The LA Kings are currently battling the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the fourth time in a row.
After winning both games at home, the Oilers were able to tie the series up on their home ice in Edmonton. As of this writing, Game 5 is currently tied as each team claws to take the series lead.
One thing that the LA Kings do not have to fight for is supremacy as the original and longest tenured professional team in the great City of Los Angeles.
When you think about the amazing sports town that LA is, and the history that it exudes, the Kings are probably not the first team that you think of. And that is not because the Kings don’t have an illustrious history or a culture of winning, but more so due to the Dodgers and Lakers playing within the same city limits.
The LA Kings Are The OGs Of Los Angeles
The LA Kings have a new slogan that they play during warmups at Crypto.com Arena to get the home crowd going.
“Your LA Kings were the first pro team born in LA, raised in LA, that never left LA.”
A great slogan for the @LAKings as they pump up the crowd pregame: "Your L.A. Kings were the first pro team born in L.A., raised in L.A., that never left L.A."
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) April 30, 2025
– Dodgers born in Brooklyn.
– Lakers born in Minneapolis.
– Clippers born in Buffalo.
– Rams born in Cleveland.
It is crazy to think how true this statement is.
The Dodgers were founded in Brooklyn, New York, before moving to Los Angeles in 1958.
The Lakers franchise actually began as the Detroit Gems in the National Basketball League in 1946. They would move to Minneapolis in 1947 and join the NBA in 1949, and then move to Los Angeles in 1960.
The Rams were founded in Cleveland in 1936, moved to Los Angeles in 1946, then to St. Louis in 1994, and then back to LA in 2016.
The Clippers were founded in Buffalo in 1970, moved to San Diego in 1978, and then moved to LA in 1984.
The Chargers were actually founded in Los Angeles in 1960, but only stayed for one season before moving to San Diego until their infamous return in 2017.
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For anyone who wants to mention the LA Galaxy, the Sparks, LAFC, or Angel City, they were all founded after the Kings.
The Kings became an NHL expansion team all the way back in 1967. Their founder, Canadian Jack Kent Cooke, paid the NHL $2 million to create the team in Los Angeles.
After a fan vote, he decided on the moniker “Kings” because he wanted his team to take on “an air of royalty” and chose the colors purple (later known as “Forum Blue”) and gold.
Cooke wanted the Kings to play at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, but the arena already had a contract with the WHL’s Los Angeles Blades, so Cooke decided to build his own arena, The Forum. Yes, the Fabulous Forum was actually constructed by the LA Kings’ original owner.
The arena would not be ready for the Kings’ inaugural season, so the team played its first year at the Long Beach Arena, just down the 110 Freeway.
The rest is, as they say, history.
So next time you are at Rocco’s, the 9-0, Short Stop, or whatever your favorite sports bar is, make sure to remind everyone that the LA Kings are the OGs of Los Angeles.