1969–70 Los Angeles Kings season

1969–70 Los Angeles Kings
Division	6th West
1969–70 record	14-52-10
Home record	12-22-4
Road record	2-30-6
Goals for	168
Goals against	289
Team information
General manager	Larry Regan
Coach	Hal Laycoe Johnny Wilson
Captain	Bob Wall Larry Cahan
Team leaders
Goals	Eddie Shack (22)
Assists	Butch Goring Leon Rochefort (23)
Points	Ross Lonsberry (42)
Penalty minutes	Ross Lonsberry (118)
Wins	Gerry Desjardins (7)
Goals against average	Denis DeJordy (3.24)

The 1969–70 Los Angeles Kings season was the franchise's 3rd season in the National Hockey League. The Kings finished 6th in the West Division and did not qualify for the playoffs. This was the worst season in franchise history.

Off-season

In the Entry Draft, the Kings chose defensemen Dale Hoganson with their first pick, 16th overall in the second round.

The Kings jerseys were the same design as in the 1967-68 season except that a white outline was added to the numbers and logo.

Regular Season

Gerry Desjardins makes a save, October 11, 1969.

The Kings endured some long stretches of futility during the 1969-70 season:

• From January 29 through March 5, they went 17 straight games without a victory (0-13-4)
• From November 8 through November 29, they went 10 straight games without a victory (0-9-1)
• From January 11 through January 25, and again from January 29 through February 15, they lost 8 straight games
• From January 11 through February 15, they suffered 11 consecutive road losses.
• Their only two victories away from home all season were: December 2 (4-3 at Oakland) and January 10 (6-4 at Minnesota)

Coach Hal Laycoe was fired after just 24 games. His replacement, Johnny Wilson, did not fare much better, winning just nine of the remaining 52 games on the schedule.

Bob Wall scores with a second left, October 25, 1969.

The team suffered from the loss of their best defenseman, Bill White, who missed the start of the season and didn't play until November 22, 1969. Veteran defenseman and co-captain Larry Cahan posted a team worst -43 plus/minus. After his superlative rookie season, goalie Gerry Desjardins played every game in the first two months of the season but couldn't meet the high expectations behind a weakened defense. He was traded on February 20, 1970 in a multi-player deal in which the Kings acquired Denis DeJordy to replace him.

However, the critical factor for the Kings losing season was a sharp decrease in goal scoring, despite the off-season trade for Ross Lonsberry, who led the team in points. Eddie Joyal, team scoring leader from the 1968-69 season, had his goal scoring halved while Bill Flett had his worst full NHL season. Eddie Shack led the Kings in goal scoring with 22 and had the only Hat trick for the team but was a -39 plus/minus.

Still, several bright spots during the season gave the franchise hope for the future. During the 6-0 loss to the Chicago Black Hawks on November 26, 1969, Butch Goring played his first NHL game. He became a regular, finished third in team scoring and would become the King's leader for the next decade.

By the mid-January All-Star game break, with no chance of making the playoffs, GM Larry Regan began a rebuild. Over the next month, he made four trades with the last one on February 28, 1970 being the most significant, acquiring Juha Widing. Widing would lead the Kings in scoring for the next three seasons, of the total of six excellent ones he spent with Los Angeles.

After Gilles Marotte was acquired on February 20, 1970, Dale Hoganson gave Marotte jersey #4 and wore #10 for the rest of the season. Jim Stanfield played the first game of his seven game NHL career on February 26, 1970 in a 1-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Kings finished last in the West Division and the league with 38 points, the worst season in franchise history.

Final Standings

West Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
St. Louis Blues	76	37	27	12	224	179	86
Pittsburgh Penguins	76	26	38	12	182	238	64
Minnesota North Stars	76	19	35	22	224	257	60
Oakland Seals	76	22	40	14	169	243	58
Philadelphia Flyers	76	17	35	24	197	225	58
Los Angeles Kings	76	14	52	150	168	290	38

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.

Playoffs

• The Kings did not qualify for the post season.

Player Stats

Skaters

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

#	Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
8	Ross Lonsberry	76	20	22	42	118
16	Eddie Joyal	59	18	22	40	8
19	Butch Goring	59	13	23	36	8
23	Eddie Shack	73	22	12	34	113
9	Bill Flett	69	14	18	32	70
25	Leon Rochefort	76	9	23	32	14
18	Jimmy Peters, Jr.	74	15	9	24	10
15	Ted Irvine	58	11	13	24	10
7	Phil "Skip" Krake	58	5	17	22	86
2	Bob Wall	70	5	13	18	26
21	Bill White	40	4	11	15	21
20	Dick Duff	32	5	8	13	8
12	Dennis Hextall	28	5	7	12	40
3, 14	Larry Cahan	70	4	8	12	52
17	Mike Corrigan	36	6	4	10	30
21	Matt Ravlich	21	3	7	10	34
6	Dale Rolfe	55	1	9	10	77
11	Bryan Campbell	31	4	4	8	4
4, 10	Dale Hoganson	49	1	7	8	37
5	Brent Hughes	52	1	7	8	108
11	Real Lemieux	18	2	4	6	10
4	Gilles Marotte	21	0	6	6	32
10	Howie Hughes	21	0	4	4	0
12	Garry Monahan	21	0	3	3	12
15	Juha Widing	4	0	2	2	2
14	Jacques Lemieux	3	0	1	1	0
11	Jim Stanfield	1	0	0	0	0
11	Gary Croteau	3	0	0	0	0
1	Wayne Rutledge	20	0	0	0	5
30	Denis DeJordy	21	0	0	0	0
30	Gerry Desjardins	43	0	0	0	14

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	Denis DeJordy	21	1147	5	11	4	0	3.24
30	Gerry Desjardins	43	2453	7	29	5	3	3.89
1	Wayne Rutledge	20	960	2	12	1	0	4.25

Awards and Records

• The Kings did not win any awards this season.

Transactions

• May 14, 1969 – Acquired Ross Lonsberry and Eddie Shack from Boston for Ken Turlik and first round draft choices in both the 1971 and 1973 NHL Entry Drafts.
• June 9, 1969 – Acquired Dennis Hextall and Leon Rochefort from New York for Real Lemieux.
• September 1, 1969 – Acquired Roger Cote from the Phoenix Roadrunners for Jim Murray.
• January 24, 1970 – Acquired Dick Duff from Montreal for Dennis Hextall.
• February 20, 1970 – Acquired Brian Gibbons, Garry Monahan and Matt Ravlich from Detroit for Gary Croteau, Larry Johnston and Dale Rolfe.
• February 20, 1970 – Acquired Denis DeJordy, Gilles Marotte and Jim Stanfield from Chicago for Bryan Campbell, Gerry Desjardins and Bill White.
• February 28, 1970 – Acquired Real Lemieux and Juha Widing from New York for Ted Irvine.

Draft Picks

See also: 1969 NHL Entry Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality
2	16	Dale Hoganson	Canada
3	27	Gregg Boddy	Canada
4	39	Bruce Landon	Canada
5	51	Butch Goring	Canada

Note: Before 1979, the amateur draft was held with varying rules and procedures. In 1969, teams selected as many player as they wanted to, which is why there were only four Kings players drafted.

Farm Teams

• Springfield Kings, AHL

Trivia

• Kings who recorded a hat trick this season include:
  • Eddie Shack during the 5-0 win over the Oakland Seals on October 18, 1969.

References

• Kings on Hockey Database

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