Luuuuuc

I know a hockey blog isn't going to the be most popular, but bear with me. This one's on Luc Robitaille, whose jersey number is being retired at Staples Center tomorrow night.

Lucky spent 14 of his 19 seasons in the NHL as a Los Angeles King. Picked 171th in the ninth round of the draft, he was a long shot to make the squad but became a rookie of the year--like hockey's equivalent of Mike Piazza who was drafted by the Dodgers in the 62nd round. In today's books, he has scored the more goals (668) and points (1,394) than any other left-winger in NHL history. He's also the only King to have skated in purple and gold, silver and black, and black and purple.

Rookie of the Year

The Gretzky Era

Modern

It was nice when he came back to play at Staples--twice--but my fondest memories of Luc took place at the Fabulous Forum. He played scrappy and seemed personable (I wish I could find an audio file of his old Ice-O-Plex radio commercials....), and he dug deep when Coach Barry "The Mullet" Melrose challenged his heart during the Kings' run at the Stanley Cup in 1993. The squad came so close to winning it all, but couldn't figure out the Habs' Hall-of-Fame goaltender Patrick Roy when it counted.

The crafty goal scorer went on to win the Cup with the Wings during his time away from Los Angeles, but when he goes to the Hall of Fame it will be as a King.