I’ve always been interested in learning about the Kings’ inaugural season of 1967-68, and judging from several tweets, emails and comments I’ve read, there are quite a few Insiders who were a part of the infancy of the organization. From personalities such as Larry Regan, Jiggs McDonald, Bill “Cowboy” Flett under the direction of owner Jack Kent Cooke, there are plenty of colorful recollections of the first season of Kings hockey, which began at Long Beach Arena and took a detour through the LA Sports Arena before landing permanently at the Forum on December 30, 1967.
From LAKings.com: A New Kingdom
“Hockey was so new to people,” [Lou] McClary said. “They didn’t know what icing was. They didn’t know what offside was or all the major infractions. Our guy that did all the announcing was a P.R. guy for the Dodgers, John Ramsay. John Ramsay turned right around and he explained every infraction, over the P.A.”
He’d address crowds that weren’t particularly full.
“You’d turn around, and they would announce 11,000 [in attendance]. There couldn’t have been more than 7,000 there. And they did this for years and years and years. Sure, we had 7,000, maybe the next year it’d go to 71 hundred. I mean, it was never that big. It takes a long time for people to realize that you’ve got a hell of a product here,” McClary said. “And it was a great product.”
The program from The Forum’s first game, along with a 1967-68 Kings media guide:
Photos detailing the construction of The Forum:
All photos courtesy of Brian and Lou McClary
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