Interview With LA Kings Legend Bernie Nicholls

Even though I was born, raised, and live in Canada, I became a die hard Los Angeles Kings fan when I was 9 years-old back in 1987.  Why did I choose the Kings of all teams to be my favorite team instead of a franchise closer to me like the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings etc.? Well it was because of a playoff series during the first round of the 1987 Stanley Cup playoffs between the Wayne Gretzky led Edmonton Oilers against the underdog Los Angeles Kings.  The Kings ended up losing that series in 5 games while the Oilers went on to win their third Cup in 4 seasons but what made a lasting impression on the 9 year-old me was how this Kings team didn’t give up or ever back down to the mighty Oilers.  The Kings had won the first game 5-2 and that originally got my attention but the Oilers came back in game 2 and won 13-3 and I remember thinking that all was right again in the world.  Then the Kings lost the next 3 games but all 3 games were back and forth, tough and hard fought one goal games.  Sure the Kings lost but they didn’t make it easy.  They fought tooth and nail with everything they had, right to the very last second and never gave up an easy inch to the Oilers.  That blew away my young mind like an atomic explosion.  Weeks after the Kings had been eliminated, I was still annoying everyone in school and at home by talking non-stop about the Kings and what I called their impressive “Young Gun” players like Luc Robitaille, Jimmy Carson, Steve Duchesne and of course, Bernie Nicholls.

One kid from school (that I have forgotten what his name was over the years) had enough of my “Kings talk” and told me, “Will you shut-up already about the Kings!” before asking, “Like what are you, a Kings’ fan or something?”  I thought about it for a second and ended up facing a surprising revelation.  Like trying on a new shirt that not only fits right but was very comfortable and made me look damn good, being a Los Angeles Kings’ fan and everything about it, felt absolutely right to me.  I looked at this kid in the eye and gave him the only answer that would be the most perfect response to his question, “Go Kings Go!!!”

Along with veteran leaders Dave Taylor and Jim Fox (and Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey), the “Young Guns” of the Kings became my first hockey heroes and idols.  The eldest of them was a highly talented scoring center (and sometimes Right Winger), Bernie Nicholls.  From the small town of Haliburton, Ontario, Canada, Nicholls became a scoring phenom for the Los Angeles Kings, (and later for his other teams as well) scoring 475 career goals, along with 734 assists and 1, 209 points in his 17 season NHL career, plus 42 goals, 72 assists and 114 career playoff points. He still holds the Kings’ record (among others) for the most goals in a single season with 70 from the 1988-89 season. Nicholls’ career and impact with the Kings was more than large enough that I strongly feel he should be honored by having his number 9 retired by the Kings and hung up in the Staples Center rafters with the likes of the other LA Kings’ legends Rogie Vachon, Marcel Dionne, Taylor, Gretzky, Robitaille and Rob Blake.

In another dream come true experience for me, I was fortunate enough and honored to get an opportunity to talk to (via phone) and interview the great Los Angeles Kings legend Bernie Nicholls himself, here for CaliSports News.