Speculation: Fire Rob Blake Blow it Up Offseason Thread (update: Robitaille, Blake and Hiller stay)

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King'sPawn

Enjoy the chaos
Jul 1, 2003
22,825
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His actions and his literal comments on his show say otherwise. I believe it was his most recent podcast where he implied that if he went negative about the Kings that he would lose access and fans would lose insider info, that is not a normal way for a team/media relationship to be. But then again with their actions towards certain media members it's clear that the Kings under Luc and Blake have no desire to have a traditional media set-up.

Furthermore, the ridiculous unprofessional interview last summer where Yannetti told multiple blatant unchecked lies on Hoven's podcast, in particular that "We have always done it this way, slow cooking brought us two Stanley Cups". Anyone who has been a fan of this team through that era knows that was a lie, Yannetti knew it was a lie, Hoven knew it was a lie, Bernstein knew it was a lie, I knew it was a lie, you knew it was a lie, and not a thing was said at the time or since then to point out that the Kings Director of Scouting spewed BS on his podcast. Now if you want to say that Hoven didn't want to step on any toes by calling out the lies in real-time (despite hyping Yannetti as such an honest straight shooter) you can take that angle, but he has on multiple occasions amplified those lies on subsequent future podcasts, saying things like "You heard it here from Yank, Kings fans, the way they are handling youth now is exactly the same way they did under Lombardi, and that brought two Stanley Cups". That is indeed parroting the lies of the organization, I just don't see how anyone could say otherwise.

Compare it to when Surfin Muzz went on ATKM and told an equally blatant whopper lie about AHL usage for all young players, while the lie was not checked at the time, at least the host(s) of that podcast do not continue to amplify and parrot the lies of members of the organization, that is why people come at Hoven and Bernstein but not Jesse. There is a level of professionalism on ATKM that is completely non-existent on Hoven's podcast.
I've already addressed a lot of this in a previous post, so I apologize if I don't respond to every point again. And you as well as several others have your opinions on Hoven, and it's pointless to argue or try to change your minds.

The focus is on the draft now. There's very little from any media source about additional news regarding PLD, coaching changes, management changes, etc. You can keep thinking that Hoven's just sitting by his phone waiting for the next thing management wants him to say. He's not. Like the rest of us, he also has a full-time job and follows up the best he can with the information he thinks is accurate, interesting, and appropriate for public consumption. If there's nothing there from Hoven, it either doesn't match the criteria above or he doesn't have any information.

As far as Yannetti, you keep claiming how much he lies when we literally agree with the general point that the Kings take an unconventional and rigid path to development, and even their top picks spend way too much time in the AHL. Are there exceptions? Yes. But to say Yannetti is flat out lying at this point, when even we complain about the Kings developmental decisions, is talking out of both sides of your mouth.

Based on his social media, I do think Hoven has a lot of genuine respect for Yannetti. If I were to make a top-3 list of people he has openly shared the highest respect, it would be Kyle Clifford, Mike Stothers, and Mark Yannetti.

Is it respect to the point of naivete? That's up to you to decide. I think when Yannetti tells this "lie", it's a general attitude of management and the team without delving into the exceptions. That's my interpretation.

I get Hoven and Bernstein rub people the wrong way. I can't control that. I think, unfortunately, there has been an increasingly combative relationship between some fans and KotP. That doesn't make things okay. But I'm not going to tell them how to do their podcast unsolicited, either.

I will say, and I said it earlier in the thread, that I mentioned the importance of knowing the audience for articles - fans are rightfully frustrated with management, and I echoed several of my own sentiments for that dissatisfaction. I can't promise change in content, only what I will continue to write. And with my content, it's not a platform I will use to take pot shots at management, as tempting as it has been at times.

So, I understand several of you have issues with Hoven. I'm not saying you don't have a right to, as I'm sure your experiences and interpretations vary. I do truly want you all to have a better experience and opinion of him, because I care about him as I do all of you. I hope things eventually turn out for the better.

But there are plenty of things he doesn't say. So, again, your assertion he's there to parrot management is simply incorrect. I understand why you feel that way, and I'm honestly sorry you do, but it's simply incorrect.
 

BigKing

Blake Out of Hell III: Back in to Hell
Mar 11, 2003
11,654
12,603
Belmont Shore, CA
google.com
The lack of critical media--at least on a platform with enough eyeballs--is an almost insurmountable road block to this franchise having success.

Bluc is the government in Brave New World: Hoven is soma. A quote from the novel:

"And if ever, by some unlucky chance, anything unpleasant should somehow happen, why, there’s always soma to give you a holiday from the facts. And there’s always soma to calm your anger, to reconcile you to your enemies, to make you patient and long-suffering."
 

Chazz Reinhold

Registered User
Sep 6, 2005
9,211
3,130
The Stanley Cup
MAF stood on his head too. Was a close series.
The Kings’ xGF% in each game: 45.81%, 28.85%, 44.59%, and 56.69%. One game above 50% and one game an absolute throttling. Scoring chances for and against each game: 19-23, 20-52, 26-34, 25-19. High-danger chances for and against for each game: 7-7, 7-18, 7-15, 10-7. That series was not very close.
 

KopitarGOAT420

Registered User
Jan 30, 2020
564
844
USA
What about Ilya Samsonov as a potential option in net??

Seems pretty clear Toronto won't be re-signing him and he's a pending UFA.

27 year old 6'3 Russian goalie who was a previous 1st round pick back in 2015. He's certainly had some ups and downs throughout his career but maybe it's a situation where he just needs to gel in the right environment to start to thrive more consistently?

And he's coming off a down season so I imagine they could probably get him for fairly cheap (assuming he's interested in signing in LA of course).... Wonder if they could get him on something like a 2 year deal in the $2-2.5m range.

Kings could have Samsonov and Rittich split starts (unless one of them gets hot and takes over the net) and would have Portillo waiting in the pipeline to fill in as needed (ideally he ends up getting 10 games or so).

I'm not saying it's an amazing move that will instantly fix/solve the goaltending problem but it could be an interesting option that isn't terribly expensive.
 
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Telos

In Byfield We Must Trust
Aug 16, 2008
33,038
8,157
Reno, NV
The Mastermind of the 1-3-1
Lots of teams play the 1-3-1 though. The Kings got singled out for it because it became their identity and it was both very publicly working and failing against Canadian teams. Getting rid of it with this roster is certainly good, but I want the Mastermind(s) of the PLD trade held accountable far more than the 1-3-1 assistant coach who probably isn't any more culpable than TMac, Blake, or anyone else that ran to the 1-3-1 given our goaltending situation.
 

tny760

Registered User
Mar 12, 2017
20,284
22,065
What is it with you guys and the 1-3-1 ????

It doesn't matter what system we are playing, the issue is having no #1 center, no #1 defense and average goaltending.
What we need is to restart a rebuild, not a system change
i don't disagree but this team played much better hockey when they would break out of the 1-3-1 default and actually forecheck

has hiller even been confirmed?
i don't think so but i'm kinda just going off the impression i got from blake
 

Schrute farms

LA Kings: new GM wanted -- inquire within
Jul 7, 2020
2,529
4,571
Oh man, what a shake up, finally the person behind all of LA's woes is being held accountable. It is only up from here, boys... :sarcasm:
The Fall Guy (2024) | Movie Site | Now ...
The Fall Guy (Series) - TV Tropes
 

SettlementRichie10

Registered User
May 6, 2012
10,190
8,372
It’s also worth recalling that Rich Hammond left the whole LAK Insider gig because the org started trying to mold what he wrote.

Edit: I’m half lying. Here’s the story: Did a Kings blogger quit his job because of NHL interference?

The NHL wanted Hammond to take down an interview he did during the lockout. The Kings actually stuck up for him at first but eventually caved. Hammond was worried he would be pressured to take things down again so he left.
 
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All The Kings Men

Registered User
Apr 7, 2016
2,283
5,437
It’s also worth recalling that Rich Hammond left the whole LAK Insider gig because the org started trying to mold what he wrote.

Edit: I’m half lying. Here’s the story: Did a Kings blogger quit his job because of NHL interference?

The NHL wanted Hammond to take down an interview he did during the lockout. The Kings actually stuck up for him at first but eventually caved. Hammond was worried he would be pressured to take things down again so he left.
nobody has ever lost a job or a credential as a result of being critical of the organization

it simply does not happen
 
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