Growing up as a LA hockey fan in the 1970s, I was very familiar with three things, and few people had a long-range mastery of Angelenos: 1) Los Angeles owned an NHL hockey team, 2) said the hockey team said the hockey team was appointed Kings, and 3) the triple crown series was Bitchin’, man.
Thirty years later, after being swept by an exciting Cup, the belated La-la Land hockey fans have few new hockey fans finally learned that the city does have a team whose nickname is actually King. However, the party is 45 years late and they still make no sense to the team’s history, especially the events that happened before Gretzky. The triple champions may also be railroad routes or designer drugs, as they know little about the achievements of players or one of the historically iconic scoring lines.
The background of the triple champion
On January 13, 1979, the Kings were on their way to another ho-hum season (34-34-12, first round defeat), then former head coach Bob Berry made a brilliant move to promote left winger Charlie Charlie Simmer to the top line, combining with perennial All-Star center Marcel Dionne and prolific right-hand Dave Dave Taylor to the end of the championship. Simmer’s 6’3″ and 210 pounds are the perfect net presence compared to the dynamic, radical Taylor and agile, fast, global Dionne. By the end of that season, Dionne won the typical 59 goals, 130-point campaign, Taylor scored 43 goals and 91 points, while Jogging – in just 38 games, note – you – scored 21 goals and 48 points.
reason? For those who believe chemistry belongs only to Benson burners, think again. “It’s chemistry because no one has a big ego.” “We complement each other, we never had a bad game because we still slacked off at night when we need it.”
Step forward
Of course, that half of the season is just the beginning. Throughout the 1979-80 campaign, all three horses were together and production soared. Dionne won the Art Rose Trophy after leading 137 points in the league. Charlie Simmer tied for the highest goal with 56 points and ranked seventh in the NHL with 101 points. Dave Taylor “only” scored 37 goals and 90 points, who ranked 17th in the league. The Kings’ defense and goalkeepers failed that season, tied for fourth in the newly expanded 21 NHL teams, but laid the foundation for the days to come.
Related: The Rise and Fall of King Bruce McNall
In 1980-81, those days were revenge. The Los Angeles Kings, who had been mediocre all year round, almost won the Norris division, and ended up with 99 points, with Montreal leading by the championship. Defence improved, but still hit the league’s lowest third with 290 goals.
However, fans are very happy that the team is not operating with a defensive mindset. It’s the proposal from Los Angeles, and it’s amazing what Dion, Taylor and Smith produce. Witness: This is the first time in NHL history, with three players from the same team recording 100 points. Dionne finished the season with 58 goals and 135 points, ranking second among Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky, respectively. Dave Taylor scored 47 goals and 112 points, while Charlie Simmer scored 56 goals and 105 points in just 65 games.
It’s frustrating that the Kings lost 3 games to the New York Rangers in the first round without injury Charlie Simmer as goalkeeper Mario Lessard
The rest of the triple champion’s term
The line took a step back the following season, and while Dion (117) and Taylor (106) remained the league leaders’ scores, Smith (Simmer) dropped to just 39 in the injury-ridden season. As the three championships advanced, the Kings also left, falling to a record of 24-41-15, but surprisingly, they actually entered the playoffs and even won the first round series.
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In 1982-83, Taylor’s turn suffered less due to injuries, playing in just 46 games and recording 56 points. The Kings did not have a third of the high-powered offense, defeating the Smith Division’s Cellar and completely missed the playoffs. By 1983-84, the wear and tear of the NHL began to cause losses to the three, not to mention father time. Although Simmer and Dionne still managed to score 92 points, Taylor (again, due to injury) had only 69 points, and the King was once again a cellar resident.
Alas, the Triple Crown line ends at the end of one of the league’s greatest scoring lines.
The end of the era
Sure enough, ended on October 24, 1984, Charlie Simmer was traded to the Boston Bruins for a first-round draft pick. Marcel Dionne played for the Kings for three other seasons, hitting typical Dionne-like numbers in the first two, but had some drops in 1986-87. He was then traded to the New York Rangers for Bobby Carpenter and Tom Laidlaw. Dave Taylor, who remained in touch with Los Angeles until his career ended in 1993-94, remained a key player, but never reached the heights he did in that prolific era. In fact, none of them did.
The legacy of the Triple Crown
The legacy of the Triple Crowns remains intact. Dionne saw the Kings retire in 1990 and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1992. He is currently the “Royal Ambassador” of the team. Dave Taylor competed more games (1,111) than any other king and ended up being general manager from 1997 to 2006 when he placed Ziggy Palffy, Jason Allison and Adam Deadmarsh in team history, which was together in the late 2000s/early 2000s, which was in the late 2000s – seeing that line was deprived of injury. Charlie Simmer ended his career more quietly as a player/manager in the San Diego minor league. He is now a part-time color commentator for Calgary Flame.
Although the Kings did not succeed, the Triple Crown deserved in their huge runs, the players will certainly do it. All three helped rewrite the books during their Hollywood stay, all of which are not only fans of the long-time Kings, but also a precious legacy to the NHL.
Bob Berry might say the best: “As a coach, I always say that my worst decision ever was to assign Charlie to minors during training camp, and my best decision ever was to recall his race together the year before the minor. The family was also a great team and Dave really paid the price, and he would show it with a lot of bumps and bruises.
It’s indeed.
The post was originally written in November 2012.
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