Larry Robinson with the LA Kings

[BenchBrawl]

Haven't found a thread about this.

Never really looked into his stint with Los Angeles. How was he perceived? How well did he play? Any impression or information about his three years there?

Thanks

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[The Panther]

I did see him play quite a bit in those three years. Basically, he was good, but he struggled (understandably) with the Kings' all-offense/no-defence system. One thing that surprised me (I was 13 when he went to L.A, so he seemed like the Ancient One to me) was how mobile he was. He could really jump up in a hurry to join a play, or make quick, deft moves with the puck. It made me wish I had seen him in his prime.

His three seasons in L.A. kind of each had different characters:
1989-90 - Majorly disappointing season; Kings under-achieve and allow the 4th-most goals against in the NHL
1990-91 - Majorly successful season; the best of the Gretzky-era. Kings shave 83 goals against off, and have a great, 102-point season.
1991-92 - Middling season. Kings are disappointing, but finish 2nd Smythe.

My favorite Robinson number is that he was a 'plus' player in every season of his long career!

 

[vikash1987]

I never had the privilege of watching Robinson play during his career, but he was easily one of my favorite players (and coaches) of all-time in hockey history.

To this day, I don’t think I fully understand why the marriage between Robinson and the Kings actually worked. His reason for leaving Montreal was clear: he wanted to escape the pressure-packed environment of hockey’s Mecca, and he wanted to get back the joy of playing the game that had been lost in the recent seasons. But LA, with Gretzky, was the highest-paid team in the league, and expectations were very high. So it wasn’t as if he was moving into a pressure-free or publicity-free situation.

Also, given that he was near retirement and probably didn’t have much gas left in the tank with all that mileage (e.g. 200+ playoff games), it’s amazing that the Kings had enough confidence in him to sign him to a three-year contract.

 

[yukoner88]

Would've been interesting to see how things would've played out if Robinson could hang on for one more year n be a part of the cup finals run in 93.

How would habs fans hadve reacted if this had actually taken place?

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

i have a bunch of why couldn't that old defenceman hang on for just one or two more years from this time.

what if salming had hung on for two more years and gotten to play with rookie lidstrom? what if mark howe had made it to the '97 stanley cup team?

with robinson, i honestly can't say i noticed him too much out there. i saw the canucks play the kings in a playoff series but he wasn't a major offensive force and i was too young to appreciate what he probably brought on the defensive side.

what i do remember is they would not shut up about how rob blake was a junior him, and robinson got so much credit for blake. so as a kid i always sort of imagined as robinson as a rich man's young blake, which of course i now know he was so much better than in his heyday.

i also remember thinking of him as just one of those LA ringers. they also had john tonelli and steve kasper that year. then in '92 when robinson was on his way out, they picked up coffey and huddy and brought mark hardy home. (sidenote: when the canucks in those years picked up randy gregg, ryan walter, tom fergus, even larionov and krutov, i never thought of them as ringers. maybe i should have?)

robinson on the '93 team is a fun what if, but realistically they'd upgraded on him with huddy, who i do remember as really steady in '92 and '93, i'd say something like what macoun was for the leafs but a little further from his prime. and then you had four 10 point defensemen on that team: mcsorley, blake, zhitnik, and sydor. unless robinson had it in him to carry sydor at ES on the third pair, there really wasn't room for him on that team anymore, even if he could have held on and kept playing.

it was sort of sad to see later carlyle or langway in the early 90s, in and out of the lineup, slotting into the bottom pair when it was useful. i can see why robinson wouldn't have wanted that, and why LA probably didn't either.

 

[Theokritos]

i have a bunch of why couldn't that old defenceman hang on for just one or two more years from this time.

what if salming had hung on for two more years and gotten to play with rookie lidstrom?

Not exactly what you are looking for, but Börje Salming did play with Nicklas Lidström at the 1991 Canada Cup.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Not exactly what you are looking for, but Börje Salming did play with Nicklas Lidström at the 1991 Canada Cup.

true. i have no memory of it but did you watch them? were they a pair?

not to say that lidstrom didn't already have a good mentor base in detroit when he came over but man, i just feel like having salming there would have meant the world to him.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

He was ancient by his last season - the oldest player in the NHL by almost four full years (born June 2, 1951 - Mark Howe was born May 28, 1955). How many players can say they've been the oldest player by (very nearly) four full years? (Howe, Jagr, Chelios - anyone else?)

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

He was ancient by his last season - the oldest player in the NHL by almost four full years (born June 2, 1951 - Mark Howe was born May 28, 1955). How many players can say they've been the oldest player by (very nearly) four full years? (Howe, Jagr, Chelios - anyone else?)

this one i guessed off the top of my head:

bucyk in 1978: may 1935 birthday

red berenson the same year: december 1939 birthday



some others i looked up out of curiosity:

1923: didier pitre, september 1883 vs louis berlinguette, may 1887

1927: lester patrick, december 1883 vs newsy lalonde, october 1887

1944: frank boucher, october 1901 vs johnny gottselig, june 1905

1947: dit clapper, february 1907 vs bill cowley, june 1912

 

[Theokritos]

true. i have no memory of it but did you watch them? were they a pair?

I didn't, but they seem to have been a pair:

After performing well in the World Championships, where Sweden won the gold medal, Lidström was chosen for the Canada Cup squad in 1991, where he was to be paired with Börje Salming himself.

Also, there is this quote:

After the semifinals when Sweden had just lost to Canada 0-4 a tired Salming just pointed at Lidström and said: "There's the kid who'll take over now. He is already a damned good player."

 

[BenchBrawl]

He was ancient by his last season - the oldest player in the NHL by almost four full years (born June 2, 1951 - Mark Howe was born May 28, 1955). How many players can say they've been the oldest player by (very nearly) four full years? (Howe, Jagr, Chelios - anyone else?)

Wow didn't expect him to be so far ahead in age. He wasn't that old neither. Goes to show his era didn't have much longevity.

 

[Staniowski]

Robinson was 38 years old and a free agent when McNall offered him $400,000 a year for 3 years. Serge Savard said the Habs couldn't match that amount.

Robinson has said he didn't want to leave Montreal but the offer from LA was too good to pass up.

 

[The Panther]

Robinson was 38 years old and a free agent when McNall offered him $400,000 a year for 3 years. Serge Savard said the Habs couldn't match that amount.

Robinson has said he didn't want to leave Montreal but the offer from LA was too good to pass up.

I remember a TV interview with Robinson from about 1990, where Larry is sitting on an ocean-side deck, drinking an iced tea, and the interviewer asked him why he signed with L.A. He pointed to the ocean view and said, "That's one reason right there."

How odd that he didn't mention the $400,000 greenbacks...

 

[FerrisRox]

His reason for leaving Montreal was clear: he wanted to escape the pressure-packed environment of hockey’s Mecca, and he wanted to get back the joy of playing the game that had been lost in the recent seasons.

That's totally false.

Robinson has made it abundantly clear that he left Montreal because he was overwhelmed by a massive financial offer from the Los Angeles Kings. LA offered Robinson a three-year deal at a then whopping amount of $400,000 a season. Canadiens GM Serge Savard was not going to pay anything close to to that for Robinson at that stage of his career. " I don’t begrudge Serge. It was a crazy offer. I wouldn’t have offered that to myself, because I knew I was on the down part of my career. It was a lot for an old fart like me.”

Robinson has also made it quite clear that he regrets leaving Montreal and if he could do it again he would have turned down the offer and finished his career with the Montreal Canadiens. “If I have any regrets, it’s that I didn’t finish my career in Montreal.”

The team he left had just advanced to the Stanley Cup Final and lost to the Calgary Flames and were an elite team in the NHL. Robinson had no issue with the pressure packed environment of playing in Montreal, he had thrived in that world for 17 seasons and captured six Stanley Cup championships.

 

[vikash1987]

That's totally false.

Robinson has made it abundantly clear that he left Montreal because he was overwhelmed by a massive financial offer from the Los Angeles Kings. LA offered Robinson a three-year deal at a then whopping amount of $400,000 a season. Canadiens GM Serge Savard was not going to pay anything close to to that for Robinson at that stage of his career. " I don’t begrudge Serge. It was a crazy offer. I wouldn’t have offered that to myself, because I knew I was on the down part of my career. It was a lot for an old fart like me.”

Robinson has also made it quite clear that he regrets leaving Montreal and if he could do it again he would have turned down the offer and finished his career with the Montreal Canadiens. “If I have any regrets, it’s that I didn’t finish my career in Montreal.”

The team he left had just advanced to the Stanley Cup Final and lost to the Calgary Flames and were an elite team in the NHL. Robinson had no issue with the pressure packed environment of playing in Montreal, he had thrived in that world for 17 seasons and captured six Stanley Cup championships.

Well, then the media was being inaccurate and was offering up misquotations at the time of his signing.

Here was the direct quote from Robinson at a press conference at the Great Western Forum (July 26, 1989):

“Montreal’s not an easy place to play. Most of our practices were about the same size as this press conference. There was no down time. The pressure to perform was great and you had it constantly drilled into your head. I found it very difficult and I wasn’t enjoying the game as much.”

Obviously, the high offer by LA (and, I suspect, some wooing by Gretzky) caused him to land in LA. But, based on the reporting at the time, it was clear that he was going to be testing the waters and entertaining offers as a free agent.

 

[FerrisRox]

Based on the reporting at the time, it was clear that he was going to be testing the waters and entertaining offers as a free agent.

There really wasn't any room in Montreal for a 38-year old Larry Robinson unless he was willing to take on a part-time role with the team and accept the pay cheque that would come with it.

His first season in Los Angeles, the Canadiens were breaking in quite a few excellent young defensemen that were rising up through their organization. In 1989-90, their defence, anchored by Chris Chelios, was led in scoring by 23-year old Petr Svoboda, featured the first full season of young Jyrki Lumme (who was dealt at the deadline because of the surplus of d-men on the roster) got 44 games from a 20-year old Mathieu Schneider, 55-games fro a 20-year old Eric Desjardins, 68-games from a 21 year old Sylvain Lefebvre, 36-games from a 23-year old J.J. Daigneault and saw the 8-game debut of 21-year old Lyle Odelein and a ten game audition from 19-year old Patrice Brisebois.

This crop of young defenders was so promising not only was there no room for Larry Robinson, but veteran Rick Green was also dealt away that summer and the next off-season, the Canadiens traded away Chelios as well.

 

[vikash1987]

There really wasn't any room in Montreal for a 38-year old Larry Robinson unless he was willing to take on a part-time role with the team and accept the pay cheque that would come with it.

His first season in Los Angeles, the Canadiens were breaking in quite a few excellent young defensemen that were rising up through their organization. In 1989-90, their defence, anchored by Chris Chelios, was led in scoring by 23-year old Petr Svoboda, featured the first full season of young Jyrki Lumme (who was dealt at the deadline because of the surplus of d-men on the roster) got 44 games from a 20-year old Mathieu Schneider, 55-games fro a 20-year old Eric Desjardins, 68-games from a 21 year old Sylvain Lefebvre, 36-games from a 23-year old J.J. Daigneault and saw the 8-game debut of 21-year old Lyle Odelein and a ten game audition from 19-year old Patrice Brisebois.

This crop of young defenders was so promising not only was there no room for Larry Robinson, but veteran Rick Green was also dealt away that summer and the next off-season, the Canadiens traded away Chelios as well.

No question that Montreal could afford to lose him at that stage—with a Norris Trophy winner in Chelios and all that young talent on D ready to step up.

What’s surprising is that, according to them-GM Serge Savard, Robinson had been saying for the preceding three seasons that he wanted to retire (only to go out and sign a three-year contract in LA). Also, while he would’ve been crazy to match LA’s offer, he had offered Robinson a generous deal, out of respect for the guy, to play one more year with two years’ worth of salary. So it wasn’t as if there was any bad blood or anything.

 

[danincanada]

I didn't, but they seem to have been a pair:

Also, there is this quote:

Lidstrom was pimping his book on a couple podcasts recently and he said he made the team as the 7th guy but got inserted in the lineup due to Tommy Albelin getting injured. Sounded like he was a fairly regular partner for Salming in that tournament.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Hockeydraftcentral.com has a good summary of why/how Robinson left Montreal to sign with LA.
Larry Robinson career profile at HockeyDraftCentral.com

What's wild about this era of the Kings were the number of legends who were rumored to have either shown interest in joining the Kings or names the Kings pursued.

Barry Beck came out of retirement to play for the Kings (albeit he ended up retiring mid-season).
Frustrated by Lack of Playing Time, Kings' Beck Retires

Guy Lafleur expressed interest, but ended up signing with the Rangers.
Lafleur nearly joined Gretzky with Kings 30 years ago
Rangers Send Lafleur Back Home in Deal With Nordiques

And McNall also tried to persuade Mike Bossy to give it another go. Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy on the same line. Imagine that.
https://nypost.com/2019/09/28/islan...veals-he-almost-teamed-up-with-wayne-gretzky/

 

[The Panther]

And McNall also tried to persuade Mike Bossy to give it another go. Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy on the same line. Imagine that.
https://nypost.com/2019/09/28/islan...veals-he-almost-teamed-up-with-wayne-gretzky/

That would never have worked, as Gretzky wasn't good enough for Bossy.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

That would never have worked, as Gretzky wasn't good enough for Bossy.

I could picture Stan Fischler actually saying that. After all, in his mind, the Oilers never were a dynasty.

 

[vikash1987]

Hockeydraftcentral.com has a good summary of why/how Robinson left Montreal to sign with LA.
Larry Robinson career profile at HockeyDraftCentral.com

Interesting write-up, and an important reference to Robinson’s agent/business partner Don Cape, who was a key player in all this. From what I’ve read, Cape and Serge Savard really rubbed each other the wrong way, and Cape was pushing for a contract clause guaranteeing that Robinson’s #19 be retired (on top of the core issues, which were “higher value” and “longer term”).

It was no secret that Robinson was not happy whatsoever under Jean Perron as coach—and, as mentioned before, he was considering retirement multiple times before, prior to the summer of ‘89. However, by all accounts, he gelled nicely with Pat Burns as coach, and I guess had he been willing to accept a diminished role, maybe it could have worked out for him to finish his career in Montreal.