48 Days to Go: Wait, That’s Really the Franchise Record for Wins?

What made last season memorable? Was it Jonathan Quick setting new marks for Los Angeles Kings goaltenders, multiple times? How about the debut of 3-on-3 overtime, and more specifically, the discovery that the Kings were really good at it? Or perhaps it was Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar breaking LA’s long streak of not winning individual awards?

How about the fact that it was, technically, the most victorious regular season LA has ever had?

Maybe we’re spoiled by all this playoff success, or maybe it’s because LA was in the middle of a slump, but there was little fanfare when the Kings won in overtime in Calgary on April 5. Despite the relative lack of celebration, that got them their 47th win, and one win in their final two got them to 48 victories, a mark that will stand... not that long, hopefully. It’s an underwhelming total, but the Kings have actually only won more than half of their games nine times in their history. Here’s a list:

If the shootout was around in 1974-75, the Kings of that year could have put that franchise record way out in the distance. But no! If LA puts it all together, 48 is a beatable number. At the very least, beating that record could get them an elusive Pacific Division title. 49 wins would have done it last year!

Tomorrow: We insert a dash to make the number 47 a lot more special.