NHL Hockey Trivia: Los Angeles Kings Retired Numbers

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.

 

NHL Hockey Trivia: Pre Original 6 Era

When the ‘Original Six’ era of the National Hockey League is mentioned, it gives the false impression that the league began with six teams and that number wasn’t altered until the 1967-68 expansion season. This couldn’t be further from the truth as franchises came and franchises went in the early days of the NHL. At times, there were as many as ten teams in the league. Test and broaden your hockey knowledge with the following four trivia questions.

Q. The St. Louis Blues began play in the 1967-68 season but they are not the first NHL franchise to play in the city. What is the name of the original NHL team located in St. Louis?

A. For just one season, 1934-35, the St. Louis Eagles played in the NHL. The Eagles were an attempt to relocate the original Ottawa Senators franchise. The Eagles were coached by Buck Boucher and finished last overall in the nine team NHL with just 28 points over 48 regular season games.

St. Louis was led in scoring by Carl Voss, member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and Calder Trophy winner as rookie of the year in 1932-33. Syd Howe was also on the roster and ended up in the Hockey Hall of Fame after moving on to a stellar career with the Detroit Red Wings.

Q. When was the first season that the NHL was reduced to the ‘Original Six’?

A. 1942-43 was the first year the NHL was reduced to six teams. The league would remain with the same six members until the 1967-68 season when the league would double in size. In 1942-43, the Detroit Red Wings finished first overall with 61 points over 50 regular season games, just four points ahead of the Boston Bruins.

In the Stanley Cup playoffs, Detroit beat out the Toronto Maple Leafs in six games while the Bruins ousted the Montreal Canadiens in five. In the finals, it was no contest with the Red Wings sweeping the Bruins in four, outscoring their opponents 16-5 on the series.

Doug Bentley of the Chicago Blackhawks led the NHL with 73 points, one ahead of Bill Cowley of the Boston Bruins. Interestingly, Cowley started his career in 1934-35 with the St. Louis Eagles before spending the next eleven years with Boston.

Q. What team left the NHL after the 1941-42 season to reduce the league to six teams?

A. The Brooklyn Americans called it quits after being in the league since 1925. Until that season, they were known as the New York Americans. In the 17 seasons between 1925-26 and 1941-42, the Americans reached the Stanley Cup playoffs just five times and won a series just twice. Ironically, the Americans came into the National Hockey League a year before the New York Rangers.

Q. The Philadelphia Flyers are not the city’s first NHL team. What was the name of the original team located in the City of Brotherly Love?

A. The Philadelphia Quakers played just one season in the NHL, 1930-31. The franchise had been located in Pittsburgh since the 1925-26 season and known as the Pirates. The 1930-31 Quakers won just four of 44 regular season games and tied four for 12 points. They finished dead last in the ten team NHL, 12 points behind ninth place Ottawa.

Syd Howe played this for this one season wonder, as well. It was Howe’s second year in the league after playing 14 games for the Ottawa Senators in his rookie season.

 

Steve Durbano: PIM Champ In 4 Different Leagues

The hockey ‘goon’ is considered by some as an untalented stain on the game. Yet, the physical conditioning and subsequent punishment these players go through is unbelievable. Everyone loves a hockey fight, as is evident by the standing ovation received each and every time, yet the actual fighters are not truly appreciated.

Steve Durbano was a hockey ‘goon’. He played 220 games in the National Hockey League, sitting 1,127 minutes in the penalty box during that time for an average of 5.1 minutes per game. Perhaps, just as well known for his antics off the ice as on, Durbano should at least be recognized for the fact that he led four different leagues in the penalty minute department.

Steve played three years of junior hockey with the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey Association. He provided decent offense from the blue line with 32 points in 53 games in his second year and 39 points in 49 games in his second. In those final two seasons with the Marlboros, Durbano led the league in penalty minutes with 371 in 1969-70 and 324 in 1970-71.

The New York Rangers saw something they liked and drafted Durbano in the first round of the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft, 13th overall. In fact, Steve was taken seven positions ahead of Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman, Larry Robinson.

His first year of professional hockey was spent with the Omaha Knights of the Central Hockey League. Playing in 70 of the team’s 72 regular season games in 1971-72, Durbano sat out 402 minutes in penalties. He also finished with 41 points, sixth on the team.

Steve made his NHL debut the following season with the St. Louis Blues. However, it was in 1975-76 when he became a made the headlines. In a season split between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Kansas City Scouts (today’s New Jersey Devils), Durbano totaled 370 PIM to lead the league.

With 1977-78, came a new league for Durbano to lead in the penalty minutes category. Skipping to the World Hockey Association after playing just 19 games in the NHL the season before, Steve led the league with 284 PIM in just 45 games. He was the leader of the WHA’s version of the Broad Street Bullies, the Birmingham Bulls. Birmingham had the top four penalty box sitters in the WHA on the roster.

Durbano played one more season of pro hockey in 1978-79, returning to the St. Louis Blues for 13 games and playing an additional 10 games with the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the Central Hockey League. Steve passed away in 2002 after a bout with liver cancer. Sure, he’ll be remembered as a goon but the fact is: he made it. He played at a level of hockey so very few can even come close to. He didn’t just fight and sit in the penalty box. He played defense and even scored a few goals.

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1968-69	Toronto Marlboros	OHA	45	5	6	11	158
1969-70	Toronto Marlboros	OHA	53	7	25	32	371
1970-71	Toronto Marlboros	OHA	49	7	32	39	324
1971-72	Omaha Knights	CHL	70	7	34	41	402
1972-73	St. Louis Blues	NHL	49	3	18	21	231
1973-74	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	33	4	14	18	138
1973-74	St. Louis Blues	NHL	36	4	5	9	146
1974-75	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	1	0	1	1	10
1975-76	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	32	0	8	8	161
1975-76	Kansas City Scouts	NHL	37	1	11	12	209
1976-77	Colorado Rockies	NHL	19	0	2	2	129
1976-77	Rhode Island Reds	AHL	9	1	2	3	55
1977-78	Birmingham Bulls	WHA	45	6	4	10	284
1978-79	Salt Lake Golden Eagles	CHL	10	1	4	5	41
1978-79	St. Louis Blues	NHL	13	1	1	2	103
	NHL Totals		220	13	60	73	1127
	WHA Totals		45	6	4	10	284