1974–75 Los Angeles Kings season

The 1974–75 Los Angeles Kings season was the Kings' eighth season in the National Hockey League.

1974–75 Los Angeles Kings
Division2nd Norris
ConferenceWales
1974–75 record42–17–21
Goals for269
Goals against185
Team information
General managerJake Milford
CoachBob Pulford
CaptainTerry Harper
Alternate captainsDan Maloney
Juha Widing
Team leaders
GoalsBob Nevin (31)
AssistsBob Nevin (41)
PointsBob Nevin (72)
Penalty minutesDan Maloney (165)
WinsRogie Vachon (14)
Goals against averageRogie Vachon (2.24)

Offseason

Defenseman Barry Long (3G, 19Ast, plus/minus = +25) jumped to the Edmonton Oilers of the WHA.

Regular season

The Kings were coming off their first playoff appearance in 5 years and the season before finished with a .500 record and scored more goals than they allowed for the first time in club history. Still, they were placed in a division with the powerful Montreal Canadiens in the 1974–75 realignment and hockey experts joked that Montreal would clinch 1st place by Christmas. But the Kings started fast, losing only twice in their first 26 games. The Canadiens finally overtook them and clinched first place with only 3 games to play. In addition, the Kings had allowed the fewest goals in the most of the season (which would have earned their goaltender tandem of Rogie Vachon and Gary Edwards the Vezina Trophy under 1975 rules). But they faltered just enough at the end and the Philadelphia Flyers earned that honor by a mere 4 goals.

Playoffs

With the 4th best record in the league, the Kings were hopeful of a deep playoff run. But because they finished 2nd in the division, they had to play in the dangerous 2 out of 3 mini series. Their opponent was the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were under .500 on the season, finishing 27 points behind the Kings. But a hot goalie can carry a team and Toronto's Gord McRae got hot at the wrong time for the Kings. Toronto scored a late goal in game 1 but the Kings won in overtime, 3–2. Toronto won game 2 in overtime by the same 3–2 score, and won game 3 in L.A. 2–1. Three of the four higher seeded teams lost in the mini series.

Final standings
Norris Division[1]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1Montreal Canadiens80471419374225+149113
2Los Angeles Kings80421721269185+84105
3Pittsburgh Penguins80372815326289+3789
4Detroit Red Wings80234512259335−7658
5Washington Capitals808675181446−26521

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1WOctober 10, 19745–3@ Philadelphia Flyers (1974–75)1–0–0
2TOctober 12, 19744–4@ Montreal Canadiens (1974–75)1–0–1
3WOctober 13, 19744–1@ Buffalo Sabres (1974–75)2–0–1
4TOctober 15, 19741–1@ Washington Capitals (1974–75)2–0–2
5TOctober 16, 19741–1@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1974–75)2–0–3
6WOctober 19, 19743–0Kansas City Scouts (1974–75)3–0–3
7LOctober 22, 19742–4Philadelphia Flyers (1974–75)3–1–3
8WOctober 24, 19747–2Buffalo Sabres (1974–75)4–1–3
9WOctober 26, 19745–1California Golden Seals (1974–75)5–1–3
10WOctober 28, 19742–0Pittsburgh Penguins (1974–75)6–1–3
11TOctober 31, 19741–1St. Louis Blues (1974–75)6–1–4
12WNovember 2, 19745–1Detroit Red Wings (1974–75)7–1–4
13WNovember 5, 19744–3@ St. Louis Blues (1974–75)8–1–4
14WNovember 7, 19745–3@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1974–75)9–1–4
15TNovember 9, 19742–2New York Rangers (1974–75)9–1–5
16WNovember 13, 19744–0Toronto Maple Leafs (1974–75)10–1–5
17TNovember 15, 19742–2@ Vancouver Canucks (1974–75)10–1–6
18LNovember 16, 19741–2Chicago Black Hawks (1974–75)10–2–6
19TNovember 20, 19743–3Montreal Canadiens (1974–75)10–2–7
20TNovember 23, 19740–0@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1974–75)10–2–8
21WNovember 24, 19744–1@ Detroit Red Wings (1974–75)11–2–8
22TNovember 27, 19743–3New York Islanders (1974–75)11–2–9
23WNovember 30, 19742–0Boston Bruins (1974–75)12–2–9
24WDecember 4, 19744–1Minnesota North Stars (1974–75)13–2–9
25WDecember 7, 19746–2Atlanta Flames (1974–75)14–2–9
26WDecember 11, 19744–1@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1974–75)15–2–9
27LDecember 12, 19741–8@ Boston Bruins (1974–75)15–3–9
28LDecember 14, 19740–3@ New York Islanders (1974–75)15–4–9
29TDecember 15, 19743–3@ New York Rangers (1974–75)15–4–10
30WDecember 18, 19746–0@ Kansas City Scouts (1974–75)16–4–10
31WDecember 19, 19744–1Washington Capitals (1974–75)17–4–10
32TDecember 21, 19742–2Montreal Canadiens (1974–75)17–4–11
33WDecember 26, 19745–1Vancouver Canucks (1974–75)18–4–11
34LDecember 28, 19742–3California Golden Seals (1974–75)18–5–11
35WDecember 30, 19743–2@ Detroit Red Wings (1974–75)19–5–11
36WDecember 31, 19743–1@ Chicago Black Hawks (1974–75)20–5–11
37LJanuary 2, 19752–5Boston Bruins (1974–75)20–6–11
38TJanuary 4, 19752–2Philadelphia Flyers (1974–75)20–6–12
39WJanuary 8, 19754–2@ Minnesota North Stars (1974–75)21–6–12
40WJanuary 9, 19755–2@ Buffalo Sabres (1974–75)22–6–12
41WJanuary 11, 19757–5@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1974–75)23–6–12
42WJanuary 14, 19756–2@ Washington Capitals (1974–75)24–6–12
43WJanuary 16, 19754–1@ Boston Bruins (1974–75)25–6–12
44LJanuary 17, 19750–5@ Atlanta Flames (1974–75)25–7–12
45WJanuary 19, 19756–3@ Montreal Canadiens (1974–75)26–7–12
46WJanuary 23, 19758–0Toronto Maple Leafs (1974–75)27–7–12
47TJanuary 25, 19755–5@ New York Islanders (1974–75)27–7–13
48LJanuary 26, 19752–3@ New York Rangers (1974–75)27–8–13
49WJanuary 28, 19755–2New York Rangers (1974–75)28–8–13
50WJanuary 30, 19756–4Washington Capitals (1974–75)29–8–13
51LFebruary 1, 19753–5Montreal Canadiens (1974–75)29–9–13
52LFebruary 5, 19752–3Pittsburgh Penguins (1974–75)29–10–13
53LFebruary 7, 19751–3@ Atlanta Flames (1974–75)29–11–13
54WFebruary 9, 19752–1@ Chicago Black Hawks (1974–75)30–11–13
55TFebruary 12, 19752–2Atlanta Flames (1974–75)30–11–14
56WFebruary 15, 19758–2Detroit Red Wings (1974–75)31–11–14
57WFebruary 18, 19756–1@ Washington Capitals (1974–75)32–11–14
58TFebruary 19, 19752–2@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1974–75)32–11–15
59WFebruary 22, 19756–0Boston Bruins (1974–75)33–11–15
60TFebruary 23, 19752–2@ California Golden Seals (1974–75)33–11–16
61WFebruary 26, 19752–1@ Detroit Red Wings (1974–75)34–11–16
62LFebruary 27, 19750–5@ Buffalo Sabres (1974–75)34–12–16
63WMarch 1, 19757–4Minnesota North Stars (1974–75)35–12–16
64WMarch 4, 19757–4Kansas City Scouts (1974–75)36–12–16
65TMarch 6, 19752–2New York Islanders (1974–75)36–12–17
66LMarch 8, 19751–6Chicago Black Hawks (1974–75)36–13–17
67TMarch 11, 19752–2Buffalo Sabres (1974–75)36–13–18
68TMarch 13, 19755–5Detroit Red Wings (1974–75)36–13–19
69LMarch 15, 19750–3@ Montreal Canadiens (1974–75)36–14–19
70LMarch 16, 19750–3@ Philadelphia Flyers (1974–75)36–15–19
71WMarch 18, 19755–3@ Minnesota North Stars (1974–75)37–15–19
72WMarch 20, 19753–2St. Louis Blues (1974–75)38–15–19
73WMarch 22, 19754–0Pittsburgh Penguins (1974–75)39–15–19
74WMarch 26, 19755–1Washington Capitals (1974–75)40–15–19
75LMarch 28, 19752–4@ Vancouver Canucks (1974–75)40–16–19
76TMarch 29, 19753–3Vancouver Canucks (1974–75)40–16–20
77LApril 1, 19751–3@ Kansas City Scouts (1974–75)40–17–20
78WApril 2, 19755–2@ St. Louis Blues (1974–75)41–17–20
79WApril 5, 19755–3California Golden Seals (1974–75)42–17–20
80TApril 6, 19751–1@ California Golden Seals (1974–75)42–17–21

Playoffs
  • Maple Leafs 2 at Kings 3 (OT)
  • Kings 2 at Maple Leafs 3 (OT)
  • Maple Leafs 2 at Kings 1

Player statistics

Awards and records

Jack Adams Award – Bob Pulford, Coach

All-NHL 2nd team – Rogie Vachon, Goalie

Transactions

The Kings were involved in the following transactions during the 1974–75 season.[3]

Trades
July 28, 1974 To Los Angeles Kings
Cash		 To Washington Capitals
Bill Lesuk
February 5, 1975 To Los Angeles Kings
Cash		 To Kansas City Scouts
Doug Buhr
February 10, 1975 To Los Angeles Kings
Ken Murray		 To Kansas City Scouts
Cash
March 3, 1975 To Los Angeles Kings
Bill Mikkelson		 To Washington Capitals
Cash
March 10, 1975 To Los Angeles Kings
Cash		 To St. Louis Blues
Jim McCrimmon

Free agent signings
June 10, 1974 From Vancouver Blazers (WHA)
Dave Hutchison
July 9, 1974 From Michigan Tech Huskies (NCAA)
Lorne Stamler
August 1, 1974 From Ohio State Buckeyes (NCAA)
Jim Witherspoon

Free agents lost
June 27, 1974 To Kansas City Scouts
Jim McElmury

Expansion draft
June 12, 1974 To Washington Capitals
Gord Smith
June 12, 1974 To Kansas City Scouts
Norm Dubé
June 12, 1974 To Kansas City Scouts
Randy Rota

Draft picks

Los Angeles's draft picks at the 1974 NHL amateur draft held in Montreal, Quebec.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
348Gary Sargent United StatesFargo Sugar Kings (MWJHL)
466Brad Winton CanadaToronto Marlboros (OMJHL)
584Paul Evans CanadaKitchener Rangers (OMJHL)
6102Marty Matthews CanadaFlin Flon Bombers (WCHL)
7120Harvey Stewart CanadaFlin Flon Bombers (WCHL)
8137John Held CanadaLondon Knights (OMJHL)
9154Mario Lessard CanadaSherbrooke Castors (QMJHL)
10169Derrick Emerson CanadaMontreal Bleu Blanc Rouge (QMJHL)
11184Jacques Locas CanadaQuebec Remparts (QMJHL)
12197Lindsay Thomson CanadaUniversity of Denver (WCHA)
13207Craig Brickley United StatesUniversity of Pennsylvania (ECAC)
14217Brad Kuglin CanadaUniversity of Pennsylvania (ECAC)

See also

References
  1. "1974-1975 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  2. "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. "Hockey Transactions Search Results".
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