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Confirmed with Link: Anze Kopitar Named Kings’ New Team Captain

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Maybe the floodgates will open for Brown and all his shot totals will start to mean something on the score sheet. That would great for him and the team if things started to fall that way instead of the other.
 
tsanuri said:
The injury did mess with him and I remember reading about him saying the brace even after he healed was bothering him. We he took it off he play looked better.
But I think it was a combo of things. The injury and you have the suspension. I have to think he felt there was a target on his back by the league maybe after it. So he did change his style of play.
I like how DL acknowledged that Brown came into camp in good shape last year. The effort is there but the finish isn't. If he continues to put in the effort and the results remain the same it's going to be a long tough hall to do anything. But taking some of the pressure off him might be just what he needs.
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I don't expect anything, but I do loudly hope he pulls it together. Even if only to get to 30-40pts I'd be satisfied. Doesn't even have to get back to the 50-60 he was averaging.

Regarding the conference call... I think I have a good summary.

-Kopitar "and the others" have been groomed from the start to eventually take over leadership.
-Feels hockey is unique in the leadership process compared to other sports in that there's a ceremonial aspect to wearing the letters that the other sports don't really have. He said it creates the idea that captains are lifetime appointments when in reality leadership should be more fluid and grow with the team.
-Said Dustin Brown was the best captain in Kings history but it was time for transition and Brown will have his own transition from managing 23 other players to focusing more on his own game as well as sharing his knowledge and experience as former captain with Kopitar.
-Brown was in the best shape of his life and his struggles are not due to a lack of effort or willingness on his part. Even feels Brown may be too critical of his game or trying too hard. Feels Brown is absolutely capable of recovering his game because he doesn't believe anything is physically wrong with him. Thinks the relief of pressure may allow him that time to focus inward.
-Had a lot of meetings with Brown, Brown with Darryl, etc to do the transition and make sure everyone was on the same page.

-DL will be giving Lucic his "best offer" some time early next week and it will likely be his final offer.

-DL felt the problems went all the way back to September in that there were vulnerabilities with the team due to role problem after losing critical players in the off season.
-DL did not feel lack of speed or identity was an issue.
-DL said they tried to fill the holes with players in development as well as the deal with Philly, but aware the team was at its most vulnerable including mental issues revolving around dealing with success.
-Said losing to San Jose was a good punch on the nose.
-DL believes that because the roles were not filled, it's difficult for him to judge something like a lack of speed and such objectively.
-Believes 3v3 is the greatest showcase of pure skill in the NHL right now and the Kings were 9-1. So he wasn't worried about a lack of skill or speed.
-Values and identity will remain intact. Won't get caught up in "Flavor of the month"

-Talked about difficulty of holding onto skilled goalies in the system. "You can't keep them." Related back up goalies to back up QBs in that it's hard to retain a reliable back up QB without having them just go somewhere else.
-Said they do not really have any young guys ready to step up into the role so will end up going outside the system.
-Said it's an interesting dilemma where you develop skilled goalies that just end up playing for other teams and "what is the use in it?" He had no real answer for it, just described the difficulties.

-Talked more about player development and watching how they grow into their roles, training them for leadership, etc Hasn't settled on who or how many assistants there will be. Just the captain right now.
-The young players like Mersch, Dowd, etc have "paid their dues" and they have jobs available to win, but they have to show they can do it.
 
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It's going to be very interesting wether they give Kopitar's A to Doughty or Brown.
 
CowMix said:
It's going to be very interesting wether they give Kopitar's A to Doughty or Brown.
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I think it will come down to who's making the choice.
Is it upper management, front office guys?
Coaching staff?
Players?
I suspect it will be a combination but how much say does each group have?
And is it being used to maybe show a player they have confidence in him.
There's a few players I can see with the A. Doughty,, Muzzin, Toffoli, and then there's the guys who have already had them. Carter and Greene.
 
Fishhead said:
I'm guessing

Kopitar - C
Doughty, Carter - A
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That's my guess too. Carter has stayed a solid player so no worries about pressure there, and Dean talked about it being the younger guys' times to lead, and that pretty much says Doughty to me.
 
I still love this board so much... There still seems to be mostly good discussion going on in here. The total opposite of the other Kings board.

Congrats to Kopitar, obviously.

I'm already looking ahead to the fact, that the Kings could end up with absolute nothing from the last two seasons trade deadline DL giveaways... Assuming Lucic and the Kings don't come to a agreement.
 
I feel like the A's are already set with Doughty and Carter.

I would also say that I think giving Brown a role as assistant captain would not be a good thing because if you really want to shift that weight off him and the direction of the team then you'll cut him out of the official leadership group completely. If you leave him up there then that group still pulls in a direction that you're trying to get away from.

Here's hoping that Browns dedication and work pays off and he regains some of his ability back and rejoins the team as an asset or even a trade chip rather than a sandbag tied at the waste...
 
Herby said:
Lombardi's evaluation of players in their late 20's and early 30's has to be his biggest weakness as GM.
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I'm too tired to go look now but I wonder what that looked like in his first GM stint for comparison

The guy's background is very much so on the front end rather than late career
 
Herby said:
Lombardi's evaluation of players in their late 20's and early 30's has to be his biggest weakness as GM.
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I think that depends on the context. He might be blinded by the Cup wins in this one. If they don't win in 2012, does Brown get that huge contract? Are Stoll and Penner re-signed? If they go out quietly to the Sharks in 5 in 2014, are Richards and Greene brought back? If they don't win in 2012 and especially 2014, does he believe in the team enough to get Sekera?

When Lombardi got the job, his biggest weakness as a GM was being married to prospects/young players. Then he actually traded Simmonds and Schenn. Then he can't stop trading 1st round picks. Now, after a few Cups, his biggest weakness is he can't get rid of veterans who have won for him.

It's not like they didn't go to the conference final in 2013 after they brought back Stoll and Penner. They did win with Richards as the 4th line center in 2014, and Greene as 1 of the 6 defensemen after Regehr went down. That was the chance Lombardi took. His loyalty had worked before. Did anyone see Brown scoring just 37 goals between 13-14 and 15-16? I'm guessing nobody called that one. I know we all know that players like him break down at that exact time, but nobody thought it would happen as soon as he signed the deal. Year 5, 6, 7 of the deal, sure, but not even in the year before the new contract kicked in.

If you're around long enough, sometimes what you do will work, and other times it won't.
 
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