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

[DAkings20]

This is what happens when you have an old boys club running your entire organization.

My view of Luc as a legacy player for this franchise is slowly being taken over by my disgust of him in the front office.

 

[Chazz Reinhold]

"I think we're making progress"

What. The. f***.

2022: Oilers in 7
2023: Oilers in 6
2024: Oilers in 5

You fired you 5 million dollar coach.

What progress you stupid f***ing muppet?????

Some reporter—bless his heart—pushed on that point, highlighting losing in 5 and accumulating a lower point total in the regular season. Blake’s answer was something like: lower goals against, more goals scored, and better goaltending (which is funny considering both goalies this year were one-year mercenaries, neither of whom is the future in net). It was a meaningless answer considering that one-year fluctuations in stats don’t somehow connote progress.

 

[kingsholygrail]

This is what happens when you have an old boys club running your entire organization.

My view of Luc as a legacy player for this franchise is slowly being taken over by my disgust of him in the front office.

It's like watching Gretzky coach.

 

[funky]

Luc should stop hiding in plain sight & answer questions instead of rambling corporate BS, he sounded like the boss from Dilbert.

I know I am in the minority but I liked 80% of Blake’s answers. No real bullshit. Luc on the other hand sounded like an uneducated idiot. All I could think of was Russell Crowe in a Beautiful Mind.

Blake admitted they may need to look at a different system but conceded he liked the defensive aspect. He challenged the consistency of the team which we all did. In my mind is that players, coaches or both?

He admitted they may need to go bigger on the 4th line. Even mentioned the Reigns big guys playing well in the AHL.

Admits and stated the kids have to be injected into the lineup next year. Mentioned Turc, Thomas and Clarke.

Funny there was no mention of Fagemo.

Scorched Kaliyev. Said he did nothing for them down the stretch.

As much as I didn’t like the conference and as much as I think he is a dolt, there is some stupid hope left in me he sees what we see.

I still think Luc pulls the strings though.

 

[Ollie Weeks]

I desperately hope not getting a Game 6 at home f***ed up some revenue related bonuses for these jagoffs.

 

[David Lunch]

I know I am in the minority but I liked 80% of Blake’s answers. No real bullshit. Luc on the other hand sounded like an uneducated idiot. All I could think of was Russell Crowe in a Beautiful Mind.

Blake admitted they may need to look at a different system but conceded he liked the defensive aspect. He challenged the consistency of the team which we all did. In my mind is that players, coaches or both?

He admitted they may need to go bigger on the 4th line. Even mentioned the Reigns big guys playing well in the AHL.

Admits and stated the kids have to be injected into the lineup next year. Mentioned Turc, Thomas and Clarke.

Funny there was no mention of Fagemo.

Scorched Kaliyev. Said he did nothing for them down the stretch.

As much as I didn’t like the conference and as much as I think he is a dolt, there is some stupid hope left in me he sees what we see.

I still think Luc pulls the strings though.

About the only positive thing I took away from the presser was the fact that Blake brought up Turcotte, Thomas and Clarke's names without being prompted. Gotta feel for Fagemo.

 

[kingsfan28]

The only possible thing that makes sense to me is that coming off the 2014 cup, financial forecasts were raised for the next 5 years. And the money was spent while the revenues failed to come in at the expected levels.

That opened a window for Robitaille to whisper in Beckerman’s ear that a couple of changes could get the money back on track.

But first Brisson had to tell Luc.

 

[funky]

About the only positive thing I took away from the presser was the fact that Blake brought up Turcotte, Thomas and Clarke's names without being prompted. Gotta feel for Fagemo.

They don’t know how to score as a team and won’t allow anyone on the team that can unless they have a PHD in defensive play.

Kaliyev was neutered and Fagemo is following in the same manner. PLD and Fialas offence went backwards. It’s like the guys that have to try and work on defense, sacrifice their offensive skill.

Guys like Kopitar and Kempe that thrive defensively don’t seem to be affected as much, but even can be took years to develop his offensive game, something we thought he had originally

 

[tigermask48]

So... This is a Utah board now?

 

[BaileyFan]

He said, "He didn't help us down the stretch at all." He sounded pissed off answering the question. He might as well said "f*** that guy, next question."

I think there’s been this weird animus from management towards Kaliyev for a while. I wonder if BLuc thought he made them look bad by getting suspended and indirectly causing them to play the first game of the season shorthanded after they reassured everyone they had maneuvered the cap. I also wouldn’t be shocked if they blame Arthur for the Dubois acquisition blowing up on their face considering they spent so much time hyping up how awesome Fiala-Dubois-Kaliyev was gonna be and how he was poised to become a consistent scorer.

I mean it wouldn’t exactly be surprising to see this management group scapegoating a recently drafted 3rd year NHLer for their problems.

 

[Rorschach]

It's like watching Gretzky coach.

You may have discovered an un-mined meme vein.

 

[AbsentMojo]

This is the expression Blake held for a good 10 seconds while Luc was gaslighting with the "we were right there in every game just like Carolina was last year"

 

[Piston]

You can get away having a moron in a figurehead role when the rest of the organization is tightly run. I never got why Luc was so popular with the fans. He has that goofy smile that goes along with a lack of gray matter and a willingness to talk to the press, but why AEG allowed him to stab DL in the back and assume control of the organization is beyond me. You can't ever fix stupid.

I got to know Dan Beckerman pretty well when I did my study. He told me they liked Luc because he was the only guy willing to talk to the press and hype the team. But, that was a different era and Beckerman was #2. Dan is now CEO of a multimillion dollar sports and entertainment empire. The Kings are only a small piece of that, and he's granted Luc carte blanche to run the show. If he watched the press conference as it's been described, Beckerman must be squirming. f*** the Mayor- he's only reporting what Blake is telling him. I'm not so sure that Bluc are on solid ground. I still think the axe might fall, hoping in any case.

 

[kingsholygrail]

We can only hope this team's magikarp evolves into a gyarados.

 

[bland]

I doubt it. Of the 16 teams in the playoffs this year, the Kings were 5th worst in xGF%, 5th worst in SCF%, and 3rd worst in HDCF%. Proprietary xG models differ from the public ones, but not that much.

You are missing the point.

It doesn't matter if it's true or not with analytics - not one bit. You can cherry pick thru any number of categories to find the results you want. It's a business of finding numbers to support a predetermined narrative.

How often did we hear "they are tied at even strength" as if that mattered?

 

[kingsfan28]

This is the expression Blake held for a good 10 seconds while Luc was gaslighting with the "we were right there in every game just like Carolina was last year"

View attachment 866126

I hope someone brought up that Carolina won 2 rounds before the sweep.

 

[BigKing]

@The Butcher Thanks for going back to the thread when these f***nuts were hired and liking some of my posts so I could read through it. Great to read through it and match those comments up to what has now transpired.

Really tough for me with my seats. I already dropped two of them since my parents don't make it enough and I only made 13 this season. Four of the seats are grandfathered Die Hard pricing which I can't get back if I dropped them but holy f*** I really want to. Based on resale prices for many games this season, business is still good for these guys.

They got a ton of new fans from the 2012-14 run that don't know any better and buy 100% of whatever the State Media says: be it Hoven online or the broadcast since Miller left and Foxy really took over. These people will actually believe "we were right there" because they lost one of the games 1-0 and a couple of bounces could have changed things. Hell, the win in Game 2 included a trash goal from Fiala coupled with other goals that were scored due to hope plays actually hitting and leading to scoring chances. It wasn't like they controlled play and were an inevitability: they were lucky to win.

Reminds me how some Rangers fans say that the 2014 SCF was close and then some on here will just blast them for it since it was only five games. At least that one had three OT games where the Rangers were winning: the Kings got absolutely clowned by Edmonton and the only game they won was in OT.

Anyways, us longtime fans got to see them win it twice when we thought we'd never see it. I'd be interested to know how many long time fans have already moved on since the start of the Blake rebuild. I say that because I'm 43 now and am not as engaged. The in-game experience sucks and is catered towards a different demo than I'm now in at this stage of my life. With how this shit is being run and today's ridiculous comments, it is obvious that they don't give a shit about people that have been following this team when BLuc were losing on the ice instead of from the press box. They can't care because they know what they are saying is complete bullshit that any of us that have been here since before Lombardi would know is total bullshit.

They don't need us and don't care that we know they are full of it. The new generation of Kings fans will carry the water for ticket purchases and merchandise and will be happy with a team that simply wins more than it loses and gets into the playoffs.

I didn't want to believe it since Ownership actually went for it the right way once with DL, but nothing is going to change until there is a Kovy/Willy D type season that sees attendance plummet. It is not an organization that is serious about winning and if you believe it is after today, you're experiencing Stockholm Syndrome.

 

[Reaper45]

This is the expression Blake held for a good 10 seconds while Luc was gaslighting with the "we were right there in every game just like Carolina was last year"

View attachment 866126

Holding in a fart…

 

[AbsentMojo]

Love to hear what Bob would have to say about some of the nonsense said in today's "media availability"

 

[jgs]

Well NHL.com is reporting that Blake will be back next season. This proves that Beckman doesn't have a clue on how a NHL team should be run. Kings are doomed as long as LUC and Blake are running the show. Next season will most likely be worse than this season. Kings are going nowhere but down.

 

[The Butcher]

@The Butcher Thanks for going back to the thread when these f***nuts were hired and liking some of my posts so I could read through it. Great to read through it and match those comments up to what has now transpired.

Really tough for me with my seats. I already dropped two of them since my parents don't make it enough and I only made 13 this season. Four of the seats are grandfathered Die Hard pricing which I can't get back if I dropped them but holy f*** I really want to. Based on resale prices for many games this season, business is still good for these guys.

They got a ton of new fans from the 2012-14 run that don't know any better and buy 100% of whatever the State Media says: be it Hoven online or the broadcast since Miller left and Foxy really took over. These people will actually believe "we were right there" because they lost one of the games 1-0 and a couple of bounces could have changed things. Hell, the win in Game 2 included a trash goal from Fiala coupled with other goals that were scored due to hope plays actually hitting and leading to scoring chances. It wasn't like they controlled play and were an inevitability: they were lucky to win.

Reminds me how some Rangers fans say that the 2014 SCF was close and then some on here will just blast them for it since it was only five games. At least that one had three OT games where the Rangers were winning: the Kings got absolutely clowned by Edmonton and the only game they won was in OT.

Anyways, us longtime fans got to see them win it twice when we thought we'd never see it. I'd be interested to know how many long time fans have already moved on since the start of the Blake rebuild. I say that because I'm 43 now and am not as engaged. The in-game experience sucks and is catered towards a different demo than I'm now in at this stage of my life. With how this shit is being run and today's ridiculous comments, it is obvious that they don't give a shit about people that have been following this team when BLuc were losing on the ice instead of from the press box. They can't care because they know what they are saying is complete bullshit that any of us that have been here since before Lombardi would know is total bullshit.

They don't need us and don't care that we know they are full of it. The new generation of Kings fans will carry the water for ticket purchases and merchandise and will be happy with a team that simply wins more than it loses and gets into the playoffs.

I didn't want to believe it since Ownership actually went for it the right way once with DL, but nothing is going to change until there is a Kovy/Willy D type season that sees attendance plummet. It is not an organization that is serious about winning and if you believe it is after today, you're experiencing Stockholm Syndrome.

My hats off to many of you. This was one of the most accurately forecasted events I can think of.

It feels like Jon Rosen is our last ally.

 

[Schmooley]

I guess they think its a system issue and not a personnel issue.
They will figure out how to play the 1-3-1 defensively while also finding a better way to get more chances on the rush. And also figure out how to get more bodies in front and slot chances off of a forecheck and cycle.
I dont know how possible that is.
Changes on the roster will be letting ufas walk and Clarke Turcotte Thomas making the team.
And imagine they are praying Dubois has a good showing at the world championships and boosts his value and him and Kaliyev will be shopped for a goalie solution.

 

[doug93003]

The Kings should be looking into trading Moore IMO.

The saying is: Buy low, Sell high. Moore's stock is at a high.

I love him, but he just had a 30 goal season, and is locked up for 3 more years at 4.2M. His NTC expires soon.

He should have a lot of value right now, and it will never be higher.

Trading guys like Moore is what you do in a rebuild. Solid role playing character guys are what win championships. I'm not against a rebuild but completely against Blake managing it. You can get a kings ransom for Kopitar and Blake no matter what their cap hit is. I'm not convinced a rebuild is necessary but with Blake at the helm this team isn't going to improve and it isn't going to manage a rebuild. The fans are screwed.

 

[doug93003]

What really doesn't make sense in the context of Rob Blake likely staying as GM is this past trade deadline...

Why did Blake sit on his hands and do nothing if ownership didn't have him on a short leash??

If his whole thing was trying to give Kopi and Drew another chance to win - Wouldn't you have expected at least 1-2 deadline moves to improve the team if that was the case???? Like I know the cap situation wasn't great but there were plenty of other teams up against the cap still finding ways to improve.

Just another example pointing to this management group being disorganized / incompetent.

Either they didn't think the Kings were good enough so didn't bother making moves at the trade deadline to improve the team

• in which case they probably should've sold a player or two - cough cough, Matt Roy

Or they thought the team was good enough as is so didn't feel the need to add / change anything

• in which case they clearly aren't fit to evaluate the strength of an NHL roster

Orrrrrr they tried to make a couple moves at the deadline and just outright failed to get the deals done

• Which again, points to incompetence

I'm not in the habit of defending Blake but....in his defense....everyone knew at the deadline that this team was not good enough.

 

[Bandit]

I'm not in the habit of defending Blake but....in his defense....everyone knew at the deadline that this team was not good enough.

Too bad Blake’s the sorry twat that built the team.