1994–95 Los Angeles Kings season

The 1994–95 Los Angeles Kings season, was the Kings' 28th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). 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.

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

Final standings

Schedule and results

|1||January 20, 1995||3–3 OT|| align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1994–95) ||0–0–1 ||

|2||January 22, 1995||3–4 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1994–95) ||0–1–1 ||

|3||January 24, 1995||2–4 || align="left"| Dallas Stars (1994–95) ||0–2–1 ||

|4||January 26, 1995||1–3 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1994–95) ||0–3–1 ||

|5||January 28, 1995||4–2 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1994–95) ||1–3–1 ||

|6||January 29, 1995||3–6 || align="left"| Chicago Blackhawks (1994–95) ||1–4–1 ||

|7||February 4, 1995||4–3 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1994–95) ||2–4–1 ||

|8||February 5, 1995||2–3 || align="left"| Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1994–95) ||2–5–1 ||

|9||February 7, 1995||5–5 OT|| align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1994–95) ||2–5–2 ||

|10||February 11, 1995||5–2 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1994–95) ||3–5–2 ||

|11||February 12, 1995||4–4 OT|| align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1994–95) ||3–5–3 ||

|12||February 15, 1995||3–1 || align="left"| @ Dallas Stars (1994–95) ||4–5–3 ||

|13||February 17, 1995||0–2 || align="left"| San Jose Sharks (1994–95) ||4–6–3 ||

|14||February 18, 1995||2–6 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1994–95) ||4–7–3 ||

|15||February 20, 1995||2–8 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1994–95) ||4–8–3 ||

|16||February 23, 1995||3–3 OT|| align="left"| Calgary Flames (1994–95) ||4–8–4 ||

|17||February 25, 1995||4–3 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1994–95) ||5–8–4 ||

|18||February 28, 1995||4–8 || align="left"| Chicago Blackhawks (1994–95) ||5–9–4 ||

|19||March 4, 1995||4–5 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1994–95) ||5–10–4 ||

|20||March 6, 1995||2–8 || align="left"| @ Dallas Stars (1994–95) ||5–11–4 ||

|21||March 9, 1995||4–3 || align="left"| @ Chicago Blackhawks (1994–95) ||6–11–4 ||

|22||March 11, 1995||4–2 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1994–95) ||7–11–4 ||

|23||March 13, 1995||4–1 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1994–95) ||8–11–4 ||

|24||March 14, 1995||2–5 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1994–95) ||8–12–4 ||

|25||March 16, 1995||2–2 OT|| align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1994–95) ||8–12–5 ||

|26||March 18, 1995||3–5 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1994–95) ||8–13–5 ||

|27||March 20, 1995||5–3 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1994–95) ||9–13–5 ||

|28||March 21, 1995||3–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1994–95) ||9–13–6 ||

|29||March 25, 1995||1–3 || align="left"| San Jose Sharks (1994–95) ||9–14–6 ||

|30||March 26, 1995||7–3 || align="left"| @ San Jose Sharks (1994–95) ||10–14–6 ||

|31||March 28, 1995||5–3 || align="left"| @ Calgary Flames (1994–95) ||11–14–6 ||

|32||March 29, 1995||2–5 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1994–95) ||11–15–6 ||

|33||April 1, 1995||7–7 OT|| align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1994–95) ||11–15–7 ||

|34||April 3, 1995||7–2 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1994–95) ||12–15–7 ||

|35||April 6, 1995||3–2 || align="left"| Dallas Stars (1994–95) ||13–15–7 ||

|36||April 7, 1995||4–7 || align="left"| @ Calgary Flames (1994–95) ||13–16–7 ||

|37||April 9, 1995||1–5 || align="left"| @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1994–95) ||13–17–7 ||

|38||April 12, 1995||1–4 || align="left"| Calgary Flames (1994–95) ||13–18–7 ||

|39||April 16, 1995||0–2 || align="left"| @ San Jose Sharks (1994–95) ||13–19–7 ||

|40||April 17, 1995||2–5 || align="left"| @ Calgary Flames (1994–95) ||13–20–7 ||

|41||April 19, 1995||0–2 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1994–95) ||13–21–7 ||

|42||April 21, 1995||3–3 OT|| align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1994–95) ||13–21–8 ||

|43||April 23, 1995||2–2 OT|| align="left"| Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1994–95) ||13–21–9 ||

|44||April 25, 1995||5–1 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1994–95) ||14–21–9 ||

|45||April 28, 1995||0–4 || align="left"| @ San Jose Sharks (1994–95) ||14–22–9 ||

|46||April 30, 1995||2–1 || align="left"| Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1994–95) ||15–22–9 ||

|47||May 2, 1995||2–1 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1994–95) ||16–22–9 ||

|48||May 3, 1995||1–5 || align="left"| @ Chicago Blackhawks (1994–95) ||16–23–9 ||

Legend:

Player statistics

Scoring 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. Player Regular season 99 C 48 11 37 48 −20 6 22 RW 36 18 17 35 −8 70 7 C 44 14 17 31 −3 32 17 RW 38 10 19 29 −17 24 21 LW 33 13 11 24 9 68 25 D 48 4 19 23 −2 36 33 D 41 3 18 21 −14 83 19 RW 43 15 5 20 −3 20 44 LW 38 4 15 19 −4 8 24 D 40 5 12 17 4 84 28 LW 45 9 7 16 2 54 15 LW 48 7 9 16 −9 12 13 C 36 4 8 12 −7 4 4 D 24 4 7 11 −16 38 12 C 33 3 8 11 −5 12 14 C 22 3 6 9 −2 6 77 D 32 2 7 9 −6 20 29 D 32 2 7 9 −7 22 39 C 26 2 5 7 3 20 2 D 11 2 5 7 −3 27 8 RW 23 2 3 5 −7 18 55 RW 29 1 2 3 0 99 11 LW 9 1 1 2 −7 4 6 D 15 0 2 2 −2 49 26 D 6 1 0 1 −3 4 34 LW 14 1 0 1 0 102 10 LW 1 1 0 1 1 0 35 D 4 0 1 1 2 0 22 D 9 0 1 1 −6 6 9 RW 2 0 0 0 −2 0 31 G 14 0 0 0 2 32 G 35 0 0 0 0 36 G 1 0 0 0 0 38 D 1 0 0 0 −1 0 10 LW 7 0 0 0 −5 19 35 G 1 0 0 0 0 31 G 5 0 0 0 0 27 LW 1 0 0 0 −1 0 3 D 21 0 0 0 −2 11 5 D 1 0 0 0 1 0

Goaltending = 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. Player Regular season 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

Awards TypeAward/honorRecipientRef Team Best Newcomer Rick TocchetLos Angeles Kings 2014–15 Media Guide, p. 201–03 Bill Libby Memorial Award Kelly Hrudey Defensive Player Pat Conacher Jim Fox Community Service Tony Granato Leading Scorer Wayne Gretzky Most Inspirational Kelly Hrudey Most Popular Player Kelly Hrudey Outstanding Defenseman Darryl Sydor Unsung Hero Pat Conacher

Milestones MilestonePlayerDateRef First game Matt Johnson January 22, 1995 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

Transactions The Kings were involved in the following transactions during the 1994–95 season.

Trades June 25, 1994To Los Angeles Kings7th round pick in 1995 – Benoit LaroseTo Ottawa SenatorsJim Paek July 11, 1994To Los Angeles KingsYanic PerreaultTo Toronto Maple Leafs4th round pick in 1996 – Mikael Simons July 26, 1994To Los Angeles KingsSean O'DonnellTo Buffalo SabresDoug Houda July 29, 1994To Los Angeles KingsRick Tocchet 2nd round pick in 1995 – Pavel RosaTo Pittsburgh PenguinsLuc Robitaille August 8, 1994To Los Angeles KingsRuslan Batyrshin 2nd round pick in 1996 – Marian Ciser 6th round pick in 1996 – Brian WillsieTo Winnipeg JetsBrent Thompson 6th round pick in 1996 – Robert Esche October 3, 1994To Los Angeles KingsEric Lacroix Chris Snell 4th round pick in 1996 – Eric BelangerTo Toronto Maple LeafsDixon Ward Guy Leveque Shayne Toporowski Kelly Fairchild February 10, 1995To Los Angeles KingsRandy BurridgeTo Washington CapitalsWarren Rychel February 14, 1995To Los Angeles KingsPhilippe Boucher Denis Tsygurov Grant FuhrTo Buffalo SabresAlexei Zhitnik Robb Stauber Charlie Huddy 5th round pick in 1995 – Marian Menhart February 17, 1995To Los Angeles Kings4th round pick in 1996 – Justin DavisTo Dallas StarsMike Donnelly 7th round pick in 1996 – Eoin McInerney March 27, 1995To Los Angeles KingsArto BlomstenTo Winnipeg Jets8th round pick in 1995 – Fredrik Lovén

Free agent signings June 7, 1994From Moncton Hawks (AHL)Dan Bylsma June 14, 1994From Calgary FlamesMichel Petit June 14, 1994From Dallas StarsRob Brown July 7, 1994From Adirondack Red Wings (AHL)Barry Potomski July 8, 1994From New York IslandersRob Cowie August 31, 1994From Detroit Red WingsTroy Crowder September 3, 1994From Ottawa SenatorsDan Quinn September 22, 1994From Montreal CanadiensAndré Racicot

Free agents lost July 20, 1994To Detroit Vipers (IHL)Bob Jay September 6, 1994To Hartford WhalersBob Wren

Waivers January 18, 1995To St. Louis BluesDonald Dufresne

Draft picks Los Angeles' draft picks at the 1994 NHL entry draft held at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

Round Pick Player Nationality College/junior/club team 1 7 Jamie Storr (G) Owen Sound Platers (OHL) 2 33 Matt Johnson (LW) Peterborough Petes (OHL)359Vitali Yachmenev (RW)North Bay Centennials (OHL)5111Chris Schmidt (C)Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)7163Luc Gagne (RW)Sudbury Wolves (OHL)8189Andrew Dale (C)Sudbury Wolves (OHL)9215Jan Nemecek (D)HC České Budějovice (Czech Republic)10241Sergei Shalamai (LW)HC Irkutsk (Russia)S 7 Quinn Fair (D) Kent State University (NCAA)

Notes

References