The Los Angeles Kings are a professional
ice hockey team based in Los Angeles, California. They are members
of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National
Hockey League (NHL). Founded on February 9, 1966, when Jack Kent
Cooke was awarded an expansion franchise in Los Angeles, the Kings
called the The Forum in Inglewood, California, a suburb of the
Los Angeles area, their home for thirty-two years until they moved
to Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles to start the 19992000
season.
The Kings have not had a great deal of
success in their history, winning their division just once in
199091, and failing to get out of the first round of the
playoffs twelve times in the twenty-four seasons when they qualified
for post-season play and advancing past the second round just
once. Indeed, the high point in Kings franchise history was when
they won their conference championship for the first and only
time in their history, advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals in
the 199293 season, only to lose the series to the Montreal
Canadiens in five games.
The Kings' closest rival is the Anaheim
Ducks, who play approximately 35 miles (56 km) to the south in
Anaheim.