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

[AbsentMojo]

Ah, ok, disagree with you a bit, size isn't really the issue when going to the net.

Its an issue when staying there tho... and that is the problem

 

[All The Kings Men]

I still don't know the circumstances of Kopi given the C from Brown. Was Brown a bad leader? No way.

Somewhere around the 2 hour 9 minute mark.

 

[The Butcher]

Anyone catch the Kaliyev highlight reels from Kings official Instagram yesterday? Such a strange franchise.

 

[tny760]

Anyone catch the Kaliyev highlight reels from Kings official Instagram yesterday? Such a strange franchise.

thought it was kinda weird how they just put in a f***ton of arty clips when it was a joint post for arvidsson. gotta say it was funny how many of those clips were from him playing with danault and moore and that combination was never seen again

i can't help but default to "no one in this org knows what they're doing"

 

[Surf Nutz]

Who the f*** was that guy

this was that debate scene from Old School when will ferrell blacked out

Can't get anything by this happy go lucky poster.

Major conspiracy laid to bare here.


Jim Hiller is actually a character played by Will Ferrell.

 

[Surf Nutz]

Maybe Kopitar isn't a bad captain and the team just wasn't good enough - have some of you considered that?

There are SO many examples of Kopitar exemplifying passion and leadership on and off the ice. Myself (and some other posters on here) pointed a few of those examples throughout the season.... It just seems like some of you need a punching bag, which is understandable to an extent... I get it, you're frustrated. But to turn to Anze Kopitar as the focus of your frustrations (calling for him to have the C removed) is misdirected and unwarranted in my opinion.

Kopitar has helped Byfield immensely. I'm sure he's also helped Kempe immensely over the years.

It's like some of you think the only way to be a good captain is by screaming and shouting all the time....... Anyone with half a brain can tell Kopitar is incredibly passionate about winning. Just because he's not a 'RAAA RAAAAA' in your face kind of guy doesn't mean he's a bad leader.

ALSO - We're all dealing with half the picture with these kinds of things. We don't know what conversations happen during practice, after games, in the locker room, etc. For all we know Kopitar could be actively calling people out and holding them accountable on a nightly basis and yall are just assuming otherwise because of the team's lack of postseason success lately.

Anze Kopitar is not the problem with this team lol

You are taking this way to hard.

Kings have never done much with Kopitar on deck.

The Kings are talking about lessening everyone's comfort level and I think Jessie was being very astute in linking that theme to DD and Kopi switching the A and the C.

I am not bagging on Anze HOF Kopitar, just wanting a Captain that calls out everyone and everything because that's his natural personality..

Kopi's style has upside but it just hasn't helped and the switch should have been made years ago but Blake never hired coaches that saw it or didn't have

Frank Sereveli (no way I spelt that right) was on the fan 960 yesterday afternoon. He said he was baffled about the lack of the Kings doing a coaching search. He said even if Hiller was their guy why not take interviews to get views from other coaches about what is wrong with the team, what system tweaks would work with current roster, and just to get different viewpoints. He said LA did none of that. he said he was not sure why they were sold on Hiller as well.
Very disappointing to hear, but fair for him to be so blatant.

the balls to do it.
If Hiller and Blake do it, I will be impressed and hopefully they will continue to try new things to force progression.

Likely ownership is unwilling to pay megabucks while TMAC is still getting a bag of eucalyptus green.

They delayed until TMAC was not selected by the Maple Laughs

The Kings need a coach now to get to work on shaping their off season roster around whatever foundation the new coach is building.

So many decisions about who to keep, who to discard and who to acquire.

It's almost free agent season, then the draft and it needs to be a busy summer that gets results or Blake and possible many others will be gone by summer

2025 if not sooner.

 

[chris kontos]

You are taking this way to hard.

Kings have never done much with Kopitar on deck.

The Kings are talking about lessening everyone's comfort level and I think Jessie was being very astute in linking that theme to DD and Kopi switching the A and the C.

I am not bagging on Anze HOF Kopitar, just wanting a Captain that calls out everyone and everything because that's his natural personality..

Kopi's style has upside but it just hasn't helped and the switch should have been made years ago but Blake never hired coaches that didn't saw it or didn't have




the balls to do it.
If Hiller and Blake do it, I will be impressed and hopefully they will continue to try new things to force progression.

Likely ownership is unwilling to pay megabucks while TMAC is still getting a bag of eucalyptus green.

They delayed until TMAC was not selected by the Maple Laughs

The Kings need a coach now to get to work on shaping their off season roster around whatever foundation the new coach is building.

So many decisions about who to keep, who to discard and who to acquire.

It's almost free agent season, then the draft and it needs to be a busy summer that gets results or Blake and possible many others will be gone by summer

2025 if not sooner.

I truthfully admire your optimisim

 

[Surf Nutz]

I truthfully admire your optimisim

You fell for a psy op because I threw in Blake getting canned at the end...

 

[KINGS17]

So your evidence of him not holding himself accountable is your biased perception of what a quote from at least a decade ago meant.

Even though it's something we all agree with? Teams shouldn't expect one person to do all the work? A sentiment shared by Sutter?

It's such a hilarious parody.

Saying it ten years ago or ten minutes ago, does it matter? Kopitar's approach to the game has not changed.

 

[AbsentMojo]

hardly matters who your captain is if you build a team like DL did.. with about 7 guys who could wear the C.. but if you're a feckless team like the current LAK - i think a change in captain could make a difference

 

[KINGS17]

hardly matters who your captain is if you build a team like DL did.. with about 7 guys who could wear the C.. but if you're a feckless team like the current LAK - i think a change in captain could make a difference

So many players on those teams capable of being the captain who didn't have a letter: Stoll, Williams, Richards, Scuderi, Mitchell, etc.

 

[kingsfan28]

Somewhere around the 2 hour 9 minute mark.

One of the best quotes" Dean , you're a dinosaur "

It really does come across several time as he spoke that he was pretty out of touch with the modern NHL.

Interesting stuff, especially about Voynov and how he almost traded him for a 4th, visiting him in jail and meeting with the FBI.

 

[SmytheKing]

Somewhere around the 2 hour 9 minute mark.

If this isn't a succinct comment about a Dean Lombardi interview, I don't know what would be.

 

[AbsentMojo]

So many players on those teams capable of being the captain who didn't have a letter: Stoll, Williams, Richards, Scuderi, Mitchell, etc.

Lets add Greener, Martinez, Regehr and JQ to the secondary list - all couldve handled that role as well.

 

[Statto]

One of the best quotes" Dean , you're a dinosaur "

It really does come across several time as he spoke that he was pretty out of touch with the modern NHL.

Interesting stuff, especially about Voynov and how he almost traded him for a 4th, visiting him in jail and meeting with the FBI.

Not directly to you KF28…

So we (righty) talk about what a great builder DL was in terms of the leadership, yet ignore the same guy talking about what a great leader Kopitar is. I’ll take Lombardi’s view on this as he actually had visibility of Kopitars leadership whereas we don’t and his track record on the subject is one of the best in the game.

The issue isn’t Kopitar , it’s the lack of an adequate leadership group. In the modern game the C and the two A’s are only pieces of the leadership needed to be successful.

 

[Trash Panda]

Not directly to you KF28…

So we (righty) talk about what a great builder DL was in terms of the leadership, yet ignore the same guy talking about what a great leader Kopitar is. I’ll take Lombardi’s view on this as he actually had visibility of Kopitars leadership whereas we don’t and his track record on the subject is one of the best in the game.

The issue isn’t Kopitar , it’s the lack of an adequate leadership group. In the modern game the C and the two A’s are only pieces of the leadership needed to be successful.

Of course he is going to speak glowingly of his franchise center, as doing otherwise would have been a disaster.

His actions, however, spoke an entirely different message. Outside of Penner, Gagne, Carter, and Gaborik; all of Deans acquisitions directly supplanted the void in leadership.

 

[Statto]

Of course he is going to speak glowingly of his franchise center, as doing otherwise would have been a disaster.

His actions, however, spoke an entirely different message. Outside of Penner, Gagne, Carter, and Gaborik; all of Deans acquisitions directly supplanted the void in leadership.

I honestly question people’s understanding of what makes a good Captain. I’ve worked closely in and around pro dressing rooms and some of the best Captains have been outwardly unexciting but in the dressing room incredibly respected. When they talked it mattered and other players brought the fire and brimstone stuff. I’ve seen good physical/scrappy (whatever word you want) Captains and bad ones. It’s the same with the Kopitar style… good and bad.

There isn’t a wrong way. It’s just that the Kopitar style doesn’t excite fans but that doesn’t matter, what counts is how it is received in the dressing room. The problem is the depth of leadership and not the variety. We had a great Captain one year but the rest of the group lacked any leadership whatsoever and it showed. Some fans want something nearer Messier in style but that doesn’t make Kopitar bad at his job.

If anyone wants to argue that it’s time to pass the torch, shake things up etc, then that’s ok and I see the case for it. Particularly because a good leader doesn’t need a letter and Kopi can do the job without it. All that truly matters with a letter is the engagement with the officials, plus the PR.

 

[theMajor]

Somewhere around the 2 hour 9 minute mark.

thanks for sharing this, love how much Dean reflects on things

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Anyone catch the Kaliyev highlight reels from Kings official Instagram yesterday? Such a strange franchise.

Did it contain footage of Arthur intensely eating popcorn from the pressbox?

 

[King'sPawn]

Did it contain footage of Arthur intensely eating popcorn from the pressbox?

All someone needs to do is add the quotes from McLellan and management saying they need Kaliyev to be a top-six player and a scroll clip of every game since then showing 6-12 minutes of ice time.

 

[chris kontos]

I just love how people that dismiss kaliyev have nothing specific to show how he has failed- like cant play defense, too slow, he's an asshole and on and on. Just the company line.
Why not just say "we played him 6 minutes on the 4th line and he wasnt selke quality"
WHY IN THE f*** DID THEY DRAFT A SCORER AND EXPECT A DEFENSE FIRST PLAYER?
The assholes are the management of this team and thier company yes man phony scribes

 

[DAkings20]

Fiala was named MVP of the World Championships.

Czech's beat the Swiss 2-0 for the gold.

 

[Statto]

I just love how people that dismiss kaliyev have nothing specific to show how he has failed- like cant play defense, too slow, he's an asshole and on and on. Just the company line.
Why not just say "we played him 6 minutes on the 4th line and he wasnt selke quality"
WHY IN THE f*** DID THEY DRAFT A SCORER AND EXPECT A DEFENSE FIRST PLAYER?
The assholes are the management of this team and thier company yes man phony scribes

We really don’t know why Kaliyev wasn’t playing. Even though it appears there has been some sort of falling out it’s nothing but conjecture.

I don’t think they have developed him brilliantly but for all we know he decided to sh!t on Luc’s desk as a protest at his usage. At that point it’d be on him… if understandable. Equally BLuc may have simply decided to scapegoat him, which I doubt just as much. Some will choose to blame the organisation 100% without knowing anything, some will blame Arty using the same evidence. We just don’t know so I’m not blaming anyone.

It’s a shame the way things appear to be going because it looks like he’s played his last game for us.

 

[tny760]

he decided to sh!t on Luc’s desk

we can only hope

 

[AbsentMojo]

I just love how people that dismiss kaliyev have nothing specific to show how he has failed- like cant play defense, too slow, he's an asshole and on and on. Just the company line.
Why not just say "we played him 6 minutes on the 4th line and he wasnt selke quality"
WHY IN THE f*** DID THEY DRAFT A SCORER AND EXPECT A DEFENSE FIRST PLAYER?
The assholes are the management of this team and thier company yes man phony scribes

One thing you can say that cant be questioned is no one that ends up in the Koala matrix thrives unless they are the hustling but robotic and uncreative types.