1968–69 Los Angeles Kings season

The 1968–69 Los Angeles Kings season was the franchise's 2nd season in the National Hockey League. The Kings finished 4th in the West Division and won in the Division Semi-finals over the Oakland Seals 4 games to 3 before losing in the Division Finals to the St. Louis Blues 4 games to 0.
==Off-season==
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.
The Kings jerseys were the same design as in the 1967-68 season.
==Pre-season==
The team held its training camp in Barrie, Ontario and had three pre-season games in Barrie:
September 18, 1968 vs Oakland Seals
September 20, 1968 vs Minnesota North Stars
October 2, 1968 vs Pittsburgh Penguins
==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.
After last playing in the NHL for the New York Rangers in the 1957-58 season, Gerry Foley played one last game, on December 21, 1968 in a 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. Gary Croteau played his first NHL game during the 2-2 tie with Philadelphia on March 1, 1969.
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 West Division.
Attendance for the season exceeded 300,000 for the first time over a 38-game home schedule.
===Final Standings===
===Game Log===
Game Log	Game Log	 	 	 	
October
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable"	 	 	 	 	
Game 	Date 	Opponent 	Score	Location 	Record
1 	12 	St. Louis Blues 	0-6 	St. Louis 	0-1-0
2 	13 	Oakland Seals 	4-4 	Oakland 	0-1-1
3 	17 	Boston Bruins 	2-1 	Los Angeles	1-1-1
4 	19 	Minnesota North Stars	1-4 	Minnesota 	1-2-1
5 	20 	New York Rangers 	0-7 	New York 	1-3-1
6 	23 	Montreal Canadiens 	2-5 	Los Angeles	1-4-1
7 	26 	Philadelphia Flyers 	6-2 	Los Angeles	2-4-1
8 	30 	Chicago Black Hawks 	2-4 	Los Angeles	2-5-1
==Playoffs==
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.
===Los Angeles Kings 4, Oakland Seals 3===
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 	
===St. Louis Blues 4, Los Angeles Kings 0===
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 	
==Player Stats==
===Forwards===
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
# 	Player 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
16 	Eddie Joyal 	73	33	19	52 	24
17 	Bill Flett 	72	24	25	49 	53
9 	Real Lemieux 	75	11	29	40 	68
15 	Ted Irvine 	76	15	24	39 	47
10 	Howie Hughes 	73	16	14	30 	10
11 	Lowell MacDonald 	58	14	14	38 	10
12, 20	Gord Labossiere 	48	10	18	28 	12
19 	Howie Menard 	56	10	17	27 	31
8 	Jimmy Peters 	76	10	15	25 	28
7 	Phil "Skip" Krake	30	3 	9 	12 	11
23 	Doug Robinson 	31	2 	10	12 	2
20 	Ron Anderson 	56	3 	5 	8 	26
23 	Gary Croteau 	11	5 	1 	6 	6
7, 12 	Bryan Campbell 	18	2 	1 	3 	4
22 	Bill Inglis 	10	0 	1 	1 	0
22 	Gerry Foley 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
22 	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
21	Bill White 	75	5 	28	33 	38
2 	Bob Wall 	71	13	13	26 	16
6 	Dale Rolfe 	75	3 	19	22 	85
5 	Brent Hughes	72	2 	19	21 	73
14	Larry Cahan 	72	3 	11	14 	76
3 	Dave Amadio 	65	1 	5 	6 	60
===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
30	Gerry Desjardins	60	3499	18	34	6	4 	3.26
1 	Wayne Rutledge 	17	921 	6 	7 	4	0 	3.65
1 	Jacques Caron 	3 	140 	0 	1 	0	0 	3.86
==Awards and Records==
*The Kings did not win any awards this season.
==Transactions==
*May 20, 1968 – Acquired Skip Krake from Boston for a first-round choice in the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft.
*June 11, 1968 – Acquired Myron Stankiewicz from St. Louis for Terry Gray.
*June 11, 1968 – Acquired Gerry Desjardins from Montreal for a first-round choice in the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft (later transferred to Minnesota) and the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft.
*July 1, 1968 – Acquired Larry Cahan from Montreal for Yves Locas and Brian Smith.
*October 10, 1968 – Acquired Jimmy Peters from Detroit for Terry Sawchuk.
*October 15, 1968 – Acquired Gary Croteau, Brian Murphy and Wayne Thomas from Toronto for Lou Deveault and Grant Moore.
*November 12, 1968 – Acquired Ron Anderson from Detroit for Poul Popiel.
==Draft Picks==
Round	Pick	Player 	Nationality
1 	7 	Jim McInally	
 
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Forwards:
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==Trivia==
*Kings who recorded a Hat trick this season include:
**Eddie Joyal during the 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on December 4, 1968.
**Bill Flett during the 6-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings on December 11, 1968.
**Eddie Joyal during the 7-4 loss to the Minnesota North Stars on February 19, 1969.
**Ted Irvine during the 3-2 win over the Oakland Seals on March 18, 1969.
==Gallery==
68-69NHLLAExhBarrieGameAd.jpg|Pre-season @ Barrie, Ontario
==References==
* Kings on Hockey Database
Category:Los Angeles Kings seasons
Category:1968 in hockey
Category:1969 in hockey