Los Angeles Kings Trivia
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49 free Los Angeles Kings trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The Los Angeles Kings were born when Jack Kent Cooke got fed up with 'balderdash' and built his own arena, and for two decades they were a regular-season curiosity in purple and gold. This Kings trivia quiz covers the whole story: the Long Beach opener, Rogie Vachon, Marcel Dionne and the Triple Crown Line, the Miracle on Manchester, Bruce McNall's coin fortune, the Gretzky trade that changed the Sun Belt, Marty McSorley's illegal stick in the 1993 Final, the bankruptcy and the Burger King jersey. It then follows the rebuild through Brown, Kopitar, Quick and Doughty, Darryl Sutter's arrival, the 2012 run from eighth seed past the top three seeds, three road Game 7 wins in 2014, Alec Martinez's double-overtime clincher, the Vegas sweep, four straight first-round losses to Edmonton and Anze Kopitar's farewell. There are questions on Bailey the lion, Bob Miller, the arena and Luc Robitaille's ninth-round beginnings too, from easy to expert. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedic and reference sources before publishing, and each question carries a citation. For more, try our NHL trivia and hockey trivia pages.
30 of 49 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which Canadian entrepreneur paid the NHL $2 million to found the Los Angeles Kings as a 1967 expansion team?
Jack Kent Cooke
Jack Kent Cooke also owned the Lakers; after feuding with the city's Coliseum Commission he told an aide he'd had "enough of this balderdash" and built his own arena, the Forum.
Q 02Why did the Kings' first owner choose purple and gold as the team's original colours?
They were associated with royalty
They were associated with royalty, to suit the name Kings, and the owner dressed his other team, the Lakers, in the same purple and gold.
Q 03Where did the Kings play their first game in October 1967 while the Forum was still unfinished?
Long Beach Arena
Long Beach Arena hosted a 4-2 win over fellow newcomers Philadelphia; when the Forum finally opened that December 30, the same Flyers spoiled the night with a 2-0 shutout.
Q 04Which goaltender's 1971 arrival from Montreal turned the Kings into a contender?
Rogie Vachon
Rogie Vachon had lost Montreal's net to rookie Ken Dryden during the 1971 Cup run; traded west that November, he later became the first King to have his number retired.
Q 05Which two wingers flanked Marcel Dionne on the 'Triple Crown Line'?
Charlie Simmer and Dave Taylor
Charlie Simmer and Dave Taylor were little known until their coach juggled his lines in 1978-79; Simmer, a career minor-leaguer, then scored 56 goals in each of the next two seasons.
Q 06Which owner bought the Kings, the Lakers and the Forum for $67.5 million in 1979?
Jerry Buss
Jerry Buss got his chance because the seller needed cash for a then-record divorce settlement of about $41 million, ordered by Judge Joseph Wapner, later of TV's The People's Court.
Q 07Which rookie, later a Kings radio analyst, scored the overtime goal that completed 1982's 'Miracle on Manchester' comeback?
Daryl Evans
Daryl Evans scored 2:35 into overtime to beat Edmonton 6-5; the Kings had trailed 5-0 after two periods, and Steve Bozek tied it with five seconds left.
Q 08Which coach was suspended in 1986-87 for signing with Vancouver while still under Kings contract?
Pat Quinn
Pat Quinn argued the Kings had missed a deadline in his contract, but NHL president John Ziegler removed him in January 1987 and barred him from coaching Vancouver until 1990-91.
Q 09Bruce McNall, who bought the Kings in 1987, made his fortune in what?
Coin collecting
He defaulted on a Bank of America loan and the club went bankrupt in 1995.
Q 10When the Kings dropped purple and gold in 1988, they adopted the colours of which other Los Angeles team?
Raiders
Raiders silver and black replaced the purple and gold just as Wayne Gretzky arrived: he modelled the new sweater at the August 1988 press conference announcing his trade.
Q 11Through 2026, the Kings' only division title came in 1990-91, in which old division?
Smythe
Smythe Division champions with 102 points, the Kings then lost in round two to a third-place team that finished 22 points behind them, four of the six games going to overtime.
Q 12Which coach, hired from the AHL's Adirondack Red Wings, took the Kings to the 1993 Final?
Barry Melrose
Barry Melrose got there in his first season as an NHL head coach, even though Wayne Gretzky missed 39 games with a herniated disc in his back.
Q 13Which Kings defenseman's illegal stick curve in Game 2 of the 1993 Final turned the series?
Marty McSorley
Marty McSorley was penalised with 1:45 left and the Kings leading 2-1; Éric Desjardins tied it on the power play, won it 51 seconds into overtime, and Montreal took the next three games.
Q 21Whose overtime goal in Game 5 against Phoenix sent the 2012 Kings to their first Final since 1993?
Dustin Penner
Dustin Penner had been a punchline since January, when his back seized up as he leaned over his wife's "delicious pancakes"; in Phoenix he scored 17:42 into overtime.
Q 22Whom did the Kings beat in six games to win the 2012 Stanley Cup?
New Jersey Devils
New Jersey Devils trailed the series 3-0, won twice, then lost Game 6 6-1 after Steve Bernier's boarding major gave the Kings a five-minute power play and three goals.
Q 23The 2012 Kings were the first Stanley Cup champions to enter the playoffs as what?
An eighth seed
Q 14Whose goals record did Gretzky break as a King with his 802nd goal in March 1994?
Gordie Howe
Gordie Howe was Gretzky's idol and the reason for his 99: Howe's No. 9 was already taken on his junior team, so his coach suggested doubling it.
Q 15To which team did the Kings trade Wayne Gretzky in February 1996?
St. Louis Blues
St. Louis Blues kept Gretzky for only 31 games, playoffs included; that summer he signed with the Rangers, where he played his last three seasons.
Q 16Fans nicknamed the Kings' unpopular 1995-96 alternate sweater after which fast-food chain?
Burger King
Burger King was the fans' name for the crest's bearded, crowned face; the sweater proved unpopular from the start and was scrapped after one season.
Q 17What helped push the Kings to a purple-based scheme in 1998?
Their old colours had become associated with gangs
Their old colours had become associated with gangs, and some schools had banned students from wearing them; the club spent 20 months on the redesign, testing it on focus groups.
Q 18Which two players from the 2001 Rob Blake trade with Colorado became key Kings?
Adam Deadmarsh and Aaron Miller
Adam Deadmarsh and Aaron Miller arrived that February; two months later Deadmarsh's overtime goal in Game 6 knocked out heavily favoured Detroit, the Kings' first series win since 1993.
Q 19Which defenseman did the Kings draft second overall in 2008, one pick after Steven Stamkos?
Drew Doughty
Drew Doughty grew up a Kings fan with kid-sized Wayne Gretzky and Kelly Hrudey jerseys in his bedroom, and buried his face in his hands when he saw the Kings' GM chatting with a rival just before the pick.
Q 20Which coach replaced Terry Murray in December 2011 and won two Cups in three years?
Darryl Sutter
Darryl Sutter was hired by general manager Dean Lombardi for the second time: Lombardi had brought him to San Jose in 1997 and fired him there in 2002.
An eighth seed had never won the Cup: the Kings beat the West's top three seeds in order and won ten straight road games on the way to the title.
Q 24Which opposing player's hit on Jarret Stoll got him suspended for the rest of the Kings' 2013 second-round series?
Raffi Torres
Raffi Torres, already a repeat offender, was banned for the rest of the round for his Game 1 hit to the head; the Kings won in seven, the home team taking every game.
Q 25In 2014 the Kings won a playoff series after losing the first three games, against which rival?
San Jose Sharks
San Jose Sharks won the first three games by a combined 17-8, then lost four straight; before the Kings, only the 1942 Maple Leafs, 1975 Islanders and 2010 Flyers had done it in the NHL.
Q 26Whose overtime goals won both Game 7 of the 2014 conference finals and Game 5 of the Final?
Alec Martinez
Alec Martinez ended the conference final in Chicago 5:47 into overtime, then won the Cup at home in double overtime by burying a rebound on a three-on-two rush.
Q 27Which King, nicknamed 'Mr. Game 7', won the 2014 Conn Smythe Trophy?
Justin Williams
Justin Williams had points in all three Game 7s the Kings won on the road that spring; he retired with a record 15 points in Game 7s, his teams winning eight of nine.
Q 28Whom did the Kings beat in five games in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final?
New York Rangers
New York Rangers led by two goals in each of the first two games in Los Angeles and lost both in overtime; three of the Kings' four wins in the series needed extra time.
Q 29The 2014-15 Kings were the first defending Stanley Cup champions to miss the playoffs since which team eight years earlier?
Carolina Hurricanes
Carolina Hurricanes had been the last, in 2006-07; the Kings fell two points short when a loss in Calgary in their second-last game clinched a playoff spot for the Flames instead.
Q 30Who succeeded Dustin Brown as Kings captain in June 2016?
Anze Kopitar
Anze Kopitar, the first Slovenian to play in the NHL, wore the C for ten seasons until he retired in 2026; Brown lost the captaincy but stayed with the Kings for six more years.