LA Kings 2011 Training Camp: Goalie Prospect Jeff Zatkoff Approaches 2011-12 Season With Renewed Focus

LA Kings goaltender prospect Jeff Zatkoff.
Photo: David Sheehan

EL SEGUNDO, CA — Outside of the years superstar and should-be-Hall-of-Fame netminder Rogie Vachon dominated while toiling between the pipes, goaltending has traditionally been the weakest link for the Los Angeles Kings.

Even goaltender Mario Lessard only had one outstanding season with the Kings in 1980-81. He even played in the 1981 National Hockey League All-Star Game that year, along with the Kings’ “Triple Crown Line,” which featured Marcel Dionne, Charlie Simmer and Dave Taylor.

Kelly Hrudey backstopped the Kings during the Gretzky Era, and helped lead the Kings to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1992-93. But that team won by outscoring its opponents, not because of its defense and goaltending. Read more of this post

Honored In Obscurity: Los Angeles Kings Retired Athletic Trainer Pete Demers

FROZEN ROYALTY EXCLUSIVE: The Los Angeles Kings have more than twenty people—players, coaches, general managers and broadcasters—who have gained entry to the hallowed halls of the Hockey Hall of Fame. There are also two other members of the Kings family who have been so honored, including former head athletic trainer Pete Demers. But because of how they are recognized by the Hockey Hall of Fame, Demers has been honored in almost complete obscurity, as have fellow athletic trainer and equipment manager honorees. In the final installment of this series on Demers’ career, Frozen Royalty looks at the honor, and what Demers is doing to ensure that future athletic trainers and equipment managers will get to enjoy that bit of the spotlight they deserve.


Los Angeles Kings retired head athletic trainer Pete Demers, circa 2003.
Photo: Demers Family Collection

LOS ANGELES — Fifteen players who have worn the jersey of the Los Angeles Kings have been inducted into the hallowed halls of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Three people inducted in the Builders category also spent time with the Kings organization, and one former head coach, Red Kelly, was inducted as a player, for a total of 19 people affiliated with the Kings who have become honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

In addition, former Kings broadcaster John Kenneth “Jiggs” McDonald, the team’s original play-by-play announcer, and the legendary “Voice of the Kings,” long-time television play-by-play announcer Bob Miller, are media honorees.

But hardly anyone knows that the Kings have two additional people from their family who have earned a place in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

One is Norm Mackie, who served as the head athletic trainer from their inaugural 1967-68 season through 1971-72. Read more of this post

Luc Robitaille: The King Of Kings – Part Two

The following is part two of an updated story written for the Online Kingdom back on April 14, 2006, a few days after Los Angeles Kings left wing Luc Robitaille announced his retirement as a player. It is being re-published in honor of his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 9, 2009. To read part one on FrozenRoyalty.net, click on Luc Robitaille: The King Of Kings – Part One.


Robitaille The Leader

I’ve always admired people who were gifted with the quality of leadership, and when leadership and raw athletic ability are found together in one person, it’s a rare combination to be sure. I think that one of the things that I appreciate most about Luc is that not only does he possess this combination, but that it is manifested in him in a unique way. Luc brings a contagious passion to the rink every day and to everything he does. I found that being around that kind of passion and desire made the game even more enjoyable for me and challenged me to give to my full capacity.
— Former Kings tough guy Stu Grimson
Read more of this post

Luc Robitaille: The King Of Kings – Part One

The following is an updated story written for the Online Kingdom back on April 14, 2006, a few days after Los Angeles Kings left wing Luc Robitaille announced his retirement as a player. It is being re-published in honor of Robitaille’s induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 9, 2009. To read part two, click on Luc Robitaille: The King Of Kings – Part Two.


EL SEGUNDO, CA — Back on April 3, 1995, the night that all-time Los Angeles Kings great Dave Taylor had his jersey number 18 retired by the club, this reporter wrote that he was the King of Kings, earning that right above other all-time Kings’ greats such as Marcel Dionne, Rogie Vachon and Wayne Gretzky.

“No Kings’ player had ever measured up to Taylor when it came to heart, the desire to excel and win and the ability and willingness to go into the corners and sacrifice his body for his team,” I wrote. “No other Kings’ player has ever come close to Taylor as far as leadership—on the ice and off—is concerned, [and] no Kings’ player has ever matched his relentless work ethic, his dedication to his team, the game of hockey and his community.”

To be sure, Taylor had earned the right to wear the crown as the King of Kings, and was a great standard bearer for the organization, both on and off the ice. But on Tuesday, April 11, 2006, the day that Kings all-time great left wing Luc Robitaille announced at a press conference that he would retire at the conclusion of the 2005-06 season, Taylor immediately abdicated the crown because his reign is over. Robitaille now wears the crown as new Kings of Kings. Read more of this post

LA Kings HockeyFest 09: Fan Favorite Hrudey Celebrates His Time With The Kings

Former LA Kings goalie Kelly Hrudey shares his experiences with the crowd in the Nokia Theatre at LA Live during  HockeyFest 09. Photo courtesy Thomas LaRocca/LAKings.com

Former LA Kings goalie Kelly Hrudey shares his experiences with the crowd in the Nokia Theatre at LA Live during HockeyFest 09.
Photo: Thomas LaRocca/LAKings.com

LOS ANGELES — Last weekend, as part of their first annual HockeyFest 09, the Los Angeles Kings brought back some of their alumni to join in the celebration.

Indeed, fans got to meet and listen to Kings from days long past. They were delighted to see the famed Triple Crown Line of Marcel Dionne, Charlie Simmer and Dave Taylor reunited in a hockey setting here in Los Angeles for the first time in 25 years.

Bernie Nicholls. Gene Carr. Ray Ferraro. Stu Grimson. Bob Berry. Gary Edwards. Glen Murray. Those were just some of the alumni from all the different eras of Los Angeles Kings hockey who gathered at the Nokia Theatre at LA Live to celebrate all things hockey with Los Angeles hockey fans.

Another familiar name was Kelly Hrudey, who became the Kings number one goaltender after being acquired from the New York Islanders on February 22, 1989, in exchange for Mark Fitzpatrick, Wayne McBean and future considerations (Doug Crossman). Read more of this post

Los Angeles Kings HockeyFest 2009 Opens

LOS ANGELES — The dreaded lull is coming to an end.

For hockey fans, the period immediately following the July 1 unrestricted free agent signing spree through the opening of National Hockey League team training camps is usually so slow in terms of news that desperate hockey fans will eat up just about anything that’s published or broadcast, no matter how ridiculous, outlandish or just downright phony it might be.

Logo courtesy Los Angeles Kings

Thankfully, we are now about one week away from the opening of rookie camps across the league, with training camps opening a week later.

Here in the Los Angeles area, hockey fans are getting a head start on ending the dreaded lull.

For all of you Los Angeles Kings fans out there, unless you’ve been marooned on a deserted island, stuck in the middle of the Sahara Desert, on a long backpack trip through a wilderness area, or just taking a vacation from all things hockey, you have certainly seen and heard the total media blitz (television commercials, radio spots, Kings officials talking it up on radio interviews, newspaper and web stories) about the Los Angeles Kings HockeyFest 2009. Read more of this post

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