1967–68 Los Angeles Kings season

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1967–68 Los Angeles Kings
Division 2nd West
1967–68 record 31–33–10
Home record 20–13–4
Road record 11–20–6
Goals for 200
Goals against 224
Team information
General Manager Larry Regan
Coach Red Kelly
Captain Bob Wall
Arena Long Beach Arena,
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena,
Los Angeles Forum
Team leaders
Goals Bill Flett (26)
Assists Eddie Joyal (34)
Points Eddie Joyal (57)
Penalties in minutes Dave Amadio (101)
Wins Wayne Rutledge (20)
Goals against average Wayne Rutledge (2.87)
1968–69>

The 1967–68 Los Angeles Kings season was the first season for the Kings in the National Hockey League. The Kings qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs but lost in their first playoff series.

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Offseason

The Kings were one of six expansion teams, which doubled the size of the league from six to twelve. The Kings were placed in the newly established West Division, along with the other expansion teams: the California Seals, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues.

The Kings picked goaltenders Terry Sawchuk and Wayne Rutledge with their first picks of the Expansion Draft, but the Kings did not rely on the draft. Owner Jack Kent Cooke purchased the American Hockey League's Springfield Indians for $1 million to bolster the Kings roster. Long-time Indians player Brian Kilrea would score the Kings' first goal.

Regular season

The Kings played their home games in three locations during that inaugural campaign. They alternated between both the Long Beach Arena and the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena before the brand new arena built by Cooke and known as The Forum would become their permanent home. In the first game ever at The Forum, they lost 2–0 to the Philadelphia Flyers. This loss came back to haunt them as they finished in second place, one point behind the Flyers.

The Kings were predicted by writers to finish last in the new West Division.[1] Surprisingly, the Kings finished second, just one point out of first. Bill Flett scored 26 goals, while Eddie Joyal scored 23 goals, adding 34 assists for 57 points and was the second leading scorer in the West Division.

The Kings combined to go 20–13–4 in their 37 home games spread over 3 arenas that first season. On the road, Los Angeles posted a record of just 11–20–6. The Kings finished a surprising second place in the Western Conference behind the coaching of Red Kelly, who as a player holds the distinction of playing on the most Stanley Cup championship teams without any of them including time in Montreal. The goaltending tandem of future hall of famer Terry Sawchuk and Wayne Rutledge allowed the team to stay in most games. The Kings had the best record of any of the expansion teams against the "Original Six", going a respectable 10–12–2, including winning their first two games ever against the legendary Montreal Canadiens.

Playoffs

The Kings faced off against the Minnesota North Stars in their first-ever playoff series. Although the Kings had home-ice advantage, the North Stars won the best-of-seven series 4–3. Doug Robinson and Lowell MacDonald led all Kings playoff scorers with seven points, while Eddie Joyal and Gord Labossiere had five points each.

Season standings

West Division[2]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Philadelphia Flyers 74 31 32 11 173 179 −6 73
2 Los Angeles Kings 74 31 33 10 200 224 −24 72
3 St. Louis Blues 74 27 31 16 177 191 −14 70
4 Minnesota North Stars 74 27 32 15 191 226 −35 69
5 Pittsburgh Penguins 74 27 34 13 195 216 −21 67
6 Oakland Seals 74 15 42 17 153 219 −66 47


Schedule and results

1967–68 game log
October
Game Date Opponent Score Location/attendance Record
1 14 Philadelphia Flyers 4–2 Los Angeles 1–0-0
2 15 Minnesota North Stars 5–3 Los Angeles 2–0-0
3 18 Oakland Seals 2–2 Oakland 2-0–1
4 21 St. Louis Blues 3–3 St. Louis 2-0–2
5 22 Chicago Black Hawks 5–3 Chicago 3–0-2
6 25 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–4 Toronto 3–1–2
7 26 Boston Bruins 0–2 Boston 3–2–2
8 28 Pittsburgh Penguins 5–3 Pittsburgh 4–2-2
9 31 New York Rangers 1–6 Los Angeles 4–3–2
November
Game Date Opponent Score Location/attendance Record
10 2 Chicago Black Hawks 1–3 Los Angeles 4–4–2
11 4 Minnesota North Stars 2–2 Minnesota 4-4–3
12 5 Detroit Red Wings 6–4 Detroit 5–4-3
13 7 Oakland Seals 5–4 Los Angeles 6–4-3
14 9 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–1 Los Angeles 7–4-3
15 15 Oakland Seals 1–4 Oakland 7–5–3
16 17 Detroit Red Wings 1–4 Los Angeles 7–6–3
17 19 Montreal Canadiens 4–2 Los Angeles 8–6-3
18 22 Oakland Seals 3–1 Los Angeles 9–6-3
19 24 Pittsburgh Penguins 5–3 Los Angeles 10–6-3
20 26 Philadelphia Flyers 2–7 Philadelphia 10–7–3
21 29 St. Louis Blues 2–3 St. Louis 10–8–3
December
Game Date Opponent Score Location/attendance Record
22 2 Montreal Canadiens 3–2 Montreal 11–8-3
23 3 New York Rangers 2–4 New York 11–9–3
24 6 St. Louis Blues 3–2 Los Angeles 12–9-3
25 8 Philadelphia Flyers 0–3 Los Angeles 12–10–3
26 10 Boston Bruins 3–1 Boston 13–10-3
27 13 Minnesota North Stars 0–4 Minnesota 13–11–3
28 15 Minnesota North Stars 0–3 Los Angeles 13–12–3
29 16 Boston Bruins 2–5 Los Angeles 13–13–3
30 19 Oakland Seals 3–1 Los Angeles 14–13-3
31 21 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–1 Los Angeles 15–13-3
32 23 St. Louis Blues 4–0 Los Angeles 16–13-3
33 25 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–4 Pittsburgh 16–14–3
34 27 St. Louis Blues 2–4 St. Louis 16–15–3
35 30 Philadelphia Flyers 0–2 Los Angeles 16–16–3
36 31 Philadelphia Flyers 1–9 Philadelphia 16–17–3
January
Game Date Opponent Score Location/attendance Record
37 3 Minnesota North Stars 0–6 Minnesota 16–18–3
38 4 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–4 Pittsburgh 16–19–3
39 6 St. Louis Blues 1–2 St. Louis 16–20–3
40 7 Oakland Seals 0–6 Oakland 16–21–3
41 11 St. Louis Blues 2–2 Los Angeles 16-21–4
42 18 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–2 Los Angeles 17–21-4
43 19 New York Rangers 5–2 Los Angeles 18–21-4
44 21 Oakland Seals 0–3 Oakland 18–22–4
45 24 Oakland Seals 1–4 Los Angeles 18–23–4
46 27 Pittsburgh Penguins 5–3 Pittsburgh 19–23-4
47 28 Philadelphia Flyers 2–0 Philadelphia 20–23-4
48 31 Minnesota North Stars 1–6 Minnesota 20–24–4
February
Game Date Opponent Score Location/attendance Record
49 1 Detroit Red Wings 8–6 Detroit 21–24-4
50 3 Montreal Canadiens 1–5 Montreal 21–25–4
51 4 Chicago Black Hawks 3–5 Chicago 21–26–4
52 7 Minnesota North Stars 2–4 Los Angeles 21–27–4
53 8 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–1 Los Angeles 22–27-4
54 12 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–0 Los Angeles 23–27-4
55 14 St. Louis Blues 2–2 St. Louis 23-27–5
56 16 Philadelphia Flyers 7–1 Los Angeles 24–27-5
57 18 Boston Bruins 5–6 Los Angeles 24–28–5
58 24 Chicago Black Hawks 3–3 Los Angeles 24-28–6
59 25 St. Louis Blues 4–2 Los Angeles 25–28-6
60 29 Philadelphia Flyers 3–1 Philadelphia 26–28-6
March
Game Date Opponent Score Location/attendance Record
61 2 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–5 Toronto 26–29–6
62 5 Montreal Canadiens 2–6 Los Angeles 26–30–6
63 7 Oakland Seals 9–2 Los Angeles 27–30-6
64 9 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–3 Pittsburgh 27–31–6
65 10 New York Rangers 4–3 New York 28–31-6
66 12 Detroit Red Wings 2–2 Los Angeles 28-31–7
67 14 Philadelphia Flyers 0–0 Quebec City 28-31–8
68 16 Minnesota North Stars 2–1 Minnesota 29–31-8
69 20 Minnesota North Stars 3–3 Los Angeles 29-31–9
70 22 St. Louis Blues 6–1 Los Angeles 30–31-9
71 23 Philadelphia Flyers 4–2 Los Angeles 31–31-9
72 26 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–2 Los Angeles 31–32–9
73 27 Minnesota North Stars 3–5 Los Angeles 31–33–9
74 30 Oakland Seals 2–2 Oakland 31-33–10

Playoffs

1968 NHL Quarter-finals

Minnesota North Stars vs. Los Angeles Kings

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
April 4 Minnesota 1 Los Angeles 2
April 6 Minnesota 0 Los Angeles 2
April 9 Los Angeles 5 Minnesota 7
April 11 Los Angeles 2 Minnesota 3
April 13 Minnesota 2 Los Angeles 3
April 16 Los Angeles 3 Minnesota 4 (OT)
April 18 Minnesota 9 Los Angeles 4

Minnesota wins best-of-seven series 4–3.

Player statistics

Forwards

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player GP G A Pts PIM
Eddie Joyal 74 23 34 57 20
Bill Flett 73 26 20 46 97
Lowell MacDonald 74 21 24 45 12
Ted Irvine 73 18 22 40 26
Gord Labossiere 68 13 27 40 31
Real Lemieux 74 12 23 35 60
Terry Gray 65 12 16 28 22
Howie Menard 35 9 15 24 32
Howie Hughes 74 9 14 23 20
Bryan Campbell 44 6 15 21 16
Brian Smith 58 10 9 19 33
Doug Robinson 34 9 9 18 6
Brian Kilrea 25 3 5 8 12
Jim Anderson 7 1 2 3 2
Bill Inglis 12 1 1 2 0
Mike Corbett 0 0 0 0 0
Mike Corrigan 5 0 0 0 2

Defencemen

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player GP G A Pts PIM
Bill White 74 11 27 38 100
Bob Wall 71 5 18 23 66
Dale Rolfe 68 3 13 16 84
Brent Hughes 44 4 10 14 36
Dave Amadio 58 4 6 10 101
Jacques Lemieux 16 0 3 3 8
Jim Murray 30 0 2 2 14
Poul Popiel 1 0 0 0 0
Larry Johnston 4 0 0 0 4

Goaltending

Note: GP = Games played; MIN = Minutes; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

Player GP MIN W L T SO GAA
Wayne Rutledge 45 2444 20 18 4 2 2.87
Terry Sawchuk 36 1936 11 14 6 2 3.07
Jacques Caron 1 60 0 1 0 0 4.00

Awards and records

Records

Individual

  • March 10, 1968: Fastest two goals, 6 seconds apart, Bill Flett at 9:14 of first period, and Eddie Joyal at 9:20.

Team

  • Fewest short-handed goals against in season, 3
  • Most shutouts against in season, 9

Milestones

  Player is still active or individual record
Regular season
Player Milestone Reached
Brian Kilrea First Kings goal October 14, 1967

Transactions

Draft picks

NHL draft

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See also: 1967 NHL Entry Draft
Round Pick Player Nationality
1 1 Rick Pagnutti  Canada
LA Kings primary logo
  • NOTE: Back before 1979, the amateur draft was held with varying rules and procedures. In 1967, teams only needed to select as many player as they wanted to, which is why there was only one Kings player drafted.

Expansion draft

  • Los Angeles Kings selections
# Player Drafted from
1. Terry Sawchuk (G) Toronto Maple Leafs
2. Wayne Rutledge (G) New York Rangers
3. Gord Labossiere (C) Montreal Canadiens
4. Bob Wall (D) Detroit Red Wings
5. Ed Joyal (C) Toronto Maple Leafs
6. Real Lemieux (W) Detroit Red Wings
7. Poul Popiel (D) Boston Bruins
8. Terry Gray (RW) Detroit Red Wings
9. Bryan Campbell (C) New York Rangers
10. Ted Irvine (LW) Boston Bruins
11. Howie Hughes (RW) Montreal Canadiens
12. Bill Inglis (C) Montreal Canadiens
13. Doug Robinson (LW) New York Rangers
14. Mike Corrigan (LW) Toronto Maple Leafs
15. Jacques Lemieux (LW) Montreal Canadiens
16. Lowell MacDonald (LW) Toronto Maple Leafs
17. Ken Block (D) New York Rangers
18. Bill Flett (RW) Toronto Maple Leafs
19. Brent Hughes (D) Detroit Red Wings
20. Marc Dufour (RW) New York Rangers

Farm teams

Roster

1967–68 Los Angeles Kings roster

Goaltenders:

1 – Rutledge • 30 – Sawchuk • 1 – Caron 

Defensemen:

2 – Wall • 4 – J. Lemieux • 4 – Murray • 4 – B. Hughes • 5 – Amadio • 5 – Johnston • 6 – Rolfe • 9 – Popiel • 21 – White 

Forwards:

7 – Gray • 8 – Smith • 9 – R. Lemieux • 10 – H. Hughes • 11 – MacDonald • 11 – Corrigan • 12 – Campbell • 15 – Irvine • 16 – Joyal • 17 – Flett • 18 – Anderson • 19 – Kilrea • 19 – Menard • 20 – Labossiere • 22 – Inglis • 23 – Robinson • 25 – Corbett 

Owner: Jack Kent Cooke •  General Manager: Larry Regan •  Coach: Red Kelly

References

  1. ↑ Brian McFarlane, 50 Years of Hockey, pp. 140–143, Greywood Publishing Ltd, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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