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

[Herby]

Like Yanetti it’s reasonable that guests talk about their areas of responsibility (which they do) and unrealistic to expect them to get into stuff BLuc is responsible for.

But he (Yannetti) was totally comfortable defending BLuc's bizarre development strategies last year, right? That is where the factually incorrect "We have always slow cooked everyone, for as long as I've been here" quote came from.

If people don't want to discuss something that is fine, but you can't say something (especially something that is just not true) and then expect nobody to call you out on the BS.

You have been a fan of this team for a long time, you saw all those players come up very young, with no AHL experience. You can't possibly say the philosophy is the same.

 

[bland]

There are always players that are going to require time to mature, physically or emotionally. Some guys are built for the pro game from a very young age.

The problem, as I see it, is that they routinely sign veteran players to contracts that will prevent the prospects from fulfilling the strengths of their game and end up over-marinating kids to enter the league into roles that not only don't suit their strengths, but also negate the reasons why they were selected in the first place e.

The question isn't "why is so and so in the AHL so long?" but rather "why did you select that player if you weren't going to give them the RIGHT opportunity when they are ready?"

 

[Hockeyville USA]

The only thing preventing LA from having the worst uniforms in the league over the past decade was the Duck's atrocities.

If Anaheim comes out with a good re-design, we'll likely have the worst jerseys in the league.

Capitals have the worst because the wordmark with the stick is pretty bad. Only thing making their jerseys palatable is the home red color is solid (although too many have red).

Rangers wordmark jersey only works because it's classic. Otherwise, wordmark only jerseys suck. If the Rangers were an expansion team with that jersey, it would get chastised appropriately.

 

[johnjm22]

Capitals have the worst because the wordmark with the stick is pretty bad. Only thing making their jerseys palatable is the home red color is solid (although too many have red).

Rangers wordmark jersey only works because it's classic. Otherwise, wordmark only jerseys suck. If the Rangers were an expansion team with that jersey, it would get chastised appropriately.

Bro, there's nothing worse than these.

Arguably the worst in major professional North American sports.

The NHL should have stepped in long ago.

 

[johnjm22]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1798885171300647312

 

[theMajor]

I really wonder what the plan for RD is when Roy walks

 

[ScoreZeGoals]

I really wonder what the plan for RD is when Roy walks

Doughty, Clarke, Spence

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1798885171300647312

Drew pounding down the Guinness beers, while Greene downs salt, pepper, hot sauces, and ginger beer. What a man.

 

[DoktorJeep]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1798885171300647312

Nice artwork

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

He’s being untruthful, period. The question is on the current Kings player development philosophy, which emphasizes heavy AHL involvement for everyone, including players taken high in the first round, more so than any other team in the league. He could have defended it without making historically inaccurate comparisons, which would have been fine, fans can agree or disagree with him, but at least it's his opinion, he is entitled to his own opinion, but he isn't entitled to his own facts. The facts just don't back up what he said in any way, between 2006-2010 during the Kings accumulation of assets stage you had Kopitar, Doughty, Simmonds, Moller, Bernier, Johnson and Clifford make their NHL debuts without seeing any AHL time. That is seven players in five season span, compare that to the current Kings team and you have one player, a 22 year old middle six winger in laf. I'm sorry, one does not just "forget" something like that. And if someones memory is that poor and he did indeed forget, maybe he shouldn't use historical references to discuss or justify current things.


Your examples of those other players are fine, but nobody is saying that the Kings didn't have any prospects in the AHL back then, just that they didn't slow cook everyone like the current team does. Also, you are talking about secondary pieces, not top half of first round picks. There is just no way you can compare the developmental philosophy of Rob Blake's front office to that of Dean Lombardi's front office. You can say one is better than the other, but you can't say they are anything alike, it's not even close.

Can we at least be factual?

Clifford, and Moller both had AHL time BEFORE their NHL debuts, no idea who Johnson is, but you had 4 players in a 5 season span vs 10 who did spend time in the AHL right off the bat...

As opposed to 2017 to now,

Bjornfoot, Kaliyev, Spence, Laferriere, Clarke

 

[theMajor]

Doughty, Clarke, Spence

I think hes ready but do you think hiller is going to let him chew up 20 minutes a night??

 

[ScoreZeGoals]

I think hes ready but do you think hiller is going to let him chew up 20 minutes a night??

Yes, but only because the Kings backed themselves into a corner with the cap

 

[johnjm22]

Drew pounding down the Guinness beers, while Greene downs salt, pepper, hot sauces, and ginger beer. What a man.

Avatar potential.

 

[Herby]

Can we at least be factual?

Clifford, and Moller both had AHL time BEFORE their NHL debuts, no idea who Johnson is, but you had 4 players in a 5 season span vs 10 who did spend time in the AHL right off the bat...

As opposed to 2017 to now,

Bjornfoot, Kaliyev, Spence, Laferriere, Clarke

Clifford and Moller played in the playoffs in the AHL as 18 year olds after their junior seasons, 7 games for Clifford and 2 for Moller.

Do you believe 2 playoff games was Oscar Moller being "slow-cooked" ?, was 7 playoff games enough for Kyle Clifford to "pay his dues" and "learn the system"?

But fine GBH, I'll reword it....even though it makes no difference.

Here are the players with the full AHL game transparency before joining the Kings between 2006-2010

Kopitar - (0)
Doughty -(0)
Johnson - (0)
Simmonds - (0)
Schenn - (0)
Moller - (2 playoff)
Clifford - (7 playoff)

Does this really change anything about the argument GBH?
Do you believe the Kings under DL were a slow cook team similar to the current team, Yes or No?

And I already know what the reply will be...

"There are plenty of different ways to develop a player" as you are sitting here defending an organization that only develops players one way.

But hey, at least you have stopped trying to say they don't use their AHL team more than any other team. Even you realize that's undeniable.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Clifford and Moller played in the playoffs in the AHL as 18 year olds after their junior seasons, 7 games for Clifford and 2 for Moller.

Do you believe 2 playoff games was Oscar Moller being "slow-cooked" ?, was 7 playoff games enough for Kyle Clifford to "pay his dues" and "learn the system"?

But fine GBH, I'll reword it....even though it makes no difference.

Here are the players with the full AHL game transparency before joining the Kings between 2006-2010

Kopitar - (0)
Doughty -(0)
Johnson - (0)
Simmonds - (0)
Schenn - (0)
Moller - (2 playoff)
Clifford - (7 playoff)

Does this really change anything about the argument GBH?
Do you believe the Kings under DL were a slow cook team similar to the current team, Yes or No?

And I already know what the reply will be...

"There are plenty of different ways to develop a player" as you are sitting here defending an organization that only develops players one way.

But hey, at least you have stopped trying to say they don't use their AHL team more than any other team. Even you realize that's undeniable.

In the same time period,

Jonathan Quick (71)
Trevor Lewis (159)
Dwight King (144)
Alec Martinez (72)
Thomas Hickey (214)
Vyaschlev Voynov (216)
Nic Dowd (133)
Jordan Nolan (115)
Nic Deslauriers (118)

Or would you like to add any other criteria, I mean, if Moller's 2 games, and Cliffords 7 games don't mean anything, why in the f*** are you trying to use Bernier's 4 games in the NHL before 3 seasons in the AHL ?

 

[Herby]

In the same time period,

Jonathan Quick (71)
Trevor Lewis (159)
Dwight King (144)
Alec Martinez (72)
Thomas Hickey (214)
Vyaschlev Voynov (216)
Nic Dowd (133)
Jordan Nolan (115)
Nic Deslauriers (118)

Or would you like to add any other criteria, I mean, if Moller's 2 games, and Cliffords 7 games don't mean anything, why in the f*** are you trying to use Bernier's 4 games in the NHL before 3 seasons in the AHL ?

Once again, you are straw-manning, just like with the Will Smith thing, trying to say I said no freshman should ever leave college.. Nobody says that depth players don't need AHL time, please point out when I ever said that? You are defending the belief that every player should spend time in the AHL (that is fine, its an opinion you are free to have) and are claiming that the Kings of the past did things exactly the same, when they very clearly didn't.

Once again, since you didn't answer the first time.

Do you believe the Kings under DL were a slow cook team similar to the current team under Blake, Yes or No?

 

[AbsentMojo]

Avatar potential.

Lets come up with some captions...

1. Greener, I'd ask you to teach me to fight, but you werent any good at it
2. Ive won 2 cups, world champ, olympic gold and a norris.. you'd think Id be happy but i cant stop thinking about that time i got clowned by Tkuchuk
3. I think the fans are getting restless - but looks like Luc and Blakey did a good job of bullshitting them again.. i think we're good for 1 more year

 

[kingsboy11]

Clifford and Moller played in the playoffs in the AHL as 18 year olds after their junior seasons, 7 games for Clifford and 2 for Moller.

Do you believe 2 playoff games was Oscar Moller being "slow-cooked" ?, was 7 playoff games enough for Kyle Clifford to "pay his dues" and "learn the system"?

But fine GBH, I'll reword it....even though it makes no difference.

Here are the players with the full AHL game transparency before joining the Kings between 2006-2010

Kopitar - (0)
Doughty -(0)
Johnson - (0)
Simmonds - (0)
Schenn - (0)
Moller - (2 playoff)
Clifford - (7 playoff)

Does this really change anything about the argument GBH?
Do you believe the Kings under DL were a slow cook team similar to the current team, Yes or No?

And I already know what the reply will be...

"There are plenty of different ways to develop a player" as you are sitting here defending an organization that only develops players one way.

But hey, at least you have stopped trying to say they don't use their AHL team more than any other team. Even you realize that's undeniable.

Alright cool, there's 2 HHOF players and a couple other guys there too. But there's also a lack of Trevor Lewis (182 games for the Monarchs), Thomas Hickey (179 games for the Monarchs) and Colten Teubert (39 games for the Monarchs). I'm also not really including Bernier among that Kopi group because he spent way more time with the Monarchs ( 115 games) before he really made it to the NHL

The point I'm trying to make is that (GBH can speak for himself) is that, yes, the Kings brought young players into the NHL without AHL games, but that was only for the first 4 years when they were basically building from scratch. Once they traded for Penner at the deadline and Richards in the following offseason, that philosophy went out the window. And for the past 13 years that has how they have done it. I think most of us would agree that if they didn't trade for Richards, Schenn would've made the team out of camp or at least was expected to that upcoming season

If you want to hold him at knife point and hold him to his exact words then be my guest. I just don't think this comment is the hill worth dying on. I'd be irate if he said the opposite and that the Kings have always given youth a chance, when this past decade says otherwise.

IMO there's been an over-reliance on the AHL squad since they moved the AHL team out here.

 

[FrozenKing18]

Capitals have the worst because the wordmark with the stick is pretty bad. Only thing making their jerseys palatable is the home red color is solid (although too many have red).

Rangers wordmark jersey only works because it's classic. Otherwise, wordmark only jerseys suck. If the Rangers were an expansion team with that jersey, it would get chastised appropriately.

Caps reverse retro jerseys were money. They should’ve stuck with it.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Alright cool, there's 2 HHOF players and a couple other guys there too. But there's also a lack of Trevor Lewis (182 games for the Monarchs), Thomas Hickey (179 games for the Monarchs) and Colten Teubert (39 games for the Monarchs). I'm also not really including Bernier among that Kopi group because he spent way more time with the Monarchs ( 115 games) before he really made it to the NHL

The point I'm trying to make is that (GBH can speak for himself) is that, yes, the Kings brought young players into the NHL without AHL games, but that was only for the first 4 years when they were basically building from scratch. Once they traded for Penner at the deadline and Richards in the following offseason, that philosophy went out the window. And for the past 13 years that has how they have done it. I think most of us would agree that if they didn't trade for Richards, Schenn would've made the team out of camp or at least was expected to that upcoming season

If you want to hold him at knife point and hold him to his exact words then be my guest. I just don't think this comment is the hill worth dying on. I'd be irate if he said the opposite and that the Kings have always given youth a chance, when this past decade says otherwise.

IMO there's been an over-reliance on the AHL squad since they moved the AHL team out here.

Okay but even for the JAGs including the ones you mentioned earlier
Lewis was getting games at 21 and full time by 23
King 21 and in the league at 22
Toffoli at 20
Voynov had just turned 22 and is full time

that's a far cry from Thomas and others literally running out of waiver eligibility first, if we're lucky, Thomas will make the team out of camp at 24 turning 25, to say nothing of the others, and that's on a blackhole team, not a team coming off a Cup.

Guys now are literally 2-3 years or more later than their counterparts from earlier years, it's not a nothing distinction

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Once again, you are straw-manning, just like with the Will Smith thing, trying to say I said no freshman should ever leave college.. Nobody says that depth players don't need AHL time, please point out when I ever said that? You are defending the belief that every player should spend time in the AHL (that is fine, its an opinion you are free to have) and are claiming that the Kings of the past did things exactly the same, when they very clearly didn't.

Once again, since you didn't answer the first time.

Do you believe the Kings under DL were a slow cook team similar to the current team under Blake, Yes or No?

I think since DL they've been doing it on a per player basis,

So if they slow cook everyone, now, according to you, and

Back then in a 5 year span, they didn't slow cook 7 players, (made their NHL debut before significant AHL time)

Explain away, Spence, Kaliyev, Vilardi, Bjornfoot, JAD, Laferriere, Clarke, 7 players who fit your criteria....

BTW, 11th OA player as a depth player, you think they saw Lewis as a depth player and drafted him 11th OA ?

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Okay but even for the JAGs including the ones you mentioned earlier
Lewis was getting games at 21 and full time by 23
King 21 and in the league at 22
Toffoli at 20
Voynov had just turned 22 and is full time

that's a far cry from Thomas and others literally running out of waiver eligibility first, if we're lucky, Thomas will make the team out of camp at 24 turning 25, to say nothing of the others, and that's on a blackhole team, not a team coming off a Cup.

Guys now are literally 2-3 years or more later than their counterparts from earlier years, it's not a nothing distinction

Is it?

Spence full time 22 years old
Anderson full time 21 years old
Vilardi full time 21 years old
Laferriere full time 21 years old
Bjornfoot full time 20 years old
Kaliyev full time 20 years old
Byfield full time 19 years old

You bring up Thomas.....career full of injuries so far and think that's the norm, gonna bring up Turcotte next, career full of injuries as well.....AT BEST....you have Clarke...and Fagemo, Clarke 2 years pro, and Fagemo 4 years pro.....at BEST.

 

[YP44]

Caps reverse retro jerseys were money. They should’ve stuck with it.

View attachment 880210

LA had some of the best reverse retro. Especially the RR2. That shoudl eb their white full time, and make a gold or purple home. Or have both!

 

[Statto]

Where exactly are his ties spelled out? My understanding is he’s a life long fan who produces content because he is passionate. The only ties I’m aware of are him being a long time season ticket buyer who gives his seats away for the majority of the home games because the press pass the Kings gave him provide a place in the press box for him to watch from instead of his purchased seats.

Well as far as I understand it his ties are some sort of partnership (probably not the right term) with the team. I forget exactly what the term is. He certainly gets better access than most.

 

[chris kontos]

Once again, you are straw-manning, just like with the Will Smith thing, trying to say I said no freshman should ever leave college.. Nobody says that depth players don't need AHL time, please point out when I ever said that? You are defending the belief that every player should spend time in the AHL (that is fine, its an opinion you are free to have) and are claiming that the Kings of the past did things exactly the same, when they very clearly didn't.

Once again, since you didn't answer the first time.

Do you believe the Kings under DL were a slow cook team similar to the current team under Blake, Yes or No?

somebody needs to give that guy a rock to argue with as his entire being is an argument. watch as someone presents a point and no matter what its content he will argue against it. part of what makes internet message boards toxic as f***.