The Quest of Luc Robitaille

1987

Luc was thinking how cool these NHL award shows were. This was his first time ever attending one of these and he had just won the Calder trophy for Rookie of the Year! With his shiny new trophy on his lap, he looked around his seat and saw the who’s who of the NHL around him.  There was his idol Wayne Gretzky along with his actress girlfriend. He would go on to win his 8th straight Hart Trophy for league MVP.

He laughed to himself about how he wanted to play with the “Great One” in Edmonton but that never came close to happening.  The closest was playing against him in the first round of this years playoffs.  The Oilers were on a mission to reclaim the Stanley Cup and the Kings were their first victims.  Still he was very proud at how his team played against the now 3 time Stanley Cup champions.  With the help of some fellow younger players much like himself such as Bernie Nicholls, Jimmy Carson and Steve Duchesne, and with the veteran leadership of Dave Taylor, the Kings gave the Oilers all they could and wanted to prove they were not anyone’s stepping stone.  They lost the series in 5 games but the games were close (well minus the 13-3 thrashing the Kings took in game 2) but they hung on and counter attacked and more importantly they never gave in.  That was his proudest moment in his NHL career thus far, even over winning this Calder trophy.  He just wished Marcel Dionne was still on the team with them.

When he arrived to Los Angeles before the 1986-87 season started, he was welcomed with open arms from legendary Dionne and his family.  Dionne even allowed him to stay at his house while he adapted to life in Southern California and worked on his English. Dionne became a mentor to him and heavily stressed every day that he had to work hard for every game, even when some games seemed lost because the current Los Angeles King’s team wasn’t very good.

On many nights they would stay up late at night and just talk hockey.  Dionne would always mention that his biggest wish that hadn’t come true yet for him was to win the Stanley Cup and to do it with the Kings.  The Kings and the city of LA had taken great care of him and his family. Sure the organization was a mess at the best of times and the sport of hockey hadn’t fully caught on with the Californians either, well at least not at the level everyone was hoping for when they decided to expand there. Dionne explained that there were good people working here that care deeply about the team.  Whether it is someone from head office, or a player or a fan, they were Kings at heart and deserved to see the Los Angeles Kings finally win the Stanley Cup. It had become his quest.

Sadly Dionne was traded to the New York Rangers at the deadline and they did not get to play together for the playoff series against the Oilers but he knew Dionne had been watching from a far and felt some pride in their courage, strength and in their never quit attitude. What bothered Luc even more was that Marcel’s long and painful quest of trying to win Cup with Los Angeles had come to an unhappy ending.

Looking down at this Calder trophy, Luc was anxious for the new season to arrive.  The current Kings team was a mix of youth and veteran leadership.  They were talented and had so much potential. He knew they were only going to get better and better and in time, they could make a serious play for the Stanley Cup.  The team was still lacking something or someone though.  Who could be that missing piece of the puzzle that could help elevate the Kings to another level and help overcome the formidable division rival Edmonton Oilers? That was anyone’s guess really but the one thing he did know was that he wanted to return to the playoffs as soon as possible and get another crack at winning the Stanley Cup… for him… for Marcel… for Los Angeles. Like a torch lit to the heavens and passed on to him.  This was now his quest.