Showing posts with label luc robitaille. Show all posts
Showing posts with label luc robitaille. Show all posts

Sunday, February 15, 2015

1992-93 NHL Top 5 Goal Scorers


alex mogilny buffalo sabres o-pee-chee rookie card
The 1992-93 National Hockey League season saw all of the top 5 goal scorers with 60 or more goals. Offense was rampant over the 84 game schedule, largely due to the combined 21 wins by the Ottawa Senators and San Jose Sharks in a total of 168 games.

Two players tied for the goal scoring lead at 76 goals apiece. Alexander Mogilny of the Buffalo Sabres got the nod in the tie break over rookie Teemu Selanne of the Winnipeg Jets, playing seven less games.

Alex Mogilny – Buffalo Sabres


It was a career year for Mogilny with the 76 goals and 127 points in his fourth year in the NHL. He played in the league from 1989-90 to 2005-06 with the Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, New Jersey Devils and Toronto Maple Leafs. Alex had one more 50+ goal season, scoring 55 with the Vancouver Canucks in 1995-96.
 
Alex played 990 regular season games in the NHL and scored 473 goals. Those numbers would have been much higher considering Mogilny never played the full schedule in any of his 16 seasons.


Teemu Selanne – Winnipeg Jets


Teemu Selanne set the mark for first year players with his 76 goals for the Jets in 1992-93, although he was 22 and had played three years of elite level hockey in Finland prior to his arrival in the NHL. Selanne retired from the National Hockey League after the 2013-14 season, playing his final season for the Anaheim Ducks. Along the way, he has had two 50+ goal seasons, both with Anaheim. Selanne has also played for the San Jose Sharks and the Colorado Avalanche.

Mario Lemieux – Pittsburgh Penguins


Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins finished third for goals in 1992-93. However, his numbers were a thing of awe. Lemieux played just 60 of Pittsburgh’s 84 games and scored 69 goals. On that pace, if he’d played the full season he would have scored between 96 and 97 goals. Numbers like that would have topped Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 92 goals.

Luc Robitaille – Los Angeles Kings


Luc Robitaille of the Los Angeles Kings finished fourth with 63 goals. 1992-93 saw career highs for Robitaille in goals and points (125). Luc totalled 668 regular season goals in 1,431 games in a career that spanned from 1986-87 to 2005-06. He had 50 or more goals in three seasons.

Robitaille also played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings during his many years in the National Hockey League. Luc is one of five players to have their numbers retired by the Los Angeles Kings.

Pavel Bure – Vancouver Canucks


Pavel Bure rounded out the top five with 60 goals. The second year player would score exactly the same the following season but while playing seven fewer games. Bure played in the NHL from 1991-92 to 2002-03 with the Canucks, Florida Panthers and New York Rangers. Pavel scored 437 goals in just 702 regular season games.

Despite his relatively short NHL career, Bure was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012. Pavel joined Mario Lemieux, who was inducted in 1997, and Luc Robitaille, who entered the Hall in 2009.




Friday, December 26, 2014

NHL Hockey Trivia: Los Angeles Kings Retired Numbers


rogie vachon 1977-78 o-pee-chee hockey card los angeles kings
The Los Angeles Kings were one of the six new franchises that began play in the 1967-68 NHL season, doubling the size of the league. The Kings went four decades without a Stanley Cup championship but have made up for it with two victories in the last handful of years.

Los Angeles has been home to a number of great hockey players over the past four plus decades. Here’s your chance to test and broaden your hockey knowledge with four trivia questions regarding numbers that have been retired by the Kings.

Q. In 1985, who was the first player to have their number retired by the Los Angeles Kings?

A. Goaltender Rogatien Vachon’s number 30 was the first to be raised to the rafters at the Forum in Los Angeles. Vachon played seven of his sixteen NHL season with the Kings from 1971-72 to 1977-78. Rogie’s NHL career started with the Montreal Canadiens in 1966-67. In just his second season, 1967-68, he shared the Vezina Trophy with Gump Worsley.

Following his stint with the Kings, Vachon played four more years in the National Hockey League, two with the Detroit Red Wings and two with the Boston Bruins. A major injustice, Rogatien Vachon still remains on the outside of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Q. The number 16 was retired by the Los Angeles Kings in honour of what Hockey Hall of Fame player?

A. Marcel Dionne played twelve seasons with the Kings from 1975-76 to 1986-87. Six times, Dionne surpassed the 50 goal plateau and seven times topped 100 points as a member of the Kings. His number was retired by the Kings in 1990 and Marcel was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992.

Dionne’s NHL career started in 1971-72 with the Detroit Red Wings after the Wings selected him second overall at the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft, behind Guy Lafleur who went to the Montreal Canadiens. After four years with the Wings, Dionne was shipped to the Kings. In his last year in Detroit, Marcel scored 47 and totalled 121 points.

Marcel finished out his NHL career with the New York Rangers after a trade sent him across the continent during the 1986-87 season. He played his last games during 1988-89.

Q. Who is the number 18 retired by the Los Angeles Kings for?

A. Dave Taylor played seventeen seasons with the Kings from 1977-78 to 1993-94. It was the only NHL team he played for during his career. In his early days he was featured on the Triple Crown Line with Marcel Dionne and Charlie Simmer. Taylor’s number was retired in 1995.

Q. What ‘lucky’ fellow has his number 20 retired by the Los Angeles Kings?

A. ‘Lucky’ Luc Robitaille is a Hockey Hall of Fame member who played a total of fourteen seasons with the Kings over three different periods. Robitaille surpassed the 50 goals plateau three times and topped 100 points on four occasions with the team. His highlight season was 1992-93 when he scored 63 goals and totalled 125 points while leading the Kings to the one and only visit to the Stanley Cup finals.

Luc’s number is the last to be retired by the Kings, raised to the roof in 2007. Two years later, in 2009, Robitaille was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Along with the Kings, he also played with the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings over a NHL career that spanned from 1986-87 to 2005-06.

 

Saturday, March 22, 2014

NHL Hockey Trivia: Los Angeles Kings Retired Numbers


los angeles kings nhl logo
In the 40+ year history of the National Hockey League’s Los Angeles Kings, five jersey numbers have been retired by the club. The Los Angeles Kings retired numbers feature some of hockey’s greatest players of the past four decades and all are well deserving of the honour.

Test and expand your hockey trivia knowledge of the Los Angeles Kings and the numbers that the NHL club has retired with the following four questions.

Q. Number 16 is retired by the Los Angeles Kings in honour of what player?

A. Marcel Dionne played for the Kings from 1975-76 until 1986-87. In that time, he won an Art Ross Trophy, Lady Byng Trophy and two Lester B. Pearson Trophies. He remains the all-time team leader in assists with 757 and points with 1307.

After dominating the OHA with the St. Catherines Black Hawks for three years from 1968-69 to 1970-71, Dionne’s National Hockey League career started with the Detroit Red Wings in 1971-72 after the Wings took him second overall at the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft. Marcel played four years with Detroit before moving to Los Angeles, where he played the bulk of his career. Dionne finished his Hockey Hall of Fame career with the New York Rangers, after being traded from Los Angeles near the end of the 1986-87 season.

Q. Who is the only goaltender to have his number retired by the Los Angeles Kings?

A. Rogatien ‘Rogie’ Vachon’s number 30 was retired by the Kings in 1985. Vachon played between the pipes for Los Angeles from 1971-72 to 1977-78. Rogatien remains the all-time leader amongst Los Angeles Kings goalies for games played, minutes played, wins, losses, ties and shutouts.

Vachon’s NHL career started with the Montreal Canadiens in 1966-67, leading the team to a Stanley Cup championship in 1968-69.After playing 70 of 80 games for the Kings in 1977-78, he was shipped off to Detroit for the following season. Rogie played two years with the Red Wings and two years with the Boston Bruins before retiring. For some unknown reason, Rogie Vachon is still not a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Q. Number 20 is retired by the Kings for what ‘lucky’ player?

A. Luc Robitaille wore number 20 for the Kings over three different tenures during his NHL career. He first was a King from 1986 until 1994. He returned for 1997 until 2001 then finished off his career with Los Angeles from 2003-04 to 2005-06. Robitaille was the first and only Calder Trophy winner for the Kings. Luc was a lowly ninth round pick at the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, 171st overall, after just his first of three years as a star in the QMJHL with the Hull Olympiques. With Hull, Robitaille would total 148 points in his second year and an amazing 191 points in his final season.

Q. Drafted 210th overall by the Kings in 1975, what player overcame the odds and had his number 18 retired by the team?

A. Dave Taylor is the lowest drafted player in National Hockey League history to record more than 1,000 points in a career. The Los Angeles Kings were the only team Taylor played for during a career that stretched from 1977-78 to 1993-94. He served as team captain for the Kings from 1985-86 to 1988-89 before relinquishing the ‘C’ to Wayne Gretzky. Taylor was part of the Triple Crown Line that consisted of himself, Marcel Dionne and Charlie Simmer.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Hockey Trivia: Los Angeles Kings Individual Single Season Records


los angeles kings logo national hockey league
The Los Angeles Kings entered the National Hockey League for the 1967-68 season in what was the first of several rounds of expansion. The Kings have been host to several players with a talent for offence. The team’s individual single season scoring records can be considered unsurpassable in today’s defensive minded NHL game.

Test and expand your hockey knowledge of the Los Angeles Kings with these four trivia questions focused on the team’s individual single season records.

Q. What player holds the Los Angeles Kings record for most points in a single regular season?

A. Wayne Gretzky became a Los Angeles King for the 1988-89 season and he impressed his new fans with a 168 point season. The second highest point total in history also belongs to Gretzky when he contributed 163 in 1990-91. The highest non-Gretzky single season point total in Los Angeles history is the 150 of Bernie Nicholls in 1988-89.

Q. Who holds the Los Angeles Kings single season record for most goals?

A. With the influence of Wayne Gretzky in 1988-89, Bernie Nicholls went over and above his talents and scored 70 goals. The next best goal scoring output by a King was Luc Robitaille with 63 in 1992-93. Nicholls and Robitaille are the only two L.A. players to top the 60 goal plateau. When it comes to scoring 50 goals, just Marcel Dionne, Charlie Simmer, Jimmy Carson and Gretzky can be added to the list.

Q. Two Los Angeles Kings players have led the team in goals scored on eight occasions. Who was the latest to accomplish this feat?

A. Luc Robitaille first led the team with 45 goals in 1986-87. The last occasion was the 1999-00 season when he scored 36. His best was 63 in 1992-93 and he surpassed the 50 goal plateau on two other occasions. Marcel Dionne is the other Los Angeles King to lead the team in goals on eight occasions.

Q. What Los Angeles King holds the team record for most penalty minutes in a single regular season?

A. Marty McSorley surpassed Dave ‘Tiger’ Williams’ team record of 358 PIM with 399 of his own during the 1992-93 season. McSorley came to Los Angeles from the Edmonton Oilers along with Wayne Gretzky for the 1988-89 season and led the Kings in PIM a total of five times.

For Tiger, 1987-88 was his second last season in the NHL and his final full season, playing just 28 games in 1988-89. His 358 PIM placed him second in the NHL in 1987-88, three minutes behind leader Tim Hunter of the Calgary Flames.

McSorley’s 399 PIM led the NHL in 1992-93, 29 more than second place Gino Odjick of the Vancouver Canucks. In over 961 regular season NHL games between 1983-84 and 1999-00, Marty sat 3,381 minutes in the penalty box. This total ranks him fourth all-time, behind Tiger Williams, Dale Hunter and Tie Domi. The group are part of an exclusive nine NHL players to accumulate more than 3,000 PIM in a career.