The 2011–12 Los Angeles Kings season was the 45th season (44th season of play) for the National Hockey League franchise. Although they finished the season with 95 points, and the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs, they went on to capture the first Stanley Cup championship in team history.[1][2]
Off-season
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Regular season
On December 12, 2011, the Kings relieved Head Coach Terry Murray of his coaching duties and named John Stevens as interim head coach.[3] On December 20, 2011, the Kings hired Darryl Sutter to be their head coach, replacing Interim Head Coach John Stevens.[4]
Out of the Kings 82 regular-season games, 21 ended in a shutout. The Kings as a team were shut-out 10 times, a League-high.[5][6]
The Kings made the playoffs for the third consecutive season, needing a win in the final game to secure the eighth seed. The Kings also became the second team to eliminate the first, second and third seeds from the playoffs in the same post-season (after the 2003–04 Calgary Flames), as well as the only team to win the Stanley Cup after defeating the first, second and third seeds in sequence. (Darryl Sutter was the head coach of both the 2003–04 Flames and 2011–12 Kings.) They then defeated the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup Finals, becoming the first eighth seed in North American professional sports history to win a championship. They are also one of the few teams to win a championship after never benefitting from home-venue advantage in the post-season. Los Angeles would start every series by winning the first three games, only sweeping the St. Louis Blues.
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Kings. Stats reflect time with the Kings only.
‡Traded mid-season.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.
Underline denotes currently with a minor league affiliate.
The 2011–12 season will be the 11th season of AHL hockey for the franchise. The Monarchs clinched a playoff berth as the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference in the 2012 Calder Cup Playoffs and faced the Norfolk Admirals, where they were defeated 3 games to 1.
The 2011–12 season will be the fourth season of ECHL hockey for the franchise since moving to Ontario from Texas. It saw the Reign capture their second Pacific Division Regular Season championship and their second playoff berth. However, the Reign lost to the Idaho Steelheads in the first round of the 2012 Kelly Cup playoffs. The Reign have never advanced past the first round in their franchise history.