1967–68 Los Angeles Kings season

1967–68 Los Angeles Kings
Division	2nd West
1967–68 record	31–33–10
Home record	20-13-4
Road record	11-20-6
Goals for	200
Goals against	224
Team information
General Manager	Larry Regan
Coach	Red Kelly
Captain	Bob Wall
Arena	Long Beach Arena, Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles Forum
Team leaders
Goals	Bill Flett (26)
Assists	Eddie Joyal (34)
Points	Eddie Joyal (57)
Penalties in minutes	Dave Amadio (101)
Wins	Wayne Rutledge (20)
Goals against average	Wayne Rutledge (2.87)
	1968–69>

The 1967–68 Los Angeles Kings season was the first season for the Kings in the National Hockey League.

Offseason

The Kings were one of six expansion teams, which doubled the size of the league from six to twelve. The Kings were placed in the newly established West Division, along with the other expansion teams: the California Seals, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues.

The Kings picked goaltenders Terry Sawchuk and Wayne Rutledge with their first picks of the Expansion Draft, but the Kings did not rely on the draft. Owner Jack Kent Cooke purchased the American Hockey League's Springfield Indians for $1 million to bolster the Kings roster. Long-time Indians player Brian Kilrea would score the Kings' first goal.

Regular season

The Kings played their home games in three locations during that inaugural campaign. They alternated between both the Long Beach Arena and the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena before the brand new arena built by Cooke and known as The Forum would become their permanent home. In the first game ever at The Forum, they lost 2-0 to the Philadelphia Flyers. This loss came back to haunt them as they finished in 2nd place, one point behind the Flyers.

The Los Angeles Kings were a team that writers predicted to finish last in the new West Division.^[1] Surprisingly, the Kings finished second, just one point out of first. Bill Flett scored 26 goals, while Eddie Joyal scored 23 goals, adding 34 assists for 57 points and was the second leading scorer in the West Division.

The Kings combined to go 20-13-4 in their 37 home games spread over 3 arenas that first season. On the road, Los Angeles posted a record of just 11-20-6. The Kings finished a surprising second place in the Western Conference behind the coaching of Red Kelly, who as a player holds the distinction of playing on the most Stanley Cup championship teams without any of them including time in Montreal. The goaltending tandem of future hall of famer Terry Sawchuk and Wayne Rutledge allowed the team to stay in most games. The Kings had the best record of any of the expansion teams against the "Original Six", going a respectable 10-12-2, including winning their first two games ever against the storied Montreal Canadiens.

Playoffs

The Kings faced off against the Minnesota North Stars in their first-ever playoff series. Although the Kings had home-ice advantage, the North Stars won the best-of-seven series 4–3. Doug Robinson and Lowell MacDonald led all Kings playoff scorers with seven points, while Eddie Joyal and Gord Labossiere had five points each.

Season standings

West Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Philadelphia Flyers	74	31	32	11	173	179	73
Los Angeles Kings	74	31	33	10	200	224	72
St. Louis Blues	74	27	31	16	177	191	70
Minnesota North Stars	74	27	32	15	191	226	69
Pittsburgh Penguins	74	27	34	13	195	216	67
Oakland Seals	74	15	42	17	153	219	47

Schedule and results

1967-68 game log
October Game Date Opponent Score Location/attendance Record 1 14 Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 Los Angeles 1-0-0 2 15 Minnesota North Stars 5-3 Los Angeles 2-0-0 3 18 Oakland Seals 2-2 Oakland 2-0-1 4 21 St. Louis Blues 3-3 St. Louis 2-0-2 5 22 Chicago Black Hawks 5-3 Chicago 3-0-2 6 25 Toronto Maple Leafs 2-4 Toronto 3-1-2 7 26 Boston Bruins 0-2 Boston 3-2-2 8 28 Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 Pittsburgh 4-2-2 9 31 New York Rangers 1-6 Los Angeles 4-3-2
November Game Date Opponent Score Location/attendance Record 10 2 Chicago Black Hawks 1-3 Los Angeles 4-4-2 11 4 Minnesota North Stars 2-2 Minnesota 4-4-3 12 5 Detroit Red Wings 6-4 Detroit 5-4-3 13 7 Oakland Seals 5-4 Los Angeles 6-4-3 14 9 Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 Los Angeles 7-4-3 15 15 Oakland Seals 1-4 Oakland 7-5-3 16 17 Detroit Red Wings 1-4 Los Angeles 7-6-3 17 19 Montreal Canadiens 4-2 Los Angeles 8-6-3 18 22 Oakland Seals 3-1 Los Angeles 9-6-3 19 24 Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 Los Angeles 10-6-3 20 26 Philadelphia Flyers 2-7 Philadelphia 10-7-3 21 29 St. Louis Blues 2-3 St. Louis 10-8-3
December Game Date Opponent Score Location/attendance Record 22 2 Montreal Canadiens 3-2 Montreal 11-8-3 23 3 New York Rangers 2-4 New York 11-9-3 24 6 St. Louis Blues 3-2 Los Angeles 12-9-3 25 8 Philadelphia Flyers 0-3 Los Angeles 12-10-3 26 10 Boston Bruins 3-1 Boston 13-10-3 27 13 Minnesota North Stars 0-4 Minnesota 13-11-3 28 15 Minnesota North Stars 0-3 Los Angeles 13-12-3 29 16 Boston Bruins 2-5 Los Angeles 13-13-3 30 19 Oakland Seals 3-1 Los Angeles 14-13-3 31 21 Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 Los Angeles 15-13-3 32 23 St. Louis Blues 4-0 Los Angeles 16-13-3 33 25 Pittsburgh Penguins 3-4 Pittsburgh 16-14-3 34 27 St. Louis Blues 2-4 St. Louis 16-15-3 35 30 Philadelphia Flyers 0-2 Los Angeles 16-16-3 36 31 Philadelphia Flyers 1-9 Philadelphia 16-17-3
January Game Date Opponent Score Location/attendance Record 37 3 Minnesota North Stars 0-6 Minnesota 16-18-3 38 4 Pittsburgh Penguins 3-4 Pittsburgh 16-19-3 39 6 St. Louis Blues 1-2 St. Louis 16-20-3 40 7 Oakland Seals 0-6 Oakland 16-21-3 41 11 St. Louis Blues 2-2 Los Angeles 16-21-4 42 18 Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 Los Angeles 17-21-4 43 19 New York Rangers 5-2 Los Angeles 18-21-4 44 21 Oakland Seals 0-3 Oakland 18-22-4 45 24 Oakland Seals 1-4 Los Angeles 18-23-4 46 27 Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 Pittsburgh 19-23-4 47 28 Philadelphia Flyers 2-0 Philadelphia 20-23-4 48 31 Minnesota North Stars 1-6 Minnesota 20-24-4
February Game Date Opponent Score Location/attendance Record 49 1 Detroit Red Wings 8-6 Detroit 21-24-4 50 3 Montreal Canadiens 1-5 Montreal 21-25-4 51 4 Chicago Black Hawks 3-5 Chicago 21-26-4 52 7 Minnesota North Stars 2-4 Los Angeles 21-27-4 53 8 Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 Los Angeles 22-27-4 54 12 Toronto Maple Leafs 2-0 Los Angeles 23-27-4 55 14 St. Louis Blues 2-2 St. Louis 23-27-5 56 16 Philadelphia Flyers 7-1 Los Angeles 24-27-5 57 18 Boston Bruins 5-6 Los Angeles 24-28-5 58 24 Chicago Black Hawks 3-3 Los Angeles 24-28-6 59 25 St. Louis Blues 4-2 Los Angeles 25-28-6 60 29 Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 Philadelphia 26-28-6
March Game Date Opponent Score Location/attendance Record 61 2 Toronto Maple Leafs 2-5 Toronto 26-29-6 62 5 Montreal Canadiens 2-6 Los Angeles 26-30-6 63 7 Oakland Seals 9-2 Los Angeles 27-30-6 64 9 Pittsburgh Penguins 1-3 Pittsburgh 27-31-6 65 10 New York Rangers 4-3 New York 28-31-6 66 12 Detroit Red Wings 2-2 Los Angeles 28-31-7 67 14 Philadelphia Flyers 0-0 Quebec City 28-31-8 68 16 Minnesota North Stars 2-1 Minnesota 29-31-8 69 20 Minnesota North Stars 3-3 Los Angeles 29-31-9 70 22 St. Louis Blues 6-1 Los Angeles 30-31-9 71 23 Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 Los Angeles 31-31-9 72 26 Pittsburgh Penguins 1-2 Los Angeles 31-32-9 73 27 Minnesota North Stars 3-5 Los Angeles 31-33-9 74 30 Oakland Seals 2-2 Oakland 31-33-10

Playoffs

1968 NHL Quarter-finals

Minnesota North Stars vs. Los Angeles Kings

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 4	Minnesota	1	Los Angeles	2
April 6	Minnesota	0	Los Angeles	2
April 9	Los Angeles	5	Minnesota	7
April 11	Los Angeles	2	Minnesota	3
April 13	Minnesota	2	Los Angeles	3
April 16	Los Angeles	3	Minnesota	4	(OT)
April 18	Minnesota	9	Los Angeles	4

Minnesota wins best-of-seven series 4–3.

Player stats

Forwards

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Eddie Joyal	74	23	34	57	20
Bill Flett	73	26	20	46	97
Lowell MacDonald	74	21	24	45	12
Ted Irvine	73	18	22	40	26
Gord Labossiere	68	13	27	40	31
Real Lemieux	74	12	23	35	60
Terry Gray	65	12	16	28	22
Howie Menard	35	9	15	24	32
Howie Hughes	74	9	14	23	20
Bryan Campbell	44	6	15	21	16
Brian Smith	58	10	9	19	33
Doug Robinson	34	9	9	18	6
Brian Kilrea	25	3	5	8	12
Jim Anderson	7	1	2	3	2
Bill Inglis	12	1	1	2	0
Mike Corbett	0	0	0	0	0
Mike Corrigan	5	0	0	0	2

Defencemen

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Bill White	74	11	27	38	100
Bob Wall	71	5	18	23	66
Dale Rolfe	68	3	13	16	84
Brent Hughes	44	4	10	14	36
Dave Amadio	58	4	6	10	101
Jacques Lemieux	16	0	3	3	8
Jim Murray	30	0	2	2	14
Poul Popiel	1	0	0	0	0
Larry Johnston	4	0	0	0	4

Goaltending

Note: GP = Games played; MIN = Minutes; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

Player	GP	MIN	W	L	T	SO	GAA
Wayne Rutledge	45	2444	20	18	4	2	2.87
Terry Sawchuk	36	1936	11	14	6	2	3.07
Jacques Caron	1	60	0	1	0	0	4.00

Awards and records

Records

Individual

• March 10, 1968: Fastest two goals, 6 seconds apart, Bill Flett at 9:14 of first period, and Eddie Joyal at 9:20.

Team

• Fewest short-handed goals against in season, 3
• Most shutouts against in season, 9

Milestones

Regular season
Player	Milestone	Reached
Brian Kilrea	First Kings goal	October 14, 1967

Transactions

• June 8, 1967 – Acquired the rights to Red Kelly from Toronto for Ken Block.
• June 16, 1967 – Acquired Trevor Fahey, Jim Murray and Ken Turlik from the New York for Barclay Plager.

Draft picks

NHL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality
1	1	Rick Pagnutti	Canada

• NOTE: Back before 1979, the amateur draft was held with varying rules and procedures. In 1967, teams only needed to select as many player as they wanted to, which is why there was only one Kings player drafted.

Expansion draft

• Los Angeles Kings selections

#	Player	Drafted from
1.	Terry Sawchuk (G)	Toronto Maple Leafs
2.	Wayne Rutledge (G)	New York Rangers
3.	Gord Labossiere (C)	Montreal Canadiens
4.	Bob Wall (D)	Detroit Red Wings
5.	Ed Joyal (C)	Toronto Maple Leafs
6.	Real Lemieux (W)	Detroit Red Wings
7.	Poul Popiel (D)	Boston Bruins
8.	Terry Gray (RW)	Detroit Red Wings
9.	Bryan Campbell (C)	New York Rangers
10.	Ted Irvine (LW)	Boston Bruins
11.	Howie Hughes (RW)	Montreal Canadiens
12.	Bill Inglis (C)	Montreal Canadiens
13.	Doug Robinson (LW)	New York Rangers
14.	Mike Corrigan (LW)	Toronto Maple Leafs
15.	Jacques Lemieux (LW)	Montreal Canadiens
16.	Lowell MacDonald (LW)	Toronto Maple Leafs
17.	Ken Block (D)	New York Rangers
18.	Bill Flett (RW)	Toronto Maple Leafs
19.	Brent Hughes (D)	Detroit Red Wings
20.	Marc Dufour (RW)	New York Rangers

Farm teams

• Springfield Indians (American Hockey League)

1967–68 Los Angeles Kings roster

Goaltenders: 1 Rutledge • 30 Sawchuk • 1 Caron  Defensemen: 2 Wall • 4 J. Lemieux • 4 Murray • 4 B. Hughes • 5 Amadio • 5 Johnston • 6 Rolfe • 9 Popiel • 21 White  Forwards: 7 Gray • 8 Smith • 9 R. Lemieux • 10 H. Hughes • 11 MacDonald • 11 Corrigan • 12 Campbell • 15 Irvine • 16 Joyal • 17 Flett • 18 Anderson • 19 Kilrea • 19 Menard • 20 Labossiere • 22 Inglis • 23 Robinson • 25 Corbett  Owner: Jack Kent Cooke •  General Manager: Larry Regan •  Coach: Red Kelly

References

• Kings on Hockey Database

1. ^ Brian McFarlane, 50 Years of Hockey, pp. 140–143, Greywood Publishing Ltd, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Los Angeles Kings Franchise Captains • Coaches • Draft picks • General Managers • Players • Seasons Lore 1967 NHL expansion • 1967 NHL Expansion Draft • Bailey • Freeway Face-Off • Frozen Fury • Miracle on Manchester • 2011 NHL Premiere Personnel Owners: Philip Anschutz, Edward Roski, Jr. • General manager: Dean Lombardi • Head coach: John Stevens (interim) • Team captain: Dustin Brown • Current roster Arenas Long Beach Arena • Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena • Great Western Forum • Staples Center Affiliates AHL: Manchester Monarchs • ECHL: Ontario Reign Coaches Kelly • Laycoe • Wilson • Regan • Glover • Pulford • Stewart • Berry • MacDonald • Perry • Vachon • Neilson • Quinn • Murphy • Ftorek • Webster • Melrose • Robinson • A. Murray • Torchetti • Crawford • T. Murray • Stevens • D. Sutter General managers Regan • Milford • Maguire • Vachon • Beverley • McMaster • Taylor • Lombardi Retired numbers 16 • 18 • 20 • 30 • 99 Media TV: Broadcasters • FSN West • Radio: KTLK (1150 AM)

Los Angeles Kings seasons 1960s 1960–61 • 1961–62 • 1962–63 • 1963–64 • 1964–65 • 1965–66 • 1966–67 • 1967–68 • 1968–69 • 1969–70 1970s 1970–71 • 1971–72 • 1972–73 • 1973–74 • 1974–75 • 1975–76 • 1976–77 • 1977–78 • 1979–79 • 1979–80 1980s 1980–81 • 1981–82 • 1982–83 • 1983–84 • 1984–85 • 1985–86 • 1986–87 • 1987–88 • 1988–89 • 1989–90 1990s 1990–91 • 1991–92 • 1992–93 • 1993–94 • 1994–95 • 1995–96 • 1996–97 • 1997–98 • 1998–99 • 1999–00 2000s 2000–01 • 2001–02 • 2002–03 • 2003–04 • 2004–05 • 2005–06 • 2006–07 • 2007–08 • 2008–09 • 2009–10 2010s 2010–11 • 2011–12

1967–68 NHL season by team East Boston • Chicago • Detroit • Montreal • New York • Toronto West Los Angeles • Minnesota • Oakland • Philadelphia • Pittsburgh • St. Louis See also 1967 NHL Amateur Draft • 1967 NHL Expansion Draft • All-Star Game • 1968 Stanley Cup Finals