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1994–95 Los Angeles Kings season

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1994–95 Los Angeles Kings
Division4th Pacific
Conference9th Western
1994–95 record16–23–9
Home record7–11–6
Road record9–12–3
Goals for142
Goals against174
Team information
General managerSam McMaster
CoachBarry Melrose (Jan.–Apr.)
Rogie Vachon (Apr.–May)
CaptainWayne Gretzky
Alternate captainsRob Blake
Rick Tocchet
ArenaGreat Western Forum
Average attendance15,397
Minor league affiliate(s)Phoenix Roadrunners
Knoxville Cherokees
Muskegon Fury
Team leaders
GoalsRick Tocchet (18)
AssistsWayne Gretzky (37)
PointsWayne Gretzky (48)
Penalty minutesMichel Petit (84)
Plus/minusTony Granato (+9)
WinsKelly Hrudey (14)
Goals against averageKelly Hrudey (3.14)

The 1994–95 Los Angeles Kings season, was the Kings' 28th season in the National Hockey League. It saw the Kings finish fifth in the Pacific Division with a record of 16–23–9, for 41 points. Defense proved to be problematic for the Kings, as they allowed a league-high 1,668 shots (34.8 per game) and finished tied for 23rd overall in goals allowed, with 174. Their offense was more reliable, as the Kings averaged nearly three goals scored per game. Despite missing a quarter of the season, Rick Tocchet still led the team in goals with 18.

On May 2, the Dallas Stars were in seventh place in the Western Conference with 42 points while the Kings were tied with the San Jose Sharks for eighth place with 41 points (16–22–9). However, the Kings lost the final game of the season on May 3 to the Chicago Blackhawks by a score of 5–1, finishing in ninth place and therefore missed the playoffs and both San Jose and Dallas clinch playoff berths. After that, the Sharks came from behind to tie the Vancouver Canucks 3–3 in their final game of the season and, in doing so, jumped up to seventh place while the Stars fell to eighth place.[1]

Offseason

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Regular season

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On April 21, head coach Barry Melrose was fired after six consecutive losses and replaced by Kings president Rogie Vachon.[2]

Final standings

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Pacific Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 2 Calgary Flames 48 24 17 7 163 135 55
2 6 Vancouver Canucks 48 18 18 12 153 148 48
3 7 San Jose Sharks 48 19 25 4 129 161 42
4 9 Los Angeles Kings 48 16 23 9 142 174 41
5 11 Edmonton Oilers 48 17 27 4 136 183 38
6 12 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 48 16 27 5 125 164 37

[3]

Note: No. = Division rank, CR = Conference rank, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Western Conference[4]
R Div GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 p – Detroit Red Wings CEN 48 33 11 4 180 117 70
2 x – Calgary Flames PAC 48 24 17 7 163 135 55
3 St. Louis Blues CEN 48 28 15 5 178 135 61
4 Chicago Blackhawks CEN 48 24 19 5 156 115 53
5 Toronto Maple Leafs CEN 48 21 19 8 135 146 50
6 Vancouver Canucks PAC 48 18 18 12 153 148 48
7 San Jose Sharks PAC 48 19 25 4 129 161 42
8 Dallas Stars CEN 48 17 23 8 136 135 42
9 Los Angeles Kings PAC 48 16 23 9 142 174 41
10 Winnipeg Jets CEN 48 16 25 7 157 177 39
11 Edmonton Oilers PAC 48 17 27 4 136 183 38
12 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim PAC 48 16 27 5 125 164 37

Divisions: CEN – Central, PAC – Pacific

bold – Qualified for playoffs; x – Won division; p – Won Presidents' Trophy


Schedule and results

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1994–95 regular season[5]
January: 1–4–1 (home: 1–3–1; road: 0–1–0)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
1 T January 20, 1995 3–3 OT Toronto Maple Leafs (1994–95) 0–0–1 Recap
2 L January 22, 1995 3–4 Edmonton Oilers (1994–95) 0–1–1 Recap
3 L January 24, 1995 2–4 Dallas Stars (1994–95) 0–2–1 Recap
4 L January 26, 1995 1–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1994–95) 0–3–1 Recap
5 W January 28, 1995 4–2 Winnipeg Jets (1994–95) 1–3–1 Recap
6 L January 29, 1995 3–6 Chicago Blackhawks (1994–95) 1–4–1 Recap
February: 4–5–3 (home: 1–4–1; road: 3–1–2)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
7 W February 4, 1995 4–3 Detroit Red Wings (1994–95) 2–4–1 Recap
8 L February 5, 1995 2–3 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1994–95) 2–5–1 Recap
9 T February 7, 1995 5–5 OT @ St. Louis Blues (1994–95) 2–5–2 Recap
10 W February 11, 1995 5–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1994–95) 3–5–2 Recap
11 T February 12, 1995 4–4 OT @ Detroit Red Wings (1994–95) 3–5–3 Recap
12 W February 15, 1995 3–1 @ Dallas Stars (1994–95) 4–5–3 Recap
13 L February 17, 1995 0–2 San Jose Sharks (1994–95) 4–6–3 Recap
14 L February 18, 1995 2–6 Vancouver Canucks (1994–95) 4–7–3 Recap
15 L February 20, 1995 2–8 @ Vancouver Canucks (1994–95) 4–8–3 Recap
16 T February 23, 1995 3–3 OT Calgary Flames (1994–95) 4–8–4 Recap
17 W February 25, 1995 4–3 @ Edmonton Oilers (1994–95) 5–8–4 Recap
18 L February 28, 1995 4–8 Chicago Blackhawks (1994–95) 5–9–4 Recap
March: 6–6–2 (home: 1–3–1; road: 5–3–1)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
19 L March 4, 1995 4–5 Vancouver Canucks (1994–95) 5–10–4 Recap
20 L March 6, 1995 2–8 @ Dallas Stars (1994–95) 5–11–4 Recap
21 W March 9, 1995 4–3 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1994–95) 6–11–4 Recap
22 W March 11, 1995 4–2 @ Winnipeg Jets (1994–95) 7–11–4 Recap
23 W March 13, 1995 4–1 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1994–95) 8–11–4 Recap
24 L March 14, 1995 2–5 @ Detroit Red Wings (1994–95) 8–12–4 Recap
25 T March 16, 1995 2–2 OT St. Louis Blues (1994–95) 8–12–5 Recap
26 L March 18, 1995 3–5 Toronto Maple Leafs (1994–95) 8–13–5 Recap
27 W March 20, 1995 5–3 St. Louis Blues (1994–95) 9–13–5 Recap
28 T March 21, 1995 3–3 OT @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1994–95) 9–13–6 Recap
29 L March 25, 1995 1–3 San Jose Sharks (1994–95) 9–14–6 Recap
30 W March 26, 1995 7–3 @ San Jose Sharks (1994–95) 10–14–6 Recap
31 W March 28, 1995 5–3 @ Calgary Flames (1994–95) 11–14–6 Recap
32 L March 29, 1995 2–5 @ Vancouver Canucks (1994–95) 11–15–6 Recap
April: 4–7–3 (home: 4–1–3; road: 0–6–0)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
33 T April 1, 1995 7–7 OT Winnipeg Jets (1994–95) 11–15–7 Recap
34 W April 3, 1995 7–2 Edmonton Oilers (1994–95) 12–15–7 Recap
35 W April 6, 1995 3–2 Dallas Stars (1994–95) 13–15–7 Recap
36 L April 7, 1995 4–7 @ Calgary Flames (1994–95) 13–16–7 Recap
37 L April 9, 1995 1–5 @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1994–95) 13–17–7 Recap
38 L April 12, 1995 1–4 Calgary Flames (1994–95) 13–18–7 Recap
39 L April 16, 1995 0–2 @ San Jose Sharks (1994–95) 13–19–7 Recap
40 L April 17, 1995 2–5 @ Calgary Flames (1994–95) 13–20–7 Recap
41 L April 19, 1995 0–2 @ Edmonton Oilers (1994–95) 13–21–7 Recap
42 T April 21, 1995 3–3 OT Edmonton Oilers (1994–95) 13–21–8 Recap
43 T April 23, 1995 2–2 OT Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1994–95) 13–21–9 Recap
44 W April 25, 1995 5–1 Detroit Red Wings (1994–95) 14–21–9 Recap
45 L April 28, 1995 0–4 @ San Jose Sharks (1994–95) 14–22–9 Recap
46 W April 30, 1995 2–1 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1994–95) 15–22–9 Recap
May: 1–1–0 (home: 0–0–0; road: 1–1–0)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
47 W May 2, 1995 2–1 @ Winnipeg Jets (1994–95) 16–22–9 Recap
48 L May 3, 1995 1–5 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1994–95) 16–23–9 Recap
Legend:

  Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

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Scoring

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  • Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
  • † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Kings only.
  • ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Kings only.
No. Player Pos Regular season
GP G A Pts +/- PIM
99 Wayne Gretzky C 48 11 37 48 −20 6
22[a] Rick Tocchet RW 36 18 17 35 −8 70
7 Dan Quinn C 44 14 17 31 −3 32
17 Jari Kurri RW 38 10 19 29 −17 24
21 Tony Granato LW 33 13 11 24 9 68
25 Darryl Sydor D 48 4 19 23 −2 36
33 Marty McSorley D 41 3 18 21 −14 83
19 John Druce RW 43 15 5 20 −3 20
44 Randy Burridge† LW 38 4 15 19 −4 8
24 Michel Petit D 40 5 12 17 4 84
28 Eric Lacroix LW 45 9 7 16 2 54
15 Pat Conacher LW 48 7 9 16 −9 12
13 Robert Lang C 36 4 8 12 −7 4
4 Rob Blake D 24 4 7 11 −16 38
12 Kevin Todd C 33 3 8 11 −5 12
14 Gary Shuchuk C 22 3 6 9 −2 6
77 Rob Cowie D 32 2 7 9 −6 20
29 Chris Snell D 32 2 7 9 −7 22
39 Yanic Perreault C 26 2 5 7 3 20
2 Alexei Zhitnik‡ D 11 2 5 7 −3 27
8 Kevin Brown RW 23 2 3 5 −7 18
55 Troy Crowder RW 29 1 2 3 0 99
11 Mike Donnelly‡ LW 9 1 1 2 −7 4
6 Sean O'Donnell D 15 0 2 2 −2 49
26 Philippe Boucher† D 6 1 0 1 −3 4
34 Matt Johnson LW 14 1 0 1 0 102
10 Jeff Shevalier LW 1 1 0 1 1 0
35 Arto Blomsten† D 4 0 1 1 2 0
22 Charlie Huddy‡ D 9 0 1 1 −6 6
9 Rob Brown RW 2 0 0 0 −2 0
31 Grant Fuhr† G 14 0 0 0 2
32 Kelly Hrudey G 35 0 0 0 0
36 Pauli Jaks G 1 0 0 0 0
38 Eric Lavigne D 1 0 0 0 −1 0
10 Warren Rychel‡ LW 7 0 0 0 −5 19
35 Robb Stauber‡ G 1 0 0 0 0
31 Jamie Storr G 5 0 0 0 0
27 Dave Thomlinson LW 1 0 0 0 −1 0
3 Denis Tsygurov† D 21 0 0 0 −2 11
5 Tim Watters D 1 0 0 0 1 0

Goaltending

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  • † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Kings only.
  • ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Kings only.
No. Player Regular season
GP W L T SA GA GAA SV% SO TOI
32 Kelly Hrudey 35 14 13 5 1099 99 3.14 .910 0 1894
31 Grant Fuhr† 14 1 7 3 379 47 4.04 .876 0 698
31 Jamie Storr 5 1 3 1 152 17 3.87 .888 0 263
36 Pauli Jaks 1 0 0 0 25 2 3.00 .920 0 40
35 Robb Stauber‡ 1 0 0 0 6 2 7.33 .667 0 16

Awards and records

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Awards

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Type Award/honor Recipient Ref
Team Best Newcomer Rick Tocchet [6]
Bill Libby Memorial Award Kelly Hrudey [6]
Defensive Player Pat Conacher [6]
Jim Fox Community Service Tony Granato [6]
Leading Scorer Wayne Gretzky [6]
Most Inspirational Kelly Hrudey [6]
Most Popular Player Kelly Hrudey [6]
Outstanding Defenseman Darryl Sydor [6]
Unsung Hero Pat Conacher [6]

Milestones

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Milestone Player Date Ref
First game Matt Johnson January 22, 1995 [7]
Sean O'Donnell January 24, 1995
Jamie Storr
Kevin Brown January 28, 1995
Pauli Jaks January 29, 1995
Rob Cowie February 5, 1995
Eric Lavigne February 20, 1995
Jeff Shevalier April 7, 1995
1,000th game played Jari Kurri February 11, 1995 [8]

Transactions

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The Kings were involved in the following transactions during the 1994–95 season.[9]

Trades

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June 25, 1994 To Los Angeles Kings
7th round pick in 1995 – Benoit Larose 		To Ottawa Senators
Jim Paek
July 11, 1994 To Los Angeles Kings
Yanic Perreault 		To Toronto Maple Leafs
4th round pick in 1996 – Mikael Simons
July 26, 1994 To Los Angeles Kings
Sean O'Donnell 		To Buffalo Sabres
Doug Houda
July 29, 1994 To Los Angeles Kings
Rick Tocchet
2nd round pick in 1995 – Pavel Rosa 		To Pittsburgh Penguins
Luc Robitaille
August 8, 1994 To Los Angeles Kings
Ruslan Batyrshin
2nd round pick in 1996 – Marian Ciser
6th round pick in 1996 – Brian Willsie 		To Winnipeg Jets
Brent Thompson
6th round pick in 1996 – Robert Esche
October 3, 1994 To Los Angeles Kings
Eric Lacroix
Chris Snell
4th round pick in 1996 – Eric Belanger 		To Toronto Maple Leafs
Dixon Ward
Guy Leveque
Shayne Toporowski
Kelly Fairchild
February 10, 1995 To Los Angeles Kings
Randy Burridge 		To Washington Capitals
Warren Rychel
February 14, 1995 To Los Angeles Kings
Philippe Boucher
Denis Tsygurov
Grant Fuhr 		To Buffalo Sabres
Alexei Zhitnik
Robb Stauber
Charlie Huddy
5th round pick in 1995 – Marian Menhart
February 17, 1995 To Los Angeles Kings
4th round pick in 1996 – Justin Davis 		To Dallas Stars
Mike Donnelly
7th round pick in 1996 – Eoin McInerney
March 27, 1995 To Los Angeles Kings
Arto Blomsten 		To Winnipeg Jets
8th round pick in 1995 – Fredrik Lovén

Free agent signings

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June 7, 1994 From Moncton Hawks (AHL)
Dan Bylsma
June 14, 1994 From Calgary Flames
Michel Petit
June 14, 1994 From Dallas Stars
Rob Brown
July 7, 1994 From Adirondack Red Wings (AHL)
Barry Potomski
July 8, 1994 From New York Islanders
Rob Cowie
August 31, 1994 From Detroit Red Wings
Troy Crowder
September 3, 1994 From Ottawa Senators
Dan Quinn
September 22, 1994 From Montreal Canadiens
André Racicot

Free agents lost

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July 20, 1994 To Detroit Vipers (IHL)
Bob Jay
September 6, 1994 To Hartford Whalers
Bob Wren

Waivers

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January 18, 1995 To St. Louis Blues
Donald Dufresne

Draft picks

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Los Angeles' draft picks at the 1994 NHL Entry Draft held at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut.[10]

Round Pick Player Nationality College/junior/club team
1 7 Jamie Storr (G)  Canada Owen Sound Platers (OHL)
2 33 Matt Johnson (LW)  Canada Peterborough Petes (OHL)
3 59 Vitali Yachmenev (RW)  Russia North Bay Centennials (OHL)
5 111 Chris Schmidt (C)  Canada Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
7 163 Luc Gagne (RW)  Canada Sudbury Wolves (OHL)
8 189 Andrew Dale (C)  Canada Sudbury Wolves (OHL)
9 215 Jan Nemecek (D)  Czech Republic HC České Budějovice (Czech Republic)
10 241 Sergei Shalamai (LW)  Russia HC Irkutsk (Russia)
S 7 Quinn Fair (D)  Canada Kent State University (NCAA)

Notes

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  1. ^ Tocchet wore number 92 through March 14.

References

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  • "Los Angeles Kings 1994-95 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  • "1994-95 Los Angeles Kings Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  1. ^ Dillman, Lisa (May 4, 1995). "Kings' Shortest Season Is Ended : Hockey: They lose to Blackhawks, 5-1, and miss playoffs for the second time in a row. Gretzky says he won't play anywhere but Los Angeles next season". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  2. ^ "NHL NOTES / Kings Fire Melrose As Coach". sfgate.com. April 22, 1995. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  3. ^ Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
  4. ^ "1994-1995 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
  5. ^ "1994-95 Los Angeles Kings Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Los Angeles Kings 2014–15 Media Guide, p. 201–03
  7. ^ "1994-95 NHL Debuts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  8. ^ Dillman, Lisa (February 12, 1995). "Kings Finally Savor a Victory : Hockey: Shaken by trade rumors, they defeat Maple Leafs, 5-2, in Toronto, as Kurri plays 1,000th NHL game". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 12, 2023. Kurri plays 1,000th NHL game
  9. ^ "Hockey Transactions Search Results".
  10. ^ "1994 NHL Entry Draft". hockeydb.com.
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