Kings Article: Los Angeles Kings — All Things History Thread

[TonySCV]

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...

Oy. We've come a long way.

 

[kovacro]

Ron, you were probably at this game. Looks like the program says Feb 7, 1968.

 

[Maynard]

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

Of course Scott Barney was injured.

 

[Reaper45]

Barney had so much potential.

 

[Magicman]

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?

It's impossible to really judge that era. Once McNall went broke and checks were bouncing all rational thinking was off.

I talked to Sam in depth a couple of years later after he was fired, right after he landed with Columbus. If you get the opportunity I suggest you talk to him about what it was like with the Kings back then.

IMO it would make a fantastic book.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I'll give him credit for a couple of trades that paid long term dividends for the Kings.

Trading Jari Kurri, Marty McSorley and Shane Churla to the Rangers for Mattias Norstrom, Ian Laperriere, Ray Ferraro and Nathan LaFayette was a huge steal for the Kings. Two rentals and a goon for a long term fixture on the blueline, a gritty heart-and-soul forward who quickly became a fan favorite, a good quality veteran center who could still play and a utility forward. Not a bad haul.

He also flipped an aging Ed Olczyk to the Penguins for Glen Murray. I will also say that getting Boucher as part of the Fuhr trade was an astute move as he turned out to be a damn good player, but then when he finally proved himself as a top 3 defenseman, the Kings let him walk as a UFA.

Another low key transaction that worked very well for the Kings was acquiring Jaroslav Modry from the Senators for Kevin Brown. I know Modry isn't the most popular guy among Kings fans, but compare his career to Kevin Brown. He had a pretty long and successful NHL career and he was a decent partner next to Lubomir Visnovsky.

And that's about all the positive things that can be said about McMaster's trades. I do believe that he was also someone who was brought in because of his relationship with Gretzky.

http://articles.latimes.com/1994-05-23/sports/sp-61164_1_kings-talk

McMaster, 50, said Sunday he was interviewed in Los Angeles last week. He said he talked to new co-owner Joe Cohen, minority owner Bruce McNall and Rogie Vachon, assistant to the chairman.

"They said they'd let me know this coming week, and I'm kind of waiting to hear," McMaster said.

McMaster was Sudbury's GM for six years before leaving to pursue NHL jobs. Before that, he scouted for the Washington Capitals from 1985-88. He has been GM of the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds, the Toronto Marlboros and Niagara Falls Flyers. Players he has sent to the NHL include Wayne Gretzky, who played in Sault Ste Marie; Steve Larmer; Greg Gilbert; John Vanbiesbrouck; Rick Tocchet; Ron Duguay and Bob Probert.


"Overall, in 13 years, my winning percentage is .600. I'm proud of that," McMaster said. "I'm a career manager. I don't want to be a coach. I look after the management end of things--the players and the finances."

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

To add to the above article, further proof of Gretzky's influence on the Kings' decision to hire McMaster, not to mention him having his way in getting his close friends like Tocchet and Fuhr for far better players.

http://articles.latimes.com/1994-05-25/sports/sp-62051_1_general-manager-position

Gretzky, who has always denied influencing personnel and policy decisions, acknowledged he played a key role in McMaster's appointment. He was willing to risk criticism, he said, because he believes in McMaster's ability to judge talent.

"I told him the other day, 'I'm probably going to be on the hot seat more than you are,' but I don't mind," Gretzky said Tuesday at a news conference announcing McMaster's appointment. "I'm very confident we're going to win and that's what people want to see, a successful team. . . .


"I don't want to be GM. I don't want to be the one making trades. But I feel comfortable (backing McMaster). Believe me, I want to win, and I believe he's very capable of doing that."

Thankfully McMaster reneged on the thought of giving up Rob Blake for Brett Hull, which was a rumor going around in '94.

http://articles.latimes.com/1994-08-02/sports/sp-22564_1_trade-talks

The Kings have had trade talks about acquiring Brett Hull from the St. Louis Blues, Kings General Manager Sam McMaster acknowledged Monday, but he said those discussions have "reached an impasse."

"We haven't been able to agree on who we would give up," McMaster said. "There've been discussions since the draft but we've gotten nowhere. . . . There are no discussions right now."

Hull, who has led the NHL in goal-scoring three times, said recently that he would like a chance to play with Wayne Gretzky.

"That's my dream," Hull said.

The Blues would reportedly want King defenseman Rob Blake to be part of any deal.

Around this time, Gretzky was pretty vocal in wanting to see the Kings make improvements to the roster, and rumor had it that he was pushing for the team to acquire Brett Hull and Phil Housley. He made an ultimatum to management to commit to winning now or to trade him. That is what spurred the rumors in 1995-96 until Gretzky was dealt to St. Louis in February.

 

[Ron*]

Ron, you were probably at this game. Looks like the program says Feb 7, 1968.

Nah, I didn't get to attend many pro sporting events when I was a kid since my family was poor and my dad didn't get hockey anyway. I followed the Kings primarily by radio.

The first Kings game I ever went to was in 1977, a playoff game against the Atlanta Flames. We won, and Rogie was outstanding. Don't remember the score, however. Might have been 2-0 or 2-1.

 

[Ron*]

Time For A Bump With Some Levity

The memory of the goon in the memory box artwork in Mad Magazine prompted me to dig these pages up on the Internet...of course, someone posted them, which is absolutely ****ing great! Damn sure wish I kept all those Mad Magazines that I bought and read as a kid...

 

[Ron*]

Better artwork of the goon in the penalty box.

 

[Ron*]

By the way, the comic was from 1969.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

And the goon is wearing #33, it's as if it predicted Marty McSorley... though to be fair to Marty, he was more than just a goon, but sadly that's probably what most will remember him for.

 

[kingsholygrail]

The hockey fan. haha

 

[YP44]

early 90's brett hull with gretzky and Luc would have been unstoppable. Blake was a beast in his own right but damn that would have been high flyinig

 

[417th]

The thing I feel the worst for when it comes to the newer hockey fans was that they missed out on how great the game was when there were bench clearing brawls. When that rule was taken away it changed the game entirely. Some will argue that it do so for the better and I agree that in many ways it did but the game was certainly more exciting back then. That and the idea that your Dmen were all goons on one level or another. The game has changed a ton since the early 70's and so have the players in many ways. I guess the fans have a ton as well and that is a good thing. We used to have to beg people to go to Kings games and I mean beg plead and buy their way in. Sell outs were very rare and usually only happened when The flyers leafs wings or habs came to town. Still, I miss several things from the good old days and wish that everyone could have experience them as they were entirely different then todays hockey experience.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

A rare sight from the 80s with the Kings blowing out the Gretzky led Oilers.

 

[Sheng Peng]

Bringing back my favorite thread with this amazing pic & a question. This was the original model for what would become the Fabulous Forum:

Now my question: Is there any documentation about Ziggy and Rob Blake coming close to fighting when they were on the Kings? I'm writing a piece about the early Staples era and can't find corroboration. Thanks!

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Now my question: Is there any documentation about Ziggy and Rob Blake coming close to fighting when they were on the Kings? I'm writing a piece about the early Staples era and can't find corroboration. Thanks!

Never read anything about that happening. Might be some wild speculation from Kings fans posting on LGK at the time who would just make up their own stories as another reason to dislike Rob Blake.

 

[Ron*]

Bringing back my favorite thread with this amazing pic & a question. This was the original model for what would become the Fabulous Forum:

Now my question: Is there any documentation about Ziggy and Rob Blake coming close to fighting when they were on the Kings? I'm writing a piece about the early Staples era and can't find corroboration. Thanks!

Great pic Sheng!

I do remember that the Forum ended up costing about $16 million, so costs more than doubled according to that $7 million estimate. Glad to see contractors have been low-balling estimates for over 50 years.

 

[Sheng Peng]

Never read anything about that happening.

Thanks for responding. Yes, this rumor seems unsubstantiated, I'm going to let it go.

I do remember that the Forum ended up costing about $16 million, so costs more than doubled according to that $7 million estimate. Glad to see contractors have been low-balling estimates for over 50 years.

For well more than 50 years, don't you think?

Here's some more recent history. Blake/Sydor/Zhitnik, what could've been...

A King-Sized Impression : Rob Blake, Alexei Zhitnik and Darryl Sydor have nothing but praise for former King Paul Coffey, who helped them come into their own.

A Strange World for Rookie : Ukrainian Zhitnik adapting to U.S. culture, sometimes entertainingly.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

The Kings' future on the blueline was so bright at that time with that trio, and then they had to move 2/3 of them to bring in Doug Zmolek, Shane Churla, Grant Fuhr, Philippe Boucher and Denis Tsygurov. Only one out of those five players turned out to be worth a damn.

http://articles.latimes.com/1995-02-15/sports/sp-32216_1_grant-fuhr

Thankfully the selling of Churla, Kurri and McSorley netted the best return McMaster would ever haul in a single trade,
http://articles.latimes.com/1996-03-15/sports/sp-47417_1_king-prospect

 

[Choralone]

Thanks for responding. Yes, this rumor seems unsubstantiated, I'm going to let it go.



For well more than 50 years, don't you think?

Here's some more recent history. Blake/Sydor/Zhitnik, what could've been...

A King-Sized Impression : Rob Blake, Alexei Zhitnik and Darryl Sydor have nothing but praise for former King Paul Coffey, who helped them come into their own.

A Strange World for Rookie : Ukrainian Zhitnik adapting to U.S. culture, sometimes entertainingly.

That Zhitnik trade was the worst in Kings history as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Ron*]

That Zhitnik trade was the worst in Kings history as far as I'm concerned.

That's saying something, given this team's checkered history. For sure, it's one of the worst ever.

 

[kovacro]

That's saying something, given this team's checkered history. For sure, it's one of the worst ever.

This is a good source for trades. Some real head scratchers over the years.

http://www.nhltradetracker.com/user/trade_list_by_team/Los_Angeles_Kings/1

Some of my favorites:

Oct 9/78: LA acquiring Boston goalie Ron Grahame for their 1979 1st round pick which turned out to be Ray Bourque was awesome.

March 10/80: LA acquires Jerry Korab (Buf) for their 1982 1st round pick (Phil Housley)

Oct 18/83: LA acquires Brian Engblom and Ken Houston from Washington for Larry Murphy.

They also mortgaged a handful of 1st's in the early-mid 70's for players past their prime.

 

[Butch 19]

This is a good source for trades. Some real head scratchers over the years.

http://www.nhltradetracker.com/user/trade_list_by_team/Los_Angeles_Kings/1

Some of my favorites:

Oct 9/78: LA acquiring Boston goalie Ron Grahame for their 1979 1st round pick which turned out to be Ray Bourque was awesome.

March 10/80: LA acquires Jerry Korab (Buf) for their 1982 1st round pick (Phil Housley)

Oct 18/83: LA acquires Brian Engblom and Ken Houston from Washington for Larry Murphy.

They also mortgaged a handful of 1st's in the early-mid 70's for players past their prime.

I guess Jack Kent Cooke was not a patient man...