"A Blog From Tubby... No Thanks"

I have to laugh. My friend Scott Pearson posted a link to this blog over at Hockey's Future in the Kings forum, where I was recently asked to discontinue being a member. My fan base as TubbyTerrion was polarized to say the least. Granted, to say that I had a "fan base," as a member of a hockey bulletin board may be a bit ego-inflating and self-aggrandizing to begin with, but yes, there were people there who did enjoy what I had to say, and when I had to say it.

I created a couple of alter egos along the way (MisoSoupy and HawkeyeKnight) and eventually those two (too) were removed from the boards, and so I decided to use this space as a chance to express myself. Hence "I took my puck and went home."

I don't mind not having interaction with adolescents and misguided folks who accidentally found the internet as a vehicle for their own stupidity, but I do miss the camaraderie with a select few who I know actually understand the game of hockey, and the nuances of the teams that the Kings have iced for the past forty seasons.

The title of this entry was a quote from one of the people who responded to Scott's posting of the link. One of the subsequent reactions was from my friend Pat, who said "Careful - you might accidentally learn something" and I had to smile at that one too. I don't actually choose to be a "teacher," but I do enjoy letting people see what is perhaps a contrary opinion to a more popular one.

I have massive amounts of respect for a number of people who have endured within and around the Kings organ-eye-zation over the past few decades, and over the course of time I hope to have some interviews with them, as they too share their memories and experiences being involved with this flatulent juggernaut. I promise not to bait them into saying "no thanks" to my request.

February 15, 1977 (Rogie almost scores... Marc almost gets rhinoplasty)

I settled into the Forum, Section 12, Row L, Seat 5... and there were a few people who would occasionally accompany me to games. One was my friend Gary Cohen, who had been in NY, and the editor of a music trade paper called Cashbox, but was now in Los Angeles, and starting up a budding fruit juice company. Gary loved going to the games with me, and sat in Seat 4.

The Kings were playing the Islanders on Tuesday, February 15, 1977 and on this particular night, history was ALMOST made. At the time, no National Hockey League goaltender had ever been credited with a goal. The Kings were leading 1-0 with just a couple minutes left to play in the first period and on a delayed penalty against the Kings, the Isles flubbed a pass and sent the puck all the way down the ice into their own net. The goal stood, and seconds later, the Kings public address announcer said, "LOS ANGELES GOAL... by number 30, ROGIE VACHON!!!!" The crowd was going nuts... all 8,000 of us (of course, in true Kings fashion, they reported paid attendance of over 10,250.) So, typical me, I notice the strangest things... the linesman fished the puck out of the empty net, and brought it up to center ice, where, they dropped it for the ensuing face off as play continued.

Now at this point, with the crowd cheering wildly, I'm screaming to Gary, "They didn't take the puck out of play!!!" and I'm following that puck intensely as it careened around the ice. Seconds later a King and an Islander came together at the blueline and the puck flipped high into the air and into the crowd, where it landed firmly in the hand of my friend Gary, who literally had the back of his hand make contact with my prodigious schnozolla, and we stared at it in amazement. "WE HAVE THE PUCK, WE HAVE THE PUCK" and as the first period came to an end, we ran down to the entrance to the ice where the zamboni would come out. We were so excited, and figured we'd maybe get a chance to go to the locker room, have our picture taken with Rogie and the historic puck, and since there were no computers, no e-bay, no Barry Bonds home run balls, we just thought we'd get some credit, and maybe some press. Before the second period began, we were told that all we had was a puck that would be credited as a Vic Venasky goal, as he was actually the last King to touch the puck... not Rogie. They did give us each a Kings "game" puck, in exchange for Vic's goal, and our chance for participating in hockey history was thwarted. But, thank GOD for Gary's "quick glove hand," or the almost historic puck would have been covered in blood, and my nose would have been a sight for Tim Hunter's eyes :)

I actually found the box score from my first live NHL game!

...and I was correct about Red Berenson.

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=337

After playing most of the two previous seasons with the Canadiens, Red found himself back in the American League for much of the 64-65 season, and when he was recalled for the March 14, 1965 game vs. the Rangers, he scored his lone regular season goal of the season (and added his two assists as well.) So, I witnessed all three of Red Berenson's 1964-65 regular season points at my first NHL game.

Red became a Ranger a couple of seasons later, and went on to have a successful "post-expansion" career in the NHL with big seasons for St. Louis and Detroit during a lengthy career. Later, of course, Berenson became a hugely successful coach at the college level, and was the last amateur coach for current King, and former Michigan sniper, Michael Cammalleri.

Good afternoon and welcome

My name is Marc Nathan and I welcome you to "kingspin," a hockey blog that will occasionally strike a chord, or a nerve with long suffering fans of the Los Angeles Kings.

I was born and raised in New York City, and began watching hockey when there were but six teams in the league. I was a precocious child who ended up memorizing the rosters of all of those teams, and knew the difference between Wayne Rivers and Wayne Maxner. I listened to Baltimore Clippers games on my transister radio, and heard names like Jean Ratelle, Gilles Villemure and Gord Labossiere before they became names I would associate with the National Hockey League.

My first NHL games were at the old Madison Square Garden on 50th Street (of course it is currently on 7th Avenue between 31st and 33rd Streets.) Turns out that my very first NHL game was on March 14, 1965. My 10th birthday. I have memories of Red Sullivan coaching the Rangers, prior to Emile Francis taking the reigns, and of Gord "Red" Berenson playing in his first game of that season (64-65) after a recall to the Canadiens. Montreal won 6-4. I'm working on locating the box score. The next season, I saw the Bruins, and Pit Martin beat the Rangers. Trying to get more details on that game as well.

I saw a handful of NHL games from 1965 through the next ten years, and a few WHA games in 73-74 when NY had a team called the Golden Blades. Yes, they had gold blades on their skates and they migrated to New Jersey before the end of the season, becoming the Jersey Knights.

In April of 1975 I moved to San Francisco, and was promoted and transferred to Los Angeles in January of 1976. It was then that I truly caught the hockey bug the way it was intended.

I worked for a rather infamous record label called Casablanca (Kiss, Donna Summer,) but had spent the previous four years working for a label called Bearsville (Todd Rundgren, Foghat) which was distributed by Warner Brothers. I was friendly with a lot of the Warners people, and one day one of the bigwigs said, "Hey Marc, you like hockey, right?" and when I nodded affirmatively, he handed me the remaining Kings tickets for the 1975-76 season and I was now to spend the next seven years desperately trying to find three other people interested in attending games with me. I didn't take it personally. Hockey was not a popular sport in Los Angeles.

My geographic history to date is:

1955-1975: New York
1975-1976: San Francisco
1976-1983: Los Angeles
1983-1993: New York
1993-1995: Los Angeles
1995-2000: New York
2000-present: Los Angeles

I have essentially been in hockey seats the entire time. Sometimes as a season seat holder, sometimes as a frequent traveller. I haven't added it all up, but I have seen games in a minimum of 50 arenas, and in close to every province in Canada, as well as most of the United States.

This blog will drift back and forth between the past and the present, and will serve as an outlet for the things that I remember, and would like to perhaps forget ;)

Hockey is a kind of nirvana for me. I can't think of a place where I am more at peace. As soon as I am in my seat, staring at the great white sheet of ice, and anticipating a game that will not be like any other game I have seen previously, I am home. My standing joke is that I am not Canadian, but believe I was a goalpost at Maple Leaf Gardens in my last life. That building was perhaps my favorite, though I am loathe to admit, I never saw a game at the Montreal Forum. How is that possible? I've never seen a baseball game at Fenway Park. These things are incomprehensible to me. But, I have seen hundreds of games at the "fabulous" Forum and Staples Center, and I've been pretty audible and visible over the decades. Just ask Dave Hutchison and Glenn Goldup.

I hope you find a comfortable spot here, and I look forward to some memories, both past and future.

MN
3/3/08