# 1968–69 Los Angeles Kings season

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 vte :
| | | 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 |

### Record vs. opponents
## 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 :
October
GameDateOpponentScoreLocation/attendanceRecord
112St. Louis Blues0–6St. Louis0–1–0
213Oakland Seals4–4Oakland0-1–1
317Boston Bruins2–1Los Angeles1–1-1
419Minnesota North Stars1–4Minnesota1–2–1
520New York Rangers0–7New York1–3–1
623Montreal Canadiens2–5Los Angeles1–4–1
726Philadelphia Flyers6–2Los Angeles2–4-1
830Chicago Black Hawks2–4Los Angeles2–5–1 :
November
GameDateOpponentScoreLocation/attendanceRecord
92Pittsburgh Penguins3–2Los Angeles3–5-1
106New York Rangers2–0Los Angeles4–5-1
119Toronto Maple Leafs3–1Los Angeles5–5-1
1212Oakland Seals3–1Los Angeles6–5-1
1314Detroit Red Wings2–5Los Angeles6–6–1
1416Minnesota North Stars2–3Minnesota6–7–1
1517Philadelphia Flyers1–3Philadelphia6–8–1
1620New York Rangers2–4New York6–9–1
1721Boston Bruins1–4Boston6–10–1
1823Pittsburgh Penguins2–2Pittsburgh6-10–2
1924Philadelphia Flyers3–1Philadelphia7–10-2
2027Montreal Canadiens2–4Los Angeles7–11–2
2130Pittsburgh Penguins2–4Los Angeles7–12–2 :
December
GameDateOpponentScoreLocation/attendanceRecord
224Philadelphia Flyers3–1Los Angeles8–12-2
237Minnesota North Stars3–2Los Angeles9–12-2
2411Detroit Red Wings6–3Los Angeles10–12-2
2514Pittsburgh Penguins2–1Pittsburgh11–12-2
2615St. Louis Blues1–3St. Louis11–13–2
2718Montreal Canadiens2–2Montreal11-13–3
2819Boston Bruins4–6Boston11–14–3
2921Philadelphia Flyers1–2Los Angeles11–15–3
3026Minnesota North Stars4–4Los Angeles11-15–4
3128Toronto Maple Leafs4–1Toronto12–15-4
3229Chicago Black Hawks1–4Chicago12–16–4 :
January
GameDateOpponentScoreLocation/attendanceRecord
331St. Louis Blues0–0Los Angeles12-16–5
345Oakland Seals0–0Oakland12-16–6
357St. Louis Blues0–5St. Louis12–17–6
369Detroit Red Wings2–6Detroit12–18–6
3711Toronto Maple Leafs2–4Toronto12–19–6
3812Chicago Black Hawks2–4Chicago12–20–6
3914New York Rangers3–1Los Angeles13–20-6
4016Chicago Black Hawks3–2Los Angeles14–20-6
4118Pittsburgh Penguins4–0Los Angeles15–20-6
4223New York Rangers1–3New York15–21–6
4325Minnesota North Stars2–3Minnesota15–22–6
4426Chicago Black Hawks3–9Chicago15–23–6
4529Toronto Maple Leafs3–1Los Angeles16–23-6
4630Boston Bruins5–7Los Angeles16–24–6 :
February
GameDateOpponentScoreLocation/attendanceRecord
471Oakland Seals8–5Los Angeles17–24-6
484St. Louis Blues4–2Los Angeles18–24-6
496Montreal Canadiens2–4Los Angeles18–25–6
508Pittsburgh Penguins4–2Pittsburgh19–25-6
519Detroit Red Wings0–5Detroit19–26–6
5211Montreal Canadiens3–7Montreal19–27–6
5313New York Rangers4–1Los Angeles20–27-6
5415St. Louis Blues1–4St. Louis20–28–6
5516Detroit Red Wings3–6Detroit20–29–6
5619Minnesota North Stars4–7Minnesota20–30–6
5720Chicago Black Hawks2–6Los Angeles20–31–6
5822St. Louis Blues1–3Los Angeles20–32–6
5923Oakland Seals4–3Oakland21–32-6
6024Minnesota North Stars1–1Los Angeles21-32–7
6126Boston Bruins2–4Los Angeles21–33–7 :
March
GameDateOpponentScoreLocation/attendanceRecord
621Philadelphia Flyers2–2Los Angeles21-33–8
635Toronto Maple Leafs4–6Toronto21–34–8
646Philadelphia Flyers1–5Philadelphia21–35–8
658Montreal Canadiens3–3Montreal21-35–9
669Boston Bruins2–7Boston21–36–9
6712Toronto Maple Leafs0–4Los Angeles21–37–9
6815Pittsburgh Penguins3–1Los Angeles22–37-9
6918Oakland Seals3–2Los Angeles23–37-9
7020Detroit Red Wings4–2Los Angeles24–37-9
7122Oakland Seals0–4Los Angeles24–38–9
7223Oakland Seals4–5Oakland24–39–9
7326Pittsburgh Penguins4–8Pittsburgh24–40–9
7427Philadelphia Flyers2–4Philadelphia24–41–9
7529St. Louis Blues1–3Los Angeles24–42–9
7630Minnesota North Stars3–3Los Angeles24-42–10 :

### 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 |
| 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 |

### Defensemen

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

The Kings were involved in the following transactions during the 1968–69 season.

### Trades

| May 20, 1968 | To Los Angeles KingsSkip Krake | To Boston Bruins1st round pick in 1970 – Reggie Leach |
| June 11, 1968 | To Los Angeles KingsGerry Desjardins | To Montreal Canadiens1st round pick in 1969 – Dick Redmond 1st round pick in 1972 – Steve Shutt |
| June 11, 1968 | To Los Angeles KingsMyron Stankiewicz | To St. Louis BluesTerry Gray |
| July 1, 1968 | To Los Angeles KingsLarry Cahan | To Montreal CanadiensBrian Smith Yves Locas |
| September 30, 1968 | To Los Angeles KingsGary Croteau Brian Murphy Wayne Thomas | To Toronto Maple LeafsGrant Moore Lou Deveault |
| October 10, 1968 | To Los Angeles KingsJimmy Peters Jr. | To Detroit Red WingsTerry Sawchuk |
| November 12, 1968 | To Los Angeles KingsRon Anderson | To Detroit Red WingsPoul Popiel |

### Reverse Draft

| June 6, 1968 | To Vancouver Canucks (WHL)Brian Kilrea |
| June 10, 1968 | From Montreal CanadiensNoel Price |

### Intra-league Draft

| June 12, 1968 | To St. Louis BluesMyron Stankiewicz |

## Draft picks

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality |
| 1 | 7 | Jim McInally | Canada |
* NOTE: Back before 1979, the amateur draft was held with varying rules and procedures. In 1968, teams only needed to select as many player as they wanted to, which is why there was only one Kings player drafted.