Luc Robitaille seemed to be in the right moment at the right time throughout his career. His presence around the net made goaltenders nervous because they knew there was a GREAT chance that if the puck was heading in Robitaille’s direction the puck was going into the net. He got the nickname “Lucky” from the French Canadian translation of Luc being Luck but gained the nickname by making the best of every situation possible. He wasn’t graced with the skill of Steve Yzermen, Brett Hull, or Brian Leetch, but he did work hard enough to play with and be mention among the greats of this Hall of Fame Class.

In the beginning while growing up in Montreal, Quebec a man named Alex Smart (former LA kings scout) saw what many didn’t in Luc and got Luc his first try-out with the Kings after being drafted 171st in the 9th round. However, the awkward skating youngster was cut and went back to play in the Canadian Junior leagues. He knew he had to work hard to make himself what he is today and that’s exactly what he did. He ripped the QMJHL apart leading both seasons that he played in scoring and points, 191 points in his final junior season. The same junior league would name a trophy after him for the team with the most goals scored. Hence, the Kings brought him back and he even took figure skating lessons to better himself on the ice to fix his ill at ease strides. In is rookie season he had 45 goals and 39 assists for 84 points getting himself the rookie of the year award. The rest was history; he played 19 seasons in the NHL, 14 with Kings on three different stints with team. He also had a season with Pittsburgh, two with the New York Rangers and three great years with the Red Wings in which he one a Stanley Cup in 2002. In the end he became the best Left Winger to play the game with brilliant totals of 668 goals and 1394 points. The Kings retired his number 20 and now he is the president of business operations for the Kings. Does that sound like luck to you?

Kings president Tim Leiweke put it best when talking about Luc’s career as a King, “Gretzky helped turn the Kings franchise around when he arrived from Edmonton…, but Robitaille has had a more lasting impact on the organization than any other player in Kings’ history.”

Luc Robitaille proved to everybody how valuable he was. (Red Wing fans know that just as much as Kings Fans). He did everything that he needed to do and he was rewarded like a king. As a person that grew up in the LA area with family that worked in Hollywood, I have only this to say about “Lucky” Luc; it takes luck to get into Hollywood but it takes real hard work and skill to be star that is remembered. He even has something that none of the rest of the Hall of Fame class has, all of his original teeth.