Loving Retired Farm Life, Rogie Vachon Reminisces About Being L.a.'s First Hockey Star

The eighth successful an occasional series of profiles connected Southern California athletes who person flourished successful their post-playing careers.

The black-and-white photo is arsenic dated arsenic it is iconic.

It shows Rogie Vachon, near manus tucked into a pouch of his bell-bottom jeans and a cigar wedged betwixt 2 fingers of his correct hand, which rests connected nan hood of a caller Mercedes successful an quiet parking batch extracurricular nan Forum. His unfastened V-neck garment has immense lapels, his hairsbreadth hangs down to his shoulders and a bushy mustache creases his smiling face, leaving Vachon looking much for illustration nan bassist for Spinal Tap than an NHL goaltender.

And that was nan point.

Hockey was a bruising, inelegant athletics played successful nan stiff tundra of Canada and nan precocious Midwest erstwhile Vachon was traded from nan Montreal Canadiens to nan Kings successful nan wintertime of 1971. The NHL had expanded to California 4 seasons earlier, yet moreover taken together nan Kings and California Seals weren’t drafting capable fans to merit nan connection “crowd.”

“We were nan punchline of a bad joke for a batch of years,” said Mike Murphy, who played pinch Vachon connected those early Kings teams.

Rogie Vachon was nan first subordinate to person his jersey number retired by nan Kings pursuing his retirement.

(Bruce Bennett Studios / Getty Images)

Hockey was wilting successful nan sun. If nan athletics was going to past successful nan godforsaken it needed stars, it needed personalities and it needed a taste makeover — particularly successful Los Angeles, wherever nan box-office tie was everything.

That’s wherever Vachon, a small-town workplace boy from French-speaking Quebec, came in.

“It was really a civilization shock,” he said. “In Montreal we won 3 [Stanley] Cups successful 4 years. And past I travel to L.A.; it’s sunny each clip we spell to believe aliases nan game. Not a full batch of group successful nan stands. Our squad was beautiful lousy too.

“So yea it was a hellhole of a civilization shock.”

Which brings up backmost to that 1975 photo, pinch nan long-haired Vachon and his ferret-sized mustache looking fabulous successful beforehand of nan Forum.

The cleanable shave and blimpish haircut he had been forced to deterioration successful Montreal were gone and Vachon was each Hollywood cool, arsenic if Central Casting had created a West Coast lucky subordinate — 1 pinch an unforgettable French-Canadian sanction afloat of soft vowels and voiced fricatives — and dressed him successful a purple-and-gold No. 30 jersey.

And it worked.

“I deliberation nan fans really adopted maine erstwhile I sewage there, astir apt because of my style,” said Vachon, who stretched retired to 5-foot-8 if he stood connected his tippy toes, but had a bosom bigger than his body. “I was beautiful quick. Small, but you cognize nan style I was playing was very aggressive.

“Then we started winning games.”

The NHL would ne'er beryllium nan same.

By nan extremity of his 3rd afloat play successful L.A., Vachon had go Southern California’s first lucky prima and nan look of a franchise that severely needed one. He was not conscionable a crowd favorite, NHL All-Star and nan team’s first Vezina Trophy finalist, but he started nan Kings connected a streak that would spot them suffice for nan playoffs 9 consecutive times, still a franchise record.

Not moreover Wayne Gretzky could lucifer that.

“He was very popular,” said Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Miller, who began calling Kings games successful Vachon’s 2nd play successful L.A. “He was very approachable. He was truthful move and friendly. He made group want to travel retired and spot games.”

Vachon, 80, did much than thief nan Kings survive, he helped them thrive. As a subordinate he led nan squad to its first winning record, past returned to go nan wide head who traded for Gretzky and drafted Hall of Famers Luc Robitaille and Rob Blake. He besides had a winning grounds successful 3 stints arsenic an interim coach, making him nan only man successful franchise history to service arsenic a player, adjunct coach, caput coach and wide manager.

Kings goaltender Rogie Vachon tries to debar a collision pinch Chicago’s Stan Mikita and nan Kings’ Dave Hutchison during a crippled successful March 1977.

(Fred Jewell / Associated Press)

In his past 5 seasons arsenic nan Kings’ goaltender, Vachon classed successful nan apical 5 successful wins 4 times. In 1974-75, he led nan NHL successful prevention percent (.927), had a career-best 2.24 goals-against mean and vanished 14 points down Bobby Clarke successful voting for nan Hart Memorial Trophy, nan league’s MVP award.

In galore ways it remains nan champion regular play successful franchise history, pinch nan squad earning a grounds 105 points and a .656 winning percent successful an 80-game season. It mislaid conscionable 17 times, besides a squad grounds for a afloat season.

By nan clip Vachon near aft 7 seasons, nan Kings were a perennial playoff contender. The Seals, who ne'er recovered their star, went done 4 sanction changes and 3 ownership groups earlier moving to Cleveland.

Did Vachon prevention lucky successful Southern California, and by hold unfastened nan NHL to a activity of description that has seen nan convention turn to 32 teams, immoderate successful warm-weather markets specified arsenic Miami, Tampa, Dallas, Anaheim and Las Vegas?

Well, he surely didn’t wounded it.

“If it weren’t for him, possibly nan Kings wouldn’t exist,” said Robitaille, nan team’s all-time starring goal-scorer and its president since 2017. “He was a superstar. He brought group in, kept nan Kings alive.

“It’s a beautiful astonishing grounds erstwhile you deliberation astir it.”

During his playing days, Vachon’s location was nan 46 quadrate feet straight successful beforehand of his team’s goal. Today his location is an eight-acre ranch successful Montana’s Bitterroot Valley, astir 45 miles southbound of Missoula.

“It’s bully and calm and we person mountains each complete nan place,” he said.

The nearest town, Hamilton, isn’t overmuch bigger than nan 1 wherever Vachon grew up successful agrarian Quebec. Back past nan workplace he lived connected had much than a twelve dairy cows, positive sheep, pigs and plow horses, since his family didn’t person a tractor. In retirement, he’s gone backmost to that childhood, mucking nan stalls and helping attraction for a menagerie that includes 2 horses, 10 mini goats, 2 mini pigs, a brace of horses and a bunch of chickens and dogs and cats.

Legendary Kings goaltender Rogie Vachon astatine location successful Montana.

(Courtesy of Renee Vachon)

“The thought of coming retired and getting a small spot of onshore and getting immoderate animals, he liked that idea,” Vachon’s son, Nick, remembered. “But he said nary cows. He mightiness person been traumatized by nan early mornings and milking doubly a day.”

One of 8 children — 4 boys and 4 girls — Vachon played his first lucky games astatine property 5 connected a makeshift rink connected nan farm, and it wasn’t agelong earlier nan vicinity kids were taping section shop catalogs to his legs for goalie pads and pushing him successful beforehand of nan nett — ostensibly for his information since he was ever nan smallest kid connected nan ice.

He would ne'er time off nan crease, proving truthful comfortable location he was playing against grown men erstwhile he was conscionable 12.

Montreal sent a location scout named Scotty Bowman — who went connected to go nan winningest coach successful NHL history — to scout him and he liked what he saw, truthful overmuch truthful he convinced Vachon’s parents to fto their teenage boy motion pinch nan Canadiens. Shortly aft his 21st birthday, Vachon was successful nan NHL, making his debut without a disguise and signaling his first prevention connected a breakaway by Hall of Famer Gordie Howe.

Montreal made nan Stanley Cup Final successful each of Vachon’s first 3 seasons, winning twice. But erstwhile he mislaid nan starting occupation successful extremity to rookie Ken Dryden early successful his sixth season, Vachon requested a waste and acquisition and nan Canadiens obliged, banishing him to L.A., past nan NHL’s type of a warm-weather Siberia.

The Montana ranch wherever he lives now, surrounded by fir and conifer trees, nan shadows of nan Bitterroots and silence, is nan cleanable status home, though it’s 1 Vachon recovered much by mishap than design.

Vachon was still surviving by nan formation successful Southern California successful 2016 erstwhile his wife, Nicole, whom he joined little than a period aft his waste and acquisition to nan Kings, died of encephalon cancer. Four years later, Vachon approached Nick, who was moving arsenic wide head of nan L.A. Junior Kings/L.A. Lions, pinch nan thought of uniting nan family nether 1 tile again.

Montreal goalie Rogie Vachon looks for nan puck adjacent to defenseman Serge Savard during a crippled against nan St. Louis Blues successful November 1969.

(Fred Waters / Associated Press)

“I was surviving successful a large location successful Venice each by myself,” he said. “This benignant of put into my mind that we should waste our houses successful L.A. and move successful together.”

So begetter and boy rented a centrifugal home, and on pinch Nick’s wife, Renee, and girl Chloe, now 16, headed to Montana, wherever they recovered a location large capable for 2 horses, allowing Chloe, who grew up adjacent nan water successful Redondo Beach, to train to go a tube racer successful nan rodeo.

“We were decidedly not equine people. Like what is simply a tube racer? We had nary idea,” said Nick Vachon, who followed his begetter into nan NHL, playing 1 crippled pinch nan New York Islanders — against nan Kings — successful 1996.

“She conscionable loves animals. She’s benignant of our resident vet. She helped present our babe goats and she does each nan equine stuff.”

The elder Vachon hasn’t faced a puck successful anger since his 2nd and last play pinch nan Boston Bruins successful 1982. He says he’s conscionable 15 pounds complete his playing weight of 165 pounds, beautiful fresh for a feline constricted by 2 knee replacements.

The once-famous acheronian mane has gone achromatic and is neatly cropped and nan bushy mustache is now conscionable a brushwood of hairsbreadth beneath his nose. But nan cigars stay arsenic do nan memories, which are rekindled by nan letters and autograph requests that still get regularly successful nan mailbox.

His Hall of Fame jacket, which Vachon says he hasn’t won since his induction a decade ago, sits connected a hanger successful a closet and conscionable a fewer framed jerseys and photos bent connected nan walls of his five-bedroom farmhouse.

“He’s sewage immoderate stuff,” Nick Vachon said. “But he’s beautiful humble. He doesn’t for illustration to put up excessively much.”

Vachon became 1 of nan NHL’s apical goaltenders successful Los Angeles, truthful erstwhile he near arsenic an unrestricted free supplier aft nan 1977-78 season, he commanded what was past nan apical net successful history astatine his position, a five-year woody pinch nan Detroit Red Wings worthy $1.9 million. But he had 2 miserable seasons there, giving up much than 3½ goals a game, earlier being traded to Boston, wherever he did small better.

Still, erstwhile he retired successful 1982, Vachon classed among nan apical six each clip successful games and wins by a goalie. More than 4 decades later only Jonathan Quick has played aliases won much games for nan Kings, who made Vachon’s No. 30 nan first to beryllium retired by nan franchise.

However, location would beryllium a 2nd enactment for Vachon’s lucky profession and people it would unfold successful Los Angeles.

Legendary Kings goaltender Rogie Vachon astatine location successful Montana.

(Courtesy of Renee Vachon)

A twelvemonth aft his retirement, Vachon returned to nan Kings arsenic a goaltender coach, but earlier that first play was complete he had been promoted to coach, past wide manager, a position for which he had nary experience, yet 1 he would clasp for 8 years, guiding nan squad to 7 consecutive playoff berths and 3 trips to nan section finals.

Those years proved consequential for different reasons arsenic good since Vachon was nan wide head who finalized nan 1988 waste and acquisition that brought Gretzky to L.A. Soon nan Kings were nan talk of nan town, pinch President Reagan and woman Nancy moreover sitting rinkside.

The franchise had travel a agelong measurement since Vachon’s early playing days, erstwhile those rinkside seats would beryllium empty.

Vachon was besides nan 1 who took Robitaille pinch nan 171st pick, successful nan ninth information of nan 12-round 1984 draught — and moreover past it was considered a gamble. But it was 1 that quickly paid disconnected pinch Robitaille signaling 191 points successful his last inferior season, past scoring 45 goals and winning nan Calder Trophy successful his first NHL campaign.

“The scouts were not rather arsenic precocious connected him arsenic my dada was,” Nick Vachon said. “Finally he forces nan scout astatine nan table; he’s for illustration ‘we’re picking Luc this round. I don’t attraction what you guys say.’”

“I beryllium him a lot,” Robitaille said of Vachon.

Robitaille, who besides spent much clip arsenic an executive pinch nan Kings past he did arsenic a subordinate pinch nan team, said nan modulation from nan crystal to nan beforehand agency tin beryllium a difficult one. Yet it’s 1 Vachon mastered quickly.

Luc Robitaille shakes hands pinch Rogie Vachon arsenic Kings greats Marcel Dionne and Dave Taylor look connected earlier a pregame ceremonial astatine nan Forum successful October 1998.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

“When you’re a player, you unrecorded nan moment. All that matters is that day,” Robitaille said. “When you get into management, you’re trying to triumph tomorrow but astatine nan aforesaid clip you’ve sewage a scheme for adjacent play and sometimes two, 3 years ahead.”

In retirement, however, Vachon doesn’t person to deliberation immoderate further up than nan adjacent sunset.

“He’s specified a bully man but astatine nan aforesaid clip he’s sewage a ton of character,” Robitaille said. “Every clip I talk to him, he conscionable sounds truthful happy. That’s what life is about, isn’t it?”

Vachon’s boy agrees. Because while nan agelong hair, nan mustache and nan Mercedes are each gone, a wide grin still creases nan aged goalie’s face.

“When we first moved retired here, he’d spell retired each time and conscionable return successful nan air,” Nick Vachon said. “He conscionable sits extracurricular and enjoys nan caller aerial and truthful yeah, he’s ace happy.”