The history of the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League begins in 1966, as the league prepared a major expansion for the upcoming season, and awarded a new team to Los Angeles-based entrepreneur Jack Kent Cooke, who also owned the Los Angeles Lakers. While the Los Angeles Kings awaited construction to be completed on their future home, The Forum in Inglewood, California, they played their first two games during their inaugural 1967–68 season at the Long Beach Arena. The first game in Kings history was played on Oct. 14, 1967 and the Kings defeated the fellow expansion Philadelphia Flyers 4–2 in front of 7,023. They also played 14 games at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena while awaiting the completion of the construction of the Forum. The Kings hosted their first game at the Forum on Dec. 30, 1967, a 2–0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. They went on to play their first 32 seasons at Forum before moving to the Crypto.com Arena in Downtown Los Angeles in 1999.
During the 1970s and early 1980s, the Kings had many years marked by impressive play in the regular season only to be washed out by early playoff exits. In 1988, the Kings traded with the Edmonton Oilers to get their captain Wayne Gretzky, leading to a successful phase of the franchise that raised hockey's popularity in Los Angeles. Gretzky, fellow Hall of Famer Luc Robitaille and defenseman Rob Blake led the Kings to the franchise's sole division title in 1990–91, and the Kings' first Stanley Cup Final in 1993, lost to the Montreal Canadiens.
After the 1993 Finals, the Kings entered financial problems, with a bankruptcy in 1995 that was only solved with the acquisition by Philip Anschutz (owner of Anschutz Entertainment Group, operators of Staples Center) and Edward P. Roski. A period of mediocrity ensued, with the Kings only resurging as they broke a six-year playoff drought in the 2009–10 season, with a team that included goaltender Jonathan Quick, defenseman Drew Doughty, and forwards Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams. Under coach Darryl Sutter, who was hired early in the 2011–12 season, the Kings won two Stanley Cups in three years: 2012, over the New Jersey Devils, and 2014, against the New York Rangers.
Background and NHL expansion
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, five separate Los Angeles groups bid for a hockey franchise, including ones led by Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson and Donna Reed's producer husband Tony Owen. Blades owner Dan Reeves, who was also proprietor of the National Football League's Los Angeles Rams, seemed the favorite for already having a team and a lease with the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. However, he would end up surpassed by Canadian entrepreneur Jack Kent Cooke, who owned the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Lakers.
As the Lakers played at the Memorial Sports Arena, Cooke applied for both a long-term NBA lease and the right to sign a lease for hockey in case he won the NHL franchise. But the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission, which managed the Sports Arena and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, had already entered into an agreement with the Blades, and only offered a two-year deal for the Lakers. 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." Thus he was the only Los Angeles applicant with plans for his own stadium, something that made the NHL favor his bid.
In February 1966, Cooke was awarded one of the six new NHL expansion franchises, which also included the California Seals, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues. Los Angeles has a large number of expatriates from both the Northeastern United States and Canada, which Cooke saw as a natural fan base. On July, Cooke purchased 29.4 acres of land in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood to build his arena, The Forum. Combining the $2 million NHL expansion fee, a $1 million indemnity to the Blades for territorial rights, $4.02 million for the Forum terrain and $12.2 million for the building itself, Cooke spent $19 million to create the Kings, one of the most expensive expansion teams of the period.
Following a contest to name the team, Cooke picked the name Kings, and chose the original team colors of purple (or "Forum Blue", as it was later officially called) and gold – the same worn by the Lakers – because they were colors traditionally associated with royalty. Prior to the 1967 NHL expansion draft, Cooke named Larry Regan the first general manager in franchise history, and struck a deal with Toronto Maple Leafs left winger Red Kelly, who was set for his retirement, to become the Kings' first head coach. Kelly's rights would be acquired during the expansion draft, but eventually Maple Leafs' general manager Punch Imlach decided to put him on the protected list and force Cooke to send one of his picks, Ken Block, in exchange for Kelly. Cooke also decided to improve the Kings' roster by purchasing the American Hockey League's Springfield Indians and promoting their best players.
The "Forum Blue and Gold" years (1967–1975)
The Forum was not yet complete when the 1967–68 season began, so the Kings opened their first season at the Long Beach Arena in the neighboring city of Long Beach on October 14, 1967, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 4–2. For the next two months, the Kings played their home games both at Long Beach and at the Sports Arena. The "Fabulous Forum" finally opened its doors on December 30, 1967, with the Kings being shut out by the Flyers, 2–0.
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 none other than Cooke himself.
In their first season, the Kings finished in second place in the Western Division, just one point behind the Flyers. 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 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.
After two fairly successful seasons, the Kings hit upon hard times, mostly due to poor management. Kings general managers established a history of trading away first-round draft picks, usually for veteran players (many of them NHL stars on the downside of their careers), a problem that would hinder the development of the franchise for years to come. 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 1972, the Kings made two key acquisitions. First, the rise of rookie goaltender Ken Dryden in Montreal made goaltender Rogie Vachon expendable, and the Kings obtained him in a trade with the Canadiens on November 4, 1971. After years of a "revolving door" in goal, Vachon solidified the position, often in spectacular fashion. For the next five years, the Forum was often filled with chants of "Rogie!, Rogie!" as Vachon made many a great save. In addition, the Kings obtained former Toronto Maple Leafs winger Bob Pulford, first as a player and then as their head coach. Under Pulford's disciplined direction, the Kings went from being one of the worst defensive teams in the league to one of the best. It took him just two seasons to lead the Kings back to the playoffs and in 1974, they faced the Chicago Blackhawks, only to be eliminated in five games. Pulford eventually led the team to three of the most successful seasons in franchise history, including a 105-point season in 1974–75 that is still a franchise record. They finished second behind Montreal in the Norris Division, which was relatively strong compared to the other divisions. Also in 1975 that season, due to the growing number of teams, the NHL introduced a new playoff structure, including a best of three preliminary round to the playoffs for the bottom eight of the qualifying twelve teams (the winners of each division automatically receiving a berth into the next round). With the fourth-best record in the league, the Kings were heavy favorites against the Maple Leafs, who finished with 78 points. Despite winning game one at home in the Forum, the Kings lost game two in Toronto on April 10. Due to scheduling conflicts, and owner Jack Kent Cooke's refusal to play an afternoon game on April 12, game three was played at the Forum the next day, April 11, instead, giving each team less rest between the games. The Kings, having an older core of players that were jet-lagged from the cross country flight right before the game, simply did not have the energy due to lack of rest and recovery, and were upset in the deciding game at home 2–1 by the lowly but younger Maple Leafs. As Bob Miller said in his book, Tales from the Los Angeles Kings, "I'll never forget, with 10 seconds left, looking down from our broadcast location, seeing Toronto owner Harold Ballard and his sidekick King Clancy hugging and jumping up and down in the aisle as they eliminated the heavily favored Kings. It was such a disappointment after a tremendous season that Bob Pulford left the building in tears... because of Cooke's stubbornness the Kings' best season ever was wasted."
Marcel Dionne and the "Triple Crown Line" (1975–1988) 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.