2008–09 Los Angeles Kings season
| 2008–09 Los Angeles Kings | |
|---|---|
| Division | 5th Pacific |
| Conference | 14th Western |
| 2008–09 record | 34–37–11 |
| Home record | 18–15–8 |
| Road record | 16–22–3 |
| Goals for | 202 |
| Goals against | 226 |
| Team information | |
| General Manager | Dean Lombardi |
| Coach | Terry Murray |
| Captain | Dustin Brown |
| Alternate captains |
Matt Greene Anze Kopitar |
| Arena | Staples Center |
| Average attendance | 16,489 (91.0%) Total: 676,042 |
| Team leaders | |
| Goals | 32, Alexander Frolov |
| Assists | 39, Anze Kopitar |
| Points | 66, Anze Kopitar |
| Penalties in minutes | 145, Raitis Ivanans |
| Plus/minus | +2, Sean O'Donnell |
| Wins | 21, Jonathan Quick |
| Goals against average | 2.48, Jonathan Quick |
The 2008–09 Los Angeles Kings season was the 42nd season (41st season of play) for the National Hockey League franchise. The Kings showed improvement while fielding the youngest team in the league (in terms of average age per player), but came up short of breaking a playoff drought that stretches back to the 2001–02 season.
Despite a tough schedule that saw them play 17 of their final 24 games away from the Staples Center, the Kings managed to stay in the playoff hunt for much of the year. They played in 43 games decided by one goal, and their record in these games was 20–12–11.
Alexander Frolov led the team in goals with 32, his fifth-consecutive season with at least 20 or more goals. The last King to post five consecutive season with over 20 goals was Luc Robitaille in the 1993–94 season. Moreover, defenseman Sean O'Donnell reached a milestone by playing in his 1,000th career NHL game on March 14.
On June 10, the Kings fired Head Coach Marc Crawford after failing to make the post-season in back-to-back seasons. Crawford posted a 59–84–21 record during his tenure. He was replaced on July 17 by Terry Murray, who takes over his fourth NHL team. Murray had previously coached the Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers and Philadelphia Flyers, where he led the latter to the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals. Entering the season, Murray's career record is 360–288–89.
The Kings made great strides in the 2008–09 season. They went from 30th in the NHL a year prior in penalty killing to seventh-best in the league, with an 82.9% rating. They had the League's fourth-best faceoff win percentage and allowed the fourth-fewest shots on goal. Five players played in all 82 regular games: Anze Kopitar, Michal Handzus, Matt Greene, Sean O'Donnell and rookie Wayne Simmonds. Several surprises also emerged during the season.
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