Andrei Kuzmenko Changes Number to Honor Father
The Penguins forward switched from No. 10 to No. 62 after his father died in a bear attack while fishing in Tuva on 24 September.
Ice Hockey team
Club · United States · NHL
«Kings»
Every Kings season runs through the Anaheim Ducks, the "Freeway Faceoff" that has nothing to do with silverware and everything to do with the fifty-odd miles of Southern California between them. The older grudge, the one with history behind it, belongs to the Edmonton Oilers, and it traces back to a single afternoon: August 9, 1988. Six years earlier, before Gretzky ever wore the crown, the Kings had already given Edmonton a reason to take them seriously.
The franchise itself started as an act of branding: Jack Kent Cooke, awarded an expansion team in the 1967 league growth, picked "Kings" for the royal association and sent the club out in purple and gold. It played its first stretch at the Long Beach Arena before settling into the Forum in Inglewood that December, home for the next 32 years. Campbell Bowl, was followed by bankruptcy proceedings in 1995 and a sale to Philip Anschutz. By 1999 the team had moved downtown, into what is now Crypto.com Arena, and traded purple for black and silver.
The Cup finally arrived in 2012, when the Kings beat the New Jersey Devils in six games with Jonathan Quick taking the Conn Smythe Trophy, and again in 2014 against the New York Rangers, this time with Justin Williams as playoff most valuable player. Dustin Brown, captain through the first of those titles, scored the goal that won it.
No one is tied to the franchise the way Anže Kopitar is. He arrived long after Gretzky had gone and stayed long enough to become the club's leader in points, assists and games played, then wore the captaincy from 2016 into 2026.
| 14 Oct | NHL |
|
1:4 | L |
| 11 Oct | NHL |
|
1:2 | L |
| 7 Oct | NHL |
|
1:2 | L |
| 4 Oct | NHL |
|
4:5 | L |
| 1 Oct | NHL |
|
4:8 | L |
| 26 Sep | NHL |
|
6:2 | W |
Group stage · Pacific Division
| # | Team | M | W | L | Goals | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |
|
6 | 5 | 1 | 29:18 | 0 |
| 3 |
|
7 | 5 | 2 | 29:19 | 0 |
| 3 |
|
4 | 3 | 1 | 13:11 | 0 |
| 5 |
|
6 | 3 | 3 | 16:23 | 0 |
| 7 |
|
5 | 0 | 5 | 11:21 | 0 |
| 7 |
|
4 | 1 | 3 | 8:12 | 0 |
| 8 |
|
6 | 1 | 5 | 12:29 | 0 |
| 8 |
|
4 | 1 | 3 | 9:20 | 0 |
| Metric | Total | Home | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matches | 533 | 265 | 268 |
| Scored | 1593 | 826 | 767 |
| Conceded | 1558 | 742 | 816 |
| Scored per game | 3.0 | 3.1 | 2.9 |
| Conceded per game | 2.9 | 2.8 | 3.0 |
| Difference | +35 | +84 | −49 |
The Penguins forward switched from No. 10 to No. 62 after his father died in a bear attack while fishing in Tuva on 24 September.
The ex-Kings coach led Los Angeles to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final and spent decades as an ESPN hockey analyst before retiring in 2023 with Parkinson's disease.
NHL Network ranked Artemi Panarin 39th and Ilya Sorokin 35th among the league's best current players ahead of the season opening on 29 September.