The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent Cooke was awarded an NHL expansion franchise for Los Angeles on February 9, 1966, becoming one of the six teams that began play as part of the 1967 NHL expansion. The team played its home games at the Forum in Inglewood, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, for 32 years, until it moved to the Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles at the start of the 1999–2000 season.
Larry Clark Robinson is a Canadian former ice hockey coach, executive and player. His coaching career includes head coaching positions with the New Jersey Devils, as well as the Los Angeles Kings. For his play in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadiens and Los Angeles Kings, Robinson was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1995. He was also inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2014. In 2017, Robinson was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players". Larry is the brother of Moe Robinson.
Robert Bowlby Blake is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player. He is the current general manager of the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was originally drafted by the Kings in 1988, appearing in the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals, winning the James Norris Memorial Trophy and serving as team captain for five seasons in his initial 11-season stint with the club. In 2001, Blake was traded to the Colorado Avalanche and was a member of their 2001 Stanley Cup championship team. It was his only Stanley Cup as a player, though he won the Cup again as a member of the Kings' front office in 2014. After a two-season return to Los Angeles, Blake signed with the San Jose Sharks in 2008, retiring as its captain after the 2009–10 season. Four years later, in 2014, Blake was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Barry James Melrose is a Canadian–American retired broadcaster and former professional ice hockey player and head coach. Melrose played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) and National Hockey League (NHL). After retiring from playing, he became a head coach and is best known for being the coach of the Los Angeles Kings in their run to the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals. Until 2023, he was a long-time commentator and hockey analyst for ESPN as well as a contributor for the NHL Network.
Luc Jean-Marie Robitaille is a Canadian–American professional ice hockey executive and former player. He currently serves as president of the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Rogatien Rosaire "Rogie" Vachon is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League between 1967 and 1982.
The 1967–68 NHL season was the 51st season of the National Hockey League. The league expanded to 12 teams, putting the new six in the newly created West Division, while the "Original Six" were all placed in the newly created East Division. The regular season schedule was expanded to 74 games per team and featured the first time all twelve teams played games on the same day on October 18, 1967. The Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup against the new St. Louis Blues, in four games.
The 1968–69 NHL season was the 52nd season of the National Hockey League. Twelve teams each played 76 games. For the second time in a row, the Montreal Canadiens faced the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Finals. Montreal won their second consecutive Stanley Cup as they swept the Blues in four, an identical result to the previous season.
Alexei Ponikarovsky is a Ukrainian-Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings, Carolina Hurricanes, Winnipeg Jets and New Jersey Devils, having originally been drafted in the third round, 87th overall, by the Maple Leafs at the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. He also holds Russian citizenship.
Terrance Victor Harper is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Harper played in the National Hockey League from 1962 to 1981. During this time, he played for the Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues, and Colorado Rockies.
Mark Hardy is a Swiss-born Canadian former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers and Minnesota North Stars between 1979 and 1994. A professional hockey coach for 20 years, Hardy was most recently an assistant coach with the Tucson Roadrunners of the American Hockey League (AHL), the top-most minor league affiliate of the Arizona Coyotes.
Jeff Schultz is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He most recently played for the San Diego Gulls in the American Hockey League (AHL). He was drafted by the Washington Capitals in the first round, 27th overall, in 2004.
John A. Stevens is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He is an assistant coach of the Vegas Golden Knights. He is the former head coach of the Los Angeles Kings and the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Stevens was a defenceman for the Flyers and Hartford Whalers during his playing career. Stevens was born in Campbellton, New Brunswick, but grew up in Turkey Point in Norfolk County, Ontario.
Nathan Scott Thompson is an American former professional ice hockey forward. He played for the Boston Bruins, New York Islanders, Tampa Bay Lightning, Anaheim Ducks, Ottawa Senators, Los Angeles Kings, Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers and Winnipeg Jets. The Bruins drafted him in the sixth round at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.
The 1992–93 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 76th season in the National Hockey League (NHL) and their 84th overall. Coming off of a disappointing second round playoff exit against the Boston Bruins during the 1991–92 season, the third-straight season Boston had defeated Montreal in the playoffs, the Canadiens were champions for the 1992–93 season.
Tyler Toffoli is a Canadian professional ice hockey winger for the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the second round, 47th overall, by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and won the Stanley Cup with the Kings in 2014. Toffoli has also previously played for the Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, and Vancouver Canucks.
The 2014 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2013–14 season, and the culmination of the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs. The League realigned its divisions prior to the season, and changed the structure of the playoffs, but the championship series remained the same. The Western Conference champion Los Angeles Kings defeated the Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers four games to one to win their second championship in franchise history, marking the first time since 2007 that the championship series was determined in fewer than six games. Their Stanley Cup–winning run of 26 playoff games was later tied by the 2019 St. Louis Blues for the longest of any Stanley Cup–winning team in history.
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.
Michael Amadio is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre for the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). Amadio was selected by the Los Angeles Kings, 90th overall, in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.
