The Kings’ third “Legends Night” will take place Saturday night, with former player and coach Bob Pulford honored in a pregame ceremony. Pulford won four Stanley Cups with Toronto, then ended his Hall of Fame playing career by playing two seasons (1970-72) with the Kings. After retiring, Pulford immediately took over as coach of the Kings and guided them to the playoffs in four of his five seasons. Pulford’s 1974-75 team totaled 105 points, a single-season franchise record that still stands today. My LAKings.com feature this week takes a look at Pulford’s career Also, Pulford had a anecdote about the famously colorful former Kings owner, Jack Kent Cooke, that I wasn’t able to fit in the story, but one that I thought I would share here. Thanks for reading…
Before Lombardi, Bob Pulford was the original Kings architect
PULFORD: “I admired Cooke a great deal. His command of the English language, his intelligence, I admired him a great deal, about everything but hockey. He was Canadian-bred, and he thought that gave him the intelligence into hockey. He thought he knew hockey because he was Canadian. But we would spend time together and talk about a lot of things. As long as we didn’t talk about hockey, I enjoyed it. He treated me well, though. I disagreed with a lot of things he did, and I told him. He knew that, and that’s probably the reason I left Los Angeles at the end of the contract.
“I had played hockey with a Hall of Famer, Davey Keon. I went to Toronto and they gave me permission to talk to him. Davey said that he was willing to come to Los Angeles and play for us. He was a great player, and if he had come to that team, we would have become legitimate Stanley Cup contenders. I was really excited about this, and I went in to see Mr. Cooke. He said, `I’m sorry Bob, but we’re going in another direction. We’re going to get Marcel Dionne.’ I was really disappointed. I liked Dionne a great deal, so this was nothing against Marcel Dionne. I said, `It’s your team, Mr. Cooke, but I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t trade four players,’ and I gave him the names of those four players. He said, `Bob, I will not trade those four players for Dionne.’ I said, `OK, it’s your team, go ahead.’
“So then I’m driving home, up the San Diego freeway, and right at Sunset I hit the breaks, tore off the freeway and went back down to the Forum. I went right into his office, stormed into his office, and said, `Mr. Cooke, don’t play with words with me. I told you that you cannot trade any one of those four players for Dionne.’ And he said, `You never said that, and I never agreed to it.’ He traded one of the four players. I said, `That’s it, I’m resigning.’ He said, `That’s fine, but you have years left on your contract and you’ll sit in the office until your contract is finished.’ So I went home that night. That night, four or five players came to the house. They sat down and said, `We sweated blood and tears for you. You owe us something.’ They were right. After sitting down and thinking about it, they were right. I went back and we did very well (the following season).”
Great story!
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Great story. I wonder who the players were that Pulford didn’t want dealt for Dionne. And I wonder who the four or five players were who went to his house to ask him to stay on.
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EJ Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 2:07 pm
@EJ, actually I’ll answer myself on the first one . . . Maloney and Harper would have been two of them. Goring was likely another.
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JGSmall Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 2:10 pm
@EJ, Maloney and Harper were traded for Dionne – It would have only been one of them. I suspect it would be Harper because he played his position better suited to Pulford’s system.
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USHA#17 Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 2:18 pm
@JGSmall,
Harper, Maloney and a 2nd Round pick.
Bart Crashly was included with Dionne. He lasted one season
USHA#17 Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 2:18 pm
@EJ,
Goring was on the Kings along with Dionne.
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kevin Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 2:35 pm
@EJ, take a look at the guy at the bottom
http://espn.go.com/nhl/trophytracker
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Bill M. Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 2:57 pm
@kevin, Saw that. He’ll have to finish very strong to merit final three, but he’ll get some votes, and if he can find consistency with Penner/Williams next year he should improve enough to be right in there again. He’ll start getting some Selke talk as well although he’ll have to make bigger waves (like a cup run) before he’s really taken seriously.
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kevin Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
@Bill M., just glad to see a king getting some credit for once
Bill M. Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 3:07 pm
@kevin, agreed. very glad.
Several kings will get more deserved credit if they can make a deep run this year.
Some duck fan pulled the “no cup” line on me last week, and I told him something to the effect that ducks fans were becoming so obnoxious with that line that the kings are going to win one just to shut them up.
kevin Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 3:09 pm
@Bill M., my response would be dont worry with hiller getting vertigo there is no way of them raising the cup I should be whispering that dont want hiller to relaspe
Capt Jam Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 3:24 pm
@Bill M.,
My response to that is usually something to the effect of ‘you won’t see another one for decades’.
I still think Pulford was the best of all Kings Coaches. In many ways…except for the changing lineups and power play effecency he and Murray are very similar.
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Thanks Rich, Fascinating read..
I noticed a little nepotism in play here..
When are you gonna write you’re
“Great American Novel”…Although I think
you missed you’re calling as a
“Stand up comic”………
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Choralone Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 7:00 pm
@Slim, Nepotism? There’s a family relationship between DL and Pulford, but unless someone recieved something solely or primarily due to this relationship, then there’s no nepotism. DL is not the GM because of Pulford, and Pulford’s accomplishment’s merrit recognition from the organization regardless of his relationship with DL.
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I always like hearing stories about Harper. I live in Sacramento. Harper lives in the area and still comes out to play at the rink I play at. His son is a ref here. When I was little I got to watch him play (not that I remember but he was on the team when I was a kid.
I hope Quick’s in net on Saturday so we can look at his cool gear.
GKG!!!!!
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I heard this story some years ago when Bob Miller interviewed him for that show Bob had on Prime Ticket. When Pulford was interviewed then BOTH Harper and Maloney were two of the five. The others were Goring, Nevin…I can’t remember the other. The interview also mentioned him quitting on the spot but coming back. I didn’t know about the Keon thing though. It’s surprising that that Cooke didn’t go along with it. It would be more like him to go for a veteran like Keon rather than Dionne. The Kings in the long run were better off with Marcel…an uncharacteristicly GOOD choice by Cooke.
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tuan jim Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 3:07 pm
@jom,
I loved Dionne. And his presence on the team was felt the very next season, when we got fewer points but went a bit further in the playoffs.
But as great as Dionne was — and he was one of the greatest of all hockey players — we never seemed able to go far in the playoffs with him. I can’t remember us getting past the second round while he was with the team.
I wonder how far we might have gone had we kept Harper and Maloney (who is still the most terrifying-looking white man I ever laid eyes on). Neither lasted as long as Dionne, whom we got while he was still a mouse. But so many decisions were made, so many trades pondered and entered into, just to find suitable line-mates for Marcel. Rick Martin — may he rest in peace — came to the Kings for that reason. So did Syl Apps and Dionne’s old line-mate from Detroit. Nothing worked.
Then, toward the end of one season, we put together a patchwork with him just to fill out the year — two guys named Simmer and Taylor. And . . .
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Shotongoal Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 3:49 pm
@tuan jim, they just couldn’t win without Harper and Maloney, who were probably the heart and soul of those early Kings teams. If they could have kept both of them and worked out something else with Detroit, which was very possible due to Marcel wanting out of Detroit, then they may have been very successful. Can you imagine the room Marcel would have had on the ice with Maloney protecting him? Harper was the backbone of that blueline, much the same as Mitchell appears to be with this Kings team. Cooke got took!! He and Maguire were horrible talent evaluators. I commensd Cooke only for his desire to approve deals that he in his mind thought would bring success, but they never panned out because the players acquired were either not as good as he and Maguire believed they were, or they were way past their prime…Cooke was like Daniel Snyder for the WASH Redskins, doesn’t mind getting players, but never gets the right ones!
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deadcatbounce Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 6:24 pm
@tuan jim, Sadly, the Kings never went far in the playoffs with Marcel because they had to gut their defense to get him.
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NOW IMPRESSED Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 4:03 pm
@jom, Nothing against Dionne, but the heart and soul were traded away to get him and the team was never as good without Maloney and Harper. I remember the Kings losing to Toronto in the play-offs that year. It was just as Pulford described. He could hardly talk to the media afterwards because he was crying.
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tuan jim Reply:
March 17th, 2011 at 2:27 am
@NOW IMPRESSED,
But we didn’t make the trade with Detroit till the season after we lost to the Leafs in the opening round.
The scuttlebutt was that we’d have beaten Toronto if we’d only had a great sniper. Sound familiar?
All the same, Terry Harper and Danny Maloney were my kinda guys — especially in games against the Broad Street Bullies.
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im going to be at this game, will be fun to see them in their retro uni’s in person.
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2 game suspension on Heatley was just handed down for elbowing Ott. C’mon Kings, keep on winning, SJ is on the ropes!
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Capt Jam Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
@Bill M.,
More like DAL is on the ropes, no? I had very high hopes for DAL to come through last night and do us a solid. They hurt me, man. They hurt me.
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Bill M. Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 3:31 pm
@Capt Jam, I didn’t expect any help from Dallas after the way we treated them.
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A modern day player that appears to be like Bob Pulford? (*Dustin Penner)
Big, rangy type player with not overdrive speed, but quick with a very accurate shot and works hard to protect his own end.
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Dan Maloney was the heart and soul of our team. We were never the same without him.
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Shotongoal Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 3:52 pm
@Forum Gold, just saw your post and posted the same without seeing yours. No doubt he was. I loved Danny Maloney, one of my top 5 all time favorite Kings!
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I have full confidence that the power of the Purple Sweater will carry us through the pitfall of tomorrow’s trap game. Should wear those beauties for every game.
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Bill M. Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 3:41 pm
@Capt Jam, the evidence of a jersey change for next year is mounting.
Kings employees were surveying fans about jersey change opinions at frozen fury.
Pictures of Black/White/Silver away jerseys in Luc’s office.
Notification to the NHL of a possible jersey/color change for next year.
Nike notified their catalog division and corporate customers, with the list of teams with possible jersey changes – kings were on the list.
(second hand information) Friend of a friend information here, but supposedly this is from somebody within the kings front office, that there will be a jersey change next year, with one of the alternate jerseys becoming the primary, and the other remaining the long-term alternate. Only decision up in the air is which is primary – Black/Silver or Forum Blue/Gold.
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Forum Gold Reply:
March 17th, 2011 at 9:09 am
@Bill M., Forum Blue and Gold as primary. I love the fact that the Flyers never changed from 1967 and we should Throwback and be the only team with Forum Blue in its color.
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Starnge considering that Dionne was signed as a free agent. It was the NHL that demanded the Kings pay compensation to Detroit. I don’t think Cooke had much of a choice in the matter.
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Shotongoal Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 3:55 pm
@CUP4LA, you’re right about that, but the Kings had several players they could list that the Wings could choose from. If I remember right, and I could be wrong because I was just a kid, but I think the Kings had the right to place the names on the list or offer draft picks. But because they had made so many horrible trades involving picks they didn’t have top picks that Detroit could choose from. I may be wrong about this, but its how I remembered it….
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i need a little help whats the guys name that used to block shots on his knees hands and arms to his side facing the shooter back in the seventies?
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Bill M. Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 3:57 pm
@hockeyfanB4gretzky, They’re called goalies. lol.
No really, I don’t remember his name.
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Real 7 Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 4:20 pm
@Bill M., I remember him well….Paul Curtis
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Hockeyfan B4 Gretzky Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 7:58 pm
@Real 7, Thank you.My father and I were killing ourselves trying to remember.
The Zamboni mechanic Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 8:43 pm
@Real 7,
The original shot blocker…Bob Goldham 50′s Detroit
I always wondered how Bobby kept his hair looking so neat, even after many hard hits along the boards….maybe Brylcreem? [a little dab will do ya]
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Nice article Rich. I remember being at the Forum for one of the first games that Marcel played as a King and the fans booing him during player introductions. I was glad that he was an instant goal scorer to sway fan opinion. But I do agree that trading Harper and Maloney changed the character of our team. I always liked Pulford as a coach.
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Goring 19 Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 8:47 pm
@Dutch, don’t remember that one with the fans booing Marcel but it probably happened. At the time I was very upset to see Maloney and Harper go. They were the heart and soul of the 74-75 team. I was just as bummed when they traded Butchie. “bummed” isn’t really the word but it’s in good taste. Cooke wanted to get a bona-fide star on the Kings (I would guess mainly becaus of the gate) and he got one in Dionne.
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Forum Gold Reply:
March 17th, 2011 at 8:46 am
@Goring 19, “Bummed” is the perfect word for this Forum. #19 should have always been a King.
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I never really liked Harper very much for some reason, he was kind of tall and lanky and seemed smallish against the tough guys.
Maloney on the other hand was a pretty decent hockey player and a fearsome fighter. There were usually only two hits in a Maloney fight and you know what those were lol.
That Maloney left for Detroit speaks volumes about the morale and team chemistry afterward until Marcel started scoring goals. Unfortunately, in the playoffs there was no one to really protect Marcel and he was just rubbed out. Maloney would have made a difference.
But trading Goring, that excised the heart AND soul of the Kings for years.
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Goring 19 Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 8:47 pm
@vindogla, tell me about it! (about Butchie)
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Since '67 Reply:
March 17th, 2011 at 8:01 am
@vindogla, They sure took the ‘big bad’ Bruins to the limit two years in a row. Unfortunately they ended up playing them back to back, especially after such great seasons that they had. That 105 pt season would be a lot more in today’s NHL due to OT and SOs. I hated the Bruins so badly after those playoff losses.
Also the fact that they used to have those short three game playoffs really sucked, they would have definitely beat the Leafs in a seven game series.
Trading Goring …I will never get over that, he was such an awesome player for us and played with such a passion.
Pulford; best coach the Kings have had so far by a long shot.
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Forum Gold Reply:
March 17th, 2011 at 8:33 am
@Since ’67, The Islanders are still laughing at the Kings for the Goring trade. #19 will always be a KING in my heart. I’m will never get over that deal either. What were they thinking? Butch is still so classy whenever he speaks about his time as a King in forum blue and gold.
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King John Reply:
March 17th, 2011 at 12:31 pm
@Forum Gold, He may be a King in our hearts, but I think Goring’s heart is with the Islanders. At least most of his heart….
Bob Pulford….a true Legend to hockey in my opinion.
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Bob Pulford, great competitor on and off the ICE, nice to see him getting the recognition he deserves in LA and Chicago as a Manager and Vice President. Adds Class to the Organization whether it be the Stadium or the Forum. Congratulations! PM
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