1976–77 Los Angeles Kings season

The 1976–77 Los Angeles Kings season was the Kings' tenth season in the National Hockey League.

1976–77 Los Angeles Kings
Division2nd Norris
1976–77 record34–31–15
Goals for271
Goals against241
Team information
General managerJake Milford
CoachBob Pulford
CaptainMike Murphy
Alternate captainsNone
Team leaders
GoalsMarcel Dionne (53)
AssistsMarcel Dionne (69)
PointsMarcel Dionne (122)
Penalty minutesDave Schultz (232)
WinsRogatien Vachon (33)
Goals against averageRogatien Vachon (2.72)

Regular season

The 1976–77 season was similar to the year before for the Kings. Dionne continued to lead the offense, the defense was unspectacular but solid, but it was a season of roster turnover as some aging veterans departed (e.g. Bob Nevin, Mike Corrigan) and others lost significant time to injuries (Larry Brown, Juha Widing, Sheldon Kannegiesser). Youngsters like Glen Goldup, Lorne Stamler, and Steve Clippingdale struggled although second year defenseman Gary Sargent was solid. The Kings added Dave Schultz (the "Hammer") to replace Dan Maloney who left in the Dionne trade for toughness, but it took nearly all season for the roster to jell. In addition, backup goalie Gary Edwards struggled and was eventually traded for Gary Simmons; he was not the answer either, so #1 goalie Rogie Vachon was overworked. The Kings were also stuck behind the Montreal Canadiens who finished an amazing 60–8–12; many say this was the greatest team in NHL history.

After struggling near or below the .500 mark, the Kings won 5 of their last 6 games to finish 6th overall – the same as the year before although with 2 fewer points.

Final standings
Norris Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Montreal Canadiens8060812387171132
Los Angeles Kings8034311527124183
Pittsburgh Penguins8034331324025281
Washington Capitals8024421422130762
Detroit Red Wings801655918330941

[1]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Schedule and results
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1TOctober 6, 19762–2@ Cleveland Barons (1976–77)0–0–1
2LOctober 7, 19762–4@ Atlanta Flames (1976–77)0–1–1
3WOctober 9, 19767–4@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)1–1–1
4LOctober 10, 19760–1@ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)1–2–1
5TOctober 13, 19764–4@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)1–2–2
6WOctober 16, 19767–1Washington Capitals (1976–77)2–2–2
7WOctober 17, 19766–2St. Louis Blues (1976–77)3–2–2
8WOctober 20, 19764–2@ New York Rangers (1976–77)4–2–2
9TOctober 21, 19765–5@ Washington Capitals (1976–77)4–2–3
10LOctober 23, 19762–4Boston Bruins (1976–77)4–3–3
11WOctober 26, 19763–2Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)5–3–3
12WOctober 28, 19765–1Atlanta Flames (1976–77)6–3–3
13WOctober 30, 19764–3Cleveland Barons (1976–77)7–3–3
14LNovember 2, 19761–7@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)7–4–3
15WNovember 3, 19764–2@ Cleveland Barons (1976–77)8–4–3
16LNovember 5, 19761–4@ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)8–5–3
17TNovember 6, 19763–3New York Rangers (1976–77)8–5–4
18TNovember 10, 19762–2Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)8–5–5
19TNovember 13, 19763–3@ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)8–5–6
20LNovember 14, 19764–5@ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)8–6–6
21TNovember 16, 19760–0Cleveland Barons (1976–77)8–6–7
22LNovember 18, 19761–3New York Islanders (1976–77)8–7–7
23LNovember 20, 19763–4Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)8–8–7
24LNovember 24, 19764–5Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)8–9–7
25LNovember 27, 19763–4Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)8–10–7
26TNovember 28, 19766–6@ Colorado Rockies (1976–77)8–10–8
27LDecember 1, 19763–6@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)8–11–8
28TDecember 2, 19763–3@ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)8–11–9
29WDecember 4, 19764–1Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)9–11–9
30TDecember 8, 19763–3Colorado Rockies (1976–77)9–11–10
31LDecember 11, 19762–4Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)9–12–10
32WDecember 14, 19764–2@ Washington Capitals (1976–77)10–12–10
33WDecember 15, 19763–1@ Atlanta Flames (1976–77)11–12–10
34LDecember 18, 19760–2Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)11–13–10
35LDecember 22, 19762–3Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)11–14–10
36WDecember 27, 19767–4@ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)12–14–10
37LDecember 28, 19763–8@ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)12–15–10
38LDecember 30, 19760–2Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)12–16–10
39WJanuary 1, 19775–2Boston Bruins (1976–77)13–16–10
40LJanuary 4, 19773–4@ St. Louis Blues (1976–77)13–17–10
41LJanuary 5, 19772–5@ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)13–18–10
42LJanuary 8, 19771–6@ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)13–19–10
43WJanuary 9, 19775–4@ New York Rangers (1976–77)14–19–10
44LJanuary 12, 19772–3@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)14–20–10
45LJanuary 13, 19773–4@ Boston Bruins (1976–77)14–21–10
46LJanuary 15, 19770–6@ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)14–22–10
47WJanuary 18, 19776–3Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)15–22–10
48WJanuary 20, 19775–3Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)16–22–10
49WJanuary 22, 19776–0New York Rangers (1976–77)17–22–10
50LJanuary 26, 19772–3Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)17–23–10
51WJanuary 29, 19774–0@ New York Islanders (1976–77)18–23–10
52WFebruary 2, 19777–2Washington Capitals (1976–77)19–23–10
53TFebruary 5, 19773–3Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)19–23–11
54LFebruary 8, 19771–4@ New York Islanders (1976–77)19–24–11
55LFebruary 9, 19773–6@ Cleveland Barons (1976–77)19–25–11
56LFebruary 12, 19772–3Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)19–26–11
57WFebruary 15, 19773–0New York Islanders (1976–77)20–26–11
58LFebruary 17, 19773–4Atlanta Flames (1976–77)20–27–11
59WFebruary 19, 19772–0Boston Bruins (1976–77)21–27–11
60WFebruary 22, 19774–0St. Louis Blues (1976–77)22–27–11
61TFebruary 24, 19772–2Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)22–27–12
62WFebruary 26, 19774–3@ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)23–27–12
63WFebruary 27, 19775–1@ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)24–27–12
64WMarch 1, 19773–2@ Washington Capitals (1976–77)25–27–12
65WMarch 2, 19775–0@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)26–27–12
66LMarch 3, 19772–7@ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)26–28–12
67TMarch 5, 19773–3Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)26–28–13
68WMarch 8, 19777–1Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)27–28–13
69WMarch 10, 19776–0Washington Capitals (1976–77)28–28–13
70TMarch 13, 19772–2@ Boston Bruins (1976–77)28–28–14
71LMarch 14, 19770–3@ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)28–29–14
72WMarch 17, 19773–2Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)29–29–14
73LMarch 19, 19773–5Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)29–30–14
74LMarch 22, 19772–4@ St. Louis Blues (1976–77)29–31–14
75WMarch 23, 19773–1@ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)30–31–14
76WMarch 26, 19776–4Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)31–31–14
77TMarch 29, 19773–3@ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)31–31–15
78WMarch 31, 19777–5Colorado Rockies (1976–77)32–31–15
79WApril 2, 19777–2Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)33–31–15
80WApril 3, 19776–4@ Colorado Rockies (1976–77)34–31–15

Playoffs

For the second straight year, the Kings faced the Atlanta Flames in the mini series. And for the second year in a row, the Kings scored in the first minute of game 1 and won 5–2. But unlike the prior year, they lost game 2 in Atlanta 3–2, forcing a deciding game 3 back in L.A. Vachon was brilliant as the Kings took a 3–1 lead into the 3rd period. But Atlanta scored late to make it 3–2, and the issue wasn't decided until the Kings got an empty net goal for a 4–2 win.

For the second straight year, the Kings faced the Boston Bruins in the quarter finals and again were heavy underdogs. Boston dominated the first two games in Boston, winning 8–3 and 6–2. The Kings offense woke up when they returned to L.A., but the defense continued to struggle and the Kings lost 7–6 to fall behind 3 games to none. Vachon looked exhausted (he had now played 74 games) and the Kings could not cope with Boston's size advantage. But they managed to outskate Boston in a 7–4 game 4 win, but it seemed a formality to go back to Boston for game 5. It was in that game that Vachon played one of the great games in playoff history. The Kings were badly outshot but in the words of Boston goalie Gerry Cheevers, "Vachon did everything but stand on his head to make great save after great save." The Kings led 2–1 and clinched the game with an empty netter, forcing a game 6 in Los Angeles. In that game, the Kings fell behind 3–0 but battled back to tie the game in the 3rd period at 3. Then, as Kings defenseman Dave Hutchison went to clear the puck on a Boston power play, he broke his stick on the ice, turned the puck over, and Boston scored to win the game 4–3 and the series 4 games to 2.

Awards and records

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy – Marcel Dionne

All NHL 2nd team – Rogie Vachon, Goalie

Draft picks

Los Angeles's draft picks at the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft held in Montreal, Quebec.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club Team (League)
221Steve Clippingdale CanadaNew Westminster Bruins (WCHL)
349Don Moores CanadaKamloops Chiefs (WCHL)
467Bob Mears CanadaKingston Canadians (OMJHL)
585Rob Palmer CanadaUniversity of Michigan (WCHA)
6103Larry McRae CanadaWindsor Spitfires (OMJHL)

See also

References
  1. Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 151. ISBN 9781894801225.
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