Kings Crown not Shining..

The Los Angeles Kings fired longtime coach Terry Murray. Murray, was replaced with assistant coach John Stevens. The underachieving  Kings had Murray behind the bench  for some of their best years, making the playoffs in back-to-back seasons after an eight-year absence from the postseason. As a longtime Los Angeles fan, I can go back all the way to the 70s when the Kings boasted the famous Triple Crown line of Dionne, Taylor And Simmer. Sure, they still didn’t win a lot of games but they were sure exciting to watch in those days. And then of course we had The Miracle on Manchester, when the Kings shocked Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers in the playoffs.

Then of course there was the Gretzky era. All of Los Angeles was abuzz when Wayne Gretzky left the Edmonton Oilers and brought his show to Hollywood. When Wayne Gretzky came to the LA Kings, it was chic to be a Kings fan. Tickets were being scalped for hundreds if not thousands of dollars, and celebrities frequently were seen at the games.  This Kings fan even went to a preseason game at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in an outdoor arena to watch the Kings and the Rangers play during the heat of the summer. Then came 1993, the one-year the Kings had a chance to win the Stanley Cup. With the Kings leading the series 2 games to one, and leading game three 2-1, the unthinkable happened. The Montréal Canadiens pulled possibly the biggest move of the series and it wasn’t even on the ice. They challenged the stick of Marty McSorley. McSorley, the enforcer for Gretzky, wasn’t even a goal scorer, yet the blade of his stick was illegal. You know the Canadians had this ace in their sleeve for some time and, they found just the time to use it. McSorley’s stick was found to be illegal and he was given a penalty, which led to the tying goal by the Canadians.   That one call by the Canadians changed the whole direction of the series, as Montréal went on to win the Stanley.Not surprisingly, McSorley was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins the following summer. Even though the Kings would eventually re-acquire McSorley, the club was never the same.

Shortly thereafter, Gretzky would would retire and it would no longer be chic to be a Kings fan. The Kings went up and down but mainly they were down. They changed uniforms they change colors but they still remain the same, old, Kings. And now once again, the Kings make another change looking to improve on their future. If not for the stick of a player would normally didn’t even score goals, the Kings with at least likely have rewarded some of their fans with the Stanley Cup win. For us Kings fans, we will have to continue to watch as our beloved team continues down the path of self-destruction.