1989–90 Los Angeles Kings season

1989–90 Los Angeles Kings
Division	4th Smythe
Conference	8th Campbell
1989–90 record	34–39–7
Home record	21–16–3
Road record	13–23–4
Goals for	338
Goals against	337
Team information
General manager	Rogatien Vachon
Coach	Tom Webster
Captain	Wayne Gretzky
Alternate captains	Larry Robinson Dave Taylor
Arena	Great Western Forum
Team leaders
Goals	Luc Robitaille (52)
Assists	Wayne Gretzky (102)
Points	Wayne Gretzky (142)
Penalty minutes	Marty McSorley (322)
Plus/minus	Tim Watters (+23)
Wins	Kelly Hrudey (22)
Goals against average	Ron Scott (3.67)

The 1989–90 Los Angeles Kings season, was the Kings' 23rd season in the National Hockey League. It saw the Kings compile a record of 34-39-7 for 75 points, good enough for fourth place in the Smythe Division. They defeated the defending Stanley Cup champion Calgary Flames in the first round of the playoffs before falling to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers in the second round. For the Kings, this was the second consecutive year that they eliminated the defending Stanley Cup champions in the first round of the playoffs, only to be swept in the following round by the eventual Cup champions. In both years, they involved both teams from the province of Alberta.

This season saw the Kings' captain, Wayne Gretzky, become the all-time leading scorer in NHL history (see below for more details). Gretzky also led the league in scoring for the year, winning the Art Ross Trophy.

Offseason

NHL Draft

Los Angeles's draft picks at the 1989 NHL Entry Draft held at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
2	39	Brent Thompson	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
4	81	Jim Maher	United States	University of Illinois at Chicago (CCHA)
5	102	Eric Richard	Canada	Granby Bisons (QMJHL)
5	103	Tom Newman	United States	Blaine High School (USHS-MN)
6	123	Daniel Rydmark	Sweden	Farjestad BK (Sweden)
7	144	Ted Kramer	United States	University of Michigan (CCHA)
8	165	Sean Whyte	Canada	Guelph Platers (OHL)
9	182	Jim Giacin	United States	Culver Military Academy (USHS-IN)
9	186	Martin Maskarinec	Czechoslovakia	Sparta Prague (Czechoslovakia)
10	207	Jim Hiller	Canada	Melville Millionaires (SJHL)
11	228	Steve Jaques	Canada	Tri-City Americans (WHL)
12	249	Kevin Sneddon	Canada	Harvard University (ECAC)
S	23	Carl Repp	Canada	University of British Columbia (CWUAA)

Regular season

Mario Gosselin was the first goaltender in NHL history to lose a game without giving up a goal. Gosselin filled in for Kelly Hrudey and the Kings would give up an empty net goal. The result was a 7-6 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

On Wednesday, October 25, 1989, the Kings were shut out at home 5-0 by the Calgary Flames. It was the first time the team had been shut out in a regular-season game since Wednesday, March 12, 1986, when they lost at home 3-0 to the Detroit Red Wings. Prior to the loss against the Flames, the Kings had scored at least one goal in 261 consecutive regular-season games.

Wayne Gretzky's scoring record

On October 15, 1989, playing in only his 780th career game, Wayne Gretzky became the all-time leading scorer in NHL history, breaking the record of 1,850 career points set by his idol, Gordie Howe. Gretzky set the new record on a game-tying goal against Bill Ranford in the final minute of a contest against his former team, the Edmonton Oilers, in Edmonton. Afterwards, Howe was on hand to congratulate Gretzky on his accomplishment. The Kings went on to win the game in overtime.

Final standings

Smythe Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Calgary Flames	80	42	23	15	348	265	99
Edmonton Oilers	80	38	28	14	315	283	90
Winnipeg Jets	80	37	32	11	298	290	85
Los Angeles Kings	80	34	39	7	338	337	75
Vancouver Canucks	80	25	41	14	245	306	64

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Campbell Conference

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Calgary Flames	SMY	80	42	23	15	348	265	99
2	Edmonton Oilers	SMY	80	38	28	14	315	283	90
3	Chicago Blackhawks	NRS	80	41	33	6	316	294	88
4	Winnipeg Jets	SMY	80	37	32	11	298	290	85
5	St. Louis Blues	NRS	80	37	34	9	295	279	83
6	Toronto Maple Leafs	NRS	80	38	38	4	337	358	80
7	Minnesota North Stars	NRS	80	36	40	4	284	291	76
8	Los Angeles Kings	SMY	80	34	39	7	338	337	75
9	Detroit Red Wings	NRS	80	28	38	14	288	323	70
10	Vancouver Canucks	SMY	80	25	41	14	245	306	64

Divisions: NRS – Norris, SMY – Smythe

bold – Qualified for playoffs

Record vs. opponents

Vs. Campbell Conference

Vs. Smythe Division

1989–90 NHL records
Team	CGY	EDM	LAK	VAN	WIN	Total
Calgary	—	4–3–1	4–3–1	5–1–2	3–5	16–12–4
Edmonton	3–4–1	—	4–2–2	6–1–1	5–3	18–10–4
Los Angeles	3–4–1	2–4–2	—	4–2–2	2–5–1	11–15–6
Vancouver	1–5–2	1–6–1	2–4–2	—	2–3–3	6–18–8
Winnipeg	5–3	3–5	5–2–1	3–3–2	—	16–13–3

Vs. Norris Division

1989–90 NHL records
Team	CHI	DET	MIN	STL	TOR	Total
Calgary	2–0–1	1–2	2–1	2–0–1	2–1	9–4–2
Edmonton	1–2	1–2	3–0	2–0–1	1–2	8–6–1
Los Angeles	1–2	2–1	1–2	2–1	1–2	7–8–0
Vancouver	1–2	1–1–1	2–1	1–2	1–2	6–8–1
Winnipeg	1–2	1–1–1	1–2	1–1–1	2–0–1	6–6–3

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Adams Division

1989–90 NHL records
Team	BOS	BUF	HFD	MTL	QUE	Total
Calgary	1–1–1	1–1–1	2–0–1	1–2	1–0–2	6–4–5
Edmonton	0–2–1	2–1	0–1–2	1–1–1	3–0	6–5–4
Los Angeles	1–2	1–2	1–2	1–1–1	3–0	7–7–1
Vancouver	2–1	0–2–1	1–2	1–2	0–2–1	4–9–2
Winnipeg	1–1–1	0–3	2–1	1–1–1	2–1	6–7–2

Vs. Patrick Division

1989–90 NHL records
Team	NJD	NYI	NYR	PHI	PIT	WSH	Total
Calgary	3–0	3–0	2–1	1–1–1	2–0–1	0–1–2	11–3–4
Edmonton	0–1–2	1–0–2	0–2–1	2–1	1–2	2–1	6–7–5
Los Angeles	1–2	1–2	2–1	0–3	2–1	3–0	9–9–0
Vancouver	3–0	1–2	0–3	1–0–2	2–1	2–0–1	9–6–3
Winnipeg	2–1	1–2	1–1–1	2–1	0–2–1	3–0	9–7–2

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 5, 1989	4–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1989–90)	1–0–0
2	L	October 7, 1989	5–6	Edmonton Oilers (1989–90)	1–1–0
3	W	October 8, 1989	5–0	Detroit Red Wings (1989–90)	2–1–0
4	L	October 11, 1989	4–7	New York Islanders (1989–90)	2–2–0
5	W	October 13, 1989	6–5	@ Vancouver Canucks (1989–90)	3–2–0
6	W	October 15, 1989	5–4 OT	@ Edmonton Oilers (1989–90)	4–2–0
7	L	October 17, 1989	2–3	Boston Bruins (1989–90)	4–3–0
8	W	October 21, 1989	6–4	@ St. Louis Blues (1989–90)	5–3–0
9	L	October 22, 1989	4–7	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1989–90)	5–4–0
10	L	October 25, 1989	0–5	Calgary Flames (1989–90)	5–5–0
11	W	October 27, 1989	3–1	@ Winnipeg Jets (1989–90)	6–5–0
12	L	October 29, 1989	1–6	@ Winnipeg Jets (1989–90)	6–6–0
13	W	October 31, 1989	8–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1989–90)	7–6–0
14	L	November 2, 1989	4–5 OT	@ Boston Bruins (1989–90)	7–7–0
15	L	November 4, 1989	3–6	@ Hartford Whalers (1989–90)	7–8–0
16	L	November 5, 1989	3–5	@ Buffalo Sabres (1989–90)	7–9–0
17	L	November 8, 1989	4–5	Calgary Flames (1989–90)	7–10–0
18	W	November 11, 1989	5–4	Montreal Canadiens (1989–90)	8–10–0
19	W	November 14, 1989	8–6	@ Calgary Flames (1989–90)	9–10–0
20	T	November 15, 1989	2–2 OT	@ Edmonton Oilers (1989–90)	9–10–1
21	W	November 18, 1989	5–3	Washington Capitals (1989–90)	10–10–1
22	W	November 22, 1989	6–3	Chicago Blackhawks (1989–90)	11–10–1
23	W	November 25, 1989	7–4	Vancouver Canucks (1989–90)	12–10–1
24	T	November 26, 1989	3–3 OT	@ Vancouver Canucks (1989–90)	12–10–2
25	L	November 30, 1989	6–7	Edmonton Oilers (1989–90)	12–11–2
26	W	December 2, 1989	6–0	New York Rangers (1989–90)	13–11–2
27	W	December 6, 1989	5–4 OT	Vancouver Canucks (1989–90)	14–11–2
28	L	December 8, 1989	4–5 OT	@ Edmonton Oilers (1989–90)	14–12–2
29	W	December 10, 1989	8–4	@ Quebec Nordiques (1989–90)	15–12–2
30	T	December 11, 1989	2–2 OT	@ Montreal Canadiens (1989–90)	15–12–3
31	W	December 13, 1989	5–2	@ Hartford Whalers (1989–90)	16–12–3
32	L	December 15, 1989	5–7	@ New Jersey Devils (1989–90)	16–13–3
33	L	December 16, 1989	2–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1989–90)	16–14–3
34	W	December 19, 1989	9–5	Winnipeg Jets (1989–90)	17–14–3
35	W	December 21, 1989	6–1	Quebec Nordiques (1989–90)	18–14–3
36	W	December 23, 1989	4–1	Vancouver Canucks (1989–90)	19–14–3
37	T	December 27, 1989	5–5 OT	Calgary Flames (1989–90)	19–14–4
38	L	December 30, 1989	3–6	Philadelphia Flyers (1989–90)	19–15–4
39	W	January 1, 1990	7–4	@ Washington Capitals (1989–90)	20–15–4
40	L	January 2, 1990	3–5	@ New York Islanders (1989–90)	20–16–4
41	L	January 4, 1990	2–4	@ New Jersey Devils (1989–90)	20–17–4
42	L	January 6, 1990	4–7	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1989–90)	20–18–4
43	L	January 9, 1990	3–4	St. Louis Blues (1989–90)	20–19–4
44	T	January 11, 1990	3–3 OT	Edmonton Oilers (1989–90)	20–19–5
45	L	January 13, 1990	3–6	Hartford Whalers (1989–90)	20–20–5
46	L	January 16, 1990	2–4	Buffalo Sabres (1989–90)	20–21–5
47	W	January 18, 1990	9–4	Detroit Red Wings (1989–90)	21–21–5
48	T	January 23, 1990	3–3 OT	@ Vancouver Canucks (1989–90)	21–21–6
49	L	January 25, 1990	6–7	@ Edmonton Oilers (1989–90)	21–22–6
50	L	January 27, 1990	1–3	New York Rangers (1989–90)	21–23–6
51	W	January 30, 1990	5–2	New Jersey Devils (1989–90)	22–23–6
52	L	February 1, 1990	4–7	Chicago Blackhawks (1989–90)	22–24–6
53	W	February 3, 1990	4–3	Calgary Flames (1989–90)	23–24–6
54	W	February 6, 1990	5–3	@ Calgary Flames (1989–90)	24–24–6
55	L	February 8, 1990	1–5	Winnipeg Jets (1989–90)	24–25–6
56	L	February 10, 1990	6–7	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1989–90)	24–26–6
57	L	February 12, 1990	3–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1989–90)	24–27–6
58	L	February 14, 1990	5–6	@ Detroit Red Wings (1989–90)	24–28–6
59	L	February 15, 1990	3–6	@ Minnesota North Stars (1989–90)	24–29–6
60	W	February 17, 1990	7–1	Quebec Nordiques (1989–90)	25–29–6
61	W	February 19, 1990	3–2	Washington Capitals (1989–90)	26–29–6
62	W	February 21, 1990	4–2	Minnesota North Stars (1989–90)	27–29–6
63	L	February 24, 1990	4–6	Vancouver Canucks (1989–90)	27–30–6
64	W	February 28, 1990	4–2	Edmonton Oilers (1989–90)	28–30–6
65	L	March 2, 1990	3–9	@ Winnipeg Jets (1989–90)	28–31–6
66	L	March 4, 1990	2–5	@ Winnipeg Jets (1989–90)	28–32–6
67	L	March 5, 1990	0–5	@ Calgary Flames (1989–90)	28–33–6
68	L	March 7, 1990	2–5	Montreal Canadiens (1989–90)	28–34–6
69	W	March 10, 1990	8–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1989–90)	29–34–6
70	W	March 12, 1990	6–2	@ New York Rangers (1989–90)	30–34–6
71	W	March 14, 1990	6–5 OT	@ Buffalo Sabres (1989–90)	31–34–6
72	W	March 17, 1990	5–4	@ Boston Bruins (1989–90)	32–34–6
73	L	March 18, 1990	4–7	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1989–90)	32–35–6
74	L	March 20, 1990	2–5	@ Minnesota North Stars (1989–90)	32–36–6
75	W	March 22, 1990	3–1	New York Islanders (1989–90)	33–36–6
76	W	March 24, 1990	9–3	St. Louis Blues (1989–90)	34–36–6
77	T	March 27, 1990	4–4 OT	Winnipeg Jets (1989–90)	34–36–7
78	L	March 29, 1990	0–1	Winnipeg Jets (1989–90)	34–37–7
79	L	March 31, 1990	3–6	@ Vancouver Canucks (1989–90)	34–38–7
80	L	April 1, 1990	4–8	@ Calgary Flames (1989–90)	34–39–7

Player statistics

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Wayne Gretzky C 73 40 102 142 42 8 10 4 4 Luc Robitaille LW 80 52 49 101 38 8 20 0 7 Bernie Nicholls C 47 27 48 75 66 -6 8 0 1 John Tonelli LW 73 31 37 68 62 -8 15 0 4 Steve Duchesne D 79 20 42 62 36 -3 6 0 1 Steve Kasper C 77 17 28 45 27 4 1 1 4 Mike Krushelnyski LW/C 63 16 25 41 50 7 2 2 2 Dave Taylor RW 58 15 26 41 96 17 2 0 1 Larry Robinson D 64 7 32 39 34 7 1 0 1 Bob Kudelski RW 62 23 13 36 49 -7 2 2 3 Marty McSorley D 75 15 21 36 322 2 2 1 0 Tomas Sandstrom RW 28 13 20 33 28 -1 1 1 0 Todd Elik C 48 10 23 33 41 4 1 0 0 Brian Benning D 48 5 18 23 104 1 3 0 0 Mikko Makela RW 45 7 14 21 16 -4 0 0 0 Keith Crowder RW 55 4 13 17 93 2 0 0 1 Mike Allison LW 55 2 11 13 78 -6 0 0 1 Jay Miller LW 68 10 2 12 224 -6 0 0 1 Tony Granato RW 19 5 6 11 45 -2 1 0 0 Tim Watters D 62 1 10 11 92 23 0 0 0 Petr Prajsler D 34 3 7 10 47 -9 1 0 0 Tom Laidlaw D 57 1 8 9 42 4 0 0 0 Barry Beck D 52 1 7 8 53 3 0 0 0 Hubie McDonough C 22 3 4 7 10 4 0 0 1 Craig Duncanson LW 10 3 2 5 9 1 0 0 0 Chris Kontos LW/C 6 2 2 4 4 3 0 0 0 Mikael Lindholm C 18 2 2 4 2 2 0 0 0 Bob Halkidis D 20 0 4 4 56 4 0 0 0 Scott Bjugstad RW 11 1 2 3 2 2 0 0 1 Jim Fox RW 11 1 1 2 0 -1 0 0 1 Ken Baumgartner LW 12 1 0 1 28 -10 0 0 0 Rob Blake D 4 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 Mario Gosselin G 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kelly Hrudey G 52 0 0 0 18 0 0 0 0 Ron Scott G 12 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 Robb Stauber G 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Gord Walker RW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO SA SV SV% Kelly Hrudey 2860 52 22 21 6 194 4.07 2 1532 1338 .873 Mario Gosselin 1226 26 7 11 1 79 3.87 0 587 508 .865 Ron Scott 654 12 5 6 0 40 3.67 0 321 281 .875 Robb Stauber 83 2 0 1 0 11 7.95 0 43 32 .744 Team: 4823 80 34 39 7 324 4.03 2 2483 2159 .870

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Todd Elik C 10 3 9 12 10 1 1 0 0 Steve Duchesne D 10 2 9 11 6 -2 1 0 0 Luc Robitaille LW 10 5 5 10 12 -5 1 0 1 Wayne Gretzky C 7 3 7 10 0 -4 1 0 0 Tony Granato RW 10 5 4 9 12 -2 2 1 2 Tomas Sandstrom RW 10 5 4 9 19 -5 0 0 0 Dave Taylor RW 6 4 4 8 2 2 2 0 0 Larry Robinson D 10 2 3 5 10 2 0 0 0 Rob Blake D 8 1 3 4 4 -4 1 0 0 Mike Krushelnyski LW/C 10 1 3 4 12 0 0 0 1 Marty McSorley D 10 1 3 4 18 -8 1 0 0 Bob Kudelski RW 8 1 2 3 2 -5 0 0 0 John Tonelli LW 10 1 2 3 6 -6 0 0 0 Steve Kasper C 10 1 1 2 2 -4 0 0 0 Jay Miller LW 10 1 1 2 10 -6 0 0 0 Brian Benning D 7 0 2 2 10 -9 0 0 0 Mike Allison LW 4 1 0 1 2 -2 0 1 0 Keith Crowder RW 7 1 0 1 9 -1 0 0 0 Chris Kontos LW/C 5 1 0 1 0 -6 0 1 0 Bob Halkidis D 8 0 1 1 8 -7 0 0 0 Kelly Hrudey G 9 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Scott Bjugstad RW 2 0 0 0 2 -1 0 0 0 Mario Gosselin G 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mikko Makela RW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Petr Prajsler D 3 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 Ron Scott G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tim Watters D 4 0 0 0 6 4 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO SA SV SV% Kelly Hrudey 539 9 4 4 39 4.34 0 265 226 .853 Mario Gosselin 63 3 0 2 3 2.86 0 23 20 .870 Ron Scott 32 1 0 0 4 7.50 0 10 6 .600 Team: 634 10 4 6 46 4.35 0 298 252 .846

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Transactions

The Kings were involved in the following transactions during the 1989–90 season.

Trades

June 17, 1989	To Los Angeles Kings 5th round pick in 1989 - Tom Newman	To Washington Capitals Alan May
September 1, 1989	To Los Angeles Kings Barry Beck	To New York Rangers 4th round pick in 1990 - Jeff Nielsen
October 4, 1989	To Los Angeles Kings 4th round pick in 1991 - Keith Redmond	To Buffalo Sabres Dean Kennedy
November 10, 1989	To Los Angeles Kings Brian Benning	To St. Louis Blues 3rd round pick in 1991 - Kyle Reeves
November 24, 1989	To Los Angeles Kings Bob Halkidis Future considerations	To Buffalo Sabres Dale DeGray
November 29, 1989	To Los Angeles Kings Mikko Mäkelä	To New York Islanders Hubie McDonough Ken Baumgartner
December 1, 1989	To Los Angeles Kings Brad Jones	To Winnipeg Jets Phil Sykes
January 20, 1990	To Los Angeles Kings Tony Granato Tomas Sandstrom	To New York Rangers Bernie Nicholls

Free agent signings

May 19, 1989	From Belleville Bulls (OHL) Darryl Williams
June 14, 1989	From Quebec Nordiques Mario Gosselin
June 17, 1989	From Boston Bruins Keith Crowder
June 17, 1989	From University of Minnesota (WCHA) Robb Stauber
July 26, 1989	From Montreal Canadiens Larry Robinson (3 years, $1.7 million)
August 24, 1989	From Pittsburgh Penguins Scott Bjugstad
January 12, 1990	From New York Rangers Ron Scott

Free agents lost

July 6, 1989	To Boston Bruins Jim Wiemer
August 10, 1989	To New Jersey Devils Roland Melanson
August 16, 1989	To New York Islanders Glenn Healy

Free agent compensation

August 16, 1989

To Los Angeles Kings 4th round pick in 1990 - Jeff Nielsen

To New York Islanders Glenn Healy

Waivers

March 6, 1990

To New York Islanders Dave Pasin

Playoffs

Round 1: (S1) Calgary Flames vs. (S4) Los Angeles Kings

April 4

Los Angeles Kings

5–3

Calgary Flames

Olympic Saddledome

April 6

Los Angeles Kings

5–8

Calgary Flames

Olympic Saddledome

April 8

Calgary Flames

1–2

OT

Los Angeles Kings

Great Western Forum

April 10

Calgary Flames

4–12

Los Angeles Kings

Great Western Forum

April 12

Los Angeles Kings

1–5

Calgary Flames

Olympic Saddledome

April 14

Calgary Flames

3–4

2OT

Los Angeles Kings

Great Western Forum

Los Angeles won series 4–2

Round 2: (S2) Edmonton Oilers vs. (S4) Los Angeles Kings

April 18

Los Angeles Kings

0–7

Edmonton Oilers

Northlands Coliseum

April 20

Los Angeles Kings

1–6

Edmonton Oilers

Northlands Coliseum

April 22

Edmonton Oilers

5–4

Los Angeles Kings

Great Western Forum

April 24

Edmonton Oilers

6–5

OT

Los Angeles Kings

Great Western Forum

Edmonton won series 4–0

Awards and honors

• Wayne Gretzky, Runner Up, Lady Byng Memorial Trophy

References

• Kings on Hockey Database