Kings GM Rob Blake needs to get things right this season or he may not get another chance
When the Kings introduced Todd McLellan at a news conference on Wednesday, Blake called him the right guy to be their coach. And we should believe it this time because …
“Personal experience, probably. And that’s what I relied heavily on,” said Blake, who played for McLellan when the 51-year-old Saskatchewan native coached the San Jose Sharks. “You can sit in an interview for a few hours and you can get probably the right answers to the questions you’re asking. I went through about 160, 180 meetings probably, four rounds of playoffs, different situations, but I got to see how he reacted, first and foremost.
“When I was looking at filling this position and understanding the task at hand I wanted to make sure that there was somebody that I knew pretty much every situation that was going to occur, I would understand how he would handle it.”
If Blake is wrong about his third coaching hire, he probably won’t be around to make a fourth hire. He smiled when asked if he felt pressure from his bosses to be sure his latest “right guy” truly is the right guy. “I feel pressure from myself to get this right, to be honest with you,” he said. “I need to get it right. You’re 100%.”
convincing...