# 1984–85 Los Angeles Kings season

The 1984–85 Los Angeles Kings season, was the Kings' 18th season in the National Hockey League. Following a fifth-place finish the previous season under three different coaches, Pat Quinn was hired as the new head coach of the Kings. In his first season, he returned them to the playoffs after a three-year absence with a 23-point improvement in the standings. But despite the goal scoring brilliance of Marcel Dionne and Bernie Nicholls, the Kings could not duplicate their Miracle on Manchester performance this time, losing to the Edmonton Oilers in three straight games in the Smythe Division semi-finals.

## Offseason
### Transactions

* June 9, 1984 – Acquired Bob Janecyk, a first-round choice in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft (Craig Redmond), a third-round choice in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft (John English) and a fourth-round choice in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft (Tom Glavine) from Chicago for a first-round choice in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft and a fourth-round choice in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft.

### NHL Draft

* This draft would the first for Rogie Vachon as the team's general manager. It would be memorable in Kings history for hits as well as misses. On the down side, the team's first round selection, Craig Redmond, didn't amount to much, and they used their fourth round draft pick on Tom Glavine, who opted instead to play professional baseball with the Atlanta Braves. But on the plus side, Vachon struck gold in the 9th round with the 171st pick overall by choosing future Hockey Hall of Fame member Luc Robitaille.

## Regular season
### Season standings

Smythe Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| Edmonton Oilers | 80 | 49 | 20 | 11 | 401 | 298 | 109 |
| Winnipeg Jets | 80 | 43 | 27 | 10 | 358 | 332 | 96 |
| Calgary Flames | 80 | 41 | 27 | 12 | 363 | 302 | 94 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 80 | 34 | 32 | 14 | 339 | 326 | 82 |
| Vancouver Canucks | 80 | 25 | 46 | 9 | 284 | 401 | 59 |
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

### Record vs. opponents

Smythe Division record vs. opponents :
Vs. Campbell Conference
Vs. Smythe Division
1984–85 NHL records
Team
CGY
EDM
LAK
VAN
WIN
Total
Calgary
—1−6−14−3−17−0−15−1−217−10−5
Edmonton
6−1−1—4−3−13−3−25−318−10−4
Los Angeles
3−4−13−4−1—4−2−22−4−212−14−6
Vancouver
0−7−13−3−22−4−2—2−5−17−19−6
Winnipeg
1−5−23−54−2−25−2−1—13−14−5
Vs. Norris Division
1984–85 NHL records
Team
CHI
DET
MIN
STL
TOR
Total
Calgary
1−22−11−0−20−33−07−6−2
Edmonton
3−03−03−03−02−0−114−0−1
Los Angeles
0−2−12−11−1−11−22−16−7−2
Vancouver
1−21−21−1−10−31−1−14−9−2
Winnipeg
1−1−12−0−12−10−1−23−08−3−4
Vs. Wales Conference
Vs. Adams Division
1984–85 NHL records
Team
BOS
BUF
HFD
MTL
QUE
Total
Calgary
3−00−33−02−0−11−1−19−4−2
Edmonton
2−12−0−12−11−23−010−4−1
Los Angeles
0−1−22−0−12−0−10−2−11−25−5−5
Vancouver
1−22−0−12−12−11−28−6−1
Winnipeg
2−12−12−11−22−19−6−0
Vs. Patrick Division
1984–85 NHL records
Team
NJD
NYI
NYR
PHI
PIT
WSH
Total
Calgary
2−0−12−12−0−11−20−2−11−28−7−3
Edmonton
2−12−0−11−1−10−31−1−11−0−27−6−5
Los Angeles
3−01−22−11−1−13−01−211−6−1
Vancouver
3−01−21−20−31−20−36−12−0
Winnipeg
2−0−11−23−03−02−12−113−4−1 :

## Schedule and results

1984–85 Game Log :
October
GameDateOpponentScoreLocation/attendanceRecord
111Edmonton Oilers2-2Los Angeles0-0-1
213Vancouver Canucks5-6 (OT)Los Angeles0-1-1
314St. Louis Blues2-5Los Angeles0-2-1
416Washington Capitals3-5Washington0-3-1
518Montreal Canadiens3-3Montreal0-3-2
620New York Islanders3-8Uniondale0-4-2
721Chicago Black Hawks2-5Chicago0-5-2
826Edmonton Oilers2-8Edmonton0-6-2
927Winnipeg Jets2-2Winnipeg0-6-3
1029Winnipeg Jets5-3Winnipeg1-6-3
1131Vancouver Canucks10-3Vancouver2-6-3 :
November
GameDateOpponentScoreLocation/attendanceRecord
123Toronto Maple Leafs7-0Los Angeles3-6-3
135Chicago Black Hawks2-3Los Angeles3-7-3
149Buffalo Sabres3-2Los Angeles4-7-3
1511New York Rangers4-2New York5-7-3
1613Quebec Nordiques5-4 (OT)Quebec City6-7-3
1714Toronto Maple Leafs4-3Toronto7-7-3
1817Pittsburgh Penguins5-3Los Angeles8-7-3
1919Calgary Flames5-4Los Angeles9-7-3
2021New Jersey Devils8-1Los Angeles10-7-3
2124Winnipeg Jets5-9Los Angeles10-8-3
2227Winnipeg Jets3-5Los Angeles10-9-3
2329Vancouver Canucks12-1Los Angeles11-9-3 :
December
GameDateOpponentScoreLocation/attendanceRecord
241Vancouver Canucks6-3Los Angeles12-9-3
254Minnesota North Stars2-2Minnesota12-9-4
265Chicago Black Hawks5-5Chicago12-9-5
278Montreal Canadiens7-9Montreal12-10-5
2810New York Rangers2-4New York12-11-5
2913Edmonton Oilers7-2Los Angeles13-11-5
3015Calgary Flames6-5Los Angeles14-11-5
3118Calgary Flames6-3Calgary15-11-5
3219Edmonton Oilers3-7Edmonton15-12-5
3322Winnipeg Jets2-6Winnipeg15-13-5
3423Winnipeg Jets4-4Winnipeg15-13-6
3526Vancouver Canucks3-3Vancouver15-13-7
3627Boston Bruins6-6Los Angeles15-13-8
3730Philadelphia Flyers2-3Los Angeles15-14-8 :
January
GameDateOpponentScoreLocation/attendanceRecord
383Minnesota North Stars3-8Los Angeles15-15-8
395Detroit Red Wings5-3Detroit16-15-8
407Boston Bruins4-5 (OT)Boston16-16-8
419Calgary Flames4-4Calgary16-16-9
4212Winnipeg Jets6-4Los Angeles17-16-9
4313Winnipeg Jets5-6Los Angeles17-17-9
4416Toronto Maple Leafs3-4Los Angeles17-18-9
4519New York Islanders6-5 (OT)Los Angeles18-18-9
4621Edmonton Oilers7-8Edmonton18-19-9
4723Philadelphia Flyers6-3Los Angeles19-19-9
4825St. Louis Blues3-6St. Louis19-20-9
4926St. Louis Blues7-3St. Louis20-20-9
5029New Jersey Devils6-3Los Angeles21-20-9
5131Hartford Whalers5-3Los Angeles22-20-9 :
February
GameDateOpponentScoreLocation/attendanceRecord
522Montreal Canadiens1-5Los Angeles22-21-9
535New York Rangers7-5Los Angeles23-21-9
547Philadelphia Flyers4-4Philadelphia23-21-10
558Washington Capitals1-6Washington23-22-10
5610Pittsburgh Penguins4-3Pittsburgh24-22-10
5714Boston Bruins3-3Los Angeles24-22-11
5816Washington Capitals5-2Los Angeles25-22-11
5919Quebec Nordiques6-7Quebec City25-23-11
6021New Jersey Devils5-3New Jersey26-23-11
6123Hartford Whalers2-1 (OT)Hartford27-23-11
6224Buffalo Sabres4-2Buffalo28-23-11
6327Quebec Nordiques2-5Los Angeles28-24-11 :
March
GameDateOpponentScoreLocation/attendanceRecord
641Edmonton Oilers5-4Edmonton29-24-11
653Calgary Flames0-7Calgary29-25-11
665Pittsburgh Penguins6-0Los Angeles30-25-11
678Vancouver Canucks3-4Vancouver30-26-11
6810Buffalo Sabres4-4Los Angeles30-26-12
6913Hartford Whalers3-3Los Angeles30-26-13
7016Detroit Red Wings8-3Los Angeles31-26-13
7117Edmonton Oilers5-4Los Angeles32-26-13
7219New York Islanders2-3Uniondale32-27-13
7320Detroit Red Wings6-8Detroit32-28-13
7423Calgary Flames3-4Los Angeles32-29-13
7527Calgary Flames2-4Los Angeles32-30-13
7629Calgary Flames0-3Calgary32-31-13
7730Minnesota North Stars3-2Los Angeles33-31-13 :
April
GameDateOpponentScoreLocation/attendanceRecord
782Edmonton Oilers4-6Los Angeles33-32-13
795Vancouver Canucks4-3Vancouver34-32-13
806Vancouver Canucks4-4Los Angeles34-32-14 :

## Playoffs
### 1985 Smythe Division Semi-finals

Edmonton Oilers vs. Los Angeles Kings
| Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
| April 10 | Los Angeles | 2 | Edmonton | 3 | (OT) |
| April 11 | Los Angeles | 2 | Edmonton | 4 | |
| April 13 | Edmonton | 4 | Los Angeles | 3 | (OT) |
Edmonton wins best-of-five series 3–0.

## Player statistics

Regular season :
Scoring :
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Marcel Dionne | C | 80 | 46 | 80 | 126 | 46 | 11 | 16 | 1 | 2 |
| Bernie Nicholls | C | 80 | 46 | 54 | 100 | 76 | -4 | 15 | 0 | 6 |
| Dave Taylor | RW | 79 | 41 | 51 | 92 | 132 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 6 |
| Brian MacLellan | LW | 80 | 31 | 54 | 85 | 53 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 3 |
| Jim Fox | RW | 79 | 30 | 53 | 83 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 2 |
| Mark Hardy | D | 78 | 14 | 39 | 53 | 97 | -20 | 8 | 1 | 2 |
| Terry Ruskowski | C | 78 | 16 | 33 | 49 | 144 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Doug Smith | C | 62 | 21 | 20 | 41 | 58 | -15 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Steve Shutt | LW | 59 | 16 | 25 | 41 | 10 | -16 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Craig Redmond | D | 79 | 6 | 33 | 39 | 57 | -8 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Garry Galley | D | 78 | 8 | 30 | 38 | 82 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Phil Sykes | LW | 79 | 17 | 15 | 32 | 38 | -18 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Anders Hakansson | LW | 73 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 28 | -4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Brian Engblom | D | 79 | 4 | 19 | 23 | 70 | -2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Miller | C | 63 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 35 | -17 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Paul Kelly | LW | 73 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 55 | -9 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Rick Lapointe | D | 73 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 46 | -10 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Carl Mokosak | LW | 30 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 43 | -8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jay Wells | D | 77 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 185 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tiger Williams | LW | 12 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Russ Anderson | D | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 20 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Janecyk | G | 51 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Daryl Evans | LW | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ken Hammond | D | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Bill O'Dwyer | C | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Charlie Simmer | LW | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Darren Eliot | G | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Seguin | W | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brian Wilks | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goaltending :
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Bob Janecyk | 3002 | 51 | 22 | 21 | 8 | 183 | 3.66 | 2 |
| Darren Eliot | 1882 | 33 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 137 | 4.37 | 0 |
| Team: | 4884 | 80 | 34 | 32 | 14 | 320 | 3.93 | 2 |
Playoffs :
Scoring :
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Dave Taylor | RW | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marcel Dionne | C | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | -1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bernie Nicholls | C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Terry Ruskowski | C | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Garry Galley | D | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Craig Redmond | D | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Doug Smith | C | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Fox | RW | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Hardy | D | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brian MacLellan | LW | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Miller | C | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Phil Sykes | LW | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jay Wells | D | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brian Engblom | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Anders Hakansson | LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ken Hammond | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Janecyk | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Paul Kelly | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Shutt | LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tiger Williams | LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goaltending :
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Bob Janecyk | 184 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 3.26 | 0 |
| Team: | 184 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 3.26 | 0 |
    Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
    Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

## Awards and records
### Records
#### Individual

* Most goals in a game, 4 (tied with many others): Bernie Nicholls, November 13, 1984, at Quebec

#### Team

* Most 30+ goal scorers in one season, 5: Marcel Dionne, Bernie Nicholls, Dave Taylor, Brian MacLellan, and Jim Fox
* Most 40+ goal scorers in one season, 3 (tied with 1980–81 Kings): Marcel Dionne (46), Bernie Nicholls (46), and Dave Taylor (41)
* Greatest margin of victory at home: 11: November 29, 1984, vs. Vancouver, 12–1
* Greatest margin of victory on the road: 7: October 21, 1984, at Vancouver, 10–3

## Transactions

The Kings were involved in the following transactions during the 1984–85 season.

### Trades

| June 9, 1984 | To Los Angeles KingsBob Janecyk 1st round pick in 1984 – Craig Redmond 3rd round pick in 1984 – John English 4th round pick in 1984 – Tom Glavine | To Chicago Black Hawks1st round pick in 1984 – Ed Olczyk 4th round pick in 1984 – Tommy Eriksson |
| October 20, 1984 | To Los Angeles Kings1st round pick in 1985 – Dan Gratton | To Boston BruinsCharlie Simmer |
| November 18, 1984 | To Los Angeles KingsSteve Shutt | To Montreal Canadiens10th round pick in 1985 – Maurice Mansi |
| November 27, 1984 | To Los Angeles KingsCash | To Edmonton OilersDean Hopkins |
| March 12, 1985 | To Los Angeles KingsTiger Williams | To Detroit Red WingsFuture considerations |

### Free agent signings

| October 1, 1984 | From Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)Steve Duchesne |
| October 9, 1984 | From Kärpät (SM-liiga)Bob Miller |
| October 10, 1984 | From Quebec NordiquesRick Lapointe |
| November 8, 1984 | From Hartford WhalersStuart Smith |
| April 1, 1985 | From RPI (NCAA)Ken Hammond |

### Free agents lost

| July 11, 1984 | To Washington CapitalsMarc Chorney |
| August 24, 1984 | To St. Louis BluesKevin LaVallee |
| October 4, 1984 | To Philadelphia FlyersDon Nachbaur |
| October 10, 1984 | To Boston BruinsDean Jenkins |
| February 21, 1985 | To Edmonton OilersMarco Baron |

## Draft picks

| Round # | Pick # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/junior/club team |
| 1 | 6 | Craig Redmond | Defence | Canada | University of Denver (WCHA) |
| 2 | 24 | Brian Wilks | Centre | Canada | Kitchener Rangers (OHL) |
| 3 | 48 | John English | Defence | Canada | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) |
| 4 | 69 | Tom Glavine | Centre | United States | Billerica High School (Massachusetts) |
| 5 | 87 | David Grannis | Left wing | United States | South St. Paul High School (Minnesota) |
| 6 | 108 | Greg Strome | Goaltender | Canada | University of North Dakota (WCHA) |
| 7 | 129 | Timothy Hanley | Centre | United States | Deerfield Academy (Massachusetts) |
| 8 | 150 | Shannon Deegan | Centre | Canada | University of Vermont (ECAC) |
| 9 | 171 | Luc Robitaille | Left wing | Canada | Hull Olympiques (QMJHL) |
| 10 | 191 | Jeff Crossman | Centre | Canada | Western Michigan University (CCHA) |
| 11 | 212 | Paul Kenny | Goaltender | Canada | Cornwall Royals (OHL) |
| 12 | 232 | Brian Martin | Left Wing | Canada | Belleville Bulls (OHL) |