The Monarchs folded in 1950, along with the PCHL's Southern Division, but with the opening of the Los Angeles Sports Arena in 1959 LA was able to enter the Western Hockey League as the Los Angeles Blades in 1961. The Blades shared the Sports Arena with the Lakers.
Much like MLB coming west in 1959 thwarting the PCL's bid to become a major league, the NHL began to feel threatened by the WHL in the 60s. It was time for these so called National Leagues to expand to the West coast as the NFL had way back in 1946.
The NFL, MLB, and NBA all initially expanded when east coast owners sought breathing room on the west coast and moved out. However, the NHL was just a six team league at the time with firmly entrenched fan bases, so it would have to expand its footprint with expansion franchises.
The Los Angeles Kings were one of six expansion franchises announced in 1967, the others being the California Seals (a nod to Bay Area PCL franchise San Francisco Seals), Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and St. Louis Blues.
The two West Coast teams were an aim not only to stop the WHL's influence, but the NHL had lost its TV contract with CBS so placing a team near Television City in Los Angles wasn't a bad idea. Coincidentally, CBS Television City is built on the former Pan Pacific Auditorium site where the Monarchs skated for a decade.
Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke had bought the Lakers in 1965 from Bob Short, who bought the Lakers in the 40s and moved them out of Minnesota where hockey was more popular. He paid $5 million for the Lakers, who were one of the NBA's most popular teams due to their rivalry with the Celtics.
Cooke paid $2 million to the NHL for the expansion franchise, which he named the Kings. Cooke wanted the Kings to play in the Sports Arena with the Lakers, but the Coliseum commission who run the Sports Arena already had an agreement with the WHL LA Blades. So to house both his franchises he built The Fabulous Forum in Inglewood, and dressed both teams in the purple and gold of royalty (the Laker name was too valuable to change).
Los Angeles King's second ever game, against expansion Minnesota North Stars at Long Beach Arena. Photo credit Los Angeles Public Library.
However, the Forum wasn't ready in time for the 1967 NHL season. The Kings began their existence at the Long Beach Arena which was built in 1962 as part of a convention center. Interestingly, that was the second arena built on the site, as Long Beach built the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium and Rainbow Pier in 1932
Sorry for getting sidetracked, that's just a really awesome looking auditorium. It appears it was used mostly for concerts and the like, where as the Long Beach Arena was intended to be a sports and concert venue.
So the Kings played their first game at Long Beach Arena against the expansion Pittsburgh Penguins, which they won 4-2. The photo above is of their second game, also against an expansion team. The LB Arena is much more intimate, and you can see in the photo that the NHL at the time was in the practice of dark jerseys at home (this would switch, and then back again in the future). The Kings wore all purple at home that first year, with a gold and white crown logo.
The Kings also played some home games at the Sports Arena, and two months into the season the Forum was completed. The Kings finished second in the West, which was made up entirely of expansion teams. However they barely qualified for the playoffs the following year, then did not qualify for four straight years.
By the time the Kings made the playoffs again, the NHL had added four more clubs to combat yet another competitor the World Hockey Association. This East coast and Canada based league necessitated the Vancouver Canucks, New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres, as well as the Atlanta Flames. The league chose to put Vancouver in the East (so they could play Canadian teams), and Atlanta in the west taking the Chicago Blackhawks (one of the original six) with them to build rivalry with the nearby Minnesota North Stars (which wouldn't keep Minnesota from eventually moving).
All this meant that by the time the Kings could make the playoffs again, they were quickly eliminated by experienced Chicago. The NHL restructured again in 1974, which put the Kings in a division with the Canadiens, and Red Wings.
The Kings wouldn't catch a break until they traded for Wayne Gretzky in 1988. Gretzky had won four Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers, so the Canadian's arrival in Los Angeles was a huge deal and upset a lot of Canadians.
Gretzky would lead the Kings to their only Stanley Cup appearance before this one in 2012. The team changed their purple and gold color scheme, which had become solely associated with the great Laker teams of the 80s, and adopted the black and silver scheme of the Los Angeles Raiders.
The Kings brought back the purple after moving into the Staples Center built by new owners AEG. However, they brought back the black and white this season, and goalkeeper Jonathan Quick has been hot throughout the playoffs. So good luck and go Kings!
No comments:
Post a Comment