The Kings' Stanley Cup win on Monday night brought great joy and happiness to the Kings organization and Kings fans everywhere. But, one person in particular that was on the minds of fans everywhere, along with longtime announcers Bob Miller and Jim Fox, and scouts Ace Bailey and Mark Bavis, who were killed in the terrorist attacks on September 11, was Luc Robitaille. Luc is perhaps the most popular player in team history, and that's really saying something, considering that The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, played for the Kings for 8 seasons. If you don't believe me, just look at what the Kings wrote on his bio. What is more amazing than seeing Luc Robitaille finally raise the Stanley Cup as a King was how he got to this point.
Luc Robitaille was an 18 year old from Quebec who was not valued very highly by NHL scouts. Many scouts believed he lacked skating ability. The only NHL team willing to take a chance on him was the Los Angeles Kings, who ended up selecting him with the 171st pick in the 9th round of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft. After a couple of years in the minor leagues, he made his Kings debut in 1986, and in his rookie season, scored 45 goals and dished out 39 assists for 84 points, enough to give him the 1986-87 Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year. The following season, 1987-88, began a stretch of 6 straight seasons until 1993 where Luc was selected to the NHL All-Star Team and played in the NHL All-Star Game every year. Also, he helped lead the Kings to the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to Montreal 4-1. He was the team leader much of the season, as Wayne Gretzky battled injuries. After the 1993-94 season, Luc was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins, then was traded again, this time to the New York Rangers in the after the 1995 season. After two seasons in New York, Luc returned to L.A. in a trade on August 28, 1997. In his return to L.A., he had somewhat of a career revival. In 4 seasons in his second stint with the Kings from 1997-2001, he made the NHL All-Star Second Team in 2001, and played in 2 All-Star Games (1999, 2001). Then, he signed with Detroit after the 2001 season, where in 2002, he won the Stanley Cup that eluded him 9 years earlier with the Kings. Then, in 2003, Luc returned to L.A. to play for the Kings for 2 more seasons, ending in his retirement in 2006. Since 2007, he has been the Kings' President of Business Operations, where he remains to this day.
Mention great L.A. athletes, and you'll hear the usual: Kobe, Magic, Kareem, Jerry, Wayne. I believe that Luc Robitaille deserves to be among them. He overcame all kinds of odds to become the NHL's all time leading scorer among left wings (668 goals, 726 assists, 1394 points) and was inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009. Not bad for a kid who couldn't skate and had trouble with English when he first arrived in L.A. in 1986. In many ways, the story of Luc Robitaille personifies this Kings team. He was written off and no one gave him a chance, but he made up for it through hard work and determination. He was never the fastest skater or most athletic player in the NHL, but he had an amazing career despite those supposed obstacles, and now, he can finally raise Lord Stanley's Cup as a King.
Good interview with Luc, talking about his life and career:
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