One of the first expansion franchises to begin play in 1967, the Kings have been the longest running franchise to have played on the West Coast in the NHL. In their history, they have had fourteen captains, and despite the relative lack of success in the playoffs, they have actually had a fairly stable history when it comes to captains. The captain for the team's first two seasons was Bob Wall. He was followed by (in order) Larry Cahan, Bob Pulford, and Terry Harper, who served two seasons each as captain. Mike Murphy was named captain in 1975, and held the role until 1981. Dave Lewis and Terry Ruskowski succeeded him as captain, with each serving as captain for two seasons. The team lifer Dave Taylor took his turn as captain from 1985 until 1989, when The Great One Wayne Gretzky served as captain. He would hold the C until his trade to St. Louis in 1996. In that time, Luc Robitaille would serve as captain in 1992-93 while Gretzky was injured. From 1996 until his trade to Colorado in 2001, Rob Blake took his turn as captain. He would later become captain in his second term with the team in the 2007-08 season. In between, Mattias Norstrom would be captain from 2001 through 2007, when his trade to Dallas would end that tenure. In that time, Robitaille would serve as captain in 2006 for the final games of his career. After a year of Blake, Dustin Brown would take over the role, signifying the team's commitment to youth, which is being served right now.
No comments:
Post a Comment