1968–69 Los Angeles Kings season

	1968–69 Los Angeles Kings
Division	4th West
1968–69 record	24-42-10
Home record	19-14-5
Road record	5-28-5
Goals for	185
Goals against	260
Team information
General manager	Larry Regan
Coach	Red Kelly
Captain	Bob Wall
Alternate captains	Eddie Joyal; Bill White; Dale Rolfe
Team leaders
Goals	Eddie Joyal (33)
Assists	Real Lemieux (29)
Points	Eddie Joyal (52)
Penalty minutes	Dale Rolfe (85)
Wins	Gerry Desjardins (18)
Goals against average	Gerry Desjardins (3.26)
	← 1967–68 1969–70 →

The 1968–69 Los Angeles Kings season was the franchise's 2nd season in the National Hockey League. The Kings finished 4th in the West Division and won in the Division Semi-finals over the Oakland Seals 4 games to 3 before losing in the Division Finals to the St. Louis Blues 4 games to 0.

Off-season[]

The Kings acquired goaltender Gerry Desjardins from the Montreal Canadiens in June, giving up two first-round picks. Goaltender Terry Sawchuk was traded to the Detroit Red Wings in October for Jimmy Peters, Jr.. On the same day the Kings picked up goaltender prospect Wayne Thomas of the University of Wisconsin from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Desjardins would play the majority of games with Wayne Rutledge his main backup.

The Kings jerseys were the same design as in the 1967-68 season.

Pre-season[]

The team held its training camp in Barrie, Ontario and had three pre-season games in Barrie:

September 18, 1968 vs Oakland Seals
September 20, 1968 vs Minnesota North Stars
October 2, 1968 vs Pittsburgh Penguins

Regular Season[]

The Kings second season began with playoff expectations following a second place finish in their inaugural season. The Kings played well enough at home to be competitive for a playoff spot, but they only won 5 road games all season.

After last playing in the NHL for the New York Rangers in the 1957-58 season, Gerry Foley played one last game, on December 21, 1968 in a 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. Gary Croteau played his first NHL game during the 2-2 tie with Philadelphia on March 1, 1969.

After finishing a surprising second place during the 1967–68 season, the Kings stumbled in their second regular season, finishing with a 24-42-10 record, good for 58 points and fourth place in the six team West Division.

Attendance for the season exceeded 300,000 for the first time over a 38-game home schedule.

Final Standings[]

West Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
St. Louis Blues	76	37	25	14	204	157	88
Oakland Seals	76	29	36	11	219	251	69
Philadelphia Flyers	76	20	35	21	174	225	61
Los Angeles Kings	76	24	42	10	185	260	58
Pittsburgh Penguins	76	20	45	11	189	252	51
Minnesota North Stars	76	18	43	15	189	270	51

^[1]

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game Log[]

Game Log

October

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Location	Record
1	12	St. Louis Blues	0-6	St. Louis	0-1-0
2	13	Oakland Seals	4-4	Oakland	0-1-1
3	17	Boston Bruins	2-1	Los Angeles	1-1-1
4	19	Minnesota North Stars	1-4	Minnesota	1-2-1
5	20	New York Rangers	0-7	New York	1-3-1
6	23	Montreal Canadiens	2-5	Los Angeles	1-4-1
7	26	Philadelphia Flyers	6-2	Los Angeles	2-4-1
8	30	Chicago Black Hawks	2-4	Los Angeles	2-5-1

November

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Location	Record
9	2	Pittsburgh Penguins	3-2	Los Angeles	3-5-1
10	6	New York Rangers	2-0	Los Angeles	4-5-1
11	9	Toronto Maple Leafs	3-1	Los Angeles	5-5-1
12	12	Oakland Seals	3-1	Los Angeles	6-5-1
13	14	Detroit Red Wings	2-5	Los Angeles	6-6-1
14	16	Minnesota North Stars	2-3	Minnesota	6-7-1
15	17	Philadelphia Flyers	1-3	Philadelphia	6-8-1
16	20	New York Rangers	2-4	New York	6-9-1
17	21	Boston Bruins	1-4	Boston	6-10-1
18	23	Pittsburgh Penguins	2-2	Pittsburgh	6-10-2
19	24	Philadelphia Flyers	3-1	Philadelphia	7-10-2
20	27	Montreal Canadiens	2-4	Los Angeles	7-11-2
21	30	Pittsburgh Penguins	2-4	Los Angeles	7-12-2

December

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Location	Record
22	4	Philadelphia Flyers	3-1	Los Angeles	8-12-2
23	7	Minnesota North Stars	3-2	Los Angeles	9-12-2
24	11	Detroit Red Wings	6-3	Los Angeles	10-12-2
25	14	Pittsburgh Penguins	2-1	Pittsburgh	11-12-2
26	15	St. Louis Blues	1-3	St. Louis	11-13-2
27	18	Montreal Canadiens	2-2	Montreal	11-13-3
28	19	Boston Bruins	4-6	Boston	11-14-3
29	21	Philadelphia Flyers	1-2	Los Angeles	11-15-3
30	26	Minnesota North Stars	4-4	Los Angeles	11-15-4
31	28	Toronto Maple Leafs	4-1	Toronto	12-15-4
32	29	Chicago Black Hawks	1-4	Chicago	12-16-4

January

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Location	Record
33	1	St. Louis Blues	0-0	Los Angeles	12-16-5
34	5	Oakland Seals	0-0	Oakland	12-16-6
35	7	St. Louis Blues	0-5	St. Louis	12-17-6
36	9	Detroit Red Wings	2-6	Detroit	12-18-6
37	11	Toronto Maple Leafs	2-4	Toronto	12-19-6
38	12	Chicago Black Hawks	2-4	Chicago	12-20-6
39	14	New York Rangers	3-1	Los Angeles	13-20-6
40	16	Chicago Black Hawks	3-2	Los Angeles	14-20-6
41	18	Pittsburgh Penguins	4-0	Los Angeles	15-20-6
42	23	New York Rangers	1-3	New York	15-21-6
43	25	Minnesota North Stars	2-3	Minnesota	15-22-6
44	26	Chicago Black Hawks	3-9	Chicago	15-23-6
45	29	Toronto Maple Leafs	3-1	Los Angeles	16-23-6
46	30	Boston Bruins	5-7	Los Angeles	16-24-6

February

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Location	Record
47	1	Oakland Seals	8-5	Los Angeles	17-24-6
48	4	St. Louis Blues	4-2	Los Angeles	18-24-6
49	6	Montreal Canadiens	2-4	Los Angeles	18-25-6
50	8	Pittsburgh Penguins	4-2	Pittsburgh	19-25-6
51	9	Detroit Red Wings	0-5	Detroit	19-26-6
52	11	Montreal Canadiens	3-7	Montreal	19-27-6
53	13	New York Rangers	4-1	Los Angeles	20-27-6
54	15	St. Louis Blues	1-4	St. Louis	20-28-6
55	16	Detroit Red Wings	3-6	Detroit	20-29-6
56	19	Minnesota North Stars	4-7	Minnesota	20-30-6
57	20	Chicago Black Hawks	2-6	Los Angeles	20-31-6
58	22	St. Louis Blues	1-3	Los Angeles	20-32-6
59	23	Oakland Seals	4-3	Oakland	21-32-6
60	24	Minnesota North Stars	1-1	Los Angeles	21-32-7
61	26	Boston Bruins	2-4	Los Angeles	21-33-7

March

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Location	Record
62	1	Philadelphia Flyers	2-2	Los Angeles	21-33-8
63	5	Toronto Maple Leafs	4-6	Toronto	21-34-8
64	6	Philadelphia Flyers	1-5	Philadelphia	21-35-8
65	8	Montreal Canadiens	3-3	Montreal	21-35-9
66	9	Boston Bruins	2-7	Boston	21-36-9
67	12	Toronto Maple Leafs	0-4	Los Angeles	21-37-9
68	15	Pittsburgh Penguins	3-1	Los Angeles	22-37-9
69	18	Oakland Seals	3-2	Los Angeles	23-37-9
70	20	Detroit Red Wings	4-2	Los Angeles	24-37-9
71	22	Oakland Seals	0-4	Los Angeles	24-38-9
72	23	Oakland Seals	4-5	Oakland	24-39-9
73	26	Pittsburgh Penguins	4-8	Pittsburgh	24-40-9
74	27	Philadelphia Flyers	2-4	Philadelphia	24-41-9
75	29	St. Louis Blues	1-3	Los Angeles	24-42-9
76	30	Minnesota North Stars	3-3	Los Angeles	24-42-10

Playoffs[]

Bill Flett led all Kings playoff scorers with 7 points, while Eddie Joyal and Ted Irvine had 6 points each. Irvine had 5 goals to lead the club.

Los Angeles Kings 4, Oakland Seals 3[]

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 2	Los Angeles	5	Oakland	4	(OT)
April 3	Los Angeles	2	Oakland	4
April 5	Oakland	5	Los Angeles	2
April 6	Oakland	2	Los Angeles	4
April 9	Los Angeles	1	Oakland	4
April 10	Oakland	3	Los Angeles	4
April 13	Los Angeles	5	Oakland	3

St. Louis Blues 4, Los Angeles Kings 0[]

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score
April 4	Los Angeles	0	St. Louis	4
April 6	Los Angeles	2	St. Louis	3
April 9	St. Louis	5	Los Angeles	2
April 11	St. Louis	4	Los Angeles	1

Player Stats[]

Forwards[]

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

#	Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
16	Eddie Joyal	73	33	19	52	24
17	Bill Flett	72	24	25	49	53
9	Real Lemieux	75	11	29	40	68
15	Ted Irvine	76	15	24	39	47
10	Howie Hughes	73	16	14	30	10
11	Lowell MacDonald	58	14	14	38	10
12, 20	Gord Labossiere	48	10	18	28	12
19	Howie Menard	56	10	17	27	31
8	Jimmy Peters	76	10	15	25	28
7	Phil "Skip" Krake	30	3	9	12	11
23	Doug Robinson	31	2	10	12	2
20	Ron Anderson	56	3	5	8	26
23	Gary Croteau	11	5	1	6	6
7, 12	Bryan Campbell	18	2	1	3	4
22	Bill Inglis	10	0	1	1	0
22	Gerry Foley	1	0	0	0	0
22	Marc Dufour	2	0	0	0	0

Defencemen[]

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

#	Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
21	Bill White	75	5	28	33	38
2	Bob Wall	71	13	13	26	16
6	Dale Rolfe	75	3	19	22	85
5	Brent Hughes	72	2	19	21	73
14	Larry Cahan	72	3	11	14	76
3	Dave Amadio	65	1	5	6	60

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
30	Gerry Desjardins	60	3499	18	34	6	4	3.26
1	Wayne Rutledge	17	921	6	7	4	0	3.65
1	Jacques Caron	3	140	0	1	0	0	3.86

Awards and Records[]

The Kings did not win any awards this season.

Transactions[]

May 20, 1968 – Acquired Skip Krake from Boston for a first-round choice in the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft.
June 11, 1968 – Acquired Myron Stankiewicz from St. Louis for Terry Gray.
June 11, 1968 – Acquired Gerry Desjardins from Montreal for a first-round choice in the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft (later transferred to Minnesota) and the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft.
July 1, 1968 – Acquired Larry Cahan from Montreal for Yves Locas and Brian Smith.
October 10, 1968 – Acquired Jimmy Peters from Detroit for Terry Sawchuk.
October 15, 1968 – Acquired Gary Croteau, Brian Murphy and Wayne Thomas from Toronto for Lou Deveault and Grant Moore.
November 12, 1968 – Acquired Ron Anderson from Detroit for Poul Popiel.

Draft Picks[]

See also: 1968 NHL Entry Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality
1	7	Jim McInally	Canada

1968–69 Los Angeles Kings Roster

Goaltenders:

1 Rutledge • 30 Desjardins • 1 Caron

Defensemen:

2 Wall • 3 Cahan • 4 J.Lemieux • 4 B.Hughes • 5 Amadio • 6 Rolfe • 21 White

Forwards:

0 Peters • 7 Krake • 9 R.Lemieux • 10 H.Hughes • 11 MacDonald • 20 Anderson • 12 Campbell • 15 Irvine • 16 Joyal • 17 Flett • 18 Croteau • 19 Dufour • 19 Menard • 20 Labossiere • 22 Inglis • 23 Robinson • 25 Foley

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

Trivia[]

Kings who recorded a Hat trick this season include:
- Eddie Joyal during the 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on December 4, 1968.
- Bill Flett during the 6-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings on December 11, 1968.
- Eddie Joyal during the 7-4 loss to the Minnesota North Stars on February 19, 1969.
- Ted Irvine during the 3-2 win over the Oakland Seals on March 18, 1969.

Gallery[]

References[]

Kings on Hockey Database

↑ National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p.162, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-920445-98-5

REDIRECT

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1968–69 Los Angeles Kings season. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).

[1] National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p.162, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-920445-98-5

[1]

Los Angeles Kings
Franchise	Team • 1967 Expansion • Expansion Draft
History	Players • Coaches • Draft Picks
Personnel	General Manager: Rob Blake • Head Coach: Todd McLellan • Team Captain: Anže Kopitar • Current Roster
Arenas	Long Beach Arena • Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena • Great Western Forum • Staples Center
Retired Numbers	4 • 16 • 18 • 20 • 30 • 99
Stanley Cup Finals (3)	Wins: 2012, 2014 • Losses: 1993
Seasons	1967–68 • 1968–69 • 1969–70 • 1970–71 • 1971–72 • 1972–73 • 1973–74 • 1974–75 • 1975–76 • 1976–77 • 1977–78 • 1978–79 • 1979–80 • 1980–81 • 1981–82 • 1982–83 • 1983–84 • 1984–85 • 1985–86 • 1986–87 • 1987–88 • 1988–89 • 1989–90 • 1990–91 • 1991–92 • 1992–93 • 1993–94 • 1994–95 • 1995–96 • 1996–97 • 1997–98 • 1998–99 • 1999–00 • 2000–01 • 2001–02 • 2002–03 • 2003–04 • 2004–05 • 2005–06 • 2006–07 • 2007–08 • 2008–09 • 2009–10 • 2010–11 • 2011–12 • 2012–13 • 2013–14 • 2014–15 • 2015–16 • 2016–17 • 2017–18 • 2018–19 • 2019–20 • 2020–21 • 2021–22 • 2022–23 • 2023–24
Affiliates	AHL: Ontario Reign - ECHL :Greenville Swamp Rabbits

1968–69 NHL season by team
East	Boston • Chicago • Detroit • Montreal • New York • Toronto
West	Los Angeles • Minnesota • Oakland • Philadelphia • Pittsburgh • St. Louis
See also	1968 NHL Amateur Draft • All-Star Game • 1969 Stanley Cup Finals