Bob Pulford spent five seasons as the Kings head coach (1972-77). Pulford is second all-time in Kings coaching history in games (396) and wins (178) and is third in Kings history with a .535 winning percentage. Pulford is the only Kings coach to ever win the Jack Adams award (1975), awarded to the NHL's Best Coach.

In Pulford's first year with the Kings (1972-73), the team was named “Most Improved” in the NHL and missed the playoffs in the last game of the season. His second year, the Kings made the playoffs for the first time in five years. His third year, the Kings had their greatest season ever finishing with 105 points and earning Pulford “Coach of the Year” honors. His fourth year, the Kings advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in seven years and took heavily favored Boston to a seventh game in the Stanley Cup Quarterfinals. In his final year, the Kings again advanced to the Stanley Cup Quarterfinals and again, fell to the Boston Bruins, this time in six games.

Pulford played junior hockey for the Toronto Marlboros for three seasons from 1953 to 1956, winning two Memorial Cups. He moved up to the Maple Leafs for the 1956–57 season and remained with the team for 14 seasons. Pulford was named an NHL All-Star six times with the Leafs and registered four 20-goal seasons while winning four Stanley Cups in a span of six seasons during the 1960s. The Leafs traded him to the Los Angeles Kings on Sept. 3, 1970, where he played two seasons scoring 30-50=80 in 132 games as the Kings captain and retired as a player in 1972.

Pulford collected 643 points (281 goals, 362 assists) in 1,079 games for the Leafs and Kings from 1956-72.

After leaving the Kings, Pulford joined the Blackhawks organization as head coach and general manager. He served as coach on three separate occasions from 1977 to 1987. He was promoted to senior vice president in 1990, but took on the general manager's duties again from 1992 to 1997, from 1999 to 2000, and from 2003 to 2005. During his third stint as general manager, Pulford doubled again as head coach. His all-time coaching record is 361-325-136. With Pulford at the helm as GM, the Blackhawks made the playoffs 20 straight seasons, including eight division titles.