That weird 1995 L.A. Kings' team and why it failed

[The Panther]

In 1993-94, the L.A. Kings crapped out and missed the playoffs for the first time in the Gretzky-era. Coach Barry Melrose wanted the club to be tougher, it seems. The (post-Work Stoppage) 1995 L.A. Kings' club, in that short 48-team season, was a bit odd:
CENTERS
-- Gretzky (getting old; had worst season of career)
-- Quinn (recently acquired and hadn't been relevant for years at this point)
-- Lang (seemingly under-used by Kings)
-- Shuchuk (seemingly considered an NHL player by no one but Barry Melrose)
-- Todd (unestablished journeyman)
WINGERS
-- Kurri (getting washed-up)
-- Tocchet (acquired in preceding off-season, for Robitaille)
-- Granato (dressed for only 33 games)
-- Burridge (acquired early in the short season for Rychel, scored 4 times in 38 games)
-- Lacroix (seemingly acquired because size-fetish era / Melrose)
-- Conacher (career seemingly extended because Melrose)
-- Druce (second and final season with Kings)
-- Crowder (winger somehow managed only 4 shots on goal in 29 games)
DEFENSE
-- Blake (dressed in only 24 games)
-- McSorley (bizarrely re-acquired the previous season, with Kings losing Sandstrom as a result)
-- Petit (signed as free agent before season)
-- Sydor
-- Cowie (who?)
-- Snell (who?)
-- Tsygurov (who?)
GOAL
-- Hrudey (veteran seemed to do fairly well, statistically at least)
-- Fuhr (bizarrely acquired early in season at the cost of Zhitnik, a great, young puck-moving Dman with Cup Finals' experience)
-- Storr (rookie)
_____________________________

So, while hardly a great looking line-up (esp. on defence, and moreso when Blake was out), the team doesn't seem all that awful. There are a lot of slowing-down veterans, but they do look bigger and 'tougher' than before. (Petit would seem to be a good add on defence, too.)

Considering that (a) the Kings had just lost two 40-goal scorers (Robitaille and Sandstrom) and (b) Gretzky (and Kurri) had easily the worst season of his career, the club did okay offensively, finishing 11th in goals, and boasting an unspectacular but reasonable depth with six forwards in double-digit goals in this short season. Although Rick Tocchet's stint in L.A. is easily forgotten, he seems to have done rather well: he led the club in goals and was 2nd in points -- and this in only 36 games played! John Druce somehow banged in 15 goals in only 43 games, and Dan Quinn (briefly) revived his career a bit with a solid 31 points in 44 games.

But Granato kind of underwhelmed statistically, Kurri was increasingly looking done... and what the heck happened to Randy Burridge with 4 goals in 38 games?Losing Zhitnik must also have hurt them offensively, as he'd previously been a power-play stand out.

Anyway, the club's problem -- as usual -- was defence, despite the 'tough guy' additions. They finished 23rd of 26 clubs in defence.

Speaking of defence, what I particularly do not understand (among many odd moves Kings' management made in this era) is the Zhitnik trade. They sent him to Buffalo for Fuhr, basically. So... they already had a veteran goalie (Hrudey) -- who was doing rather well that season, it seems. But they traded an already strong 22-year-old Dman (possibly the rarest commodity in the League) for Fuhr, who'd had disastrous stats for three seasons in Buffalo. (Zhitnik went on to play the next 9.5 seasons for Buffalo, scoring over 300 points for them in RS and playoffs). You'd have to think the "Gretzky's buddy" thing came into effect here, as the trade just doesn't make any sense otherwise. Fuhr was a disaster, winning 1 of 11 decisions (and 14 appearances), and posting a horrendous .876 (in a low-scoring season). Meanwhile, Hrudey actually had a winning record of 14-13-5, and a solid enough .910.

Anyway, despite all these changes and disappointments, the club should have been able to make the playoffs, needing to finish top three in the quite-weak Pacific division (where only one club finished over .500). The Kings, however, finished 1 point behind San Jose, which took the final playoff spot in the West.

After 23 games (remember, that's about halfway through the short season), the Kings managed to win three in a row on the road, and so the standings were this:
27 - Calgary
23 - Vancouver
20 - Edmonton / San Jose / L.A.
14 - Anaheim

So, it was very much up in the air at that point. After L.A.'s consecutive wins over Edmonton and Dallas in early April, this was the standings:
39 - Calgary
33 - L.A. / Vancouver
27 - Edmonton
26 - San Jose
26 - Anaheim

And this, with only 13 games left in the season! How'd they blow it, I wonder? Well, starting on April 7th, the Kings lost six games in a row. Here's how it looked after the six straight losses:
49 - Calgary
40 - Vancouver
35 - San Jose
33 - Edmonton
33 - L.A.
32 - Anaheim

After the sixth loss in a row, coach Melrose was fired and Rogie Vachon took over behind the bench. Vachon went 3-2-2 to close out the season... but they ended up 1 point shy of San Jose, and 2 points from a playoff spot.

They managed only consecutive ties vs. Edmonton and Anaheim, then predictably lost to Detroit in game 44. Game 45, though, is perplexing and is the one that cost them the playoffs: They lost 4-0 to San Jose, at the Shark tank. If they win that game, or even tie, they'd likely have made the playoffs. The Kings had two full days (almost three, total) between games, so fatigue shouldn't have been the issue.

The Kings did the smart thing by starting Hrudey, who faced 30 shots and let in three. L.A. put 29 on Artūrs Irbe, who pitched the shut-out. This must have been a really demoralizing loss for a veteran-team. What happened here?

Anyway, they still almost made it in, with back-to-back wins coming next over Anaheim and Winnipeg. Unfortunately, they had to play the season's final game on the road -- at Chicago stadium. If they'd won it, they'd have jumped San Jose and made the playoffs.

They lost 5-1, after starting Grant Fuhr because... why? All he'd done was lose for two months. Ex-King Bernie Nicholls scored 2 points just to rub some salt in Rogie Vachon's wound.

All told, a strange mini-season and a strange club. They would, on paper, have seemed to have a strong enough team (well, if they'd kept Zhitnik) to at least make third place in their weak division. Additions like Tocchet and Quinn and Petit seemed to have done reasonably well (quite well, in Tocchet's case), and Kelly Hrudey in net seemed okay. But usually dependable players like Gretzky, Kurri, Granato, and Blake (even when healthy) under-produced, and the additions of Burridge and Fuhr were disasters. The Kings never seemed to realize Robert Lang's potential, and I suspect they underplayed him (with more ice-time at center going to Gretzky and Quinn). The bottom half of the line-up was pretty awful, with guys like Conacher (aged 35) and Shuchuk barely being NHL players.

I realize the club had off-ice issues after McNall's prison sentence and bankruptcy (they apparently had issues playing players' salaries), but I wonder... if they'd gotten those 2 extra points and made the playoffs, might the Gretzky/Kings era have ended quite differently?

Anyway, please share any memories of this era or further analyze why the '95 Kings club could not even catch San Jose for that last playoff spot...

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[Michael Farkas]

Good thread, I like these specific threads.

On a high-level, Melrose is not a good coach. So, it's unlikely he'll get a team to be better than the sum of its parts in any respect.

That defense, as you note, is supremely bad - with or without Blake. And like, here's the thing too - they're all kind of 80's style d-men for lack of a better term...Blake, McSorley, and Petit - to my recollection and re-watches - all seem to really go out of their way to make hits. So, they either clean you out or they're out on Rodeo Drive and you have a free path to the net.

For those two goalies, at that stage in their respective careers, at that stage of league quality (though, 1995 sort of sucked relative to the couple years on either side of it)...that's a really tough ask.

You compare them to the Sharks...and on paper, the Sharks defense is unremarkable. I'd take Rathje over some of their defensive guys. I'd take Ozolinsh over any offensive guys...but overall, it's not that impressive of a group. A lot of Steve Poapsts if you will.

But under Kevin Constantine, he can make teams greater than the sum of their parts with his militant defensive structure. He got Team Jagr backed by Kevin Hatcher, Kasparaitis (fine), Olausson (fine), Slegr, Tamer, 20-minute Brad Werenka, and Neil Wilkinson...backed themselves by Barrasso, who hadn't been good in years, and Petr Skudra to a near top defense in the league.

Anyway...you can take a look at what I mean in, literally, the very first clip I looked up from this season while typing this message...

2:41 if it doesn't start there.



Right off the bat, you have two guys not getting above the puck on LA. They aren't doing much of anything. I'd be cool with one there...but two...? Even if it's a sudden change, the LHS in the foreground isn't on a good track angle-wise anyhow...

You can see with 42.5 left on the clock on-screen that there's big spacing problems between Fs and Ds. So, you allow a speed runway...then you have a bunch of d-men that like to take big runs sort of isolated back there. They don't mitigate risk well, they don't absorb speed/rushes well, so, well...I don't want to spoil it...

With 39.2 seconds left on-screen, you see Marty McSorley just being...exactly what I described. He makes Blake look normal.

There's no back pressure of note despite having F3 way back. Again, spacing. But also coaching in general.

And so now a 2 on 3 is now basically a semi-breakaway in less than two seconds somehow.

Hrudey is also too rattled by the situation to make any sort of formulaic save selection here. He basically McSorley'd himself too.

And I know what you're thinkin'..."man, Larionov to Whitney sure was sweet!" ...you're close, but way off. That's Kevin Miller to Jeff Odgers, who scores one of his - I don't know - 23 (?) career goals...

Even on the next Sharks goal...



It's a nice pass and a nice finish, and I don't blame Hrudey. But look...there's Kings all over the floor. It's Shakespearean almost...

If you have players diving all around and leaving their feet all the time, you have at least one major problem.

I'm not saying perfect, but look at how the expansion Sharks defend...



Hats on hats. Sticks on sticks. Players aren't trying to be surrogate zambonis. There's some organization to that at least...despite probably, I don't know, Vlastimil Kroupa being out there against Gretzky (I don't know if Kroupa is on this team, that name stuck with me because it sounds like a character in Mario Bros.)

So, that's what I'd look to...structure vs. the opposite of structure. And then players that don't necessarily do well in that void. Gretzky being free to do whatever - fine - he's a smart player, he's going to figure out how to maximize the situation. Tell McSorley and Petit to just "go play" and, "by the way, we're trying to get tougher" and you get what you get...

 

[Bear of Bad News]

Fuhr in Los Angeles was so weird - he just looked awkward.

And the best way I can describe it is that he constantly looked like he had his gloves on the wrong hands. Which he of course did, but it never looked "wrong" in Edmonton or St. Louis or Buffalo.

He just looked physically uncomfortable in Los Angeles.

 

[MadLuke]

when Rob Blake played they won only 8 of 24 games (exact same pace than when he was out), probably a deeper issue than missing games from their big #1D, was he ok when he was playing ?

Got injured early on it seem and would never really play that well for years after that it seem.

 

[Stephen]

That LA Kings team was indeed a weird Frankenstein-has been team full of misfit pieces. They opened the lockout shortened season on home ice vs the weird Frankenstein-has been Leafs in a 1993 Campbell Conference Finals rematch, and that happened to be Mats Sundin's debut for the Leafs, and this is the pre-game from that night. Somehow you just remember stuff more clearly from when you're a kid.

 

[Stanislasjc]

Gretzky was in that awful phase that legends get when they have all the power they had at their peak and more, but the production isn't quite the same anymore but they don't necessarily see that they're past their prime yet. And everyone caters to them, based on past reputation.

You see it in Hollywood with aging movie stars. LeBron is like this on the Lakers right now with his damn son on the team lol

Don't you think it's strange how Wayne Flipping Gretzky just bounced around at the end of his career like that? How many other all time greats played on three different teams in the last five years of their career, like a journeyman?

The only guy I can think of is maybe Guy Lafleur, who was also an overly prideful former best player who struggled to accept his diminishing role/importance as he aged, eventually finding some peace in Quebec.

 

[Crosby2010]

It was after this season in 1995 that Gretzky contemplated retirement, publicly. He stated that he wanted the Kings to make the playoffs in 1996, that he wanted to be much better than just a point a game (he was this in 1995 exactly). If not, he would want to retire. Instead he demanded a trade and was dealt in February of 1996. These were not the golden years for Gretzky, and perhaps the only poor times of his career from a team standpoint. In fact, 1995 was easily his worst season to date. I think missing half of the year with a lockout didn't help guys at his age. Gretzky had played 15 years in the NHL by 1994 and had just come off the Art Ross trophy. He was not that same player in 1995 that he was in 1994 anymore. It takes a toll on you getting out of that rhythm.

That being said I am afraid I have to disagree that the Kings were a good team this year. Just look at that roster, no one is at the right point of their career. Gretzky is older, Kurri is nearly done, Tocchet is not the impact player anymore, Lang isn't Robert Lang yet, Dan Quinn, oh boy, that guy had better not be one of your better forwards at that point............................Granato is old, Eric Lacroix, Randy Burridge. Yikes. Let's call it a minor miracle that Gretzky managed a point per game.

On defense Sydor is not yet hit his stride, and for that matter neither has Blake fully yet. McSorley is old and I am not sure how elite Kelly Hrudey ever was in net, but by now he is not the 1987 version we tend to remember. And I think it is worth remembering that he was incredibly shaky at best in the 1993 march to the final as well.

So overall I just am not loving the 1995 Kings regardless. Or the 1994 Kings. But at least you had a healthy Blake, Robitaille on the wings and Kurri was a year younger. And 1993 was a decent team that needed Gretzky to be superhuman, which he basically was in the 1993 playoffs. I'm sorry, I just think this team was exactly what we should have expected them to be. Gretzky can only pump their tires for so long, and by 1995 he couldn't anymore.

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

The Fuhr thing is weird. It's sort of like twenty years later when they traded Cernak for Bishop despite already having Quick and Budaj. Like, why?

I've thought for awhile about making a post on market inefficiencies (in this case bloat) of the past. And one of the biggest ones I can think of is the whole 'he's a winner' thing, and it particularly seemed to refer to anyone who even played a game for the Oilers in the 80's.

I'm sure the Rangers doing what they did in 94 with 6 former Oilers played a part. But it was crazy how big free agent contracts would be, and how bloated trade packages would be for a 6th defence man or a 39 year old has been because 'he's won before, he knows what it takes'.

Now, we've moved too far away from that into the advanced stats nerd-dom that forgets that this is a team sport and group psychology plays a massive factor in success.

But the Fuhr thing was:

1. Gretzky's friend, and yes he had outsized influence on that team at this point.

2. "He's a winner!".

It didn't make sense then, and it became clear that Fuhr was terrible and likely out of shape. It was actually really cool when he went on to reclaim his career with St Louis and go out on prouder terms.

 

[The Panther]

I'm sure the Rangers doing what they did in 94 with 6 former Oilers played a part.

You raise a really good point. We have to enter the mentality of Gretzky / The Kings in 1994-95.

I think, when the Oilers won in 1990, it was hard for Gretzky to watch, but he was still happy for / proud of his ex-teammates. Also, it was largely his own doing that he left hurriedly when he did, so he kind of knew he had to lie in the bed he'd made. "Fair play", as the Irish say.

But I think L.A.'s coming so close but failling in 1993, and then watching the New York-Oilers plus Leetch / Zubov dominate the League and win the Cup in 1994 was just gut-wrenching for Gretzky. He must have been clinging to the notion that L.A. was just a couple of key parts away from being a real contender... when in reality, they were about a hundred miles away.

 

[FerrisRox]

The Fuhr trade was such a head scratcher at the time, because it was making the Kings biggest weakness (their defense) considerably weaker while, at least in theory, helping them in goal.

But in 1995, the difference between Kelly Hrudey and Grant Fuhr was basically the flip of a coin. The Kings goaltending didn't get better by making the trade, it just got deeper.

But there was no plan in place for replacing the huge hole that was created by trading Alex Zhitnik in that deal. Charlie Huddy was also sent to Buffalo in the trade with the Kings getting Phillipe Boucher (who wasn't quite useful yet at this point) and Denis Tsygurov who was probably acquired simply because he was 6'5.

They combined for 27 games and 1 point after the trade. The Kings just took a big, useful piece of their defense, sent it away, and didn't replace it.

A couple of other interesting (at least to me) footnotes about this team: Wayne Gretzky had a point-per-game season. Gretzky only had one season, his last, where he produced below a point-per-game. This year was the only time he ever landed right on a point-per-game with 48 in 48 games.

Former 115 point scorer Rob Brown suited up for two games with the Kings, wearing #9. The season before he played just a single NHL game, with the Dallas Stars. Though he only played two games for the Kings, he tore it up for their IHL affiliate in Phoenix with 107 points in 69 games.

He would spend the next two years out of the NHL playing for the Chicago Wolves of the IHL and posting a 143 point season followed by an 117 point season. After those two remarkable campaigns, Rob Brown returned to the Penguins and played all 82 games and scored 40 points. He spent two more years with the Penguins, then went back to the Chicago Wolves where he played the three final seasons of his career, producing over a point-a-game all three years.

 

[The Panther]

The Fuhr trade was such a head scratcher at the time, because it was making the Kings biggest weakness (their defense) considerably weaker while, at least in theory, helping them in goal.

But in 1995, the difference between Kelly Hrudey and Grant Fuhr was basically the flip of a coin. The Kings goaltending didn't get better by making the trade, it just got deeper.

But there was no plan in place for replacing the huge hole that was created by trading Alex Zhitnik in that deal. Charlie Huddy was also sent to Buffalo in the trade with the Kings getting Phillipe Boucher (who wasn't quite useful yet at this point) and Denis Tsygurov who was probably acquired simply because he was 6'5.

They combined for 27 games and 1 point after the trade. The Kings just took a big, useful piece of their defense, sent it away, and didn't replace it.

A couple of other interesting (at least to me) footnotes about this team: Wayne Gretzky had a point-per-game season. Gretzky only had one season, his last, where he produced below a point-per-game. This year was the only time he ever landed right on a point-per-game with 48 in 48 games.

Former 115 point scorer Rob Brown suited up for two games with the Kings, wearing #9. The season before he played just a single NHL game, with the Dallas Stars. Though he only played two games for the Kings, he tore it up for their IHL affiliate in Phoenix with 107 points in 69 games.

He would spend the next two years out of the NHL playing for the Chicago Wolves of the IHL and posting a 143 point season followed by an 117 point season. After those two remarkable campaigns, Rob Brown returned to the Penguins and played all 82 games and scored 40 points. He spent two more years with the Penguins, then went back to the Chicago Wolves where he played the three final seasons of his career, producing over a point-a-game all three years.

I agree with this analysis. Rob Brown probably never had a chance with Barry-"I-like-my-big-guys"-Melrose anyway, and then the incoming size-fetish era finsihed his NHL career off (not that Brown's party-boy lifestyle helped). Mario and the Pens threw him a bone near the end.

One thing that does stand out to me looking back at the numbers (and yes, I know this only tells part of the story) is that Kelly Hrudey was actually pretty darn good for the Kings.

In his Kings' regular season career, his GSAA is at 72 goals-saved above average over 360 games played (335 decisions). It's not amazing but it's pretty decent, and when you factor in how awful the Kings' defense was every single season he was there (excepting 1990-91), it's impressive.

And, as noted, he did rather well in 1995 -- miles better than Fuhr, obviously. You would think that the acquisition of Fuhr must have dented Hrudey's ego / confidence a bit. He was probably thinking, "I haven't done enough?" Then, in 1995-96, the Kings seemed to decide to go with Byron Dafoe as the main guy, even though Hrudey's stats were far better.

Maybe Melrose never trusted him...?

I think a lot of us (myself included) tend to remember Hrudey's frequently awful playoff appearances with L.A., but to give the guy his due, his regular season numbers are consisently pretty good.

 

[FerrisRox]

The steep price of Alexei Zhitnik is even more puzzling when you factor in that Grant Fuhr was pending unrestricted free agent.

If the Kings really wanted Grant Fuhr, they could have just waited until the summer rand acquired him for free. Adding him to an existing Kelly Hrudey was utterly pointless. The Kings had already drafted Jamie Storr, high, so it seemed like an odd choice from the get-go.

 

[MS]

So, while hardly a great looking line-up (esp. on defence, and moreso when Blake was out), the team doesn't seem all that awful. There are a lot of slowing-down veterans, but they do look bigger and 'tougher' than before. (Petit would seem to be a good add on defence, too.)

That roster is *horrible*.

There was one above-average player under the age of 30 on the entire roster (Blake) and only 4-5 good position players on that roster period (Blake, Gretzky, Tocchet, a young ok-ish Darryl Sydor, and an incredibly injury-prone Granato who was still decent when he played). And even Gretzky post-1993 back injury was increasingly getting caved at ES. Virtually nobody on the team was a quality defensive player and many were notoriously terrible defensive players.

The rest of that roster is absolutely ancient and looks sub-expansion level quality.

And then Blake got hurt.

Kelly Hrudey probably should have received a Vezina nomination in 1995 because he basically single-handedly kept that team from finishing down with Ottawa at the bottom of the league. They were a defensive disaster and a shooting gallery who conceded 35 shots against/game, fully 2/game more than the 2nd worst team. When Hrudey wasn't in net they got absolutely destroyed.

 

[Brodeur]

-- McSorley (bizarrely re-acquired the previous season, with Kings losing Sandstrom as a result)

It was puzzling at the time, but it did seem to be financially motivated. St. Louis gave McSorley a big Group III offer sheet in the summer of 1993. I was under the impression that the owner Bruce McNall didn't have the money to match; McNall would plead guilty to conspiracy/fraud in December 1993.

LA matched but then immediately traded McSorley to Pittsburgh for Shawn McEachern. It's my assumption that's why they changed the offer sheet rule in the 1995 CBA to prohibit a team from matching and trading the player within a calendar year.

After LA got off to a slow start in 1993-94, I believe Gretzky (and Melrose) lobbied for them to get McSorley back. At the same time, Tomas Sandstrom was making a stink about his next contract which LA would have had difficulty paying. Apparently Sandstrom was threatening to go back to Sweden, but he'd end up staying in the NHL for the remainder of the decade.

Hard to find details now, but McSorley's contract was 800K a year plus a 5 million dollar signing bonus spread out over 10 years. Not sure if the Pens were the ones on the hook for that initial signing bonus. Unfortunately for LA, they had to overpay to get Pittsburgh to agree to reverse the original McSorley/McEachern swap.

The steep price of Alexei Zhitnik is even more puzzling when you factor in that Grant Fuhr was pending unrestricted free agent.

Kings' Zhitnik Says He Was Threatened : NHL: He acknowledges that organized crime elements in Ukraine tried to extort money from him.

Alexei Zhitnik of the Kings acknowledged Sunday that he was targeted for extortion last summer in his Ukrainian homeland.

www.latimes.com

There were different rumors about Zhitnik and the local Russian mafia in LA. Zhitnik (and other Russian NHLers) said they were constant extortion targets. Although on the flip side, I've heard stories that Zhitnik was young/brash and angering some dangerous people. At any rate, it almost seemed like LA shipped him out almost like to get him away for his own good. (Almost reminds me of one of my extended family member being sent to western New York so he didn't have ties to his local bad influences).

LA also did get Philippe Boucher in the deal and he wasn't far removed from being a 1st rounder. Unfortunately for LA, Boucher was a tweener for years. When he finally had a breakout season, Boucher then qualified for early UFA status since he was making below the average NHL salary. I'd have to dig up an old THN Future Watch issue, but Boucher in 1994 probably wasn't just a throw-in.

 

[Bench Clearer]

But I think L.A.'s coming so close but failling in 1993, and then watching the New York-Oilers plus Leetch / Zubov dominate the League and win the Cup in 1994 was just gut-wrenching for Gretzky. He must have been clinging to the notion that L.A. was just a couple of key parts away from being a real contender... when in reality, they were about a hundred miles away.

Hey Panther, as if that wasn't bad enough...how about the Rangers beating the Kings in the Forum with only 1.5 seconds left in OT in early 94? Not to mention the fact that Messier scored the goal.

 

[The Panther]

Hey Panther, as if that wasn't bad enough...how about the Rangers beating the Kings in the Forum with only 1.5 seconds left in OT in early 94? Not to mention the fact that Messier scored the goal.

Yes, I'm sure this didn't help Wayne's mood....

(This is the game where -- if you haven't seen the clip, check it out, as it's hard to believe -- Tony Granato jumps onto the ice, from the bench, in full view of the referee, with 11 seconds left in the game, to join a rush going down the ice. Granato knows full well that no King is coming off, so apparently he just gambled that he could get away with it and not be noticed. Instead, the Rangers got a penalty shot...)

 

[Voight]

It was after this season in 1995 that Gretzky contemplated retirement, publicly. He stated that he wanted the Kings to make the playoffs in 1996, that he wanted to be much better than just a point a game (he was this in 1995 exactly). If not, he would want to retire. Instead he demanded a trade and was dealt in February of 1996. These were not the golden years for Gretzky, and perhaps the only poor times of his career from a team standpoint. In fact, 1995 was easily his worst season to date. I think missing half of the year with a lockout didn't help guys at his age. Gretzky had played 15 years in the NHL by 1994 and had just come off the Art Ross trophy. He was not that same player in 1995 that he was in 1994 anymore. It takes a toll on you getting out of that rhythm.

That being said I am afraid I have to disagree that the Kings were a good team this year. Just look at that roster, no one is at the right point of their career. Gretzky is older, Kurri is nearly done, Tocchet is not the impact player anymore, Lang isn't Robert Lang yet, Dan Quinn, oh boy, that guy had better not be one of your better forwards at that point............................Granato is old, Eric Lacroix, Randy Burridge. Yikes. Let's call it a minor miracle that Gretzky managed a point per game.

On defense Sydor is not yet hit his stride, and for that matter neither has Blake fully yet. McSorley is old and I am not sure how elite Kelly Hrudey ever was in net, but by now he is not the 1987 version we tend to remember. And I think it is worth remembering that he was incredibly shaky at best in the 1993 march to the final as well.

So overall I just am not loving the 1995 Kings regardless. Or the 1994 Kings. But at least you had a healthy Blake, Robitaille on the wings and Kurri was a year younger. And 1993 was a decent team that needed Gretzky to be superhuman, which he basically was in the 1993 playoffs. I'm sorry, I just think this team was exactly what we should have expected them to be. Gretzky can only pump their tires for so long, and by 1995 he couldn't anymore.

Between the Kings missing the playoffs and the lockout, that was the longest offseason Gretzky had up to that point in his career.

Also the team was probably still reeling from the collapse of McNall's house of cards.

 

[Bench Clearer]

Yes, I'm sure this didn't help Wayne's mood....

(This is the game where -- if you haven't seen the clip, check it out, as it's hard to believe -- Tony Granato jumps onto the ice, from the bench, in full view of the referee, with 11 seconds left in the game, to join a rush going down the ice. Granato knows full well that no King is coming off, so apparently he just gambled that he could get away with it and not be noticed. Instead, the Rangers got a penalty shot...)

Panther it never ceases to amaze me how many examples we've seen of LA's complete lack of defensive awareness during the late 80s and mid 90s. It was like they caught lightning in a bottle in 91 and then forgot it all 50 first dates style that off-season.

Was Melrose really that awful of a coach? He DID win a Calder Cup prior to joining the Kings.

 

[blogofmike]

Was Melrose really that awful of a coach?

Yes.

He was a strong motivational guy, but brought little to the table in terms of tactical knowledge. Not and X's and O's guy. Had no concept of matchups. Having Cowie and Snell is being dealt a bad hand, but he never showed himself to be much of a teacher, or a guy who could hide weaker players (aside from shoving them out with Gretzky and hoping real hard.) He went on to Tampa where he didn't see much in Steven Stamkos.

 

[Crosby2010]

Yes.

He was a strong motivational guy, but brought little to the table in terms of tactical knowledge. Not and X's and O's guy. Had no concept of matchups. Having Cowie and Snell is being dealt a bad hand, but he never showed himself to be much of a teacher, or a guy who could hide weaker players (aside from shoving them out with Gretzky and hoping real hard.) He went on to Tampa where he didn't see much in Steven Stamkos.

I can remember Melrose getting fired early on in Tampa. He claimed Stamkos should have been back in junior. I can remember thinking he was strange for saying that. Stamkos ended up with 46 points in his rookie season. Had a tough start the first month or so, and Melrose only coached 16 games, so he really wasn't seeing Stamkos' potential yet, because who shows that 16 games into their NHL career. But even so, the first 23 games he had 10 points. That's not great, but that is hardly numbers that force you to send an 18 year old back to juniors for. He was getting a decent 13 minutes a game of ice time, by the end of the season it was 20. In Stamkos' 2nd year he led the NHL in goals. So Melrose was crazy! I can also remember him saying that any coach that says he wishes his team does well after he gets fired is lying. He might be telling the truth there, but either way, he never coached in the NHL again.