Even though the Los Angeles Kings joined the NHL in 1967, no one really thought too much about the team from Tinseltown until the summer of 1988, when the Kings pulled off the biggest and most shocking trade in hockey history, bringing Wayne Gretzky, without a doubt the best player of all time, from the frozen prairies of northern Alberta to the sunny beaches of southern California. Trading top players in their prime was not really done in those days and Gretzky’s move was met by outrage not just by Edmonton Oilers fans (many of whom were beside themselves just three months after watching #99 lift the franchise’s fourth Stanley Cup), but also hockey lovers all across Canada, who considered Gretzky a sort of son of the nation and were loath to see him cross the border to play in the United States. If there are gods of hockey, they seem to have a sense of humor, because the Kings and Oilers met in the playoffs at the end of the very next season, with the Kings led by Gretzky adding a dose of salt to Oilers fans’ wounds with a tight Game Seven victory. The Oilers got the last laugh, however, the year after, when they swept the Kings en route to winning the 1990 Stanley Cup. Gretzky and the Kings then lost to the Oilers two years in a row, but in 1993 got their own shot at everlasting glory by beating the Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks, and Toronto Maple Leafs (in a memorable seven-game thriller) to reach the franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup Finals. The Montreal Canadiens were in no mood for a Hollywood ending, though, defeating the Kings in three straight overtime games before sealing the deal in Game Five with a 4-1 win. It was to be Gretzky’s last chance at Lord Stanley’s Cup; he retired in 1999 as a New York Rangers player with the four Cups he had won in Edmonton to his name. Following Gretzky’s departure in 1996, the team soon began to struggle, making the playoffs just four times in thirteen seasons. Strengthened by some clever acquisitions and draft picks, the Kings returned to the postseason in 2010 and 2011, where they were knocked out in the opening round but showed that their team was clearly building up to something. It all paid off at last in 2012, when the Kings not only reached their second Stanley Cup Finals but beat the New Jersey Devils in six games to bring the Cup back to L.A. for the very first time. The Kings tried for a repeat in 2013 but fell one hurdle short in a loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in the Conference Finals. They were back at it in 2014, winning three seven-game series in a row against state rivals the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks as well as in a revenge matchup with the Blackhawks before dispatching the Rangers to win their second Stanley Cup in two years. The years since have seen the Kings slide back into the doldrums, missing the playoffs or getting bounced in the First Round when they do (twice by their old nemesis the Oilers in 2022 and 2023), but fans in Los Angeles will be hopeful, knowing that fortunes on the ice can change when you least expect them to.