Editing Los Angeles Kings (section)

===NHL expansion and the "Forum Blue and Gold" years (1967–1975)===
[[File:Forum Inglewood.JPG|thumb|[[The Forum (Inglewood, California)|The Forum]] was the second home of the Kings. The Forum was home of the Kings from 1967 to 1999.]]
When the NHL decided to [[1967 NHL Expansion|expand for the 1967–68 season]] amid rumblings that the [[Western Hockey League (1952–1974)|Western Hockey League]] (WHL) was proposing to turn itself into a major league and compete for the [[Stanley Cup]], Canadian entrepreneur [[Jack Kent Cooke]] paid the NHL $2 million to place one of the six expansion teams in Los Angeles.<ref name="KingsMediaGuide93-94P115">{{cite book | author = Los Angeles Kings Media Relations Department | title = 1993–94 Kings Media Guide | publisher = Los Angeles Kings | year = 1993 | page = 115}}</ref> Following a fan contest to name the team, Cooke chose the name Kings because he wanted his club to take on "an air of royalty," and picked the original team colors of purple (or "Forum Blue", as it was later officially called) and gold because they were colors traditionally associated with royalty. This color scheme, first popularized by the [[National Collegiate Athletic Association|NCAA]]'s [[LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers|LSU Tigers]] and later on the [[Minnesota Vikings]] of the [[National Football League]] (NFL), was then adopted by the [[Los Angeles Lakers]] of the [[National Basketball Association]] (NBA), which Cooke also owned.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Name Game: Football, Baseball, Hockey & Basketball How Your Favorite Sports Teams Were Named |last=Donovan |first=Michael Leo |year=1997 |publisher=Warwick Publishing |location=[[Toronto]] |isbn=1-895629-74-8}}</ref><ref name="LAKUniformHistory">{{cite web | publisher = Los Angeles Kings | title = Los Angeles Kings Uniform History | url = http://kings.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=41270 | access-date =July 25, 2012}}</ref> Cooke wanted his new NHL team to play in the [[Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena]], home of the Lakers, but the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission, which managed the Sports Arena (and still manages the [[Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum]] today), had already entered into an agreement with the WHL's [[Los Angeles Blades (WHL)|Los Angeles Blades]] (whose owners had also tried to land the NHL expansion franchise in Los Angeles) to play their games at the Sports Arena.<ref name="Cooke-Coliseum">{{cite news | last = Crowe | first = Jerry | title = Text Messages From Press Row | work= Los Angeles Times | date =November 30, 2007 | url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-nov-30-sp-crowe30-story.html | access-date =August 22, 2010}}</ref> Frustrated by his dealings with the Coliseum Commission, Cooke said, "I am going to build my own arena. ... I've had enough of this balderdash."<ref name="Cooke-Coliseum"/>

Construction on Cooke's new arena, [[The Forum (Inglewood, California)|the Forum]], was not yet complete when the [[1967–68 NHL season|1967–68 season]] began, so the Kings opened their first season at the [[Long Beach Arena]] in the neighboring city of [[Long Beach, California|Long Beach]] on October 14, 1967, defeating another expansion team, the [[Philadelphia Flyers]], 4–2.<ref name="KingsMediaGuide97-98P3">{{cite book | author = Los Angeles Kings Media Relations Department | title = Los Angeles Kings 1997–98 Media Guide | publisher = Los Angeles Kings | year = 1997 | page = 3}}</ref> The "Fabulous Forum" finally opened its doors on December 30, 1967, with the Kings being shut out by the Flyers, 2–0.<ref name="KingsMediaGuide97-98P4">{{cite book | author = Los Angeles Kings Media Relations Department | title = Los Angeles Kings 1997–98 Media Guide | publisher = Los Angeles Kings | year = 1997 | page = 4}}</ref> While the first two seasons had the Kings qualifying for the playoffs,<ref name="Kings0708GuideP202">{{cite book | author = Los Angeles Kings Communications Department | title = 2007–08 Los Angeles Kings Media Guide | page = 202}}</ref> afterwards poor management led the Kings into hard times. The general managers established a history of trading away first-round draft picks, usually for veteran players,<ref name="Kings0708GuideP178-187">{{cite book | author = Los Angeles Kings Communications Department | title = 2007–08 Los Angeles Kings Media Guide | pages = 178–187}}</ref> and attendance suffered during this time.<ref name="HockeyChron">{{cite book |last=Duhatschek |first=Eric |title=Hockey Chronicles |year=2001 |publisher=Checkmark Books |location=New York City |isbn=0-8160-4697-2 |display-authors=etal |url=https://archive.org/details/hockeychronicles00tren}}</ref> Eventually the Kings made a few key acquisitions to resurge as a contender. By acquiring [[Toronto Maple Leafs]] [[winger (hockey)|winger]] [[Bob Pulford]], who would later become the Kings' head coach, in 1970,<ref name="Kings0708Guide4">{{cite book | author = Los Angeles Kings Communications Department | title = 2007–08 Los Angeles Kings Media Guide | publisher = Los Angeles Kings | year = 2007 | page = 4}}</ref> Swedish center [[Juha Widing]] in a trade from the New York Rangers,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Peng |first1=Sheng |title=50 Forgotten Stories: Remembering Juha Widing |url=https://www.nhl.com/kings/news/50-forgotten-stories-remembering-juha-widing/c-284945118 |publisher=National Hockey League |access-date=April 8, 2019 |date=December 21, 2016}}</ref> and [[Montreal Canadiens]] goaltender [[Rogie Vachon]] in 1971,<ref name="VachonFR1">{{cite news | last = Matsuda | first = Gann | url = http://frozenroyalty.net/2010/11/08/former-la-kings-and-montreal-canadiens-great-rogie-vachon-still-on-the-outside-looking-in | title = Former LA Kings And Montreal Canadiens Great Rogie Vachon Still on the Outside Looking In | publisher = FrozenRoyalty.net/Gann Matsuda | date = November 8, 2010 | access-date = October 31, 2012 | archive-date = August 5, 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170805060802/https://frozenroyalty.net/2010/11/08/former-la-kings-and-montreal-canadiens-great-rogie-vachon-still-on-the-outside-looking-in/ | url-status = dead}}</ref> the Kings went from being one of the worst defensive teams in the league to one of the best, and in 1974 they returned to the playoffs.<ref name="Kings0708GuideP202"/>