Toggle sidebar

Kings Article: Los Angeles Kings — All Things History Thread

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ron*
  • Start date Start date
  • Xenforo Cloud will be upgrading us to version 2.3.5 on March 3rd at 12 AM GMT. This version has increased stability and fixes several bugs. We expect downtime for the duration of the update. The admin team will continue to work on existing issues, templates and upgrade all necessary available addons to minimize impact of this new version. Click Here for Updates
Ron said:
.
.
.
Might as well add this here, it's been posted before, but it's a good idea to make this part of this thread for reference purposes.

This was the 9th game in their existence, and the earliest known televised game. (There could have been one earlier, but there doesn't seem to be any record of one.)

Click to expand...


"Those comeback kids."
 
Well, the unnamed player did make a good point about talented guys being shipped out. Look at what happened to Robert Lang. Plus bringing Marty McSorley back was a good idea, but they lost two productive forwards in Tomas Sandstrom and Shawn McEachern. I remember that trade pretty much forced a guy like John Druce to be the 2nd line RW on the roster.

Since we're on the topic of Barry Melrose, I'll share this video that I loved watching as a kid since there weren't too many positives to take from Kings' history back in the dark days.

 
Ron said:
.
.
.
Might as well add this here, it's been posted before, but it's a good idea to make this part of this thread for reference purposes.

This was the 9th game in their existence, and the earliest known televised game. (There could have been one earlier, but there doesn't seem to be any record of one.)

Click to expand...



Ha! Suck it, Hawks!

Do you remember this game, Ron? :sarcasm:
 
CTKingsFan said:
Ha! Suck it, Hawks!

Do you remember this game, Ron? :sarcasm:
Click to expand...

Ha ha, how funny you are.*

I do remember Jiggs McDonald though. He was a great announcer, and sad to see him go in 1972 I believe.

According to Bob Miller's book, there was an interim guy that took over for the Kings for one year but I just don't remember that...all I recall was that Bob Miller was the "new guy" and I thought to myself hey this guy might be as good as Jiggs McDonald. :laugh:

*I would not have watched this game, which was probably in November 1967. I didn't pick up on the Kings until late 1967, probably around Christmas time...then again, I might just have, since it was on TV. Maybe this is the game I came across, I just don't remember who the opponent was. My memory was faulty even at 9 years old. :/
 
03131974_kings_v_pitsburgh_large.jpg


http://kings.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=40906
During the Kings - Pittsburgh contest on March 13, 1974, what was believed to be the first streaker in NHL History, "Miss Cyndi," took to the ice during a break in the action. Before just 8,437 fans at the Forum, wearing only a Kings hat, white figure skates and holding a Kings pennant, Miss Cyndi momentarily interrupted the Kings 5-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Click to expand...

She was hired by JKC as a publicity stunt.
http://kings.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=743526
Miss Cyndi was the streaker at the Kings game. She came out, we had her in a fur coat right before the game started, we had her on skates – we found someone that could skate after all – we gave her a Kings pendant, and before the game we alerted all the TV stations. It was a big game, I think it was Philly. So all of a sudden, Miss Cyndi comes out from where the Kings came in, she takes off her fur coat, she’s naked except for her skates and a Kings pendant, she skates right down the ice right by the penalty boxes where all the TV reporters are, the crowd goes crazy, and the people were filming it, and this roar goes through the crowd. Somebody threw her fur coat on her and whisked her out of the Forum.
Click to expand...
 
How about a "where are they now" ...

Gary Shuchuk is an assistant coach for The University of Wisconsin
Jan Vopat is the Head of European Scouting for the Blues
Jimmy Carson is a Financial Advisor in the Detroit area
Tomas Sandstrom is a firefighter
 
I guess all those years of hacking and slashing trained Tomas to become a firefighter. Didn't know about him doing that. That's actually pretty damn awesome.

Warren Rychel is currently the VP and GM of the Windsor Spitfires.
 
Great to see those old clips with players who's names I'd long forgotten. Melrose had those guys playing a real physical style of defense. Can't remember now just who they played under when the D switched to providing escort service for puck carriers on opposing teams; thankfully that finally ended.
 
Herby said:
How about a "where are they now" ...

Gary Shuchuk is an assistant coach for The University of Wisconsin
Jan Vopat is the Head of European Scouting for the Blues
Jimmy Carson is a Financial Advisor in the Detroit area
Tomas Sandstrom is a firefighter
Click to expand...

I'll give it a shot, heres what Frolov has been up to. I guess he's more of a celebrity in Russian now.

161654.jpg

7cdb5878a51ba340de83cb1e68fd274f.jpeg

al_1.jpg
 
Ron said:
Ha ha, how funny you are.*

I do remember Jiggs McDonald though. He was a great announcer, and sad to see him go in 1972 I believe.

According to Bob Miller's book, there was an interim guy that took over for the Kings for one year but I just don't remember that...all I recall was that Bob Miller was the "new guy" and I thought to myself hey this guy might be as good as Jiggs McDonald. :laugh:

*I would not have watched this game, which was probably in November 1967. I didn't pick up on the Kings until late 1967, probably around Christmas time...then again, I might just have, since it was on TV. Maybe this is the game I came across, I just don't remember who the opponent was. My memory was faulty even at 9 years old. :/
Click to expand...

The guy was Roy Storey
 
Bump.

Any chance the mods could just sticky this thread?

Always the potential for a ton good historical Kings stuff to be discussed/added to this thread.

Love seeing the old photos & articles.

Anyone else on here besides Ron around for the Kings entire existence? Ron, you must be getting up there in years.. :laugh::naughty:
 
Was reading up on some of the Kings' failures of the past and ran across this article that delves into Barry Melrose's reputation for ruining players and his dismay for talented forwards in favor of slugs like Crowder, Potomski and Houda.

Funny how that buffoon nearly ruined another organization and stunted Steven Stamkos early in his career. Can't believe they honored a coach who had one decent season with the Kings...

http://articles.latimes.com/1995-03-08/sports/sp-40115_1_barry-melrose
Players are openly talking about Melrose's motivating methods--prolonged stays in the doghouse followed by a subsequent trade. That has been the pattern since Melrose arrived in Los Angeles and has been experienced by Bob Kudelski, Jimmy Carson, Tomas Sandstrom, Shawn McEachern and Mike Donnelly.


But it's a doubly dangerous scenario. After Melrose has soured on players, the team's general managers--first Nick Beverley and now Sam McMaster--have been unable to make palatable deals, to say nothing of good ones. Beverley's moves made his predecessor, Rogie Vachon, look like a strong general manager. And the mistakes of the Beverley regime are looking less distasteful in the wake of the Alexei Zhitnik/Donnelly/Dave Karpa disasters.

Now the cycle seems to be beginning with center Robert Lang, who has been in and out of the lineup.

"He's been kicked in the butt so much," forward Pat Conacher said. "He's been the brunt of criticism, not just from Barry, and he doesn't need that. Sent to Phoenix last year and he's in and out. You've got to give the kid time to get acclimatized.

"He never got a pat on the back here. In my playing this game, 90% of the time you do need a kick in the butt. But he's taken a lot more. It's like a dog who gets kicked over and over again. A hockey player can only take so much . . ."

One player pointed out that Sandstrom was so beaten down that he is only now starting to regain his confidence in Pittsburgh. Donnelly, who scored four points against the Kings on Monday, admitted that he lost his confidence before the Kings traded him to Dallas last month.

So far, the Kings' movement toward Melrose's goal of bigger, stronger, tougher has added up to a brutal brand of hockey--but only in the results.

There have been five victories in 20 games and two in 12 games at the Forum. And goaltender Grant Fuhr, acquired in the Zhitnik trade with Buffalo, has been horrendous, most recently allowing seven goals on 24 shots in Monday's 8-2 loss to Dallas.
Click to expand...
 
Ziggy Stardust said:
Was reading up on some of the Kings' failures of the past and ran across this article that delves into Barry Melrose's reputation for ruining players and his dismay for talented forwards in favor of slugs like Crowder, Potomski and Houda.

Funny how that buffoon nearly ruined another organization and stunted Steven Stamkos early in his career. Can't believe they honored a coach who had one decent season with the Kings...

http://articles.latimes.com/1995-03-08/sports/sp-40115_1_barry-melrose
Click to expand...

I remember feeling bad for Fuhr. The fans were expecting the Grant Fuhr of 10 years earlier and it just wasn't going to happen. But 7 goals in 24 shots is just a brutal, brutal outing.
 
Herby said:
How about a "where are they now" ...

Gary Shuchuk is an assistant coach for The University of Wisconsin
Jan Vopat is the Head of European Scouting for the Blues
Jimmy Carson is a Financial Advisor in the Detroit area
Tomas Sandstrom is a firefighter
Click to expand...

Tom Laidlaw is an agent in the Chi area.

Heck, I can give you up dates on several former kings on the where are they now. I was going to do a 1 for 1 list but it will take a long time. Lots of former Kings have gone on to success in and out of hockey.
 
Ron said:
I remember feeling bad for Fuhr. The fans were expecting the Grant Fuhr of 10 years earlier and it just wasn't going to happen. But 7 goals in 24 shots is just a brutal, brutal outing.
Click to expand...

I didn't feel bad for Fuhr because he was a heavy coke addict who tried to cover it up in Buff and flat out refused his deal to the Kings. Back then players didn't have nmc's so Fuhr had to go where he was sent but he made it clear that he didn't want to be here right after he showed up. If he had just been a class guy and given his all I would have felt differently but he wasn't and we should never have made that awful deal to pick him up. If you read Fuhrs book if makes you feel sort of bad for him but if you read what others have written about him the guy doesn't come off too well. I guess somewhere in the middle lies the man.
 
Long time lurker, but I had to create an account for this. I was going through a box of hockey-related items and I came across this old training camp roster from 2000-2001 (I think). Oh, the memories...

View attachment 80439
 
Last edited:
417th said:
I didn't feel bad for Fuhr because he was a heavy coke addict who tried to cover it up in Buff and flat out refused his deal to the Kings. Back then players didn't have nmc's so Fuhr had to go where he was sent but he made it clear that he didn't want to be here right after he showed up. If he had just been a class guy and given his all I would have felt differently but he wasn't and we should never have made that awful deal to pick him up. If you read Fuhrs book if makes you feel sort of bad for him but if you read what others have written about him the guy doesn't come off too well. I guess somewhere in the middle lies the man.
Click to expand...

That trade was one of the lowest points in team history. Fuhr only earned 1 win for the Kings and his career with the team lasted 14 games, with a 1-7-3 record. What a disaster. And they acquired him when Kelly Hrudey was playing his best hockey. Rogie Vachon, for as much of a legend as he was, was an absolute terrible choice for interim coach. He decided to play Fuhr in the last game of the season with the Kings' playoff hopes riding on him. Of course Fuhr lost against the Hawks in that game.

It's amazing how poorly managed the Kings were, absolutely killing their team depth with a series of moves.

In 92-93, they started with a blueline that looked like this:

Coffey-Blake
Zhitnik-McSorley
Sydor-Huddy
Watters

Not long after that, they had a blueline that featured the likes of Chris Snell, Rob Cowie and John Slaney.

They also destroyed their team depth on offense when they got rid of Robitaille, Sandstrom, Carson (who they dealt Coffey for), Donnelly, Millen and Rychel. Taylor retired, Conacher was on his last legs and was phased out, Gretzky and Kurri got older, and they brought in cast offs to fill those vacancies.

Is it any wonder why Sam McMaster never landed another GM job in the NHL?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom