Speculation: Another year of this Bluc **** (The 2024 season thread)

[Herby]

Ok here’s the plan.

-I’ll kick Luc

No need to add the final 15 words you did, just stop there.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

Part of the problem is he sells himself as some professional journalist, like I said in another post, just go down the Vic the Brick Jacobs path and people will be more accepting, instead he tries to portray himself as Elliot Friedman of the Kings when he goes on national shows and podcasts and spews complete team friendly BS.

And yes, maybe some of the issue certainly is the fault of the Kings, that this is the strategy that they have adopted with their media, sending everyone to Hoven, to be called by their nicknames, allowed to tell blatant lies and be lobbed nothing but softball questions when nothing is ever addressed about changes that will be made to very clear errors that were made. The ridiculous 2019 draft segment with "Yank" in particular, we should know what happened and why that draft completely went off the rails and what will happen in the future to prevent it, instead we are told that it was a great night for the Kings, it's insulting to the fanbase.

You truly believe that Hoven actually believes the 2019 draft has been "very fruitful for the Kings" ? I don't think the guy is an idiot, like certain unnamed people, who think the same of that draft. I think he is lying about how he really feels to either make the Kings look better or to not to step on the toes of a guest. Both of which are not honest down the middle journalism.

On Faber. Hoven is not going to lie about something that can be refuted by somebody in a major hockey market asking Brock Faber to confirm that. Faber has said numerous times that was not the case.

But I guess maybe the fault for this does ultimately fall on the Kings, but I think it's a natural reaction to be angry at some of the BS comments devoid of truth that we are continuously told by the person who has the most access (by far) to the franchise we all love.

Why are you so jealous of Hoven?

 

[Herby]

Why are you so jealous of Hoven?

That's it Axl, I am jealous of John Hoven. You have it all figured out.

But hey, another wonderful one-sentence contribution to the forum.

 

[AbsentMojo]

Here's Kopi and Drew presser.. i could only handle a few minutes of it.. i dont want to hear from anyone except the new GM and maybe Kempe

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

That's it Axl, I am jealous of John Hoven. You have it all figured out.

But hey, another wonderful one-sentence contribution to the forum.

If you spent half the energy that you do on this board working your own podcast, you could finally be the real mouthpiece of truth that us loyal Kings fans desperately need.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

It's not that complicated and with all due respect to Rosen you don't need an insider or complicated palace intrigue theories to explain it.

Luc Robitaille was named the President of Business Operations in 2007. Hockey ops and Business Ops merged in 2017 and Luc Robitaille has been the president of the team since then.

That seems like a real problem almost no matter who the person in the role is.

Ironically on background alone Blake has a much better pedigree for that position than Luc.

I doubt Luc has been making any business decisions during his tenure. Just ask him if he knows the difference between an income statement and a balance sheet. There are lots of quality people in place beneath him making good decisions, but that's likely due more to Beckerman than Robitaille.

Luc is there because he plays the role of 'face of the franchise' so well. He has good looks, charisma, is easily approachable, gets along with the fans and the press. Beckerman told me himself that Luc was always willing to play that role without complaining and did so very effectively.

As director of Hockey ops, there is no hiding behind a Kelly Cheeseman or a Darren Abbott who are responsible for revenues and profits. Luc clearly didn't like playing second fiddle to DL and probably, although we'll never know for sure, engineered his demise. Now, the results are in and someone has to be held responsible. The problem is the both #4 and #20 are hanging from the rafters which means they have to be treated with kid goves. THis is effectively what has taken place. I refuse to believe that Blake had any intention of leaving and would have gladly signed an extensiuon had one been offered. THis way his dignity is intact. We will learn more in the coming days just how reduced Luc's tole is.

My money is on dividing the two roles again, leaving Luc in charge Business Operations (ostensibly) and hiring a President of Hockey Operations. That is how the real world works- you don't humiliate people unnecessarily that have bled for you, but you do make the necessary changes.

Piston beat me to it of course.

I said previously Luc in a front facing babykissing hand shaking role? Great. There are PLENTY of great businesspeople at AEG to hold his hand. But the dude should NOT be ANYWHERE near any hockey decisions because whether it's malicious or not the triumvirate of Luc Brisson and Bergevin has been mucking it up for years. Yes in business networking and trusting those close to you is important but that gets blown up when results aren't there. The business results clearly are; the hockey ones are clearly not. Surely AEG can see that...I hope.

 

[Herby]

If you spent half the energy that you do on this board working your own podcast, you could finally be the real mouthpiece of truth that us loyal Kings fans desperately need.

I have zero desire to have my own podcast. And my respect for the profession and the importance of fair media would never allow me to operate the way that John Hoven does, I would not be able to sleep at night.

And for the millionth time, if your brain is not capable of reading longer posts, you are more than welcome to ignore me, like 80% of the board ignores you.

 

[Faterson]

I think the main reason we will never get rid of Luc is because Luc and boo sound the same coming from an assembly of fans.. why couldnt he have been named Jacque.

Well, at least Doughty is named Brad instead of that ooo sound, and Kopidor is Kopidor. You can't have everything.

 

[AbsentMojo]

Well, at least Doughty is named Brad instead of that ooo sound, and Kopidor is Kopidor. You can't have everything.

Love to get a balsy GM that day 1 executes a buyout on 8 and 11.. and throw big thank you party at Staples for their service. That would be a nice way to start.

 

[chris kontos]

It's not about Robitaille or giving credit. I

It's about the decision making process of a multi-billion dollar corporation.

With an 88year old owner. "Befriended" by the current president.

 

[SaltyElkHunter]

No need to add the final 15 words you did, just stop there.

I bet you’re a strictly missionary guy. Lol

 

[All The Kings Men]

With an 88year old owner. "Befriended" by the current president.

Sure.

I don't know nothing about nothing but the Celtics just sold for $6.1 Billion dollars and Bill Simmons (yes I'm citing Bill Simmons) has suggested that the sale was about the previous owner's children wanting his empire liquidated for ease of estate planning.

H. Irving Grousbeck is 90 years old. His group (Boston Basketball Partners) owned the Celtics from 2002 to 2025.

Grousbeck has 4 kids including his son Wyc (63) who served on the board of the BBP.

The theory is that the 4 Grousbeck kids want 1/4 of the billions generated from the sale of the team rather than a constant fight over 1/4 control of a basketball team etc etc etc

The reason I bring it up is not to imply that I know anything about AEG or the ownership plans for the Kings but merely to point out that this is ALL a business and the owners are insanely wealthy people with their own lives and motivations and they don't have to explain themselves to anybody and there's no knowing why they make the decisions they do but the idea that it's somehow "well the goal is always to win the championship and any failure to progress towards that goal should result in my desired behavior" is just fans being willfully obtuse.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Sure.

I don't know nothing about nothing but the Celtics just sold for $6.1 Billion dollars and Bill Simmons (yes I'm citing Bill Simmons) has suggested that the sale was about the previous owner's children wanting his empire liquidated for ease of estate planning.

H. Irving Grousbeck is 90 years old. His group (Boston Basketball Partners) owned the Celtics from 2002 to 2025.

Grousbeck has 4 kids including his son Wyc (63) who served on the board of the BBP.

The theory is that the 4 Grousbeck kids want 1/4 of the billions generated from the sale of the team rather than a constant fight over 1/4 control of a basketball team etc etc etc

The reason I bring it up is not to imply that I know anything about AEG or the ownership plans for the Kings but merely to point out that this is ALL a business and the owners are insanely wealthy people with their own lives and motivations and they don't have to explain themselves to anybody and there's no knowing why they make the decisions they do but the idea that it's somehow "well the goal is always to win the championship and any failure to progress towards that goal should result in my desired behavior" is just fans being willfully obtuse.

Sure but I think in this case we reference 'winning is the goal' because we've been fed lines by various people for years that AEG does, in fact, care about winning, so when we see something that appears to be evidence is the contrary, we mouth off.

I don't think it's being willfully obtuse, it's the recon we are acting on.

 

[All The Kings Men]

Sure but I think in this case we reference 'winning is the goal' because we've been fed lines by various people for years that AEG does, in fact, care about winning, so when we see something that appears to be evidence is the contrary, we mouth off.

I don't think it's being willfully obtuse, it's the recon we are acting on.

I'm sure that everybody cares about winning.

I'm just saying that it's still PROFESSIONAL sports and that pesky word in all caps is the more important of the two.

 

[SaltyElkHunter]

you mean it’s all about sales!

The only thing about Luc that was unique is that he was the greatest scoring left wing… until he wasn’t.

Everyone is replaceable. Especially when you are constantly coaigning your own bullshit in public. The titanic just went down and Luc Roseitaille just pushed Blake off the floating door.

 

[Johnny Utah]

I just hope the next GM doesn’t ice a soft team. Took Blake 8 seasons to realize this team needed some balls. He traded for Jeannot, called up Helenius and signed Edmundson (even though he replaced a tougher but worse player in Englund).

The Oilers trolled us again - particularly Nurse and Kane. I would assemble a roster that can fight back finally.

In saying that also, this team needs some additional skill and depth.

 

[Telos]

Here's Kopi and Drew presser.. i could only handle a few minutes of it.. i dont want to hear from anyone except the new GM and maybe Kempe

I am still working through it and am about halfway. It is not like they are lying or being phony, and I don't put it all on the players. They know their role and responsibility. Kopi and Drew are getting dragged through the mud but I could never hate them. Their presser seemed pretty forthright. I liked when Kopi laughed at Doughty saying he doesn't ever want to play 15 minutes a night. We hate the ego, but it is the same ego we loved from all of them in the past. Quick would have the same attitude and would be adored for it as he should.

The most interesting so far though was Kempe mentioning that rolling three lines through an entire series gets tiring and they should maybe play more guys and likening it to Edmonton rolling McDrai all the time and not being able to keep it up to win the cup.

 

[Schmooley]

you mean it’s all about sales!

Whats Blake and Luc got to do with high sales? Its not like they brought in superstars that people in LA are lining up to see. Dont see many Danault Fiala Gavrikov and Kuemper jerseys around.
A ton of gms and presidents could have gotten the same results as them from where they started. If anything attendance was down this year.
Doesnt AEG own all the buildings around the stadium? Their wallet wont change much if they fire Luc.

 

[BigKing]

Or he simply has a different take and interpretation.

He also covered the Kings in the Lombardi years. It's not like he was simping for Luc and saying how terrible Lombardi was.

He's a fan of the Kings like you and me, with different tolerance thresholds. Could he have been more critical? I'd be lying if I said no. I'm sure I have my texts saying how Blake and Luc have needed to go for a while.

He also categorically denied that Faber was traded because he was "never going to sign with LA." If he were a propagandist, wouldn't you think he would have beat that drum?

You don't like him. I get it. But it's getting pretty grating that the only explanation to him not being more critical is that he's just some shill for the front office when he's covered the Kings ling before Blake was in the picture or Luc was promoted.

I think the official or unofficially official standing he currently has began during the Blake years.

Rosen was critical of asset management. Canned in June of 2020 under the guise of COVID cuts meaning there wasn't enough money to pay him. They could have gone back to a Hammond/Rosen type situation but they chose the path of least criticism and began to use Hoven much more frequently to get the company line out to the fan base.

He has much more "clout" under Bluc than he did under Lombardi, so I'm not sure why it is grating to think he simply does not want to bite the hand that feeds. He went from a rumor monger that only had inside info on injuries and maybe call-ups to someone that appears to be given pretty legit access under Bluc's regime.

 

[theMajor]

if bergevin gets the nod then im gonna take a taco bell shit on Lucs lawn

 

[Telos]

if bergevin gets the nod then im gonna take a taco bell shit on Lucs lawn

To be brutally honest, if I had to bet, I think it is already a foregone conclusion that Bergevin will be named next GM. I have been already sort of resigning myself to that fate since we learned that Luc is staying:

The chatter in French-language media suggested that Bergevin would be relocating to California in order to join Robitaille and his best friend, Los Angeles-based agent Pat Brisson of CAA Sports, to form “one of the biggest trios of Quebecers in the world of professional sport,” as Jean-Francois Chaumont of French-language channel TVA Sports wrote in late October (via Google Translate).

“Marc is a very good GM in the NHL, one of the best,” [Robitaille] told Chaumont (again, via Google Translate). “When you look at his transaction history, he did some really good things. He has good vision. He's a talented manager and he knows everyone in the NHL. In my eyes, he is clearly among the top ten in his profession.”

Rumor Becomes Reality: Los Angeles Kings Hire Marc Bergevin

Marc Bergevin's back. Just six weeks after being fired by the Montreal Canadiens, Bergevin has landed with the Los Angeles Kings as a senior advisor.

www.forbes.com

 

[King'sPawn]

I think the official or unofficially official standing he currently has began during the Blake years.

Rosen was critical of asset management. Canned in June of 2020 under the guise of COVID cuts meaning there wasn't enough money to pay him. They could have gone back to a Hammond/Rosen type situation but they chose the path of least criticism and began to use Hoven much more frequently to get the company line out to the fan base.

He has much more "clout" under Bluc than he did under Lombardi, so I'm not sure why it is grating to think he simply does not want to bite the hand that feeds. He went from a rumor monger that only had inside info on injuries and maybe call-ups to someone that appears to be given pretty legit access under Bluc's regime.

There has been an evolution of how Hoven has tried to change the general content of MM - he stepped back from jumping into rumors for multiple reasons, including some of which that blew up in his face. So, he's tried to be more focused on content he's getting from more reliable people higher up in the food chain, but also branching out and exploring possibilities (i.e. potential trade targets, coaching candidates, etc).

It's a free resource. All of us who contribute to MM (including Hoven himself) have other jobs. And we don't get paid a dime. Any ad revenue Hoven gets wouldn't be enough to sustain a family, especially in Southern California.

So, yeah, I generally just take the licks when people vocalize their disapproval of Hoven. But it IS grating when he shares the information he has, generally reserving his opinions for his podcast, and he still gets labeled as a mouthpiece shill propagandist just because he doesn't clamor for people to be fired at the same time the rest of us do.

As far as replacing Rosen, that's what Dooley does - he runs LA Kings Insider. Hoven wasn't elevated.

 

[chris kontos]

I'm sure that everybody cares about winning.

I'm just saying that it's still PROFESSIONAL sports and that pesky word in all caps is the more important of the two.

At the same time, this PROFESSIONAL hockey club had a net 4% decrease in gate receipts this season- only one team in the nhl fared worse.
Philip Anchutz also owns the rio grande western railroad. If carloadings decreased over the last year by 4% you can bet mr Anchutz would look to assign responsibility for this loss.
I would hope that the kings hockey club is more than a hobby to him and that its success means something to him- if not on a competative level at least on a business one.
The rats nest needs cleaning out top to bottom.

 

[Johnny Utah]

I know quite a bit of season ticket holders who cancelled or stopped their membership this year. Don’t know the reasons on some of them…

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

Here's what we gotta do:

• Outside hire for GM (someone who openly says they want to take the team a new direction and shake things up)
• Replace Hiller as head coach
• Trade/Buy out Doughty
  • Retain 25% if you need to
  • If there are no takers, buyout
  • No hard feelings and love Doughty but you can completely rebuild/reshape this blue line and save a ton of cap space if you can move on from Doughty's contract
• Offer sheet Bowen Byram at $6.8m / 7 years
• Trade Danault and possibly 1 other forward
  • Think you can get a pretty great return for Danault from a contender looking to sure up their center ice position
  • Also allows you to give guys like Turcotte and Helenius more ice time / full time center positions
• Offer Kuzmenko 2 years / $5m or 3 years / $5m - if he doesn't sign, let him walk
• Let Gavrikov walk
  • Good player but a Russian in a contract year... Was obviously playing for his next contract this year. Deserves to get paid, I just don't really think LA should be the ones to pay him. Especially since he wants term that will take him into his mid/late 30s.
  • If you offer sheet Byram and get rid of Doughty, you can build around that young blue line of Anderson, Byram, Clarke, and Spence
• If the team isn't firmly in a playoff spot by February of 2026, you bite the bullet and trade Kempe for an INSANE return
• Then basically tank for the next 2 years
  • And hope to god we win the draft lottery or suck enough to end up with at least one top 3 pick in either the 2026 or 2027 draft
  • Can trade additional forwards like Fiala, Moore, etc in order to help the tank if needed
• Then start building around a completely new young core (Clarke, Byfield, Greentree, one of the goalies, 2025 1st rounder, 2026 1st rounder, and 2027 1st rounder)

This team desperately needs a true game breaking superstar. While I personally still have hope that Byfield will turn into that level of player, the Kings can't bank on that at this point / can't put all of their eggs in that one basket. Adding a player like Gavin McKenna or Landon DuPont (or another top prospect in either draft) is EXACTLY what this team needs. Only way that's going to happen is if we embrace the tank once again and look to get back into contention in a few years.

There are pieces you can build around in LA - That's why I think they could truly get away with a 2-3 year re-tool as opposed to needing a full fledged rebuild.