| Los Angeles Kings | |
|---|---|
 2024–25 Los Angeles Kings season | |
 | |
| Conference | Western |
| Division | Pacific |
| Founded | 1967 |
| History | Los Angeles Kings 1967–present |
| Home arena | Crypto.com Arena |
| City | Los Angeles, California |
 | |
| Team colors | Black, silver, white[1][2] |
| Media | FanDuel Sports Network West KCAL-TV ESPN Radio 710 Tu Liga Radio 1330 AM |
| Owner(s) | Philip Anschutz and Ed Roski |
| General manager | Rob Blake |
| Head coach | Jim Hiller |
| Captain | Anze Kopitar |
| Minor league affiliates | Ontario Reign (AHL) Greenville Swamp Rabbits (ECHL)[3] |
| Stanley Cups | 2 (2011–12, 2013–14) |
| Conference championships | 3 (1992–93, 2011–12, 2013–14) |
| Presidents' Trophy | 0 |
| Division championships | 1 (1990–91) |
| Official website | nhl |
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent Cooke was awarded an NHL expansion franchise for Los Angeles on February 9, 1966, becoming one of the six teams that began play as part of the 1967 NHL expansion.[4] The team plays its home games at Crypto.com Arena in Downtown Los Angeles, their home since the start of the 1999–2000 season. Prior to that, the Kings played for 32 years at the Forum in Inglewood, California, a suburb of Los Angeles.
During the 1970s and early 1980s, the Kings had many years marked by impressive play in the regular season only to be washed out by early playoff exits. Their highlights in those years included the strong goaltending of Rogie Vachon, and the "Triple Crown Line" of Charlie Simmer, Dave Taylor and Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne, who had a famous upset of the rising Edmonton Oilers in a 1982 playoff game known as the Miracle on Manchester. In 1988, the Kings traded with the Oilers to get their captain Wayne Gretzky, leading to a successful phase of the franchise that raised hockey's popularity in Los Angeles, and helped elevate the sport's profile in the American Sun Belt region.[5] Gretzky, fellow Hall of Famer Luc Robitaille, and defenseman Rob Blake led the Kings to the franchise's sole division title in 1990–91, and the Kings' first Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 1993, where they lost to the Montreal Canadiens.
After the 1993 Finals, the Kings entered financial problems, with a bankruptcy in 1995, which led to the franchise being acquired by Philip Anschutz (the owner of Anschutz Entertainment Group and the operators of Crypto.com Arena) and Edward P. Roski. A period of mediocrity ensued, with the Kings only resurging as they broke a six-year playoff drought in the 2009–10 season, with a team that included goaltender Jonathan Quick, defenseman Drew Doughty, and forwards Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar, and Justin Williams. Under coach Darryl Sutter, who was hired early in the 2011–12 season, and with the acquisition of Jeff Carter, the Kings won two Stanley Cups in three years: 2012 over the New Jersey Devils, and 2014 over the New York Rangers, while Quick and Williams respectively won the Conn Smythe Trophy. The franchise has had mixed success since; to the present day, the Kings qualified for the playoffs for the last three consecutive seasons, but only five times in the last decade, never advancing past the first round.
- ^ "LA Kings Unveil Brand Evolution". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L.P. June 20, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
- ^ "LA Kings Officially Introduce New Home And Away Uniforms". LAKings.com. NHL Enterprises, L.P. June 26, 2024. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
Last week the Kings officially "retired" the team's most recent primary logo, which made its debut in 2008 as the featured element of an alternate jersey. The team in 2011 adopted the logo as its primary mark, along with the team colors of black, silver, and white (the team colors remain). The Kings captured both of their Stanley Cups wearing the black version of that jersey.
- ^ "Kings announce two-year affiliation agreement with ECHL's Greenville Swamp Rabbits + Reign sign 5 to AHL contracts". LA Kings Insider. August 23, 2022. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
- ^ The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2017. Toronto, Ontario: Dan Diamond and Associates, Inc. 2016. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-894801-31-7.
- ^ "Gretzky's trade to L.A. 25 years ago still creating ripple effect". The Hockey News. The Canadian Press. August 8, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2018.