Kings Article: LA Kings Rob Blake And That Big Elephant In The Room

[Ziggy Stardust]

Oh that's good to hear that Taylor was at least present in the building. Was also classy of Blake to bring up his name a couple of times during his speech.

 

[tsanuri]

Oh that's good to hear that Taylor was at least present in the building. Was also classy of Blake to bring up his name a couple of times during his speech.

It's my understanding he wasn't sure if he could make it and on time so they did the recorded message. But he did make it.

 

[DonKingKong]

I am happy to hear that Dave Taylor was there. He is still one of my all time favorite (if not my all time favorite) Kings. I hope he comes back to us one day.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Agreed on Taylor, a King lifer who should still be with the organization, but sadly he was kind of put in a position to fail. Leiweke/Gilmore were so against paying fair market value for players that Taylor had to see a lot of his close friends (Blake and Robitaille) leave the team and also let one of their top defensemen in 2001-02, Philippe Boucher, go as a UFA to a division rival.

I also believe that Taylor was pressured into making a "quick fix" move in 2006 in order to get that awful team to sneak into the playoffs, which didn't end up happening. So he ended up trading two former 1st round selections in Jeff Tambellini and Denis Grebeshkov to the Islanders for a couple of months of Mark Parrish and Brent Sopel.

In hindsight I always felt that those two pieces could've been used as assets to send to Edmonton to acquire Chris Pronger when it was revealed that he wanted out of Edmonton after the 2006 Finals. Seemed like as soon as he went to Anaheim many concluded that the Ducks would win a Cup with Pronger and Niedermayer leading the way.

Now imagine if Taylor wasn't being pinched so tightly by Leiweke and he was able to re-sign Blake and trade for Chris Pronger. Of course we'd only get to see those two as teammates at the Olympics. In my opinion, Blake was one of the top 5 defenseman from the late 90s through the 2000s, along with Lidstrom, Pronger, Stevens and Niedermayer.

 

[Bandit]

It wasn't just sign confiscations, they gave me a cavity search as well.

Yeah, but you enjoyed it.

 

[taz346]

Agreed on Taylor, a King lifer who should still be with the organization, but sadly he was kind of put in a position to fail. Leiweke/Gilmore were so against paying fair market value for players that Taylor had to see a lot of his close friends (Blake and Robitaille) leave the team and also let one of their top defensemen in 2001-02, Philippe Boucher, go as a UFA to a division rival.

I also believe that Taylor was pressured into making a "quick fix" move in 2006 in order to get that awful team to sneak into the playoffs, which didn't end up happening. So he ended up trading two former 1st round selections in Jeff Tambellini and Denis Grebeshkov to the Islanders for a couple of months of Mark Parrish and Brent Sopel.

In hindsight I always felt that those two pieces could've been used as assets to send to Edmonton to acquire Chris Pronger when it was revealed that he wanted out of Edmonton after the 2006 Finals. Seemed like as soon as he went to Anaheim many concluded that the Ducks would win a Cup with Pronger and Niedermayer leading the way.

Now imagine if Taylor wasn't being pinched so tightly by Leiweke and he was able to re-sign Blake and trade for Chris Pronger. Of course we'd only get to see those two as teammates at the Olympics. In my opinion, Blake was one of the top 5 defenseman from the late 90s through the 2000s, along with Lidstrom, Pronger, Stevens and Niedermayer.

Also have to credit Taylor as a player. I remember he seldom gave interviews due to his stutter problem. He worked on that and by the time he hung up his skates, he had eliminated that problem. Strong willed man.

 

[Captain Mittens*]

Yeah, but you enjoyed it.

I asked for seconds

 

[Quattro]

In hindsight I always felt that those two pieces could've been used as assets to send to Edmonton to acquire Chris Pronger when it was revealed that he wanted out of Edmonton after the 2006 Finals. .

Ugh. Thank god that didn't happen. Rooting for Jeremy Roenick as a King was hard enough. Having Pronger on the team might have made me give up the game.

 

[YP44]

Ugh. Thank god that didn't happen. Rooting for Jeremy Roenick as a King was hard enough. Having Pronger on the team might have made me give up the game.

This would have been Pronger pre ducks.
I would have loved it. Pronger was one of the best defenesman in his day. not often a D-man wins the heart.
Too bad his career was cut short.

 

[Sheng Peng]

Also have to credit Taylor as a player. I remember he seldom gave interviews due to his stutter problem. He worked on that and by the time he hung up his skates, he had eliminated that problem. Strong willed man.

YES. I really hope that Taylor finds his way back to the organization at some point, even if it's just an honorary position at the end of his career.

When Lombardi took over, was there any attempt to keep Taylor? Though that would've been pretty awkward.

Nonetheless, Taylor deserved to raise the Cup in '12; it would've been great if he was a part of that, even if he wasn't GM.