1972–73 Los Angeles Kings season

The 1972–73 Los Angeles Kings season was the Kings' sixth season in the National Hockey League. The team did not qualify for the playoffs and finished in sixth place out of eight teams in the West Division, only three points behind fourth place, the final playoff position. Kings' captain Bob Pulford retired from play before the season and took over as the Kings' head coach.

1972–73 Los Angeles Kings
Division6th West
1972–73 record31–36–11
Goals for232
Goals against245
Team information
General managerLarry Regan
CoachBob Pulford
CaptainVacant
Alternate captainsRalph Backstrom
Harry Howell
Juha Widing
Team leaders
GoalsMike Corrigan (37)
AssistsJuha Widing (54)
PointsJoha Widing (70)
Penalty minutesMike Corrigan (146)
WinsRogie Vachon (22)
Goals against averageRogie Vachon (2.85)

Regular season

Bob Pulford became full-time head coach and instituted a disciplined defense oriented system. Consequently, the Kings allowed 60 fewer goals than in 1971–72. Their penalty killing, once the worst in the NHL, was led by Jimmy Peters and Real Lemieux and was the best in the league. Offensively, the Kings were led by "The Hot Line," which consisted of Juha Widing, Bob Berry, and Mike Corrigan; they combined for 89 goals and 112 assists.

After starting 1–6, the Kings went on a club record 8-game winning streak. But from early January through February, they endured a 4–13–5 stretch that saw them fall from 4th to 7th place. They got hot again in March, going 6–4–2 to get within 2 points of the 4th place St. Louis Blues, who held the final playoff spot with 3 games to play. But L.A. suffered two straight disastrous losses to the last place California Golden Seals, and fell to 6th, missing the playoffs by 3 points.

Final standings
West Division[1]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1Chicago Black Hawks7842279284225+5993
2Philadelphia Flyers78373011296256+4085
3Minnesota North Stars78373011254230+2485
4St. Louis Blues78323412233251−1876
5Pittsburgh Penguins7832379257265−873
6Los Angeles Kings78313611232245−1373
7Atlanta Flames78253815191239−4865
8California Golden Seals78164616213323−11048

Schedule and results
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1LOctober 7, 19722–4@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1972–73)0–1–0
2WOctober 8, 19724–2@ Boston Bruins (1972–73)1–1–0
3LOctober 11, 19723–7@ Buffalo Sabres (1972–73)1–2–0
4LOctober 12, 19722–3@ New York Islanders (1972–73)1–3–0
5LOctober 14, 19724–6@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1972–73)1–4–0
6LOctober 15, 19722–8@ Detroit Red Wings (1972–73)1–5–0
7LOctober 18, 19723–4Philadelphia Flyers (1972–73)1–6–0
8WOctober 21, 19723–1Chicago Black Hawks (1972–73)2–6–0
9WOctober 24, 19725–0California Golden Seals (1972–73)3–6–0
10WOctober 26, 19723–1Atlanta Flames (1972–73)4–6–0
11WOctober 28, 19725–2Pittsburgh Penguins (1972–73)5–6–0
12WOctober 31, 19724–1Vancouver Canucks (1972–73)6–6–0
13WNovember 2, 19725–2Boston Bruins (1972–73)7–6–0
14WNovember 4, 19729–2New York Islanders (1972–73)8–6–0
15WNovember 7, 19723–2@ St. Louis Blues (1972–73)9–6–0
16TNovember 8, 19723–3@ Atlanta Flames (1972–73)9–6–1
17LNovember 11, 19722–5@ Montreal Canadiens (1972–73)9–7–1
18LNovember 12, 19721–5@ New York Rangers (1972–73)9–8–1
19LNovember 14, 19721–4@ Minnesota North Stars (1972–73)9–9–1
20TNovember 15, 19723–3Buffalo Sabres (1972–73)9–9–2
21LNovember 17, 19724–8@ Vancouver Canucks (1972–73)9–10–2
22WNovember 18, 19728–3Detroit Red Wings (1972–73)10–10–2
23TNovember 22, 19723–3Montreal Canadiens (1972–73)10–10–3
24LNovember 25, 19720–3Minnesota North Stars (1972–73)10–11–3
25TNovember 29, 19722–2New York Rangers (1972–73)10–11–4
26WDecember 2, 19723–2St. Louis Blues (1972–73)11–11–4
27WDecember 5, 19726–1@ New York Islanders (1972–73)12–11–4
28LDecember 6, 19720–6@ Chicago Black Hawks (1972–73)12–12–4
29WDecember 9, 19723–1Pittsburgh Penguins (1972–73)13–12–4
30WDecember 13, 19723–1Chicago Black Hawks (1972–73)14–12–4
31LDecember 16, 19721–3Montreal Canadiens (1972–73)14–13–4
32LDecember 17, 19720–2@ Chicago Black Hawks (1972–73)14–14–4
33LDecember 20, 19721–4@ Detroit Red Wings (1972–73)14–15–4
34LDecember 21, 19723–6@ Philadelphia Flyers (1972–73)14–16–4
35WDecember 23, 19722–0Buffalo Sabres (1972–73)15–16–4
36WDecember 24, 19725–3@ California Golden Seals (1972–73)16–16–4
37WDecember 27, 19724–1New York Islanders (1972–73)17–16–4
38WDecember 30, 19725–3Philadelphia Flyers (1972–73)18–16–4
39LJanuary 3, 19730–3@ New York Rangers (1972–73)18–17–4
40LJanuary 6, 19732–4@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1972–73)18–18–4
41WJanuary 9, 19733–2@ New York Islanders (1972–73)19–18–4
42WJanuary 11, 19733–2@ Philadelphia Flyers (1972–73)20–18–4
43LJanuary 13, 19731–3@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1972–73)20–19–4
44LJanuary 14, 19731–4@ Atlanta Flames (1972–73)20–20–4
45TJanuary 17, 19734–4New York Rangers (1972–73)20–20–5
46WJanuary 19, 19734–0@ Vancouver Canucks (1972–73)21–20–5
47LJanuary 20, 19732–6Toronto Maple Leafs (1972–73)21–21–5
48TJanuary 23, 19735–5@ Minnesota North Stars (1972–73)21–21–6
49LJanuary 24, 19735–7St. Louis Blues (1972–73)21–22–6
50TJanuary 26, 19733–3@ Atlanta Flames (1972–73)21–22–7
51LJanuary 28, 19735–6@ Boston Bruins (1972–73)21–23–7
52LJanuary 31, 19731–4@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1972–73)21–24–7
53LFebruary 1, 19733–5@ Buffalo Sabres (1972–73)21–25–7
54LFebruary 3, 19731–7Montreal Canadiens (1972–73)21–26–7
55WFebruary 7, 19732–1Philadelphia Flyers (1972–73)22–26–7
56WFebruary 10, 19734–2@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1972–73)23–26–7
57LFebruary 11, 19730–2@ Boston Bruins (1972–73)23–27–7
58LFebruary 13, 19732–4@ St. Louis Blues (1972–73)23–28–7
59TFebruary 14, 19732–2Detroit Red Wings (1972–73)23–28–8
60TFebruary 17, 19733–3Atlanta Flames (1972–73)23–28–9
61WFebruary 18, 19734–2@ California Golden Seals (1972–73)24–28–9
62LFebruary 21, 19733–4New York Rangers (1972–73)24–29–9
63LFebruary 24, 19735–7Boston Bruins (1972–73)24–30–9
64LFebruary 28, 19732–5@ Montreal Canadiens (1972–73)24–31–9
65WMarch 1, 19732–0@ Philadelphia Flyers (1972–73)25–31–9
66WMarch 3, 19732–0St. Louis Blues (1972–73)26–31–9
67TMarch 6, 19732–2Buffalo Sabres (1972–73)26–31–10
68WMarch 8, 19734–1Chicago Black Hawks (1972–73)27–31–10
69WMarch 10, 19734–2California Golden Seals (1972–73)28–31–10
70TMarch 13, 19732–2@ Minnesota North Stars (1972–73)28–31–11
71LMarch 14, 19732–3Pittsburgh Penguins (1972–73)28–32–11
72LMarch 16, 19732–4@ Vancouver Canucks (1972–73)28–33–11
73LMarch 17, 19733–4Minnesota North Stars (1972–73)28–34–11
74WMarch 21, 19735–1Toronto Maple Leafs (1972–73)29–34–11
75WMarch 24, 19735–3Detroit Red Wings (1972–73)30–34–11
76LMarch 28, 19732–3California Golden Seals (1972–73)30–35–11
77LMarch 30, 19731–3@ California Golden Seals (1972–73)30–36–11
78WMarch 31, 19736–3Vancouver Canucks (1972–73)31–36–11

Playoffs

Did not qualify

Awards and records

None

Roster
  • 1 Gary Edwards G
  • 2 Terry Harper D
  • 3 Larry Brown D
  • 4 Gilles Marotte D
  • 5 Harry Howell D
  • 7 Real Lemieux LW
  • 9 Ralph Backstrom C
  • 10 Vic Venasky C
  • 11 Mike Corrigan RW
  • 12 Jimmy Peters C
  • 14 Frank St. Marseille RW
  • 15 Juha Widing C
  • 16 Bill Lesuk LW
  • 17 Dan Maloney LW
  • 18 Bob Berry LW
  • 19 Butch Goring C
  • 21 Serge Bernier RW
  • 22 Barry Long D
  • 23 Neil Komadoski D
  • 24 Don Kozak RW
  • 30 Rogatien Vachon G

Draft picks

Los Angeles's draft picks at the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club Team (League)
220Don Kozak CanadaEdmonton Oil Kings (WCHL)
336Dave Hutchison CanadaLondon Knights (OMJHL)
452John Dobie CanadaRegina Pats (WCHL)
568Bernie Germain CanadaRegina Pats (WCHL)
684Mike Usitalo United StatesMichigan Tech University (WCHA)
7100Glen Toner CanadaRegina Pats (WCHL)

See also

References
  1. "1972–1973 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
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