Captain Crunch

If you look up ”fireplug” in the hockey dictionary, there’s a picture of Gilles Marotte there. This guy was a fearless force. First of all he was 5' - 9", the same size as Butchie Goring  (35 lbs. heavier)!, They shared debut seasons with the L.A. Kings in 1970. He was a strong skater, with a heavy shot and threw thundering body checks all over the ice. Thus his nickname. The thing I remember most about him, however, was his crazy dangerous shot blocking technique. He wore no helmet, yet would challenge outside shooters by sliding towards them, full frontal crudity, on his knees (there’s somethin’ you don’t see much nowadays) seemingly daring the shooter to  hit him in the face… or nuts. I recall seeing several games that season from lower level seats and wanting to turn away or at least close my eyes, as Marotte would slide out towards the slapshot windup of his opponent. I seriously worried about seeing chunks of skull and brain flying out of the rink.
Marrote, a native of Montreal, was a high Boston Bruins draft pick. He was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks after just two seasons in B-town. Phil Esposito and Ken Hodge went the other way. (I bet some Blackhawk fans are crying in their blogs about that trade!). I don’t know why he was traded by Chicago to the Kings in a 6 player deal, but he became an L.A. fan favorite right away. Captain Crunch made the NHL All Star team in 1973 as a King. He had 6 goals & 39 assists that season, so next season he got traded to the playoff bound New York Rangers. He was just what the Rangers needed and helped crunch them deep into the Stanley Cup Playoffs losing  in the semis to the eventual cup winners, the Philadelphia Flyers. After he retired,  Marotte played in many hockey charity games until he succumbed to pancreatic cancer just after turning 60.

WTF the WHA

When the announcement of a new hockey league came out, I was all for it, having seen how much the AFL had  boosted the excitement and scoring for pro football. 
The WHA's $1.75m dollar signing of Bobby Hull, an offer he at first thought was a joke, really got everybody's attention. "He just had a 50 goal season with da Blackhawks!" Gary Veneruzzo, St. Louis Blues rookie, was the the L.A. Sharks prize signing. Disappointingly, the Sharks stole none of the NHLers I had coveted on their behalf.  When the league finally started up,  there was no mainstream media coverage, so I hungrily followed the WHA box scores and later their awesome season stats.  (Eight guys with 100+ pts, 1st season) "I couldn't wait for the merger." 

The first of only two WHA games I attended was in 1973 at the L.A. Sports Arena. The L.A. Sharks vs. the Houston Aeros in an Avco Cup division semi-final playoff game.
I remember running down a treelined walkway from what is now called Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. to the arena, pointing to the ground and making the obligatory,  “Oh, looks like the Maple Leaves are playing tonight” remark to whoever was within earshot. I remember the enthusiastic two thirds full stadium steadily buzzing, cheering and shouting,  stirred on by the speed and pugnaciousness of the players. It was kind of minor league-ish but in good way.  I recall thinking how the Forum actually was "fabulous" compared to the Sports Arena. But the Sports Arena's less fabulousness made it a more exciting and intimate hockey game.  The Aeros’ uniforms looked like they were trying to emulate WWII fighter planes. I was sure I had put their star & stripes logo on many model planes I had built as a kid.  The L.A. Sharks shark was not a stick biting poseur swimming in teal blue sea of San Jose coolness. It was a shark that had you in its sights, swimming in a sea of bright red blood, menacing in its directness and simplicity. I enjoyed the game thoroughly and vowed to come back the next season. The Sharks were eliminated that night and the Aeros went on to lose the next round to The Golden Jet and his Winnipeg (regular) Jets. The Aeros signed Mr. Hockey and Sons the next season.
I never attended another Sharks game 'cause a) my heart belonged to the Kings and b) no free tickets came my way.

Later in the 70’s, I did however travel to a San Diego Mariners game just to see the WHA’s flagship signing and his awesome new linemates, the high scoring Swedes,  Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson. The only thing I remember about the game is being really impressed with the Jets' zig-zaggy Euro style speedy weaving passing game and everyone waiting for and gasping at Hull ‘s huge slap shot. I also vaguely remember that the rink was sourrounded by chain link fencing in place of the normal plexiglass (Although, that might've come from a different NHL Flashback).

May the Enforcer Be with You

I always remember Dave Hutchison the enforcer/defenseman of the Los Angeles Kings 1974-78 in an endearing but negative light. He was a great fighter, a decent skater and an undisciplined unthinking defender. He was the dirty unpredictably edgey player who seemed to be a necessisity on every team in that  Broadstreet Bullies era.  (Penalty box stick fight anyone?)
He, more often than not, would do the enforcing thing well, but often at the wrong time or to an extreme, which usually ended up hurting the Kings on the scoreboard and frequently lead to a loss. So my main impression of Dave Hutchison really resonates with the post below by my esteemed hockey colleague Guillaume Le Clemm.

I had just been "doing my college homework" with my then girlfriend in the back of my 70's Dodge Van as was our custom after each Kings game we attended, win or lose. 

Those were the days !!!
Dave Hutchinson had just helped the Kings lose another game (and his fight), as was their collective custom. The parking lot was deserted when we finished studying. As we sped across the now empty but still Fabulous Forum parking lot, who did I have square in my headlights but the purple gold number 4.
I laughed and joked to my tutor that we could do everyone a favor and just not swerve. Being a hockey afficianado herself,  she said, “I won’t tell anyone.” Instead, I slalomed through some orange cones and watched him head safely towards his beat-up old car. 

In fact, I once saw Marcel Dionne arrive at a Kings practice at the Culver City Ice Rink (Anyone remember Hans?) in a Chevy Nova. It was obviously before the modern salary era but even then I was amazed that none of the players showed up in new cars, or really even nice cars.

Dave Hutchison actually statistically was quite a solid defenseman. For four seasons with the Kings he never had a minus season and amassed 6 goals (all in one season), 31 assists and close to 600 PIMs.

Just came across this recent story on Hutch these days in the The Hockey News

Two Cup Winners

The Calgary Flames followed their '89 Stanley Cup Championship with a 105 point 1st place Smythe Division finish and drew the 4th place (5 games below .500) Los Angeles Kings  featuring Wayne Gretzky and a couple of his ex-Oiler buds, a couple of lucky French-Canadiens and a couple of recently acquired gritty ex-Rangers, in round one of the 1990 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Kings surprised the Flames in the 1st game  5-3. The Flames dominated in the next game at home 8-5. The series turned in Game 3 in L.A., when Tony Gronato's overtime tally gave the Kings a 2-1 series lead. The thundestruck Flames were clobbered in Game 4, 12-5. Then dominated  in Calgary 5-1 and returned with renewed confidence to L.A. for Game 6.   In the second overtime,  of a thrill a minute 3-3 game, Mike Krushelnyski flailing away in a prone position in the high slot at a bouncing puck, hit an arching floater with the shaft of his stick which wobbled over and around a stack of Kings and Flames and just a few inches over a sprawling Mike Vernon’s outstretched glove to eliminate the defending champions. I remember watching this long intensive game on an early giant blurry rear projection screen going crazy over the goal and having no idea who scored and how. (It took at least three or four angles and replays to see catch how the winning goal actually happened came about.)
That was one of the my most gratifying Kings playoff series, in that I really felt L.A. embracing the Kings as a legit part of the L.A. sports community, as they do with the Dodgers and Lakers. (not to that degree, but in the ballpark). I remember wearing my Kings Black & Silver jersey, with #88 (pre-Lindros) and my nom de plum on the back often to many non-hockey events and getting “Go Kings!” “Whoo hoos!” and even a high five while just walking around, shopping malls and busy sidewalks. My most specific flashback is while walking from our parking spot to the Wiltern Theatre to see a Mumenchanz performance and getting a fist pump and “All right Kings!” from an approaching stranger on Western Ave. and a “Flames suck!” from someone else behind me. The media were on board more then ever. The local sports shows actually showed highlites other than fights, as well as player interviews and hyped the series between games. Non-sports shows were regularly remarking on the the Kings exploits. The night of the 12-4 victory over Calgary, the radio station I listened to kept mocking the Flames, announcing facetious bulletins saying “the Kings have scored again, the Kings have scored again, it’s now 16 to 5!” 

Although, the Kings were swept in the next round by the eventual Cup winning Edmonton Oilers led by Mark Messier, they showed that they now had the playoff grit that they had been missing before trading Bernie Nichols (another favorite) for Tomas Sandstrom and Tony Granato. The sweep, of course, was very humbling but left some hope that the following year the Kings may knock off the defending champion Edmonton Oilers.