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Los Angeles Kings Blogger •
Many of you don’t know me. Some are getting used to me, others have known me for a long time. But the one question that’s often asked is, “Why are you doing this?”
So when I met Dean Lombardi in his office to sit down to interview him for Hockeybuzz, he smiled and said, “you have a successful career, why are you blogging?”
I told him that as much as I enjoy my career, I’d rather make half the money and work half the time so I can enjoy other things in life like my family and my hobby.
My hobby is hockey.
I’ve been a Kings fan before Gretzky arrived. I’ve watched rebuild after rebuild and plan after plan with very little to show for it. So when Dave Taylor was relieved of his duties, I was one of many who lobbied Kings president Tim Leiweke to hire Dean Lombardi.
I joined the masses that jumped on the Lombardi bandwagon and I still believe in the plan he's implemented upon his arrival. I might not agree with some of his decisions, but for the first time as a Kings fan and having spoken frankly with him for two hours this past week, I’m equally convinced of his vision.
The overhaul and execution of drafting AND developing seems to have taken shape. “Our defense is young. We completely turned that over from 2 years ago from the oldest to the youngest”, said Lombardi. “That’s not even including were flush in the minors with Hickey and Voinov and Campbell and Teubert.”
But with such a young nucleus, I asked if he worried about bringing up players too soon and could those added pressures have an effect.
“Yeah! (laughs) This team got a lot younger faster that I thought it would. The idea was to probably go gradual, like San Jose, one at a time and just avoid that pitfall”.
But unlike San Jose, these young players have proven they were ready. “(Wayne) Simmonds just wouldn’t go away. From the first day he stayed out here all summer, slept on a couch, he used to use my car because he didn’t have a car. He was out here Saturday’s and Sunday’s and he would just never go away and he kept getting better.”
As for Oscar Moller, “He was one that I really struggled with because he’s not as physically mature and the coaches really kept fighting for him which is unusual because most times the coaches want veterans”.
But his biggest praise was reserved for Drew Doughty. “You know when I knew he was ready is when Ryan Smyth beat him. Because most kids, when they fail or something happens when you get exposed you could lose them for two, three months. They can lose their confidence. Drew had his moments early but that night when Ryan Smyth went around him, cost them a goal and I can just see him, see his whole body language. There was no flinch. He came back in that 3rd period and scored that goal, That was a message. “I’m gonna get this back”. That’s special to me".
Lombardi believes that a team is just that. A team. One that comes through the system together, forms a bond and learns how to win. It’s a trust. A trust that begins before a player is drafted.
“I don’t have (a) Steve Yzerman to teach”, he began. “I don’t have that to give to you. I’m gonna have to count on you”. All those kids I visited before we took Doughty, I said “why should I trust you? I don’t have Niclas Lidstrom for you to learn from. We haven’t won in 44 years. So the only way we’ve ever gonna get this is you guys are gonna have to be the first ones. So why should I trust you?””
It’s the same question he’s asked Duchene and Kane and Schenn and all of the other prospects he’s interviewed. “I have to trust you because I can’t offer you what those guys in Detroit have. I can’t offer you what Dallas would have given their young players”. Handing it off to Morrow. Or Sakic handing off to Hedjuk. Handing it of to Datsyuk.”
And with free agency just a few days away, does Lombardi sign a scoring winger? Or does he continue to build for the future and rely on what he already has?
“The big dollar guys have to fit into your core. If you try and bring your core in “okay, now you have to learn from him”, that never works. Because then you’re telling your team you want them to have this guys’ “character”. Now it all blows up”.
“I can get a guy, an 8 million dollar guy, or (Anze) Kopitar goes to the next level and learns to be a pro, I’ll take the latter. We’re not going to win a cup either way unless that happens. (Dustin) Brown made a huge adjustment last year. Brownie took a step last summer in terms of “okay, now I get it” because Brownie was kind of a little pudgy and stuff, stayed here all summer and trained, so it took him 3 years to figure it out and now we gave him the Captaincy. But he still has things to learn. But he made the commitment to himself. Last year was the first year”.
“We need to see that from Kopitar. The biggest thing to me is Kopitar, in terms of him training this summer, because he has not been in shape yet in his career. Even those guys… him and (Jack) Johnson and (Jonathan) Quick who are a little older than the other three, they’ve got a lot of work to do. Kopitar doesn’t match up yet with Getzlaf or Crosby but you could see he’s got the potential to be a “one”. So when you’re building you say, “I’ve got a guy that can get to the “one” and invest in the “two”.”
Hopefully the investment in former Stanley Cup winner Justin Williams will be the spark Kopitar needs to take his game to the next level. The mention of Williams brings a smile to Lombardi’s face.
That thought of the lefty/righty with (Kopitar)… Willie’s a pretty smart player. In terms of the little plays he makes, he’s probably one of the better ones on our team now’.
Lets hope so.
PART 2: Moving Forward, Manchester and what happened to Tom Preissing?
So when I met Dean Lombardi in his office to sit down to interview him for Hockeybuzz, he smiled and said, “you have a successful career, why are you blogging?”
I told him that as much as I enjoy my career, I’d rather make half the money and work half the time so I can enjoy other things in life like my family and my hobby.
My hobby is hockey.
I’ve been a Kings fan before Gretzky arrived. I’ve watched rebuild after rebuild and plan after plan with very little to show for it. So when Dave Taylor was relieved of his duties, I was one of many who lobbied Kings president Tim Leiweke to hire Dean Lombardi.
I joined the masses that jumped on the Lombardi bandwagon and I still believe in the plan he's implemented upon his arrival. I might not agree with some of his decisions, but for the first time as a Kings fan and having spoken frankly with him for two hours this past week, I’m equally convinced of his vision.
The overhaul and execution of drafting AND developing seems to have taken shape. “Our defense is young. We completely turned that over from 2 years ago from the oldest to the youngest”, said Lombardi. “That’s not even including were flush in the minors with Hickey and Voinov and Campbell and Teubert.”
But with such a young nucleus, I asked if he worried about bringing up players too soon and could those added pressures have an effect.
“Yeah! (laughs) This team got a lot younger faster that I thought it would. The idea was to probably go gradual, like San Jose, one at a time and just avoid that pitfall”.
But unlike San Jose, these young players have proven they were ready. “(Wayne) Simmonds just wouldn’t go away. From the first day he stayed out here all summer, slept on a couch, he used to use my car because he didn’t have a car. He was out here Saturday’s and Sunday’s and he would just never go away and he kept getting better.”
As for Oscar Moller, “He was one that I really struggled with because he’s not as physically mature and the coaches really kept fighting for him which is unusual because most times the coaches want veterans”.
But his biggest praise was reserved for Drew Doughty. “You know when I knew he was ready is when Ryan Smyth beat him. Because most kids, when they fail or something happens when you get exposed you could lose them for two, three months. They can lose their confidence. Drew had his moments early but that night when Ryan Smyth went around him, cost them a goal and I can just see him, see his whole body language. There was no flinch. He came back in that 3rd period and scored that goal, That was a message. “I’m gonna get this back”. That’s special to me".
Lombardi believes that a team is just that. A team. One that comes through the system together, forms a bond and learns how to win. It’s a trust. A trust that begins before a player is drafted.
“I don’t have (a) Steve Yzerman to teach”, he began. “I don’t have that to give to you. I’m gonna have to count on you”. All those kids I visited before we took Doughty, I said “why should I trust you? I don’t have Niclas Lidstrom for you to learn from. We haven’t won in 44 years. So the only way we’ve ever gonna get this is you guys are gonna have to be the first ones. So why should I trust you?””
It’s the same question he’s asked Duchene and Kane and Schenn and all of the other prospects he’s interviewed. “I have to trust you because I can’t offer you what those guys in Detroit have. I can’t offer you what Dallas would have given their young players”. Handing it off to Morrow. Or Sakic handing off to Hedjuk. Handing it of to Datsyuk.”
And with free agency just a few days away, does Lombardi sign a scoring winger? Or does he continue to build for the future and rely on what he already has?
“The big dollar guys have to fit into your core. If you try and bring your core in “okay, now you have to learn from him”, that never works. Because then you’re telling your team you want them to have this guys’ “character”. Now it all blows up”.
“I can get a guy, an 8 million dollar guy, or (Anze) Kopitar goes to the next level and learns to be a pro, I’ll take the latter. We’re not going to win a cup either way unless that happens. (Dustin) Brown made a huge adjustment last year. Brownie took a step last summer in terms of “okay, now I get it” because Brownie was kind of a little pudgy and stuff, stayed here all summer and trained, so it took him 3 years to figure it out and now we gave him the Captaincy. But he still has things to learn. But he made the commitment to himself. Last year was the first year”.
“We need to see that from Kopitar. The biggest thing to me is Kopitar, in terms of him training this summer, because he has not been in shape yet in his career. Even those guys… him and (Jack) Johnson and (Jonathan) Quick who are a little older than the other three, they’ve got a lot of work to do. Kopitar doesn’t match up yet with Getzlaf or Crosby but you could see he’s got the potential to be a “one”. So when you’re building you say, “I’ve got a guy that can get to the “one” and invest in the “two”.”
Hopefully the investment in former Stanley Cup winner Justin Williams will be the spark Kopitar needs to take his game to the next level. The mention of Williams brings a smile to Lombardi’s face.
That thought of the lefty/righty with (Kopitar)… Willie’s a pretty smart player. In terms of the little plays he makes, he’s probably one of the better ones on our team now’.
Lets hope so.
PART 2: Moving Forward, Manchester and what happened to Tom Preissing?
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