Prior to the Kings arrival in the Los Angeles area, both the Pacific Coast Hockey League (PCHL) and the Western Hockey League (WHL) had several teams in California, including the PCHL's Los Angeles Monarchs of the 1930s and the WHL's Los Angeles Blades of the 1960s [REF].
As the Lakers played at the Memorial Sports Arena, Cooke applied for both a long time NBA lease and the right to sign a lease for hockey in case he won the NHL franchise.