The late sixties were an eventful period to say the least. Peace rallies
opposing the continued American military presence in Vietnam were growing like
wildfire, the Beatles maintained their dominance of the music charts with the
release of their "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band" album, and the summer
months were dubbed the "summer of love" for more reasons than one.

In the world of sports, the NFL';s first-ever Super Bowl saw Vince Lombardi';s
Green Bay Packers handily defeat Hank Stram';s Kansas City Chiefs, while
charismatic boxer Muhammad Ali was unjustly stripped of his World Heavyweight
Champion titles for his refusal to serve his country in the aforementioned war
in Vietnam.

On the ice, the Toronto Maple Leafs outlasted the Montreal Canadiens in six
games to take home the franchise';s 13th Stanley Cup. Much to the chagrin of
Leafs fans, they are still waiting for No. 14 to be paraded up and down Yonge
Street. Elsewhere in the NHL, the league doubled in size by welcoming six new
teams in time for the 1967-68 season: the California/Oakland Seals, Minnesota
North Stars, St. Louis Blues, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and,
last but not least, your beloved Los Angeles Kings. The name that owner Jack
Kent Cooke decided on to give the team a royal feel.Five of the six new NHL
owners. Standing: Gordon Ritz (MIN), Sid Salomon (STL) Seated: Bill Putnam
(PHI), Jack Kent Cooke (LA), Jack MacGregor (PIT)

Now, what better way to lament on the Kings'; recent disappointing playoff exit
 at the hands of the expansion Vegas Golden Knights than to pay homage to the
Kings'; enigmatic expansion team of the late sixties?California Dreamin';

Cooke certainly was a dreamer. Originally from Hamilton, Ontario, the
businessman had enjoyed success in the electronic and print media industry, but
 had his sights firmly set on his ultimate passion - owning a sports franchise.
 He started off by acquiring the Toronto Maple Leafs minor
league baseball club in 1951, followed by the Washington Redskins of the NFL
in 1961, and the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA in 1965. Heck, he even founded
the Los Angeles Wolves of the United Soccer Association in 1967. His next
target was bringing NHL hockey to Southern California.Jack Kent Cooke (right)
during his tenure as owner of the Maple Leafs baseball club.It was in 1965 that
 NHL commissioner Clarence Campbell announced that the league was moving
forward with expansion plans and had earmarked specific cities, one of which
was Los Angeles, to fill these pending vacancies. Upon hearing this news, Cooke
 zealously prepared a bid which would involve a $2 million expansion fee and
the procurement of a hockey-ready arena. Seemed straightforward for someone as
successful and well connected as Cooke.The problem was that Los Angeles Rams
owner Dan Reeves was spearheading a competing bid for the franchise as part of
the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission. If Cooke was fortunate enough to
win the bid, he would be restricted from leveraging the competitor';s sporting
facility full-time and, as a result, would have to erect his own.Challenge
accepted.Cooke';s bid prevailed with the arrangement of playing the first few
months of team';s inaugural season at the Long Beach Arena as well as the Los
Angeles Memorial Sports Arena before taking up permanent residence in their
fabulous new home.

#OTD 1967, @LAKings play their first home game. Played in the Long Beach Arena,
 the Kings beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2. pic.twitter.com/F0HrSdGuMv

- HSSC (@thehssc) October 14, 2017

"The Fabulous Forum"

Located in southwestern Los Angeles County, Inglewood was selected as the city
for Cooke';s expansion team to call home for the foreseeable future. Designed
by renowned architect Charles Luckman, who also designed Madison Square Garden,
 the arena was meant to replicate the prestige of the Roman Coliseum in Rome,
Italy. With that vision in mind, Cooke eloquently referred to the arena as "The
 Fabulous Forum", or simply "The Forum" to the rest of us.Cooke breaking
ground on "The Fabulous Forum" in Inglewood.

With a non-negotiable deadline from the NHL of having a new arena up and
running by Dec. 31, 1967, Cooke promised Luckman and his design team to be
hands-off to help expedite things. Construction of the arena would go around
the clock in order reach the aggressive timelines. The team flexed their
creative muscle by having sixty-foot tall Romanesque arches being developed
on-site, as they were far too large to transport, as well as using helicopters
to place building mechanical on the rooftop.

The extreme diligence and imagination of the crew paid off as the arena opened
its doors on New Year';s Eve - i.e. right on time. A fabulous arena required an
 equally fabulous ribbon-cutting ceremony, which is what Cooke delivered.

His hockey team would now be ready to move to their royal abode. The question
remained, what would this team look like?The Royal Brain Trust

Although Cooke was adept at owning professional sports teams, he certainly knew
 his limits. With that in mind, he called upon familiarity and hockey pedigree
to help run the show in "La La Land".A Jack of all TradesRegan found his niche
as both a head coach and, eventually, general manager.

Larry Regan played a respectable six seasons in the NHL, split between the
Boston Bruins and Maple Leafs. As his playing career had plateaued and was now
trending downwards, he decided to take on the role of player/head coach for the
 Pittsburgh Hornets of the AHL for part of the 1961-62 season. After a couple
of years of playing abroad and finalizing his playing career with the Baltimore
 Clippers of the AHL, Regan decided to shift his full attention to the
managerial side of things. After a brief stint as the bench boss of the
Etobicoke Indians of the Ontario Hockey Association, Regan got the opportunity
of a lifetime from an old friend.

Regan was initially offered the head scout role with the expansion Kings, but
was ultimately named the club';s first ever general manager on June 8, 1967. It
 certainly did not hurt that Regan and the team';s owner had
already established a good rapport with one another.

"I knew Jack from the years I played in Toronto. We became pretty good friends
along the way and stayed in touch," Regan said. "Then I heard about the NHL
expanding, I put my oar in the water with Jack before anybody else and I was
fortunate enough to be chosen."Seeing Red

Leonard Patrick "Red" Kelly was living the dream. He was fresh off of winning
his eighth Stanley Cup as a player, and fourth in eight years with the Maple
Leafs. After an esteemed 19-year NHL playing career, the future Hall-of-Famer
decided that it was time to hang up in the skates in favor of a suit and a pair
 of loafers. However, his ability to transition into coaching wasn';t without
its roadblocks.Kelly (left) called it a career as a player to help oversee the
expansion Kings.

Upon announcing his retirement as a player and negotiating a deal with Kings
brass to become their first-ever coach, Maple Leafs head coach Punch Imlach
insisted that the Kings draft Kelly as a player in the upcoming expansion
draft. Doing so would help the Leafs protect other notable players from being
plucked away. A pretty cagey, yet audacious request, right? Well, the Kings did
 not fully budge. Instead, the two sides eventually agreed on the Kings
shipping out minor-league defenceman Ken Block to Toronto.Newly Elected Kings

Following the 1966 NHL season, the existing "original six" teams were allowed
to protect 11 skaters and one goalie for the upcoming expansion draft. Each of
the six expansion teams would then be able to pick and choose from the eligible
 list until each team had selected 20 players in total. The Kings were
fortuitously blessed with the (first) pick of the litter and got their hands on
 a future NHL Hall-of-Fame netminder in the twilight of his career."The Uke"

With the Kings already securing the services of an ex-Maple Leaf player as
their coach, why not double down and select legendary goalie Terry Sawchuk as
the team';s first-ever player? Nicknamed "Ukey" or "The Uke" by his teammates
because of his Ukrainian heritage, Sawchuk had played an astounding 18 seasons
in the NHL prior to joining the Kings. Although he played multiple seasons with
 the Bruins and Maple Leafs, he is best known for being a staple in between the
 pipes for the powerful Detroit Red Wings teams of the early-1950s to
mid-1960s.

Sawchuk was best known for his time with the Detroit Red Wings. His resumé is
 stupendous, to say the least:

Four-time Stanley Cup winner (';52, ';54, ';55, ';67)Four-time Vezina Trophy
winner (';52, ';53, ';55, ';65)Calder Memorial Trophy winner (';51)Three-time
NHL First-Team All-Star (';51, ';52, ';53)First ever goalie to record 100
career shutoutsIncluded in 100 Greatest NHL Players list

Despite being the tender age of 37 when he was selected by the Kings, the Uke
still had some gas left in the tank. His playing time had recently diminished
while splitting duties with fellow Hall-of-Fame goalie Johnny Bower in
Toronto. He would soon share a similar fate in Los Angeles.The "Other" Goalie

Wayne Rutledge was an unheralded goalie that was looking for his big break in
the NHL at the age of 26. Although his rights were owned by the New York
Rangers, Rutledge had yet to see any big league action leading into the 1967-68
 season. He had honed his craft in the CPHL the preceding three seasons and the
 Rangers decided to leave him exposed for the expansion draft. General manager
Regan must have seen something he liked, as he decided to select the enigmatic
goaltender with the Kings'; second-round pick. It was becoming quite clear that
 the Kings wanted to have a robust last line of defense, in hopes of fielding a
 competitive team.

Nicknames O';Plenty

The remainder of the team';s expansion draft was laden with solid, yet
unspectacular players. This included the likes of Canadiens center Gord
Labossiere, Red Wings defenseman Bob Wall, and Bruins left winger Ted Irvine. 
 The team also managed to secure the services of promising young defender Bill
White to help further solidify their back-end.

Although this group of newly elected Kings were far from pushovers, they
certainly did not have the star power that the city of Los Angeles was
accustomed to. With that in mind, Cooke and the Kings upper management put
their marketing hats on and decided to ordain specific players catchy nicknames
 to help increase the team';s cachet. Los Angeles was now the new home of Eddie
 "The Jet" Joyal, Bill "Cowboy" Flett, and Real "Frenchy" Lemieux, among
others.

Ladies and gentlemen, your 1967-68 Los Angeles Kings were now ready to hit the
ice:

Bob Wall, Ted Irvine, Howie Hughes, Terry Sawchuk, Bill Flett, Wayne Rutledge &
 Bill White of the 1967-68 LA Kings: pic.twitter.com/UghQjS4W

- SI Vault (@si_vault) June 12, 2012

A Killer of a Start

The team';s first ever regular season game was played on Oct. 14, 1967, at the
modest Long Beach Arena. With the ability to hold 13,500 fans, the team';s
inaugural match against their expansion cousins, the Philadelphia Flyers, was
only able to render an attendance of just over 7,000. The Kings were undeterred
 by the underwhelming welcome and proceeded to take down the Flyers to the tune
 of a 4-2 victory.

Undoubtedly, the player of the game was pesky center Brian Kilrea.
Affectionately referred to as "Killer" because of his surname, the journeyman
notched two goals and an assist on the evening. Most importantly, his first
goal also marked the first in Kings history. Kilrea recently celebrated the
anniversary of this historic milestone:

49 years ago tonight, Brian Kilrea scored the first goal in #LAKings history.A
post shared by  Jon Rosen (@lakinsider) on Oct 14, 2016 at 5:44pm PDT

The Original California Hockey Rivalry

Yes, the present day Kings have a heated rivalry with interstate and
inter-divisional rivals in the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks. However, the
real on-ice battle of California technically commenced in 1967.The Kings and
Sharks have become heated interstate rivals. (Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)

The Kings were placed in the newly formed West Division of the NHL with the
other five expansion teams, which included the California/Oakland Seals. Much
to the delight of Kings fans, the Seals were the inferior of the two sides, yet
 put up a good fight during their encounters. In nine regular season games,
each side came away with four wins and a tie. Unfortunately for Seals fans,
their season overall was of the disastrous variety. The team finished with a
league-low 15 wins and 47 points in 74 overall games. Conversely, their
neighbors to the south enjoyed much more success that season.A Successful
Freshman CampaignWhite was a stabilizing force oh the back-end for the Kings.

Led in scoring by "The Jet" (Joyal) and "The Cowboy" (Flett), the commanding
back-end presence of defenders White and Wall, as well as solid goaltending
from the duo of Sawchuk and Rutledge, the Kings enjoyed a successful freshman
campaign. The team ended the regular season with a 31-33-10 record, which was
enough to secure the second seed in the Western Division, and a playoff birth.

The team was brimming with confidence in advance of their quarterfinal playoff
match-up against the North Stars. The Kings got their postseason off to an
ideal start by defeating the Stars in the first two games in Los Angeles, with
Joyal notching a goal in both games. Games 3 through 6 were won by the home
team, which resulted in a deciding Game 7 back in California. Suffice it to
say, home ice was not much of an advantage on this occasion, as Minnesota
throttled the Kings, 9-4.Laying the Foundation of Royalty

Regardless of the how lopsided the Kings'; finale was, the narrative of how
this expansion team came to be and the success the team managed to achieve that
 season is both compelling and inspiring at the same time. Sure, they were not
the Cinderella story that the Golden Knights have become this year. That said,
they laid down a foundation that future Kings teams have continued to build
upon, which has resulted in consistent success and an incredibly passionate fan
 base.

A tip of the cap to the 1967-68 Los Angeles Kings is rightfully in order.

The post Peace, Love and LA Kings Hockey appeared first on The Hockey Writers.

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