On June 11, 2012, the history of the Los Angeles Kings was changed forever. With a 6-1 thrashing of the New Jersey Devils, the Kings claimed the franchise's first Stanley Cup in front of a sellout crowd at Staples Center. However, the history of the club wasn't as royal as it was before this year.
 |
| Kings' first uniform logo from 1967-88 |
One of the NHL's 'Next Six' franchises, the Kings were founded in 1967 following the NHL's plans to expand to 12 teams. The original owner was Jack Kent Cooke, and he introduced purple and gold as the team colors, stating they were associated with royalty.
On October 14, 1967, they played their first NHL game at Long Beach Arena, defeating fellow 'Next Six' team the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2. They would also play at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena for the first two months, before moving to The Forum in December.
 |
| Rogie Vachon |
In order to familiarize the people of Los Angeles with a predominantly Canadian sport, Cooke decided to create nicknames to his players; names like Bill 'Cowboy' Flett, Eddie 'The Jet' Joyal, Eddie 'The Entertainer' Shack and Real 'The Frenchy' Lemieux were immediate hits among the growing Kings fanbase. They led the Kings to the playoffs in their first two seasons before disappearing from the picture for the next few years. However, one rising star would provide the Kings a cornerstone for the future.
Enter Rogie Vachon. The Kings acquired him from the Montreal Canadiens in 1971, and blossomed behind the pipes for the next six years. Under head coach Bob Pulford, the Kings had their best season to date, amassing 105 points during the 1974-75 season. Still, playoff success eluded the team, and by 1977, Pulford was gone after a pair of playoff series wins in his last two seasons. Nevertheless, the Kings are starting to build in another era of prosperity.
 |
| The Triple Crown Line: Dave Taylor, Marcel Dionne, Charlie Simmer |
Marcel Dionne arrived from Detroit in 1975, followed by the drafting of Dave Taylor and the promotion of Charlie Simmer in 1977. Together, they formed the 'Triple Crown Line', and would become one of the highest scoring forward lines in NHL history. The trio's emergence made former all-star Butch Goring expendable, and he eventually wound up with the New York Islanders where he became a four-time Stanley Cup champion.
The high point of the 'Triple Crown Line' era came in 1982. Facing future King Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers, they defeated the Oilers in five games, with Game 3 became more famous in NHL lore as the 'Miracle on Manchester'. The Kings overcame a 5-0 deficit and won 6-5 in overtime as Daryl Evans, now the Kings radio announcer, scored the winner.
 |
| Luc Robitaille |
The loss would motivate the Oilers, as they went on to make the Finals six times in eight years, winning in five of them. Meanwhile, the 'Triple Crown Line' ended with Simmer's departure to the Boston Bruins, while Dionne would be traded to the New York Rangers midway to the 1986-87 season. By the time Dionne left, the Kings already had a star waiting in the wings: Luc Robitaille.
Robitaille, who would become the highest-scoring left winger in NHL history, was flanked by Bernie Nicholls, Jimmy Carson and Steve Duchesne. Dave Taylor, the only 'TCL' member left, served as the team leader during the transition. During the majority of the 1980s, Dr. Jerry Buss owned the team, but the Kings were nowhere as renowned as the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers, also owned by Buss, and who won five NBA titles in the decade. After years of playoff frustration against Gretzky's Oilers, in 1988, a radical change was needed, but in more ways than one.
 |
| Kings' 'Gretzky era' logo from 1988-98 |
Dr. Buss elected to sell the team to Bruce McNall. One of his first steps is to change the team colors to silver and black; both colors were used by the Raiders, who were in Los Angeles at the time. But his biggest move is yet to come.
Wayne Gretzky, who for years has been the face of the Oilers, arrived in Los Angeles through trade. Reactions to the trade were mixed, but in Canada, fans deeply mourned his departure, citing him as a 'national treasure'. Nevertheless, the Gretzky trade provided hope and boost for ice hockey in California.
 |
| Wayne Gretzky |
The Kings and Oilers would meet in the 1989 Smythe Division semifinal. After trailing the series 3-1, Gretzky showed what the Oilers missed, leading his new team to three straight wins and eliminated the defending Cup champions. Chris Kontos scored nine goals in the series, in what was the only bright spot in his abbreviated NHL career. However, Edmonton would eliminate Los Angeles in three successive years, including in 1990 where they went on to win their fifth Stanley Cup. It was also in 1990 where Gretzky passed Gordie Howe as the NHL's all-time leading scorer.
Under coach Tom Webster, the Kings finished the 1990-91 season atop the Smythe Division with 102 points, but two seasons later, the Kings would enjoy its best playoff run to this point. With Barry Melrose as coach, and with Gretzky, Robitaille, Taylor, Jarri Kurri, Rob Blake and Kelly Hrudey as the main cogs, the Kings eliminated the Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks, and Toronto Maple Leafs to earn their first Stanley Cup Finals berth.
 |
| Marty McSorley's illegal stick incident in Game 2 cost the Kings the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals. |
After winning Game 1, the Kings appeared to be on its way to a Game 2 victory, before Montreal coach Jacques Demers questioned the length of Marty McSorley's stick. The referees measured the stick and then called it as illegal. The Kings would lose Game 2 on Eric Desjardins' game-tying and game-winning goals and eventually lost the series in five games.
The Kings would languish at the bottom following their first Stanley Cup finals appearance, and then in February 1996, Wayne Gretzky was traded to the St. Louis Blues. By the time of his departure, Gretzky had finished behind Marcel Dionne and Dave Taylor in the Kings' all-time scoring charts. Also in 1996, the Kings introduced the infamous 'Burger King' third jersey, which proved unpopular to Kings fans.
McNall sold the team in 1994 amid financial controversies surrounding him. Jeffrey Sudikoff and Joseph Cohen purchased the team, but were forced into bankruptcy soon after. The Anschutz Entertainment Group would buy the Kings from bankruptcy in late 1995.
 |
| Kings' 'futuristic crown' logo from 1998-2011, using colors from two different eras. |
Following the departure of Gretzky, Rob Blake emerged as the team leader, and soon after led the team back to the playoffs in 1998. It was the final season of the black and silver, for now. Also that year saw the return of Luc Robitaille after spending time with the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers, and the emergence of Mattias Norstrom.
For the Kings' final season at The Forum, they modernized their image by adding purple to their existing black and silver set, and introduced a 'futuristic crown' logo along with the shield logo that will be the primary from 1998 to 2002. They kept those insignia upon moving to the Staples Center in 1999.
 |
| Rob Blake |
Blake and Robitaille would briefly move to other teams in search for their first Stanley Cup. Blake was traded late in the 2000-01 season to the Colorado Avalanche where he helped the team win their second Stanley Cup, while Robitaille signed with the Detroit Red Wings and won the 2002 Stanley Cup with them. During their time away, Norstrom served as the focal point of the team.
The Kings would win their only playoff series of the 2000s when they defeated the Detroit Red Wings in six games before losing to Rob Blake and the eventual champion Avalanche in seven games. Following another playoff berth in 2002, the Kings would hit a rut, missing the playoffs for the next six seasons. Luc Robitaille returned to the team for the last time in 2003 and soon after passed Marcel Dionne for the most goals scored in Kings history, while eventually finishing behind Dave Taylor in games played and Dionne in franchise points. Robitaille retired in 2006 as the NHL's highest scoring left winger.
 |
| Kings' modern black and silver logo since 2011 |
As Robitaille was about to retire, cornerstones for the future were being laid down as well. Dean Lombardi became the general manager, while Dustin Brown began to emerge from the minors. In 2008, Brown was named captain, which he continues to serve today. For the next few seasons, the Kings also brought in Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty and Jonathan Quick from the minors, and acquired veterans Justin Williams, Matt Greene, Dustin Penner and Rob Scuderi.
The Kings also made significant changes marketing-wise. In 2008, they returned to the black and silver scheme of the Gretzky years by introducing a new third jersey. The Kings made it back to the playoffs in 2010, losing to the Canucks in six games. They would lose in the first round again the next year, this time to the San Jose Sharks in six games.
 |
| Dustin Brown |
Their frequent use of the black and silver jersey in the playoffs paved the way for the full-time return of the color scheme for the 2011-12 season, adding a new road jersey to complement the set. The Kings acquired Mike Richards, Colin Fraser and Simon Gagne in the offseason, then as the season began they started off on a hot note with a 5-1-1 mark but would struggle with an 8-11-4 slump that cost coach Terry Murray his job. Assistant John Stevens took over for four games, going 2-2 before handing the job over to Darryl Sutter.
The Kings would address its offensive issues by acquiring Jeff Carter from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for popular defenseman Jack Johnson. Though Carter started slow following a foot injury, he would become a key contributor to the Kings offense. Along with Jonathan Quick's emergence on goal and a more defensive-minded approach, the Kings went 25-13-11 the rest of the way, but they barely made the playoffs as the eighth seed.
 |
| Dustin Brown led the Kings to their first Stanley Cup in 2012 |
In the first round, Los Angeles met Vancouver in a rematch of the 2010 first round. In a stunning performance, the Kings upset the President's Trophy-winning Canucks in five games behind short-handed efforts from Dustin Brown in Game 2 and a Jonathan Quick shutout in Game 3. Next up were the St. Louis Blues, led by record-setting goalie Brian Elliott. However, Quick outplayed Elliott throughout the series, and with the help of Matt Greene and Anze Kopitar's short-handed goals in Games 1 and 2, the Kings achieved a franchise first by sweeping the Blues in four games. In the conference final, they faced the Phoenix Coyotes, and again led 3-0 in the series, which included Quick's Game 2 shutout. In Game 5, Dustin Penner's overtime goal earned the Kings a return trip to the Stanley Cup finals after 19 years.
They played the New Jersey Devils in the final, and thanks to Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter overtime goals, the Kings returned home needing just two wins for the cup. Quick's Game 3 shutout put them a game away, before the Devils twice escaped elimination in Games 4 and 5. But behind a three-goal power play in Game 6, the Kings would end a 45-year journey with their first Stanley Cup.
It was a long and difficult road for the Kings, from its humbled beginnings to its first Stanley Cup. And after 45 years of waiting, Los Angeles finally has a hockey champion to cheer for.
No comments:
Post a Comment