The Original Los Angeles Kings Jersey That Was Never Worn

In the fall of 1967, the Los Angeles Kings took the ice for the first time. They were an expansion team as part of the National Hockey League’s great doubling in size that season. As most of us know, the Kings wore “Forum Blue” (purple) and gold sweaters with a single stripe around the waist and a simple crown crest on the chest that year.

But there was at least one other design the Kings had in mind…

As they prepared for their inaugural NHL season, a slightly different sweater design was considered for the team. Featuring those same colours of purple and gold, this prototype jersey included a prominent “Los Angeles Kings” wordmark across the chest in gold italic lettering with white trim. This was topped with a white crown trimmed in gold. A thick gold stripe was around the waist and each arm, accompanied by two much smaller white stripes. A shoulder patch featuring an “LA” within a white crown was worn on each sleeve.

I know what you’re thinking—”KINGS” in italics across the chest—it sounds familiar. Just fast-forward twenty years, stick that wordmark inside a Chevrolet-shaped shield, change the colours to black and silver, and slap it on the front of “The Great One,” and you might really be onto something.

This prototype sweater was lost to history for almost 50 years before resurfacing in a now-deleted auction listing at frozenpond.com in Spring 2014. The auction was part of a series showcasing items from the personal collection of former Kings trainer Danny Wood.

The listing itself tells us all we know about the sweater. It was made of durable durene fabric, a material commonly used in sports uniforms of that era, and included a white lace-up collar. A Rawlings tag inside the collar indicated it was a size 46.

“You are bidding on a very rarely seen vintage Los Angeles Kings jersey,” read the Frozen Pond listing. “The origin of this jersey is unclear, but Danny Wood thinks it may have been a sample logo provided to the team by Rawlings.”

On April 3, 2014, the sweater, initially listed for $100, sold for $1,491 (nearly $2000 in 2024).

***Former Los Angeles Kings trainer Danny Wood (midlandminorhockey.ca)***

Wood’s career as a trainer began with the 1963-64 Kitchener Rangers of the OHA. His journey took him through various minor leagues and teams, including the Johnstown Jets, Memphis Wings, and Pittsburgh Hornets, before being recruited by the Los Angeles Kings for their first NHL season in 1967-68. Wood eventually returned to his hometown of Midland, Ontario, in the spring of 1976, where he opened Olympia Sports, a sporting goods store. He ran the shop for nearly 40 years until his passing one year following the sale of this sweater in the summer of 2015. In his honour, the Midland Minor Hockey Association holds the Danny Wood Memorial Tournament each year.

Los Angeles Kings logo history: 1967-2024

While this design never saw the ice (and let’s be honest, that’s probably a good thing), the Los Angeles Kings did wear a purple and gold colour scheme for their first twenty-one seasons, from 1967-68 until 1987-88, when they changed to black and silver. After a decade in black, the team reintroduced purple as a secondary colour in 1998. Purple was scrapped again in 2011 but returned (along with gold) for the club’s Reverse Retro jersey during the 2020-21 season, which combined the team’s 1967 and 1988 uniform styles. The original crown made a re-appearance on their next Reverse Retro design in 2022-23.

LINK: Los Angeles Kings all-time logo and uniform history