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
Team leaders
Goals Eddie Joyal (33)
Assists Real Lemieux (29)
Points Eddie Joyal (52)
Penalties in 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 second ever for the Los Angeles Kings in the National Hockey League. 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 Western Division. The Kings made the playoffs, losing in the West Division Final to the St. Louis Blues.

Offseason

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.

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.

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

Season standings

West Division[1]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 St. Louis Blues 76 37 25 14 204 157 +47 88
2 Oakland Seals 76 29 36 11 219 251 −32 69
3 Philadelphia Flyers 76 20 35 21 174 225 −51 61
4 Los Angeles Kings 76 24 42 10 185 260 −75 58
5 Pittsburgh Penguins 76 20 45 11 189 252 −63 51
6 Minnesota North Stars 76 18 43 15 189 270 −81 51

Playoffs

The Kings pulled off a first round upset, knocking off their in-state rivals the Oakland Seals in seven games in the NHL Quarter-finals. The Kings would then be swept by the St. Louis Blues in the West Division final. 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.

Schedule and results

1968–69 Game Log

Playoffs

West Division Semi-final

Los Angeles Kings vs. Oakland Seals

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

Los Angeles wins best-of-seven series 4–3.

West Division Final

Los Angeles Kings vs. St. Louis Blues

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
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

St. Louis wins best-of-seven series 4–0.

Player statistics

Forwards

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

Player GP G A Pts PIM
Eddie Joyal 73 33 19 52 24
Bill Flett 72 24 25 49 53
Real Lemieux 75 11 29 40 68
Ted Irvine 76 15 24 39 47
Howie Hughes 73 16 14 30 10
Lowell MacDonald 58 14 14 38 10
Gord Labossiere 48 10 18 28 12
Howie Menard 56 10 17 27 31
Jimmy Peters 76 10 15 25 28
Phil "Skip" Krake 30 3 9 12 11
Doug Robinson 31 2 10 12 2
Ron Anderson 56 3 5 8 26
Gary Croteau 11 5 1 6 6
Bryan Campbell 18 2 1 3 4
Bill Inglis 10 0 1 1 0
Gerry Foley 1 0 0 0 0
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
Bill White 75 5 28 33 38
Bob Wall 71 13 13 26 16
Dale Rolfe 75 3 19 22 85
Brent Hughes 72 2 19 21 73
Larry Cahan 72 3 11 14 76
Dave Amadio 65 1 5 6 60
Jacques Lemieux 0 0 0 0 0

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

Transactions

Draft picks

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

References

  1. "1968–1969 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
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