Open Letter To The Hockey Hall of Fame: Address The Injustice and Induct Rogie Vachon

February 9, 2013 by 8 Comments

Rogie Vachon
Photo courtesy: Los Angeles Kings

LOS ANGELES — Over the last handful of years, I have written a few times about former Los Angeles Kings goaltender Rogie Vachon, who became the team’s first superstar after coming to the Kings from the storied Montreal Canadiens, where he won three Stanley Cup Championships.

In a word, Vachon was brilliant. Based on his record alone, he should have been a shoo-in to be inducted into the hallowed halls of the Hockey Hall of Fame (HHOF).

Despite that, Vachon remains on the outside looking in, primarily because those outside of the Los Angeles area rarely got to see him play—he never got the exposure in Canada or in Eastern Time Zone cities that he needed.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Vachon, or would like to know more, the following stories detail his accomplishments, and include comments from the man himself, based on exclusive interviews.

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Strong Goalie Pipeline Is A First And A Sign Of Strength For The Los Angeles Kings

July 16, 2011 by 21 Comments

Goalie prospect Martin Jones speaks to the media during the
Los Angeles Kings 2011 Development Camp at the
Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, California,
July 11-12, 2011.
Photo: Gann Matsuda

EL SEGUNDO, CA — With Jonathan Quick having established himself as a legitimate number one goaltender in the National Hockey League, and with Jonathan Bernier performing admirably in the backup role in his rookie year this past season, the Los Angeles Kings may have a one-two punch in goal that they have never had before.

Although Rogie Vachon is still the best goaltender in the history of the franchise, and Gary Edwards, the backup netminder during all but one of Vachon’s seasons with the Kings, was no slouch, the Kings’ current netminders have the potential to surpass the tandem of Vachon and Edwards.

Indeed, the Kings certainly appear to be set in goal for the foreseeable future. Read more of this post

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Frozen Royalty Audio And NHL Video: Anze Kopitar Leads LA Kings To 7th Straight Win

February 3, 2010 by 11 Comments

LOS ANGELES — Anze Kopitar and Ryan Smyth scored goals while Jonathan Quick stopped twenty shots to lead the Los Angeles Kings to a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers in front of an announced sell-out crowd of 18,118 fans at Staples Center on February 2.

After a scoreless first period, Kopitar opened the scoring on a two-on-one shorthanded break at 16:43 of the second period.

Smyth scored his 17th goal of the season at 11:14 of the third period, taking a nice pass from winger Dustin Brown after a turnover by the Rangers in the neutral zone.

Quick has now won seven consecutive games, and has earned a 1.95 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage in that span.

The Kings have won their last seven games and are 9-1 in their last ten games after losing three straight games to the Detroit Red Wings on January 7, the St. Louis Blues on January 9 and the San Jose Sharks on January 11. Read more of this post

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