Here’s the second half of the Dean Lombardi stuff from today, dealing more with the development of the team this season…
—–
Question: Going into the break, are you happy with where the team is at?
LOMBARDI: “I’ve seen them grow immensely. I think you’ve got a room that cares, no question about it. I think that was a big thing, and I think, in today’s day and age, that’s something not to be underestimated. I think they’ve learned a lot about playing with pressure. I think, when we were in first place there, and dealing with the pressure of the slide, that was very different from St. Louis approaching it from the bottom (of the standings) last year, coming up, compared to being (high) and sliding. So I didn’t expect this group of young players to be playing with pressure. I think there’s a big difference between playing with the house’s money and playing with pressure. I would have expected them to play with pressure next year. I expected to be in the hunt, but kind of be a Cinderella and not deal with the pressure. They put themselves in the position.
“Approaching it from (success) and then sliding, they put themselves under the gun. Versus, if you had done it like St. Louis last year, (bad) and then you get hot at the end, there’s no expectations. Then what happens? It’s the same team. What happens to St. Louis? They have a great coach, right? They’re a better team. Johnson is healthy, Kariya is healthy, but the pressure hits and the expectations hit. If we’re ever going to be a great team, sorry, you’re going to have to deal with expectations. That’s great. You expect to win, and you go out and win. That’s the Yankees, that’s the Red Wings, Celtics, Lakers. You don’t get there (quickly). But that’s what I saw them start to deal with this year. They’re going to deal with it again. But we’ve got the youngest core in the league, by far. It’s one thing to be young, but it’s by at least three years. I’m talking about your No. 1 center, defenseman, goalie. That’s the core, and we’re the youngest core by far. And they’re expected to win, and that’s huge.
“I believe they’re going to get it done. I’ve seen enough of these kids grow. Kopitar, he had that little lull there, and you can see him taking another step. The way he competes now, he never competed like that before. You saw the highlight stuff, but I see this kid competing. Quick learned to battle. Drew and Jack are getting better. Brownie is getting better, learning to lead. It’s a good group of guys too. I don’t have one jerk in the bunch.”
Question: And all the comeback wins too…
LOMBARDI: “Yeah, but that’s the other part of learning. Like last night … part of learning is, it kind of ties into expectations. You’ve got to put that team away last night. The natural reaction is, you go up against Detroit and you have a comeback win…`Oh, this is Edmonton, they’re in last place.’ Well, a good team, last night, would have put that team away in the first period. Don’t keep them alive. That’s a mental thing, but if you’re young and inexperienced, you probably think, `It’s only Edmonton.’ And sure enough, what happens?
“That’s exactly what happens when you haven’t matured mentally as a team. That’s exactly what I saw last night, but that’s to be expected. (Ron Hextall) said it last night before the game. `I’m worried.’ And sure enough, that’s what you saw. An immature team, not understanding that you’ve got to put these guys away like Detroit, and not let him hang around like that. That’s what good teams do. `See you later. I’m going to knock you out in the first period.’ They played the night before. You let them hang around like that? Good teams don’t. But that’s all the little things, when you talk about culture and becoming mentally tough, there are always those little tests you see along the way, with teams maturing. That was one, last night, that showed me some immaturity.
“I expect them to figure that out, too, like they’ve figured out a lot of things. So it’s not only that you see a team come from behind. Now, when would we have been in that situation? The closest one, in this team’s experience, might have been Toronto. Bad team, on the road, we were expected to beat them in Toronto. We got it done. We were OK in that building. We were better than we were last night. But you think, when would we have been in that situation? Not many, but that’s the growth of a team, mentally. Again, this group cares. As far as their character, they’re caring about the jersey, as good as I’ve ever had. In the end, that’s going to let them grow through all these stages we’re talking about. They’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Question: Would you expect to see Jonathan Quick as Team USA’s No. 2 goalie?
LOMBARDI: “No. I think what Brian is doing there… Miller, I think everybody thinks, it’s there. That’s fine. He’s got experience. He’s one of the best goaltenders in the world. In Thomas’ defense, you’re still talking about the Vezina Trophy winner. I think the way Brian (Burke) has approached this — which I agree with — is that it’s still a body of work. It’s not just who’s hot. This is a guy who has done it and won the Vezina Trophy. Quickie is in a great spot. He’s a young guy there. He’s going to learn to be in there. Now, if he’s called upon, I have no doubt. I guess it wouldn’t totally surprise me if he was in there, but I wouldn’t expect it, the way Brian has set it up.”
team identity…it’s what we’ve been talking about before this week…and we’re getting closer to that level of compete where it won’t come into question…but, as duly noted by d.l., it’s a work in progress and last night’s disappointing performance shows that there’s still a way to go…
but you gotta love the patience and acumen of d.l. to let this team of boys grow into a team of men who are willing to do anything for the kings shield…
that’s an identity i can learn to love and be patient for…something tells me though, we might not have to wait much longer…this team is learning fast…!
[Reply]
Great interview Rich. It’s great to hear Dean talking about the present rather than the distant future.
[Reply]
I don’t have one jerk in the bunch. Harsh delivery by DL, but oh so true. DL shipped out the jerk canidates early. Those actions were probably the most important actions taken as the Kings GM.
[Reply]
Var — this has been a hugh learning year for the team and the captians. I see Brown and Kopi in the third period of multiple games saying to themselves “we are going to win this game”.
I would have to also say that DL kind of players are the kind of players fans want to bond to and cheer for. DL has us half way home. Expect the fan base to grow.
[Reply]
JET…
on point, buddy…!
[Reply]
Yup Jet…the very reason why guys like Cammy, Demitra, Avery, and a few others (not Lubo) are no longer here.
[Reply]
As jet said, DL sounds a bit gruff in this interview, especially at the beginning. Leftovers from the JJ/Matsuda debacle?
[Reply]
“I don’t have one jerk in the bunch.” Love it. Just love it. I always appreciate DL giving these interviews — and even more so, Rich for taking the trouble to transcribe them!
Important point about the core of the team still being very young. When I first started reading Bill James’ baseball stuff, one of my first “Aha!” moments was his study that showed that baseball players tend to peak between the ages of 27-32. I can’t imagine that hockey players are much different. You still have to learn how to compete at the highest level and you still have to round out physically. That means that Doughty, Kopitar, Simmonds, Quick. Johnson — we probably still haven’t seen their ceilings yet.
And yet, here they are, a legitimate playoff team.
[Reply]
Thanks Rich. Great interview, as usual.
[Reply]
I agree with the mental focus is not there yet. They still look at the other team and not in themselves. Not to take away from edmonton, they have some players no doubt, but the kings really laid an egg last night. How they feel about it today, and what the do against the Avs will show alot of who they are. My bet, there going to crush the Avs! Go Kingz!
[Reply]
Great job Rich!
How do youever get a question in? Does he even take a breath?
I love that everything is about the name on the front of the jersey NOT the back!!
The Kings will be in the hunt this year and I’m looking forward to playoff series at Staples.
GO Kings GO
[Reply]
@jet: Excellent point. Fans may rave about the big skill players, but the ones they always seem to truly love are the ‘character’ guys. And DL seems to like those kinds of guys, too.
I see Simmonds who could very well develop into the best of both worlds. He’s already developing into a 20 goal/year guy, but he’s also very popular because of his grit and energy.
[Reply]
Spot on jet.
[Reply]
@EJ: If you go over to Gann’s blog, it looks like he still has plenty of access to DL. I think DL’s over it.
[Reply]
Lombardi’s come a long way since the days of Crawford and Cloutier. (gag) I like everything he’s done since getting rid of those two except for drafting Hickey 4th overall. That was another mistake.
[Reply]
“I don’t have one jerk in the room’
What…now that Segal was picked up by Dallas?
It’s a VERY speculative thought, but I can’t see any other explanation for the move other than personal, which is almost never gonna come out. Segal and Clune are almost identical in talent. I think TM was reaching in saying Clune is a bit more of an agitator, might be true, but that is not a reason to make a move like this. TM said he was a good kid. Maybe I’m reading into this too much, but that is the kind of thing you say when something doesn’t work out in a relationship.
Could be wrong, but maybe Seegs was a percieved problem in the room. I don’t think his play dictated a demotion like Purcell should be getting. We’ll probably never know.
[Reply]
Great interview Rich!
DL hits it on the head regarding team immaturity. With the recent success (“the Streak”), I think the team was thinking, “Hey, the Oilers suck, and they played last night…we SHOULD beat them…” But the Oil comes out strong, we’re on our heals in the first period. We wake up, but now we’re already down 2-zip. It seemed like they were emotionless for the first half of the game, and I didn’t see the boys moving very much during the PP–surprised they didn’t score a SHG. It was bad enough that Lubo scored the winning SO goal, but POS almost put us away in OT! Guess it’s pay back for Greener scoring the GWG in Edmonton.
I hope we remind the AVS whose building they are playing in tomorrow night!
[Reply]
Cynic -
I think you are reading too much into it. Segal is a dime a dozen player that did nothing for the Kings when he was on the ice. Time to let him go and try someone else…
[Reply]
Gee, Scaught…who SHOULD he have chosen over Hickey, who has been hurt.
Alzner…the same guy who can’t crack the lineup on a regular basis in Washington????
Criticize, sure…do so and actually have a point, please…it gets pretty tiring.
[Reply]
Rich, superb job.
My qualm is that Dean sees the team like I see the team: very immature — lacking the killer aspect that separates playoff run teams from teams happy to just be in the playoffs. That’s why I wanted Kovy. He’s the type of player who scores two in the first period last night and we bury Edmonton like that (snapping fingers). Instead, we go into a lull, expect a team playing a back-to-back to roll over, and we end up down 2-0 instead.
I hope we can salvage a point against the Avs, but if we don’t, I still see us in the playoffs, unless we just freeze up in the last 20 games due to the pressure which, everyone must admit, will be fierce and we really don’t know how the team will respond, especially “the youngest core in the league.”
[Reply]
Another great interview, great questions and great honest answers. Have to like the future of this team and the future of the organization because of the culture DL talks about. You can just see it with the players now. It is a great time to be a Kings fan and it has been a long time coming.
[Reply]
@DougS , I believe that Gann only had the one long indept interview in which he has only posted in small sections over the last few weeks.
It’s a way to get more hits for your site.
[Reply]
Great points Carol! I agree!
[Reply]
Fair enough Tantrum, but I disagree that he did nothing for the Kings. I thought he was very good in shaking things up with a big hit and was really good on the forecheck for a bigger man. He sure made Ivanans look expendable at times.
Think about this. If the reason Parse was sent down was because DL wanted him to have playing time during the freeze (Which is speculation, but VERY Logical), why would DL take a 22 year old Richard Clune with NO NHL EXPERIENCE and bring him up to the big club for 2 games, just to have him sit for 2 weeks?
Unless DL has the ability to send Cluney back down after Saturday, your thought I’m reading too much into it might not be so solid. Can you agree to that?
[Reply]
@JWR: If you go to Gann’s site, it looks like he’s gotten more recent remarks from DL. Not long interviews, but there seem to remarks of a younger vintage than the Johnson kerfluffle.
At any rate, he’s still talking to Rich pretty freely. I didn’t read him as being gruff. When DL gives you a short answer, it’s his way of pausing to breathe.
[Reply]
Carol…disagree.
Yes, Kovalchuck is that type of player, so you just traded Jack Johnson, either Wayne Simmonds or Dustin Brown to get him.
Guess what…your team is not better, it’s worse due to that fact.
Not to mention, that is almost 8 years, Kovalchuck’s playoff experience, and WINNING experience equates to 4 playoff losses to the NY Rangers.
No thanks.
[Reply]
LOL at everyone still talking about a dime a dozen 4th liner, get over it! I’m sure Segal was not a “jerk” just not needed.
[Reply]
Scaught-
It’s been well documented why Lombardi chose Hickey over the “the sexy pick” Alzner or whoever. His plan was to get a defenseman and between the 2, Hickey has the higher upside. Alzner has been brought up a dozen times and failed to stick…
[Reply]
mrbrett…. yep, that’s it
[Reply]
I read all of the comments, sometimes throw in my two cents, but I have to say,this blog Rich has created is the best thing for Kings hockey since Tiger Williams (ok, maybe Gretzky). Thoroughly enjoyable. Thanks, Rich!
[Reply]
Scaught,
I agree DLs done a fine job, although my last moment was far more resent at the Draft Party 2008 we moved up to the 12th pick overall by trade. I was celibrating thinking and chanting Tyler Myers, then minutes later I was yelling Nooooo! over and over for 2 minutes straight as they announced we had traded down 1 spot, Buffalo selected Tyler Myers-D 6’7″ will win Calder Trophy this year. We ended up with Colten Tuebert and an 4th round Dman in 2009. Can you just imagine the possibility of having 2 Franchise Dmen under 21 & if JJ develops to his potential a 3rd Franchise Dman. That would have equaled Dynasty, lets hope we have one anyway.
[Reply]
Not picking Tyler Myers will be beaten to death forever. You can only have so many puck movers in your system, after drafting Doughty, we had 4 or 5, and didn’t need another.
[Reply]
Rich,
It would be interesting to ask Dean about what he thinks about the Phoenix Coyotes. Are the Coyotes this years “St. Louis Blues?” or are Coyotes young guys have “figured it out.”
Just wondering if we need to contend with the Coyotes from here on out.
Ed
[Reply]
Thanks for the luv folks.
Regarding the Hickey pick in 07, DL choose the player with the best leadership. It was a very weak draft. I understnad to King fans it looks like a powerful draft with Moeller and Simmonds, but I believe there are more 08 picks playing in the nhl than 07 picks. Anyway, when you are picking names out of a hat, you go for the leader, because that is the one who will have the best shot at making it through. DL choose right.
Regarding the Tuebert over Myers pick, we need to look closer. To an outsider, it would appear DL choose wrong. But, if you understand The way DL wants to build a team, then he hit a grand slam in this draft.
Tuebs is a better skater, is a very physical player, and will be able to protect DD or Voynov one day. He is also mentally tough, look what he went through last year with the Regina. He is also a guy who is 100% in. There will never be any questions about him taking a night off. The Kings will have the closest thing to prong/Neider in a couple of years. Let Tuebs grow before rendering a decision on this one.
You may also recall Brown, not your prototypical jitterbug player, go around Myers like myers was still waiting for the light to change. I actually believe that was the changing point of our season. Brown saying “WE will not lose this game” and going around Myers on his off wing. The boys on the bench saw their captain taking the wheel.
[Reply]
Like I’ve said in other posts, it comes down to 20 guys willing to live and die for each other. A TEAM. Not 20 guys with their own agendas. DL has done an amazing job with this team, once they learn how to step on the neck of their opponent and never let up, this will be one scary team! Then we won’t have to court the superstars, they will want to come to us!
[Reply]
I see a lack of mental maturity on this team but lack off confidence is not something I would associate with our young Kings. Since when did 18-25 year old men ever lack confidence. Further proof is in the comeback wins and the our stat when leading after the 2nd period. The players seem to actually believe that no matter how far ahead of them you might get they will catch you.
They just need to learn focus so that the first 10-20 minutes are as well played as the last.
[Reply]
Thank you very much for the interview, Rich!
[Reply]
Way to go Nitro! Way to go DL. Great fricken general manager! He’s built a friggin solid unit!
[Reply]
Mr. Brett,
By your own logic, we should traded Frolov and Kopitar since they have ZERO playoff wins between them.
Johnson and a No 1 for Kovy would have been smart.
Frolov and a No 1 would have been smart. I think they wanted Simmonds and that was too much to bear.
Let’s see how the playoff run goes.
[Reply]
Jet/S.McQueen – exactly. My opinion on Hickey is that he will be a good NHL player in time. There was one ready-for-the-NHL player that year and he was taken #1. It takes time for these guys to develop. When the Kings picked Hickey in ’07, how would they know they would get Doughty in ’08? That’s the type of player they were looking for in the ’07 pick.
And Teubert will grow into a good player, too. I see both he and Hickey on the Kings in 2 years. That’s a nice six right there: Doughty, Johnson, Green, Voinov, Hickey, Teubert.
Oh, and Ed – Phoenix is not a young team. Why does anyone think that? Because they don’t follow them? They have the 13th oldest roster.
One more thing – tonight’s game will be the start of an awesome 6-year rivalry between COL/LA.
[Reply]
Brett and McQueen,
It’s clear Sam Gagner and David Perron were the best choices at their respective selections from that draft. To be fair to Lombardi, he wasn’t the only one who didn’t do well in the first round of 2007. But he did get Simmonds in the second. That’s another consolation.
[Reply]