Rogie Vachon

Rogie Vachon started his career in Montreal where he was on course to become one of yet another in a long list of great Habs netminders. His highest goals-against average with Montreal was a miniscule 2.87. He played a major role in upsetting the Bruins in the 1969 playoffs, as the Canadiens eliminated Bobby Or and the heavily favored Bruins in the semi-finals en route to the second of three Stanley Cup championships Vachon would enjoy while with Montreal.

Vachon looked like he was en route for hockey immortality - tending the nets for the legendary Canadiens, succeeding Gump Worsley and winning Stanley Cups. Then, late in the 1970-71 season, the Canadiens decided to give Rogie a bit of a rest right before the playoffs would start. They called up a promising young goalie to give him some apprentice time with established Vachon. The name of this prospect was Ken Dryden.

Dryden impressed the coaching staff so much that he played in all of the remaining 6 regular season games, only giving up 9 goals. However everyone expected Vachon to be between the pipes for the first playoff game. Much to everyone's surprise, head coach Al MacNeil decided to go with his hot hand, playing a hunch that the rookie wouldn't fold under pressure and at the same time give the Habs a huge advantage as no one had ever seen Dryden before. Dryden would lead the team to the Stanley Cup. Despite helping the Habs to previous championships, Vachon sat on the bench, and the next season was traded to Los Angeles.

Rogie became and still is a hero in Los Angeles, although his California zip code somewhat distanced him from the status of legend he probably should enjoy. He brought instant credibility to a struggling franchise with little fan support. His number 30 hangs high in the rafters along with names like Dave Taylor and Marcel Dionne. For 6 and 1/2 seasons he was the Kings workhorse, posting very respectable statistics and in hind-sight being one of the most valuable players to any one team. Playing in relative obscurity in the new, isolated hockey market, people often forgot about the great goalie named Rogie.

A classic stand up goalie, Vachon made the Kings respectable while becoming the most popular player in the Sunshine State. His best season came in 1974-75, finishing a close second to Bobby Clarke as the league's most valuable player. The Hockey News did name the big hearted competitor as player of the year.

Cursed by the obscurity of playing with the Kings, the lasting Vachon legacy for many Canadians will forever be his play in the 1976 Canada Cup. With Bernie Parent and Ken Dryden not playing, Vachon backstopped the Canadian team to the inaugural championship. In the first 6 games he let in only 6 goals, and he was a standout in the best of three final against Czechoslovakia. Vachon was named as Canada's MVP, no small feat considering this team featured 16 eventual Hockey Hall of Famers.

While in Los Angeles Rogie almost became the first goalie to be credited with scoring a goal in the NHL. On Feb 15, 1977 the Kings were playing the NY Islanders. In the second period Vachon made a save and appeared to clear the puck to center ice. The Islanders regrouped and one of the Kings committed a penalty -- setting up a delayed-penalty situation. As the Islanders regrouped with possession of the puck (and the ref's arm raised) they pulled goalie Chico Resch, then sent the puck in deep Trottier picked up the puck by the side of the Kings' goal and attempted a pass to the defensemen at the point. The puck went between the two defensemen and all the way into the Islanders' empty net. After a moment of confusion, the goal was awarded to Rogie Vachon!

However, after the game the official scorers looked at the videotape and realized Kings' forward Vic Venasky cleared the puck after Vachon's earlier save that preceded the penalty -- so the goal was credited to Venasky.

Rogie Vachon would wind up his career with Detroit and then Boston, but is best known for his days with L.A. He would return to California and take over the General Manager role for many years.

Doug Smith

Doug Smith was a highly thought of junior player. So highly thought of that the Los Angeles Kings selected Smith 2nd overall in the 1981 Entry Draft. Drafted ahead of American whiz kid Bob Carpenter and future superstar Ron Francis, Smith, who played for the Ottawa 67's, had the unenviable task of being picked 2nd to perhaps the greatest 1st overall pick ever - Dale Hawerchuk.

While Hawerchuk went on to achieve superstar status and Carpenter and Francis enjoyed fine careers as well, Smith struggled and was never able to establish himself as a top offensive player. Although he became a good role player and defensive specialist by the end of his career, he was never able to shake the lofty expectations placed on him.

Part of the problem was Doug wasn't mature enough to handle the pressure at such a young age.

"I look back when I was drafted, at the time I was so young having just turned 18 in May of 1981, my draft year," recalled Smith. "I was cocky and outspoken I had gone from being the best player in junior to just another player in the NHL. Maybe I didn't show the proper respect. I realize now that then I didn't know what the NHL was all about. The NHL is a tight family and it's like you are adopted. I got frustrated and lost confidence. I suffered from it for a long time."

"I look back now at age 34 after 600 career games and a career ending injury and appreciate, and consider it was an honor to play in the NHL."

Smith played in four and a half seasons with the Kings beginning with the 1981-82 campaign. His
rookie year at age 18 saw him appear in 80 games picking up 16 goals ands 30 points. His best season as a King was 84-85 when he totaled 41 points including 21 goals (career highs). Played a total of 304 games as a King scoring 72 goals, 74 assists for 146 points.

Smith was traded to Buffalo, January 30, 1996, with Brian Engblom for Larry Playfair, Sean McKenna and Ken Baumgartner. He played 3 seasons in Buffalo before moving on to stints in Edmonton, Vancouver and Pittsburgh. In total Smith had 115 goals and 138 assists for 253 points in 535 NHL games. He added another 4 goals and 6 points in 18 playoff contests.

Smith was an incredible skater, with explosive speed and tremendous agility..

"I lot of people told me I was going to break my neck while I was playing in the NHL. I always played full out with reckless abandoned always wanted to win. One of my favorite plays was running the defensemen and really getting in on the forecheck and stirring things up."

Ironically Smith did end his career by breaking his neck, but it wasn't in the NHL. While playing Austria, Smith was chasing the puck into the corner with a defender. As Doug cut through the goal crease to chase the defender, he hit a rut in the ice and fell head first into the boards.

"I broke my neck in 200 places shattering two of my vertebrae, C5 and C6, it resulted in being paralysed from the neck down but I'm one of the fortunate few that have had an opportunity to learn how to walk again. I tried skating in 1996 but like a child learning to walk before he can skate I became frustrated after about five minutes and took my skates off."

Jim Fox

Despite being considered too small to play in the National Hockey League, the Los Angeles Kings thought better of Jimmy Fox. They were rewarded for their insight with a productive though largely unnoticed career on Hockey's Californian coast.

Fox stood just 5'8" though was built solidly at 185lbs. Despite his lack of size the Kings drafted the right winger 10th overall in the 1980 Entry Draft following 3 straight 100 plus point seasons in the OHA. In his final year with the Ottawa 67s, he led the entire league with 101 assists and 166 points plus 65 goals in just 52 games! There was no doubt that Fox knew what to do with the puck.

Fox turned pro in 1980-81 and had a respectable rookie season - scoring 18 times and picking up 43 points. Over the following 4 years he became a consistent 30 goal threat and 70 point scorer. He topped out in 1984-85 when he had a career high 53 assists and 83 points.

Following that season injuries and an infusion of younger talent like Jimmy Carson and Luc Robitaille began to slow Fox's production. He dipped to the 50-60 point plateau, and never scored 20 goals in a season again, coming close in 86-87 with 19.

Fox blew out his knee which cost him the entire 1988-89 season, which was unfortunate. That was Wayne Gretzky's first year in La-La-Land, and with Fox's speed he may have been a good match on The Great One's right side.

That knee injury eventually forced Fox to retire for good. He played in 11 games in 1989-90 but had to hang up the blades after that failed comeback attempt.

Fox was a very good skater, blessed with speed and a low center of gravity. That made him hard to knock off the puck despite his size. In fact, his size never really hampered Fox. He was pretty effective in the corners and along the boards despite being half a foot smaller than his opponents. And his great finesse skills made him even more valuable, as once he retrieved the loose puck he was able to do something with it in order to create a scoring chance.

Offensively Fox saw the ice very well, although he probably passed the puck a bit too much for his coaches liking. He was also pretty predictable in that he would cross the blue line and then pull up while his teammates jumped ahead of him into the offensive zone. As for goal scoring, Fox possessed a deadly wrist shot, but most of his goals came from in close.

Defensively Fox was pretty good too. He was very conscious of his defensive duties and used his above average anticipation skills to his advantage. He was used more and more as a defensive forward as his career wound down.

All in all, Jim Fox was a nice player. Its too bad his knee injury cut his career short just as better days were ahead in Los Angeles.

Daryl Evans

One of the biggest upsets in pro sports history happened in 1982. It became dubbed the Miracle on Manchester as the mediocre Los Angeles Kings upset Wayne Gretzky and the high flying Edmonton Oilers. While you expect names like Marcel Dionne, Dave Taylor or Charlie Simmer to lead the way in such a feat, it was many of the Kings foot soldiers who stepped up their play to cause the upset. The foot soldier who stepped up the most in that series was Daryl Evans.

Evans was just a rookie at the time. In fact he only played in 14 NHL games prior to those playoffs after spending most of the season learning the pro game at the AHL level. Daryl, a Toronto native, scored 2 goals and 6 assists in his first taste of NHL action.

When the playoffs came along, the Kings were huge first round underdogs against Gretzky and the Oilers. Gretzky had just come off of his record smashing season of 92 goals and 212 points. Everyone expected the Oilers not only to simply destroy the Kings, but all the competition and meet the dynastic New York Islanders in the finals. However someone forgot to tell the Kings. The best of 5 opening round Smythe division battle was an offensive show. The Kings somehow managed to keep pace with the high scoring Oilers and took the Oilers to a decisive 5th game, eventually winning the game.

Evans was the hero in game one as he produced a 4 point night as the Kings shocked the Oilers. The Oilers stormed back in game two to win by an astounding score of 10-8.

The best game of the famous series was game 3 on April 10, 1982. Down 5-0 in the third period, the Kings stormed back to narrow Edmonton's commanding lead. Trailing the Oilers, 5-4, the Kings buzzed around in the Edmonton zone until Steve Bozek's shot beat Grant Fuhr to tie the historic contest with just five agonizing seconds remaining. The Forum was rocking when overtime began, and at 2:35 of the extra period, rookie Daryl Evans sent the puck over Fuhr's shoulder to end an incredible game.

"We trailed in the game 5-0 after two periods. I remember coach Don Perry and the rest of the guys saying let's go out there and play a strong third period and get some momentum for the next game. In that third period we got some breaks, especially with the major penalty to Edmonton late in the period, and tied it after regulation."

"On the winning goal we had myself, center Doug Smith and left wing Steve Bozek out for the draw in the Oiler zone to the right of Grant Fuhr. Smitty won the draw and I moved in about two feet and just shot. I wasn't really picking any opening I just was trying to get the shot on net. As it turned out I beat Fuhr up high over his right shoulder and before I knew it everyone on the team was piling on top of me at the other end of the ice."

The rest as they say is history. The Oilers tied the series at 2 a piece but it wasn't meant to be for the Oilers. The Kings would win and go on to face the Vancouver Canucks, but would lose to the Cinderella 'Nucks. Evans lead the Kings in playoff scoring with 13 points (5 goals and 8 assists) in 10 games.

Evan's incredible heroics and output in the playoffs obviously put a lot of pressure on the youngster to live up to that on a nightly basis. However Evans, who was the 178th player drafted in 1980, would struggle to equal his accomplishments of April 1982.

Evans played a full 80 games the following season, scoring 18 goals and 22 assists. He was however not big enough to play the physical NHL style long term, and also was a defensive liability. Evans would spend most of the final two seasons in the Kings organization with the farm team, appearing in only 11 NHL games.

In 1985 the Kings traded their hero to Washington but with the exception of 6 games Evans remained at the AHL level.

Evans signed as a free agent with his boyhood favorite Toronto Maple Leafs in 1986, and had the opportunity to appear in two games with the Leafs, even scoring 1 goal, his last in the NHL. Evans spent the three years with the Leafs farm team in Newmarket.

Evans left North America in 1989 but resurfaced in Europe. He played in 32 games for an Italian club called HC Gardena-Groden - scoring 32 goals and 97 points. The following season he landed in Britain for a handful of semi-pro games with the Wiltley Warriors in 1991. He had 10 goals and 19 points in his 6 regular season games, and then exploded for 18 goals and 40 points in just 8 games in the playoffs!