kings' first-round playoff matchup against the vaunted Oilers was truly unbelievable.

In that game, played on April 10, 1982 at the Forum, Gretzky led the Oilers to a commanding 5-0 lead after two periods, and had the game locked up. But the Kings did not give up. They scored five unanswered goals in the third period to tie the game, and then Kings' forward Daryl Evans scored at 2:35 of overtime to win it for the Kings, 6-5.

The "Miracle on Manchester," the greatest comeback in NHL playoff history, is probably the greatest moment in Kings' franchise history to date. And not only did the Kings complete a miraculous comeback against the mighty Oilers, but they also went on to eliminate them in five games.^[5]

Despite Dionne's leadership, the Kings missed the playoffs the next two seasons, and were quickly swept out of the playoffs by the Oilers in the 1985, when the Oilers won their second straight Stanley Cup championship.

Dionne's time with the Kings ended on March 10, 1987, when he was traded to the New York Rangers. 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 defensemen Steve Duchesne, and eventual Hall-of-Famer Larry Murphy.

The Kings continued to be bounced out of the first round of the playoffs until 1988-89, a season that would be a big turning point for the franchise.

[edit] Black and Silver Era

In 1987, Bruce McNall purchased the Kings from Buss, and he turned the team into a Stanley Cup contender almost overnight on August 9, 1988, when he acquired the league's best player, Gretzky himself, in a blockbuster trade with the Oilers that rocked the hockey world, especially north of the border, where Canadians mourned the loss of a player they considered a national treasure.^[6]

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.

In the 1989 playoffs, Gretzky led the Kings to a seven-game series win against the Oilers in the first round, but they were quickly swept out of the playoffs in the second round by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Calgary Flames. Over the next two seasons, Gretzky would lead the way, only to see his team bounced out of the playoffs in the second round by his former team, the Oilers, who won the Stanley Cup in 1990. Gretzky led the Kings to their first 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), but that would not be the pinnacle of his 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 would 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,^[7] 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.^[8] 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.^[9]

Robitaille and Gretzky, along with former Oilers' winger Jari Kurri, forwards Tony Granato and Tomas Sandstrom, defensemen Rob Blake and Alexei Zhitnik, and goalie Kelly Hrudey, would lead 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.^[7] The Kings finished with a 39-35-10 record (88 points), clinching third place in the Smythe Division.

Kings head coach Barry Melrose had his team's offense running on all cylinders when the 1993 playoffs began, and they scored an amazing 33 goals in their first-round series against the Calgary Flames.^[10] 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 had not 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 leading the team, 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.^[11] In Game 6, the teams were tied 4-4 at the end of regulation play, only to have Gretzky score in overtime to give his team a dramatic 5-4 victory and sending the teams back to Toronto for a Game 7. In the final contest, Gretzky scored a hat trick (three goals) and 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.^[11][12]

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 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. Demers' suspicions proved to be correct, as the curve of blade was too great, and McSorley was penalized. The Canadiens scored on the resulting power play and won the game in overtime. The Kings never recovered. They lost 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.^[13][11]

While he was headed to prison, McNall sold the team to Joseph Cohen and Jeffrey Sudikoff, but even they were unable to lift the Kings out of their financial woes, and the Kings were unable to spend the money needed to bring in talent. The Kings' financial woes resulted in a roster with almost no talent outside of Gretzky and created a ripple effect for the next few years — the Kings missed the playoffs for four seasons, from 1993-94 to 1996-97, even though the team was purchased in October 1995 by Philip Anschutz and Edward P. Roski Jr., who would lead the franchise into a new era.

[edit] Staples Center Era

Now under the ownership of the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), the Kings 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 had done for the game by that time, Gretzky probably deserved 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, The Great One 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).^[14] 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.^[15] 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.^[11] After another disappointing season in 1998-99, then-head coach Larry Robinson, who also played three seasons for the Kings from 1989-92 and had been an assistant coach on the New Jersey Devils' 1995 Cup team, was not re-hired.

Taylor turned to Andy Murray, who became the Kings' 19th head coach on June 14, 1999. Taylor's hiring of Murray was immediately criticized by media across North America because of Murray's perceived lack of experience — up to that point, his only head coaching experience had been at the international level with the Canadian National Team and at the US high school level. Indeed, Taylor took a gamble on Murray, hoping it would pay off.^[16]

But Taylor was not 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. Clearly, the Kings were still not one of the NHL's elite teams, capable of contending for the Stanley Cup.

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.^[17]

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.^[18]

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.^[11]

In Game 4, the Red Wings took a commanding 3-0 lead after two periods, seemingly restoring order to a series they were supposed to win easily. And in the third period, it looked like nothing would change. But all that set the stage for yet another unbelievable playoff comeback for the Kings, highly reminiscent of the "Miracle on Manchester," back in 1982.

Seldom-used forward Scott Thomas, a career minor-leaguer, scored a power play goal at 13:53, to give the Kings a bit of life. Jozef Stumpel would follow with another power play goal at 17:33, and then Bryan Smolinski tied the game at the 19:07 mark.

And in overtime, Deadmarsh stole the puck from Red Wings' star defenseman Chris Chelios in the right corner behind the Detroit net, and threw a centering pass to center Eric Belanger, who scored the game-winning goal at 2:36 to lift the Kings to a miraculous come-from-behind win, now known as the "Frenzy on Figueroa," or the "Stunner at Staples."^[17][19]

The amazing win by the Kings in Game 4 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.^[11]

The 2001-02 started off with tragedy as team scouts Garnet "Ace" Bailey and Mark Bavis were both casualties of the September 11th attack. The team honored the two by wearing "AM" patches on their jerseys. Earlier in the season, the team acquired Jason Allison who was involved in a contract dispute along with Mikko Eloranta from the Boston Bruins in return for Jozef Stumpel and Glen Murray. At mid-season they held the 2002 NHL All-Star Game^[20] 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.

But 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 would 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 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 would be retiring from pro hockey.^[9]

Just one day after the end of the Kings' 2005-06 regular season, AEG decided to clean house on April 18, 2006, and they relieved President/Hockey Operations and General Manager Dave Taylor of his duties, along with Director of Player Personnel Bill O'Flaherty. Interim head coach John Torchetti and assistant coaches Mark Hardy and Ray Bennett, along with goaltending consultant Andy Nowicki, were also fired, and Vice President and Assistant General Manager Kevin Gilmore was re-assigned to other duties within AEG. Kings CEO Tim Leiweke also announced that he will no longer be the team's Chief Executive Officer.

On April 21, 2006, the Kings signed Philadelphia Flyers scout and former San Jose Sharks general manager Dean Lombardi as their new President and General Manager. He was signed to a five-year contract, signaling big changes in the near future for the franchise. Soon after he was hired, Lombardi quickly began to revamp the Kings' hockey operations and just barely over one month into his tenure as President and General Manager, he hired Marc Crawford to be the Kings' 21st head coach on May 22, 2006.

[edit] Season-by-season record

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

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA	PIM	Finish	Playoffs
1967-68	74	31	33	10	--	72	200	224	810	2nd in West	Lost in Quarterfinals, 3-4 (North Stars)
1968-69	76	24	42	10	--	57	185	260	698	4th in West	Won in Quarterfinals, 4-3 (Seals) Lost in Semifinals, 0-4 (Blues)
1969-70	76	14	52	10	--	38	168	290	969	6th in West	Did not qualify
1970-71	78	25	40	13	--	63	239	303	775	5th in West	Did not qualify
1971-72	78	20	49	9	--	49	206	305	719	7th in West	Did not qualify
1972-73	78	31	36	11	--	73	232	245	888	6th in West	Did not qualify
1973-74	78	33	33	12	--	78	233	231	1055	3rd in West	Lost in Quarterfinals, 1-4 (Black Hawks)
1974-75	80	42	17	21	--	105	269	185	1185	2nd in Norris	Lost in Preliminary Round, 1-2 (Maple Leafs)
1975-76	80	38	33	9	--	85	263	265	1022	2nd in Norris	Won in Preliminary Round, 2-0 (Flames) Lost in Quarterfinals, 3-4 (Bruins)
1976-77	80	34	31	15	--	83	271	241	1186	2nd in Norris	Won in Preliminary Round, 2-1 (Flames) Lost in Quarterfinals, 2-4 (Bruins)
1977-78	80	31	34	15	--	77	243	245	903	3rd in Norris	Lost in Preliminary Round, 0-2 (Maple Leafs)
1978-79	80	34	34	12	--	80	292	286	1134	3rd in Norris	Lost in Preliminary Round, 0-2 (Rangers)
1979-80	80	30	36	14	--	74	290	313	1124	2nd in Norris	Lost in Preliminary Round, 1-3 (Islanders)
1980-81	80	43	24	13	--	99	337	290	1627	2nd in Norris	Lost in Preliminary Round, 1-3 (Rangers)
1981-82	80	24	41	15	--	63	314	369	1730	4th in Smythe	Won in Division Semifinals, 3-2 (Oilers) Lost in Division Finals, 1-4 (Canucks)
1982-83	80	27	41	12	--	66	308	365	1627	5th in Smythe	Did not qualify
1983-84	80	23	44	13	--	59	309	376	1265	5th in Smythe	Did not qualify
1984-85	80	34	32	14	--	82	339	326	1413	4th in Smythe	Lost in Division Semifinals, 0-3 (Oilers)
1985-86	80	23	49	8	--	54	284	389	2004	5th in Smythe	Did not qualify
1986-87	80	31	41	8	--	70	318	341	2038	4th in Smythe	Lost in Division Semifinals, 1-4 (Oilers)
1987-88	80	30	42	8	--	68	318	359	2124	4th in Smythe	Lost in Division Semifinals, 1-4 (Flames)
1988-89	80	42	31	7	--	91	376	335	2215	2nd in Smythe	Won in Division Semifinals, 4-3 (Oilers) Lost in Division Finals, 0-4 (Flames)
1989-90	80	34	39	7	--	75	338	337	1884	4th in Smythe	Won in Division Semifinals, 4-2 (Flames) Lost in Division Finals, 0-4 (Oilers)
1990-91	80	46	24	10	--	102	340	254	2228	1st in Smythe	Won in Division Semifinals, 4-2 (Canucks) Lost in Division Finals, 2-4 (Oilers)
1991-92	80	35	31	14	--	84	287	296	2161	2nd in Smythe	Lost in Division Semifinals, 2-4 (Oilers)
1992-93	84	39	35	10	--	88	338	340	2247	3rd in Smythe	Won in Division Semifinals, 4-2 (Flames) Won in Division Finals, 4-2 (Canucks) Won in Conference Finals, 4-3 (Maple Leafs) Lost in Finals, 1-4 (Canadiens)
1993-94	84	27	45	12	--	66	294	322	2017	5th in Pacific	Did not qualify
1994-951	48	16	23	9	--	41	142	174	978	4th in Pacific	Did not qualify
1995-96	82	24	40	18	--	66	256	302	1460	6th in Pacific	Did not qualify
1996-97	82	28	43	11	--	67	214	268	1638	6th in Pacific	Did not qualify
1997-98	82	38	33	11	--	87	227	225	1763	2nd in Pacific	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 0-4 (Blues)
1998-99	82	32	45	5	--	69	189	222	1383	5th in Pacific	Did not qualify
1999-00	82	39	27	12	4	94	245	228	1313	2nd in Pacific	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 0-4 (Red Wings)
2000-01	82	38	28	13	3	92	252	228	1196	3rd in Pacific	Won in Conference Quarterfinals, 4-2 (Red Wings) Lost in Conference Semifinals, 3-4 (Avalanche)
2001-02	82	40	27	11	4	95	214	190	1348	3rd in Pacific	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 3-4 (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
2004-052	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
2005-06	82	42	35	--	5	89	249	270	1440	4th in Pacific	Did not qualify
2006-07 (SA)	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

¹ Season was shortened due to the 1994-95 NHL lockout.

² Season was cancelled due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

• Los Angeles Kings Communications Department. (2005). 2005-06 Los Angeles Kings Media Guide. pp. 129, 210-211., Los Angeles Kings. ISBN.

[edit] Notable players

[edit] Current roster

As of November 29, 2006. [1]

Goaltenders
#		Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of Birth
31		Mathieu Garon (Injured)	R	2006	Chandler, Quebec
32		Barry Brust	L	2004	Swan River, Manitoba
39		Dan Cloutier	L	2006	Mont-Laurier, Quebec

Defensemen
#		Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
3		Aaron Miller - A	R	2001	Buffalo, New York
4		Rob Blake - A	R	2006	Simcoe, Ontario
5		Brent Sopel (IR)	R	2006	Calgary, Alberta
8		Mike Weaver	R	2004	Bramalea, Ontario
14		Mattias Norström - C	L	1996	Stockholm, Sweden
17		Lubomir Visnovsky	L	2000	Topoľčany, Czechoslovakia
28		Oleg Tverdovsky (IR)	L	2006	Donetsk, U.S.S.R.
38		Kevin Dallman	R	2006	Niagara Falls, Ontario
49		Peter Harrold	R	2006	Kirtland Hills, Ohio

Forwards
#		Player	Position	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
7		Derek Armstrong	C	R	2002	Ottawa, Ontario
10		Alyn McCauley (IR)	C	L	2006	Brockville, Ontario
11		Anže Kopitar	C	L	2005	Jesenice, Slovenia
13		Michael Cammalleri	C	L	2001	Richmond Hill, Ontario
15		Jeff Cowan	LW	L	2004	Scarborough, Ontario
19		Sean Avery	C	L	2003	Pickering, Ontario
21		Brian Willsie	RW	R	2006	London, Ontario
22		Craig Conroy - A	C	R	2004	Potsdam, New York
23		Dustin Brown	RW	R	2003	Ithaca, New York
24		Alexander Frolov	LW	R	2000	Moscow, U.S.S.R.
26		Marty Murray	C	L	2006	Deloraine, Manitoba
27		Scott Thornton - A	LW	L	2006	London, Ontario
29		Tom Kostopoulos	RW	R	2005	Mississauga, Ontario
41		Raitis Ivanans	LW	L	2006	Riga, U.S.S.R.

[edit] Team captains

[edit] Hall of Famers

Players

• Paul Coffey, D, 1991-93, inducted 2004
• Marcel Dionne, C, 1975-87, inducted 1992
• Wayne Gretzky, C, 1988-96, inducted 1999
• Harry Howell, D, 1970-73, inducted 1979
• Jari Kurri, RW, 1991-96, inducted 2001
• Larry Murphy, D, 1980-84, inducted 2004
• Larry Robinson, D, 1989-92, inducted 1995

Builders

• Roger Neilson, Head coach, 1984, inducted 2002
• Jake Milford, GM, 1973-77, inducted 1984

Broadcasters

• Jiggs McDonald, 1967-73, inducted 1990
• Bob Miller, 1973- present, inducted 2000

[edit] 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 to be retired January 20, 2007
• 30 Rogatien "Rogie" Vachon, G, 1972-78, number retired February 14, 1985
• 99 Wayne Gretzky, C, 1988-96, number retired October 9, 2002

[edit] First-round draft picks

[edit] Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; * = current Kings player

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	P/G
Marcel Dionne	C	921	550	757	1307	1.42
Luc Robitaille	LW	1079	557	597	1154	1.07
Dave Taylor	RW	1111	431	638	1069	.96
Wayne Gretzky	C	539	246	672	918	1.70
Bernie Nicholls	C	602	327	431	758	1.26
Butch Goring	C	736	275	384	659	.90
Jim Fox	RW	578	186	293	479	.83
Charlie Simmer	LW	384	222	244	466	1.21
Mike Murphy	RW	673	194	263	457	.68
*Rob Blake	D	662	138	291	429	.65

[edit] NHL awards and trophies

[edit] Franchise individual records

• Most Goals in a season: Bernie Nicholls, 70 (1988-89)
• Most Assists in a season: Wayne Gretzky, 122 (1990-91)
• Most Points in a season: Wayne Gretzky, 168 (1988-89)
• Most Penalty Minutes in a season: Marty McSorley, 399 (1992-93)
• Most Points in a season, defenseman: Larry Murphy, 76 (1980-81)
• Most Points in a season, rookie: Luc Robitaille, 84 (1986-87)
• Most Wins in a season: Mario Lessard, 35 (1980-81)
• Most Shutouts in a season: Rogie Vachon, 8 (1976-77)

[edit] Miscellaneous

[edit] General Managers

• Larry Regan: 1968-1973
• Jake Milford: 1973-1977
• George Maguire: 1977-83
• Rogatien "Rogie" Vachon: 1983-92
• Nick Beverley: 1992-94
• Sam McMaster: 1994-97
• Dave Taylor: 1997-2006
• Dean Lombardi: 2006- present

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Los Angeles Kings

• List of Los Angeles Kings players
• Head Coaches of the Los Angeles Kings
• 1967 NHL Expansion
• List of NHL players
• List of NHL seasons

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website of the Los Angeles Kings
• Kingshockey.com - Unofficial fan site
• LetsGoKings.com - Unofficial fan site

Los Angeles Kings Head Coaches
Kelly • Laycoe • Wilson • Regan • Glover • Pulford • Stewart • Berry • MacDonald • Perry • Vachon • Neilson • Quinn • Murphy • Ftorek • Webster • Melrose • Robinson • Murray • Torchetti • Crawford