This Day in Hockey History – December 30, 1967 – Forum Fit For Kings

In 1967, the NHL doubled in size from six to twelve franchises. With the new teams came new arenas. The Los Angeles franchise was granted to Jack Kent Cooke “on the promise he would build his own arena” after he was denied a 10-year lease at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena on the Coliseum grounds. Cooke promised, “I will build my own place. It will be the finest in the world.” In only 23 months (with 15 months between breaking ground and opening), the Forum opened in Inglewood, California on December 30, 1967.

The goal was to open the Forum by the end of the year, and in the meantime, the new Los Angeles Kings played their home games at the Long Beach Arena. According to Paul Zimmerman’s piece in the Los Angeles Times, to stay on target, “Cooke directed a costly, crash construction program.” For the same paper, Chuck Garrity wrote that it took $16 million and only “15 months of nursing The Forum from nothingness to the gleaming white monument it is today.” The architect, Charles Luckman, had already designed LAX and its Theme Building as well as the Johnson Space Center in Houston. He used classical motifs (of New Formalism) to design a structure that looked more like the Coliseum but that he claimed was inspired by the Roman Forum. The best feature was the tension ring suspended roof which bypassed internal support columns giving “unparalleled views of the action” from no more than 170 feet. Garrity referred to the Forum as “sports’ answer to the Taj Mahal,” writing that it was “every bit as beautiful, as functional and as magnificent as Cooke had claimed.” At the opening, NHL President Clarence Campbell commented, “It’s just beautiful. This is definitely a classic place to present hockey. . . . This will be a showplace of America. . . . There’s not likely to be any place quite like this. They went first class all the way in everything they did.”

For the opening, about 14,366 (an LA record) came for the festivities and received First Night certificates. Those outside the Los Angeles area could watch the game on TV, as it was the first broadcast nationally (in color) that season. The pre-game festivities began at 11:30 with Lorne Greene (star of Bonanza) as emcee and “civic and business leaders joining members of the social set and movie and television stars.” The crowd applauded Cooke and his wife Jean when they were introduced. He told the crowd, “This is the happiest day of my life,” and she cut the ribbon. Broadway star Harve Presnell sang the anthem “with such verve that he sent a shiver down many a spine.”

The game began after its scheduled 1 pm and ended about 4 pm. In addition to being the first game the Kings played at the Forum, they played for first place in the Western Division. They were tied at 35 points with their opponents, the also-new Philadelphia Flyers. The game pitted the west’s best offense (in the Kings) against the best defense (in the Flyers). Although the Kings had won their first game (4-2) against the Flyers, Philadelphia won the next two matchups (7-2 and 3-0). At the brand new Forum, a new trend was set in using a fire truck flasher to indicate goals. The fire horn would also have been used in the case of a Kings’ goal, but that afternoon, they could not score. Flyers goalie Doug Favell stopped 25 shots to earn a 2-0 shutout. “Oh, it was a big win for me. Last week I was going home because I didn’t feel I was playing enough,” Favell commented. “I had about four really tough saves. And one that was just lucky. But the rest of the time, it wasn’t really a hard game. I didn’t have anything to do in the third period, our defense played so well.” The lucky save was off of Favell’s stick, which was behind the goal line, but was not allowed as a goal. With the loss, the Kings dropped into second in the standings. Cooke confided, “This is one of the most disappointing days of my life.” He said that winning would have made the opening perfect, “But you never reach perfection in this life.” As soon as this game ended, both teams were on their way back to Philadelphia for a rematch the very next night. The Flyers crushed the Kings 9-1.

Although the loss marred the Forum’s opening celebration, it was just the fourth of five arena openings played by the Flyers. The Flyers’ first game was the opening of the Oakland Seals on October 11. Then, the Flyers lost to the Kings at the home opener at the temporary Long Beach Arena on October 14. On October 19, the Flyers opened their own Spectrum with a shutout against the Pittsburgh Penguins. After opening the Forum with another shutout, the Flyers opened the new Madison Square Gardens with the New York Rangers on February 18, 1968.

As for the Forum, on December 31, Cooke’s pro basketball team, the Los Angeles Lakers, held their opening game. Between the Kings and the Lakers, Cooke had 78 dates booked at the Forum for the season, and had already reserved over 100 other entertainment attractions for the coming year. He sold all three (the Forum, the Kings, and the Lakers) in 1979 for $67.5 million, and the arena was sold again in 1988 to become the Great Western Forum. The Kings and the Lakers remained in the Forum until 1999, when they moved into the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. The Forum still hosted events and underwent a major renovation in 2014 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

 Additional Sources:

• Stephen Laroche, Changing the Game: A History of NHL Expansion (Toronto: ECW Press, 2014).
• https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/LAK/1968_games.html
• https://www.nhl.com/kings/news/los-angeles-kings-in-the-fabulous-forum/c-281729232
• Chuck Garrity, “Kings Move Into New Forum, Play Flyers for Lead,” Los Angeles Times, 30 Dec. 1967, part 2, p. 1 and 5.
• Chuck Garrity, “Kings’ Defeat Puts Stain on ‘Happiest Day’ of Cooke’s Life,” Los Angeles Times, 31 Dec. 1967, p. 1D and 7D.
• Chuck Garrity, “Favell Shuts Out Kings Again, 2-0,” Los Angeles Times, 31 Dec. 1967, p. 7D.
• Paul Zimmerman, “House Jack Built Opens on Time,” Los Angeles Times, 31 Dec. 1967, p. 2D.