Confirmed with Link: Changes Incoming

[fsanford]

I remember that interview. Doughty sounding absolutely nothing like a leader in that interview. Called practice boring. That must inspire the young players to work hard.

Well the games are pretty boring based on style of play, no creative scoring plays, so I get what he is saying.

I can only imagine practicing the get it deep and then cycle endlessly to get a shot back out from the blue line so often.

 

[ru4reals]

So... one. 25 years ago. Sweet.

And I hope I'm absolutely wrong but our new GM is prooollly not gonna be part of that one.

 

[Bandit]

Really have to wonder now if it was Sutter's coming back that got Brown stripped of the C as well. Everything about the last three seasons can go to hell.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Will be interesting to find out who was calling the shots.

 

[Reaper45]

Really have to wonder now if it was Sutter's coming back that got Brown stripped of the C as well. Everything about the last three seasons can go to hell.

Sure seems like it.

 

[kingsfan28]

Originally Posted by piston
As fans, we want to be proud of our organization, for the people who have worked their butts off and have taken us to the promised land to be treated fairly. We can argue all day whether DS and DL needed to be replaced. What bothers me is he classless way they were let go. Allow DS to 'retire'. Push Dean upstairs or at least allow him to resign with dignity. 'Releasing them from their duties' is not how you behave towards the two guys who brought two cups. Maybe DL was guilty of being too loyal. But, when was Rob Blake ever loyal? These moves really bother me.

Then he should have never been brought back for 2 more years and Lombardi should've just moved up to the front office at the end of last season.Sutters contract was up, and Dean could've just said thanks were going in another direction. It was Lombardi call to bring him back, even after Sutters attitude sucked at the end of last season and they blew a 16 point lead, then got stomped in the playoffs. The writing was on the wall, Dean refused to see it.

 

[kenito7]

Surprised so many wanted Sutter gone but Dean to stay.

The management has been a bigger issue than the coaching the last three years (although both have been bad). The Kings were not a good team until Sutter arrived, in fact without Sutter in 2012 the Kings probably miss the playoffs and Dean is fired and who knows what happens.

I think both had to go, just a little surprised that Dean had such a longer leash with many, and people wanted to give him the power to hire a new coach.

I completely agree with this. The decisions made by DL will affect the Kings negatively
for years to come. All credit for 2 cups but we are were we are now because of DL.
Sorry to see the Kings promote Blake and Robitaille but not for the reasons that most people believe.I think the Kings need a major overhaul this team lacks the talent to compeat.

 

[Sacha Baron Corbin]

Ray knows s*** about d***.

Blake is NOT a leader... he's proven that twice. Terrible, terrible choice.

Herby's comments have been entertaining tho...

Really insightful post wow. What exactly has Herby been wrong about?

If I remember correctly, Herby was one of the few on this board who was right about Mike Richards in 2014

 

[TruKingFan]

You guys wanted DL gone. I better not read complaints about Blake.

Exactly. Be careful of what they wish for and all that ****. Blake???? LMAO.

 

[WHOneedsSOX]

Well the games are pretty boring based on style of play, no creative scoring plays, so I get what he is saying.

I can only imagine practicing the get it deep and then cycle endlessly to get a shot back out from the blue line so often.

I agree it could be boring but not something a leader should be saying to the media. Leaders are supposed to be the guys who work the hardest. But then little things like that just magnify the issues between the players and coaches.

 

[ru4reals]

oh yeah blame the guy that plays less then 10 mins a game The 4th line is not the kings problems Its the top 9 not scoring goals

Simply stating the lack of depth my young apprentice. And I did point out the disappointing year that our top guys had this year. No worries I except your apologies. No need to get testy it's been a loong year for all of us. I understand I feel the pain too.

 

[Herby]

oh yeah blame the guy that plays less then 10 mins a game The 4th line is not the kings problems Its the top 9 not scoring goals

I agree with you that it's not fair to blame Clifford and AA.

But on the flip side, guys like Clifford should not be with the organization for 7+ seasons and making what he makes. I think that was a big issue with the Kings under DL, there was to much of a country club atmosphere and guys got to comfortable.

 

[TruKingFan]

Over the entire tenure? Ofcourse.

But the last three years basically everything Lombardi has done has blown up in his face, can we think of one positive move?

And the three years before that was the best ever. So there.

But giving the reins to Robitaille and Blake is just laughably ridiculous I got tears my eyes.

 

[Fishhead]

I'm actually not all that worried about Blake as GM, I think he'll do fine regardless of whatever happened in the past. He's a smart dude, has worked for the league, and can figure things out.

Luc as President worries me a lot more. I hope he has the sense to stay completely out of hockey decisions.

Pissed at how this went down though. DL had been well below standard for a couple years now, but one thing he always showed was respect for others, which made me proud that he represented the Kings. He took the franchise from a punchline to two cups, he should have been treated with the same respect he always showed others on his way out.

 

[Whiskeypete]

I really disagree with all this "new NHL is speed and skill" rhetoric. This is not some groundbreaking evolution league wide that left the Kings in the dust. Playing heavy and hard is not all of a sudden impossible. The Kings simply don't have the horses to play heavy and hard like they used to. The Kings style didn't fail them. Their personnel did.

Do you really think the 2012 Kings fail to make the playoffs this year? That was a heavy, hard team.

Hockey systems are all known sciences at this point. Other teams prioritizing one system does not negate all the others. It's just a matter of how WELL any team can execute a system.

If a team is really ****ing good at hard and heavy, they're still going to win games in a skill/speed league. The problem is that the Kings stopped being really ****ing good at hard and heavy a long time ago. The league didn't "pass them up." They just got worse, regardless of system of choice.

speed kills, it always kills. you can't check/grind/hit what you can't catch. add some skill to that element and now you're screwed.

we used to ***** about how a team like CHI used to tear LA apart and at times just toy with them. they had speed and skill, while the Kings were at their best during that same period. iirc LA had something like a 2-8 stretch against them at some point.

when LA was at its pinnacle they had major issues against the one team that countered them with that mix of speed and skill. playing big all the time isn't always the answer. being able to mix things up and keep teams off balance (second guessing) becomes as much of a strategy and part of the system.

think back to DET Cup teams, they didn't play big. with the exception of the grinders like McCarty, Draper, Maltby the team played a skill game. they would get knocked around by opponents, but the great equalizer so often came down to puck possession which lead to shots, PP's and goals. teams would always try to play them big, grind them down and intimidate them - it didn't work.

somewhere between all of this conjecture and opinion is where LA needs to transform their game. for starters they need to play a style that compliments their personnel better. this is DL's and DS's legacy of crap they leave behind. they kept trying to play a game they weren't built for like you noted. second, they need to adjust their game plan for 60-minutes because the Kings are damn predictable on where the puck is going. that has less to do with player skill, than how Sutter's system worked. breakouts that get jammed and double teamed. cycling in the O zone that never transitions off the boards. you know the story

it was time for a change. the players to me looked like they had enough of Sutter a long time ago. let's hope the new regime gets us back on track

 

[fsanford]

I agree it could be boring but not something a leader should be saying to the media. Leaders are supposed to be the guys who work the hardest. But then little things like that just magnify the issues between the players and coaches.

Was listening to Brent Burns on the radio today, now the Sharks have hit the wall eerily following Kings pattern last year. But the one thing he talked about how much fun practices were.

I just never figured that Sutter's practices were ever fun.

Sometimes when you have a veteran bunch, and there is not more veteran bunch than the Kings, riding them hard is probably not the answer.

Also I think when Williams left the leadership left the team (along with Mitchell). Drew is not what I consider a leader. I know this is probably just me, but guys like Williams and Mitchell seemed to appreciate the fans. I always get the feeling guys like Drew really could not care less about fans, or the franchise, I think he does care about teamates.

Not sure if you were at the game on Saturday, the video tributes to Bob, they had Dustin Brown do it, and it just seemed so forced. Nothing from Doughty, nothing from Carter, I don't even think Kopi if i remember right.

But they had Justin Williams do it and it seemed like he really cared and was so sincere. The guy is just built differently.

Anyway I agree Doughty should not have said anything, but Doughty has some growing up to do, maybe by the time he reaches his 30's he will find that professional maturity.

 

[WHOneedsSOX]

Was listening to Brent Burns on the radio today, now the Sharks have hit the wall eerily following Kings pattern last year. But the one thing he talked about how much fun practices were.

I just never figured that Sutter's practices were ever fun.

Sometimes when you have a veteran bunch, and there is not more veteran bunch than the Kings, riding them hard is probably not the answer.

Also I think when Williams left the leadership left the team (along with Mitchell). Drew is not what I consider a leader. I know this is probably just me, but guys like Williams and Mitchell seemed to appreciate the fans. I always get the feeling guys like Drew really could not care less about fans, or the franchise, I think he does care about teamates.

Not sure if you were at the game on Saturday, the video tributes to Bob, they had Dustin Brown do it, and it just seemed so forced. Nothing from Doughty, nothing from Carter, I don't even think Kopi if i remember right.

But they had Justin Williams do it and it seemed like he really cared and was so sincere. The guy is just built differently.

Anyway I agree Doughty should not have said anything, but Doughty has some growing up to do, maybe by the time he reaches his 30's he will find that professional maturity.

I agree with everything you said. Hockey is a sport. It's supposed to be fun. Of course you can't just play pond hockey but Sutter can't be so tough on them all the time for every little mistake. Especially the rookies. I get that he's trying to groom them and mold them but what does a rookie think when they get benched for one small mistake when Muzzin makes horrible mistakes and still plays 25 minutes a night.

Don't recall seeing Kopitar say anything during Bob's day. Brown always sounds like that so I felt like it was sincere. But yeah, you can tell there's a difference from when guys like Regehr or Williams spoke compared to Kopitar or Doughty.

 

[Kingspiracy]

Sad to see both guys go. A change was needed, but i'm surprised Lombardi was shown the door as well as Sutter. I would have preferred to keep DL about in some capacity.

I'm very wary of Luc and Blake taking over their new roles. Perhaps i'm just worried of change, but at least these guys have been groomed for the roles. The club is very familiar with both guys, so hopefully they know what we are getting and the change will fire up the players.

Perhaps some of the team got too comfortable, a change of management may get them to bring their 'A' game.

 

[ScoreZeGoals]

Dennis Bernstein‏ @DennisTFP · 4m4 minutes ago

Heard Lombardi went against advice of his inner circle to bring back Sutter after last season. Always a gambler lost some big bets lately

Loyal to a fault, Lombardi's downfall time and time again

 

[DryIslandBartender]

Feels like blaming the style of play is such a cop out. For many years the Kings had crappy goaltending, crappy defense and sometimes we had scoring. Dean comes along and all of a sudden we have elite goaltending, Norris trophy winner etc. He completely changes the franchise from top to bottom. From equipment managers, changing weight rooms, hiring nutritionists, investing in development. There was so much that Dean changed and built the foundation for success that led us to two cups and fantastic playoff runs. Could have been a dynasty with 3 cups, and that's part of the reason why Dean Lombardi went after Lucic, Sekera etc. He felt this team had the ability to win more than just those two.

There's a lot of Hockey knowledge and experience that AEG just canned. Was it the right move? Not with Dean. With Sutter? Maybe. I don't like how it was handled and I don't like how Luc and Blake get promoted. They don't exactly do years of scouting, roster shaping, capology, you know grunt work. I'm not sure they earned the right to make roster decisions. Their known for their playing days and Luc is a good promoter, and make no mistake, Luc made a power play. Took advantage of the situation and went after Deans job. He's been wanting it for years.

At the end of the day, it's on the players. They played like crap for Terry Murray, had their little tantrum and then they get Sutter who they raved about. Now the same **** is happening except the decision makers do not have any experience running an NHL club.


Feels like we're heading right back to the pre-dean Lieweekly years with Dave Taylor as a figurehead.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

Everyone pissed about Lombardi being 'fired'...I'm not sure that's the case. Didn't his contract expire after this season? So, it was decided to not re-sign him, he wasn't fired.

 

[DryIslandBartender]

I agree with you that it's not fair to blame Clifford and AA.

But on the flip side, guys like Clifford should not be with the organization for 7+ seasons and making what he makes. I think that was a big issue with the Kings under DL, there was to much of a country club atmosphere and guys got to comfortable.

it was so much of a country club atmosphere that AEG decided the best way to change that is to promote Luc and Blake, good old boys network.

 

[ScoreZeGoals]

Everyone pissed about Lombardi being 'fired'...I'm not sure that's the case. Didn't his contract expire after this season? So, it was decided to not re-sign him, he wasn't fired.

That's another aspect, were they going to seriously give him a multi year extension after the last three years? Would anyone want any part of a one year lame duck contract? It was time

 

[fsanford]

it was so much of a country club atmosphere that AEG decided the best way to change that is to promote Luc and Blake, good old boys network.

Well as some have mentioned most people think Blake has no loyalty. A good ole boys club is all about loyalty and ignoring performance.

So is Blake good ole boy or not?

 

[Basilisk]

Replacing Dean with Blake is like trading Zhitnik for Fhur.


TERRIBLE MOVE!!!!




Something tells me I'm going to be taking a break from Kings fandom for the next several years..... I did so from 1994-2000 and, coincidentally enough, those were Blake's glory years with the franchise. LoL, can you tell I'm not a Blake fan? ;-)