Kings ‘enforcer’ Lou McClary set to retire on April 4
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The name Lou McClary may not mean much to Kings’ fans, but McClary has meant an awful lot to Kings players over the last 42 years.
McClary, a former Los Angeles police officer, has been an ‘enforcer’ for the Kings since they entered the league in 1967. McClary has served as the team’s security representative with the NHL.
He has watched over and protected everyone from “Cowboy” Bill Flett and Marcel Dionne to Wayne Gretzky and Sean Avery. We’ll let Kings fans guess which one of those four qualified as a “high maintenance’ project.
“Lou is a friend to everyone he has ever met or worked with him,” said Luc Robitaille, a former King and the team’s president of business operations. “He has never been in the public eye, but he has been a King since day one, and over those 42 years nobody has taken to their job with more vigor and enthusiasm than Lou. He has been nothing less than an absolute joy to be around -- ask anyone and everyone who has spent time with him -- and he is irreplaceable to us.”
The Kings will honor McClary during a pregame ceremony on April 4, before playing the Phoenix Coyotes. How loved is Lou? That date was picked because the Coyotes were in town, meaning Gretzky could be there to honor his friend.
-- Chris Foster
Correction: An earlier version of this post misspelled McClary’s last name as McLary.
