Some takeaways:
- Lombardi used to give the boys the company credit card and let them run it up. Only rules were no drinking/drugging and no fights. Specifically named Greene as a guy he would entrust with the card.
- Like most of us, Lombardi considered the Stoll/Greene trade as the beginning of the culture change in LA.
- Confirmed he actually did cry when he heard about the Stoll/cocaine stuff in Vegas. Said he looked at Stoll as a son, and was very disappointed in him.
- Regrets stripping Brown of the C. Said at the time he wanted Kopitar to take another step as a top player in the league, and giving him the C would maybe trigger that. But overall “didn’t handle it well.” Wasn’t as forthright with Brown about it as he should’ve been.
- Casual bombshell about almost trading Voynov for a “mid line checker.” Oof.
- Asked point blank about the Voynov DV situation. Went on a long diatribe basically inferring he didn’t know how to deal with the public relations aspect of being a GM. Said Voynov situation “led to all kinds of stuff with the owner and lawyers.” Follows it up by saying “but [Voynov] was a really great kid” (big yikes, Dean). THEN said the child of Voynov’s girlfriend really loved Voynov (presumably as a father), and Voynov wound up getting married to the girl anyway. Talked about cultural differences in Russia. Didn’t say it outright, but sort of inferred all parties involved thought the situation was overblown (yiiiikes). Really awkward section. You could tell Lombardi still doesn’t know what to say about this even a decade later. Clearly conflicted about his paternal feelings for Voynov and the reality of the situation.
- Compared the Kings to the dynasty 49ers and said those 49ers dealt with a lot of off-field bullshit that nearly sunk the team. Said winning changes everything. Said he “got sloppy.” Said he wasn’t as diligent as he should’ve been with Richards and Voynov in particular. Said he should’ve done more to keep his players on track after they started winning.
- Said the NFL is so much more advanced than the NHL in terms of having staff in place to deal with lifestyle problems (specifically addiction).
- Said he tried to develop his own addiction program internally with the Kings. PA stopped it.
- Asked about the Richards border situation but never quite answered it directly. Didn’t weasel out of it. Just sort of talked more broadly about addiction/lifestyle issues in the league overall. Hosts didn’t press him on Richards as much as they did Voynov.
- Asked about the infamous Pronger to LA rumor back in the day. Said names are always out there, and large team staffs make it difficult to keep secrets. Told a story about Armstrong in St Louis rooting out a mole on his staff by deliberately planting false trade rumors (lmao).
- Asked about trash can incident. Said he’s heard a few different versions of the story. Still isn’t quite sure what happened. But said he always refused to let his players staff split him and Sutter.
- Confirmed he’s done as a GM in the NHL. Said he had “5 or 6 teams” that contacted him after he was fired. Told them all no.
