1974–75_Los_Angeles_Kings_season

1974–75 Los Angeles Kings season

1974–75 Los Angeles Kings season

National Hockey League team season


The 1974–75 Los Angeles Kings season was the Kings' eighth season in the National Hockey League.

Quick Facts Los Angeles Kings, Division ...

Offseason

Defenseman Barry Long (3G, 19Ast, plus/minus = +25) jumped to the Edmonton Oilers of the WHA.

Regular season

The Kings were coming off their first playoff appearance in 5 years and the season before finished with a .500 record and scored more goals than they allowed for the first time in club history. Still, they were placed in a division with the powerful Montreal Canadiens in the 1974–75 realignment and hockey experts joked that Montreal would clinch 1st place by Christmas. But the Kings started fast, losing only twice in their first 26 games. The Canadiens finally overtook them and clinched first place with only 3 games to play. In addition, the Kings had allowed the fewest goals in the most of the season (which would have earned their goaltender tandem of Rogie Vachon and Gary Edwards the Vezina Trophy under 1975 rules). But they faltered just enough at the end and the Philadelphia Flyers earned that honor by a mere 4 goals.

Playoffs

With the 4th best record in the league, the Kings were hopeful of a deep playoff run. But because they finished 2nd in the division, they had to play in the dangerous 2 out of 3 mini series. Their opponent was the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were under .500 on the season, finishing 27 points behind the Kings. But a hot goalie can carry a team and Toronto's Gord McRae got hot at the wrong time for the Kings. Toronto scored a late goal in game 1 but the Kings won in overtime, 3–2. Toronto won game 2 in overtime by the same 3–2 score, and won game 3 in L.A. 2–1. Three of the four higher seeded teams lost in the mini series.

Final standings

More information GP, W ...

Record vs. opponents

More information Norris Division record vs. opponents, NHL records ...

Schedule and results

More information No., R ...

Playoffs

  • Maple Leafs 2 at Kings 3 (OT)
  • Kings 2 at Maple Leafs 3 (OT)
  • Maple Leafs 2 at Kings 1

Player statistics

Awards and records

Jack Adams AwardBob Pulford, Coach

All-NHL 2nd team – Rogie Vachon, Goalie

Transactions

The Kings were involved in the following transactions during the 1974–75 season.[3]

Trades

July 28, 1974 To Los Angeles Kings
Cash
To Washington Capitals
Bill Lesuk
February 5, 1975 To Los Angeles Kings
Cash
To Kansas City Scouts
Doug Buhr
February 10, 1975 To Los Angeles Kings
Ken Murray
To Kansas City Scouts
Cash
March 3, 1975 To Los Angeles Kings
Bill Mikkelson
To Washington Capitals
Cash
March 10, 1975 To Los Angeles Kings
Cash
To St. Louis Blues
Jim McCrimmon

Free agent signings

June 10, 1974 From Vancouver Blazers (WHA)
Dave Hutchison
July 9, 1974 From Michigan Tech Huskies (NCAA)
Lorne Stamler
August 1, 1974 From Ohio State Buckeyes (NCAA)
Jim Witherspoon

Free agents lost

June 27, 1974 To Kansas City Scouts
Jim McElmury

Expansion draft

June 12, 1974 To Washington Capitals
Gord Smith
June 12, 1974 To Kansas City Scouts
Norm Dubé
June 12, 1974 To Kansas City Scouts
Randy Rota

Draft picks

Los Angeles's draft picks at the 1974 NHL amateur draft held in Montreal.

More information Round, # ...

Farm teams

See also


References

  1. "1974-1975 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  2. "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.

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