Thread: Facts on the Fly: 3/5/2013 St. Louis Blues @ Los Angeles Kings

WOOHOO!!!!! That was a fun game to attend!!! When there is a hat giveaway night one can only hope that they get to witness a hat trick and throw that freebie as far as they can, hoping that if the hat does not make it to the ice than someone will help it to continue its journey to the frozen surface below. The crowd was sparse and it would have been nice to have a full house to see Carter’s performance and the Kings seemingly score on every other shot they took. Anyways, time to get another edition of Facts up and running for the Blues who come to town to try and get a little bit of revenge on the Kings for the team’s exit from the playoffs last year.
(Image of a Battle About to Take Place)



3/5/2013: St. Louis Blues @ Los Angeles Kings

On 1/11/1986; Marcel Dionne became the first player in NHL history to get 20 goals in each of his first 15 seasons, when he scored twice (and added an assist) in a 4-4 tie at St. Louis. The goals gave him 650 for his career while the assist was No. 900.
(Image of Dionne)



On 1/14/2007; Yutaka Fukufuji became the first Japanese native to play in the NHL when he relieves Barry Brust in goal to start the third period in a 6-5 loss at St. Louis. Fukufuji stopped four of five shots in the third period, but took the loss.
(Image of Fukufuji)



On 11/7/1995; Byron Dafoe recorded his first shutout as a King, 1-0, over the Blues in St. Louis. Eric Lacroix scored the game's only goal early in the third period. Dafoe made 33 stops, including 15 in the third period.
(Image of Dafoe)



The Blues are one of those teams that have fans that appear to be similar to ours; (up until the King’s Cup win last year), the Blues fans have suffered since they joined the league the same year as Kings. It was a pleasure sweeping them in the playoffs as they had done it to us in the past, let us hope that the Kings can make the Blue’s fans suffer just a little bit more in the game tonight.

St. Louis was the last of the expansion teams to officially gain entry into the league, chosen over Baltimore at the insistence of the Chicago Black Hawks. At the time, the Black Hawks were (and still are) owned by the influential Wirtz family of Chicago, which also owned the then-decrepit St. Louis Arena.
(Image of St. Louis Arena)



Capitalizing on a playoff format that required an expansion team to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals, the Blues reached the final round each of their first three seasons, though they were swept first by the Montreal Canadiens in 1968 and 1969 and then by the Boston Bruins in 1970.
(Image That Stands the Test of Time)



Amid several questionable personnel moves and an unstable ownership situation, the Blues finished the 2005–06 season with their worst record in 27 years. They missed the playoffs for only the fourth time in franchise history.

Since the teams start in 1967, they have had 18 times where they did not have a number one draft pick and there was even one year, (1983) that they did not even send anyone to the draft selection; flat out not even participating in the draft at all.
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Now it is time for some love for the 1984/85 team.
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The 1984 Draft was the first for Rogie Vachon as the team's general manager. It would be memorable in Kings History for hits and 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 Vachon struck gold in the 9th round with the 171st pick overall by choosing a guy named Luc Robitaille.
(Image of Glavine)



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 two year absence with a 23-point improvement in the standings.
(Image of Quinn)



Marcel Dionne continued to amaze King fans as he netted his 600th career goal as the Kings make the playoffs after a two year absence posting a record of 34-32-14 while finishing in fourth place. However, in the playoffs the Kings would be swept in three straight games by the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Edmonton Oilers losing two games in overtime.

Random stuff for you to look at.

The best record the Kings have ever had after playing 25 games in a season is; 18-6-1 = 37 pts in the 1980/81 season, the team also hit 37 points in the 1974/75 season with a record of 14-2-9.

The first member of the Kings organization to play Winter Olympic hockey while still a member of the team was Thomas Ahlen. Ahlen played for Sweden in the Sarajevo Games, he won a bronze medal as a member of that team.
(Image of Ahlen)



Rogie Vachon has had three stints as head coach of the Kings, 1984, 1987, and 1995; all for a total of 10 games coached.
(Image of Coach Vachon)



Sources: LAKINGS.com; NHL.com; TSN.ca; HOCKEYDB.com; HOCKEY-REFERENCE.com; GOOGLE IMAGES

Thanks Rawley!

I was racing with ya.

**** you Geoff Courtnall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Time for a correction of my own. I posted yesterday that my first Kings game was a 0-0 tie on 1-1-69 vs Minnesota. After a discussion with Rawley, we checked again. It was St. Louis, not Minnesota. It was also Rawley's first game, even though he can't remember, he was just a baby. I was only 4.

Now a fun Blues fact. When Al Arbour played for the Blues, he was one of the few players who played wearing glasses.

Originally Posted by eddieshack23

Time for a correction of my own. I posted yesterday that my first Kings game was a 0-0 tie on 1-1-69 vs Minnesota. After a discussion with Rawley, we checked again. It was St. Louis, not Minnesota. It was also Rawley's first game, even though he can't remember, he was just a baby. I was only 4.

Now a fun Blues fact. When Al Arbour played for the Blues, he was one of the few players who played wearing glasses.

I cannot even imagine playing with my glasses on.

Learning hockey facts one game at a time. Hope there isn't a mid-term exam coming up haha

Great job Rawley

my brother and i have been telling my niece about hat tricks so i showed her what happens if someone scores a hat trick on last night's game. we both wish we could have been there to see it in person.

thanks, Rawley19. go kings go!

Originally Posted by eddieshack23

Time for a correction of my own. I posted yesterday that my first Kings game was a 0-0 tie on 1-1-69 vs Minnesota. After a discussion with Rawley, we checked again. It was St. Louis, not Minnesota. It was also Rawley's first game, even though he can't remember, he was just a baby. I was only 4.

Now a fun Blues fact. When Al Arbour played for the Blues, he was one of the few players who played wearing glasses.

I remember that well. Sawchuck was another one, seems like to me. If not, it was some goalie around that time.
Thanks Rawley. I still miss Lord Byron

Originally Posted by Rawley19

I cannot even imagine playing with my glasses on.

He did it with no helmet.

I did it for most of the last season I played at UCLA. I had contact lens issues and had a pair of glasses that worked just right. Scored 2 or 3 goals that night, so I saw no reason to go back to contacts.