A Royal Reunion : Kings’ Triple Crown Line of Dionne, Simmer and Taylor Will Be Together Again as Part of Anniversary Celebration

Dave Taylor wonders if the chemistry will still be there, if he will still instinctively know where Marcel Dionne and Charlie Simmer are and if they can combine to fool some hapless goaltender, as they did so many times before.

Perhaps the passage of time and the addition of a few pounds can’t weaken a link that was so strong, a bond that made the Kings’ Triple Crown line one of the most successful in NHL history and the first on which all three members scored 100 points in the same season.

Once so close they didn’t need to speak, they haven’t skated together since the 1985 trade that sent Simmer to the Boston Bruins. Nor have they been reunited as a threesome since Dionne’s Hall of Fame induction in 1992.

That breach will be mended this week. Thanks to a change of heart by Dionne, they will be together Saturday during the final day of the Kings’ three-day 30th anniversary celebration.

Taylor, who spent his entire 17-year career with the Kings and is now the club’s assistant general manager, may find out if time has stood still for them.

“I hope so,” he said. “It would be a lot of fun just to get together and skate with those guys. I have so many great memories. We were introduced as a line together in 1981 at the All-Star Game in L.A. and it would be nice to be back together in L.A. again.”

Dionne, who runs a sports marketing company in western New York State, didn’t plan to bring his gear. But it won’t be a surprise to see him on the ice with his former wingers.

“I play [recreationally] with [Guy] Lafleur and [Gilbert] Perreault,” he said. “You don’t lose it.”

Said Simmer, now a TV analyst for the Phoenix Coyotes: “It’d be a blast. I know it’s hard to believe, but I might have lost a step.”

Although Simmer often downplays his achievements, he was a formidable threat on the left wing in the early 1980s. Yet, he struggled early in his career and was unable to stick with the Bay Area’s California Golden Seals (who later moved to Cleveland), bouncing between the NHL and the minors. Even after the Kings signed him as a free agent in 1977, he spent most of the time with Springfield of the American Hockey League.

Dionne, a budding star, and Taylor, just out of college, clicked when they were put on the same line around Christmas of 1977. Taylor scored 22 goals in 1977-78 and Dionne scored 36. But they went through an assortment of left wings in search of the perfect complement. No one thought to try Simmer with them until Jan. 13, 1979, after he had been summoned from the AHL again.

“I’d been called up so many times by the Kings and not played, I figured I’d be there for two games and not play,” Simmer said. “They had a two-game trip to Detroit and Boston, which was not far from Springfield, so they wouldn’t have to pay too much to send me back. I got there and [Coach] Bob Berry said, ‘We’re going to give you a chance with a young kid named Dionne. He might be pretty good.’ ”

At 6 feet 3 and 195 pounds, Simmer was one of the NHL’s biggest players, and he took full advantage of his size.

“I know he puts himself down a lot of times as just a garbage collector, but he was a lot better than that,” Dionne said.

“He was big and tough to move in front of the net. Davey, until the end of his career, was aggressive and found ways to dig the puck out. I was the quarterback. Certain plays were automatic. You knew automatically what Dave was going to do, or Charlie. It’s very difficult in hockey history to find lines like that.”

Taylor never found anything else that approached it. “I’ve played with a lot of hockey players but nothing ever worked as well as we did,” he said. “You talk about the sum of the whole being greater than the parts, that’s what this was.

“Marcel was a true superstar. He could skate, score and make plays. Charlie and I could complement him because we could work in the corners and get him the puck. Charlie was as good as anyone I’ve ever seen in front of the net, as far as deflecting pucks and standing in front to screen goalies. It was more my job to work in the corners and get the puck. We were unselfish and we passed the puck to each other.”

Their bond extended off the ice and they stuck together on the road.

“We did whatever Marcel wanted,” Taylor joked. “He’s a great guy. Marcel will always speak his mind and tell you what he feels. He may rub some people the wrong way but he meant more to me than anybody else in my career. We were linemates for nine years.

“I don’t think he ever got the respect he deserves. I think playing all that time in L.A., where we didn’t get a lot of attention, and not winning a championship, that hurt him. Marcel was as good a player as there ever has been. He’s the third-leading scorer [in NHL history].”

In 1979-80, Simmer tied for the NHL goal-scoring lead with 56 and Dionne won the scoring title with 137 points. All three reached their pinnacle in 1980-81, when Taylor had 47 goals and a career-high 112 points, Dionne had 58 goals and 135 points and Simmer had 56 goals and 105 points, also a career best. All three--and goalie Mario Lessard--played in the All-Star game, and Simmer made the postseason first all-star team for the second successive season.

The Kings flourished that season, compiling a record of 43-24-13 and 99 points for a second-place finish in the Norris Division. But misfortune struck in early March when Simmer broke his leg in a game at Toronto. Without him, the Kings lost in the preliminary round of the playoffs.

“I always wondered what would have happened in those ’81 playoffs if Charlie hadn’t broken his leg,” Taylor said. “The team wasn’t the same and we got knocked off by the [New York] Rangers. They beat us, 3-1, in a physical series. The next year we were back together, but unfortunately contract problems came up. Charlie ended up getting traded to Boston and that was the end of the line.”

Dionne shares that curiosity.

“I don’t know if we could have won the Cup, but we never got closer,” he said. “It was always a problem to fill the holes all the years I played there. Every time we came close to it, it was [a club executive saying], ‘Let’s open the doors here and get new players.’ There was never any consistency.”

Simmer was ushered out in October, 1985, after a contract dispute.

“It’s not anybody’s fault, sports being a business,” said Simmer, who was traded to Boston for a first-round draft pick the Kings squandered on Dan Gratton. “But it could have been a few years longer.”

Dionne was a King until March of 1987, when he was traded to the Rangers. His parting was bitter. Discouraged by the Kings’ sub-.500 record and the club’s hesitance to extend his contract, Dionne asked for a trade, hoping the Kings would instead accede to his contract request and beef up the team. Instead, Rogie Vachon, then the general manager, called Dionne’s bluff.

“Everybody gets traded. It’s all irrelevant now,” Dionne said. “This game has been great to me. I’ve made a lot of friends and I still go back to New York, Detroit and L.A. I don’t dwell on it. Maybe if I never leave L.A., they never get to see [Wayne] Gretzky. . . .

“L.A. is a great hockey city, but the bottom line is management. A team is only a good as its management. We had many, many chances to get excellent [draft] picks and we didn’t. That was the turning point. The patience was never there, even in 1967.

“Look at the Kings’ history and the picks they traded. There was the George Allen philosophy of, ‘Why don’t we get a guy who can play in the league now and trade our draft picks?’

“If anybody assumed I wanted out for myself, they don’t know me. That’s part of being a celebrity. You’ve got to take control. Now I have control of my life. I have many fond memories of L.A. The ending, that has nothing to do with anything.”

Dionne, who travels extensively in his business, said people in the East most often remember him as a Detroit Red Wing, his first team. But when he thinks of himself, “for sure, it’s [as] a King.

“The fans we had were as good as anywhere else,” he said. “We never had any promotion or marketing, but we had loyal fans.”

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A Fine Line

A look at how the Triple Crown Line compares to other top lines in NHL history:

Season/Team Players (Points)

1970-71 Boston: Wayne Cashman (79), Phil Esposito (152), Ken Hodge (105)

1971-72 N.Y. Rangers: Vic Hadfield (106), Jean Ratelle (109), Rod Gilbert (97)

1974-75 Buffalo: Richard Martin (95), Gilbert Perreault (96), Rene Robert (100)

1975-76 Philadelphia: Bill Barber (112), Bobby Clarke (119), Reggie Leach (91)

1976-77 Montreal: Steve Shutt (105), Peter Mahovlich (62), Guy Lafleur (136)

1980-81 Kings: Charlie Simmer (105), Marcel Dionne (135), Dave Taylor (112)

1981-82 N.Y. Islanders: Clark Gillies (77), Bryan Trottier (129), Mike Bossy (147)

1995-96 Philadelphia: John LeClair (97), Eric Lindros (115), Mikael Renberg (43)

30th Anniversary Weekend

THURSDAY: Kings will wear replicas of 1967 jerseys during game with St. Louis.

FRIDAY: All-time Kings team named at Century City gala.

SATURDAY: Fan fest in Forum parking lot at 3 p.m. King alumni vs. celebrity team at 4 p.m. Kings will again don replica jerseys for game against Calgary.