Hockey - Robitaille’s Number Retired By LA Kings

Luc Robitaille is the fifth to have his number retired by the Los Angeles Kings. In a ceremony after a game with Phoenix Coyotes, Robitaille’s no. 20 jersey was raised to the rafters.

This honor was given to Robitaille a year and a day after he set franchise record for goals with a hat trick against the Atlanta Thrashers. Robitaille has had three stints covering 14 seasons playing for the Kings. Robitaille is an eight time All Star and has scored 557 goals with the Kings which is seven more than Marcel Dionne.

In 1987, Robitaille was the Rookie of the Year and he retired after his 19th season as NHL’s leading left wing career scorer. He had a total of 1,154 points from 1,077 regular season games. He is still considered to be an important part of the Kings, having being named as the alternate governor for the club.

The other 10 players who wore the no. 20 jersey for the Kings were Bob Pulford, Ray Ferraro, Mark Hardy, Brad Selwood, Gordon Labossiere, Ron Anderson, Scott Garland, Don Howse, Larry Playfair and Steve Larouche. Together they scored 174 goals which are 383 goals less than what Robitaille scored by himself.

The ceremony to retire Robitaille’s no. 20 jersey was one hour long and had video tributes from Mark Messier and Kobe Bryant. Robitaille was presented with a truck, two snowmobiles and a painting of himself with the other four retired numbers in the background.

The other players who had their numbers retired were Rogie Vachon, Marcel Dionne, Dave Taylor and Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky. Vachon jersery number was 30, Dionne’s 16, Taylor’s 18 and Gretzky’s 99.