Here’s the first part of today’s post-Kovalchuk interview with Dean Lombardi. The second part will touch more on what will happen going forward…
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Question: Did you have any idea, before today, that he would be signing in New Jersey, or did you feel like you were in it until the end?
LOMBARDI: “I really didn’t know. Thursday, we made our final offer, and he said he wanted until Monday to think about it, and that was it. So there were no discussions during the weekend, and that was it. So when you ask if we were in it, I don’t know how else to answer that. When you give your final offer and they tell you they’ll consider it, I guess you’re in it. That’s all you can do. You push the envelope in a number of areas, do the best you can do and come up with your best offer, that works on so many fronts. It didn’t work, so we move on.
“I’m very comfortable that we pushed the envelope on everything, from the revenue side to the AAV to the cash side, to other players coming up, the way we structured the contract. There are so many things that go into that. The negotiation, internally, is as grueling as externally, because you’re trying to push this and put this all together and meet his demands. In the end, I’m comfortable that we pushed the envelope as far as was reasonable, and if it’s not good enough, it’s not good enough.”
Question: In talking about all those factors, was there one, in particular, that you decided you just couldn’t budge on any more? Was it the number of years, or the money, or a combination?
LOMBARDI: “It’s a good question. The irony is that, from day one, we were hearing that $100-million number out there. Nobody wanted to believe it, but you never know. So you’re kind of always negotiating against $100 million in the back of your mind. So there was a target out there, and then you try to satisfy staying within your own parameters. There are so many things to cling to. You have a structure, which means how much money is up front. So that’s a cap issue. You’ve got an AAV issue, in terms of spreading it out to make sure you can keep your other guys. You have a cash issue with your players coming up, because even though your AAV is down, most people look and say, `Well, it’s really an eight-year deal and your cash is X.’ So you’re cognizant of that. You’re cognizant of the cash and revenue issue, whether the revenue is going to be able to cover this. Then you have the term, obviously, but you almost had to go to that term-type deal to get any kind of AAV that is workable. So every team is different, in terms of what they have and what they have coming. Atlanta had put out a four- or five-year deal with an average of $7.5 or $8 million. There’s no way we can fold in that AAV, but they can, because it’s only Bogosian and Kane there. So there’s not that issue coming up, backdoor, like we have. We’ve got one issue with a Norris Trophy candidate. In New Jersey’s case, they’ve got an issue with Parise, but it’s not the same volume of young players coming. So the things they’re able to do are different from ours, which are different from Atlanta. So when they’re piecing things together on their end, they’re not facing the same issues all the time. They’re different. So like I said, putting all that together internally and balancing those interests is as grueling as negotiating with the agent, because there’s no margin for error. When you make this type of commitment, you better have looked at everything and around every corner. I’m very comfortable that we put our best effort out there. It’s a choice, and we’re fine with that.”
Question: We hear a lot, in this context, about having room to lock up younger players to contracts. Can you explain that a little more. Is it a direct correlation, an apples-to-apples comparison like, if you pay too much for Kovalchuk, you can’t keep Johnson and Simmonds?
LOMBARDI: “If you’re talking about running hypotheticals, you say, `We get this guy at this number, then you project Doughty and Johnson and Simmonds.’ Yeah, those were all done. Of course. Now, when you ask if there’s a direct correlation, that’s where you don’t know. Some kids will disappoint you and others will surprise you. So in terms of actually running the schematics, you do the best you can on a two- or three-year basis, and that factors into what you end up offering him. Nobody knows for sure. I don’t know that Chicago knows Duncan Keith is going to win the Norris Trophy. So you balance it, and say, `There’s a reasonable assumption that this player is going to command this salary. So if we’re going to get this guy, what does the number have to be to make sure it all works?’ So that was all done, and that’s why, again, the work that goes into structuring things is more work. Those things are done automatically. If you’re going to make an $80-million investment, you better do it. Are they written in stone? No. I don’t think anybody would have projected that Doughty would have been one of the three finalists for the Norris Trophy this year. You just try to make reasonable assumptions. That’s all factored into what is offered. What we offered out there certainly wasn’t chicken feed.”
It all makes sense except for the issue that if we resign everyone we have, we still are a 6th place team. We need an X factor, a Hossa, a 80 point guy and we don’t have him.
[Reply]
Big Mike on D Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
@carol vadnais, We have a lot of talent on the roster. Last year we didn’t have that guy. We might with another year and development. Hockey is a team sport, any one person that blocks that ultimately will hurt.
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luckyluc13 Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
@carol vadnais,Kopitar had 81 pionts this year,just saying
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Marc Nathan Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
@luckyluc13, Kopitar would benefit from a player who can take some of the heat off of him. Bernie Nicholls had his best years when Gretzky was drawing all the attention. Kopitar would have benefited from a guy like Jason Allison during his tenure with the Kings. You need a supporting cast. Kopitar would be the best support a superstar can have!
[Reply]
hockeysister Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
@Marc Nathan,
Jason Allison would have been claiming to be injured the entire season, like he did the last half of his last season with the Kings.
luckyluc13 Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
@Marc Nathan,I agree.Kopitar is the saddest guy today.He would love to play with Kovi
Tim O Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
@Marc Nathan, That’s just the thing. Kopitar would NOT have benefitted from Jason Allison because he was VAPOR. A rumor. Even when he was here he wasn’t. 25 goals in TWO years. Great signing.
puckbob Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
@luckyluc13,I think we have superstars in the making, they just haven’t fully developed yet. But it would be nice to get more offence till then.
[Reply]
quinn Reply:
July 20th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
@puckbob, Our offense was very good this year yeah it would have been amazing to have Kovy but what we reallyneed is Defense!! we have Doughty johnson scuderi and then Greene thats it!
mrbrett7 Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
@carol vadnais, While I agree with you, you also make the assumption that nobody on the current roster improves, which is pretty shortsided considering how young most of them are.
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KingsFan in OC Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
@carol vadnais, we do have an 80 point guy and his name is Anze Kopitar.
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thanatossassin Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
@carol vadnais, gonna disagree there, you haven’t accounted for player growth due to the recent playoff experience, as well as the kids coming up in the system. We will see improvement even if we didn’t acquire anyone during the off season, probably not enough though
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Lanny McDonald's 'Stache Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
@carol vadnais,
Carol, what is your assessment now upon realizing that we do, in fact, have an 80 point player?
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Mike Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
@Lanny McDonald’s ‘Stache,
I don’t disagree with Carol, I mean yeah Kopitar had an 80 point season but Kopitar is one of those Frolov type players that get like an impressive 9 goals in 7 games and then go 6 games without scoring…
[Reply]
Lanny McDonald's 'Stache Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
@Mike,
You don’t disagree with Carol’s statement that “we need an 80 point guy and we don’t have him”? Then you need to go back and look at the stats from last season.
Sako Reply:
July 20th, 2010 at 1:44 pm
@Mike, If that’s your argument, I’ll take 9 goals in 13 games from any player in the league.
Kingstane9 Reply:
July 21st, 2010 at 2:59 am
@carol vadnais, Did you mean we as the Ducks maybe? The Kings had an 80 points man in AK, so…
[Reply]
Alright Dean…
[Reply]
LBlocal Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
@brandyn, Luc on in LIVE AM 570 in 15 MINUTES (3:30)..
http://am570radio.com/mediaplayer/?station=KLAC-AM&action=listenlive&channel_title=
gKg!
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Rich – this guy is a joker. He has no plan B and he continues to spew words. I am not crushed that he didn’t sign Kovalchuk, it may not have been a good move for the Kings and NJ will regret it in a few years, but what is the back up strategy ?? Gagne is gone and he has big holes to fill. Sorry, the guys coming up can’t fill those roles right now and he has nothing to show for this free agency season…. again !!! Dean may be a good guy to build a team up from the ashes, but I am starting to think that he can’t take the Kings to the next level. Very disappointing that he has nothing to show for his efforts (or lack thereof) to date !!!
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the dude from the southeast Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
@Nick F., relook at the questions he answered them to his knowledge plus was any of the questions saying what is plan B? no
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historyguy Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 5:06 pm
@Nick F., Why do the Kings have to sign an expensive UFA? The progress that has been made over the past few seasons is real, and not having Kovi won’t detract from that.
It’s ignorant to say that DL “has no plan B”. How do you know that? You have an inside source? Didn’t think so.
If last season is any indication, DL will make a move that makes sense, and it will probably be something that almost nobody expects.
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Rich: Could you kindly ask Mr. Lombardi to explain how a 6m cap hit would prevent him from signing the young players coming up? Or how a 6m cap hit isn’t reasonable for a perennial 40-50 goal scorer?
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Clunatic Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
@lowdrive, Kovalchuk wanted a lot more then 6m. If you saw above, we tried 7.5m for 5 years, and he didn’t want that. Dean tried his best, but Kovalchuk’s the one with the final say.
[Reply]
mrbrett7 Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
@lowdrive, You want that same 6 million cap hit when that player is 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44?
Furthermore, can you gaurantee that the cap continues to increase (no, you can’t, in fact, most think it goes down).
Add to that AT LEAST an increase in team salary of around 15 million or so in cap hits for the likes of Doughty, Johnson and Simmonds, and I haven’t included Bernier.
[Reply]
lowdrive Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
@clunatic, do the math on the NJ deal. 100m/17 years = 5.8m annual cap hit. That’s what he signed for.
mrbrett7, You really think Kovalchuk is going to play when he’s 39-44? My guess is this is a highly front-loaded contract with most of the money being paid out in the beginning with the idea that he will have retired long before the end of the 17 years.
[Reply]
jgomez Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:37 pm
@lowdrive, Its actually 10m for first 8 years then 7.5m for 2 years according to reports ive seen. Crazy numbers.
I was bashing Lombardi a couple weeks ago when it seemed like he was letting his own ego get in the way of this deal but the truth is, yes Kovalchuk would have been a nice addition to the Kings and probably made them favorites to win the Cup, but in getting him they would have had to throw away so much of what’s been built here. And for a player that will be good for 4-5 more years it probably would not have been worth it.
Did I want to see Kovalchuk on the Kings? You bet I did. But there is only so much a team can spend and he clearly wanted the absolute limit of what he could get which was too much for this team.
And you know what, the Kings are still going to be good without him. Whereas New Jersey is still going to stink with him.
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number 6 Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
@Garrett,
I live in ny and can tell you that NJ has been really really good the last few regular seasons…. but that hasn’t translated to the playoffs. Now they’d better hope it does, otherwise it’s not gonna look too good.
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Guitpik Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
@number 6,
Well, they’re 0-1
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mls109 Reply:
July 20th, 2010 at 1:19 am
@number 6,
The Devils have actually been really really good for the past 15-20 years. LA had a good 2009-10 season but wasn’t that good the seasons leading up to this one. That’s why Kovy’s in Jersey now…he chose consistency in Jersey vs a 1-year playoff team. As for someone’s comment that Kovy would take the Kings to the next level, of course this is true. But LA’s next level would be to be a year-in and year-out playoff team like the Devs are right now, whereas in Jersey the idea is that he would turn them from just a consistent playoff team into a legitimate Stanley Cup Contender. Let’s see how it turns out. Wishing both teams well next season
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If management really wanted to do this they could have. EG: Beckham was signed for $250 million and no objections from ownership then.
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number 6 Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
@BCR,
The Beckham isssue had no salary cap. Other than Landon Donovan they didn’t have other ‘star’ players to deal with so it’s like comparing apples to chicken.
[Reply]
David Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
@BCR, Can those “people” who keep bringing up the Beckham contract please understand that AEG is not paying him $250 million!!!??? His actual salary from the team is, if i’m not mistaken, $10 mill per year for 5 years, which comes out to $50 mill and the other $200 mill comes in the form of sponsorship and endorsement deals with a variety of different companies. So, to recap… AEG is NOT paying Beckham $250 mill!!!
[Reply]
KOHO Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
@David,
But they are paying him $10 million…
FAIL!
[Reply]
David Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
@KOHO, “FAIL!”?? What does that even mean?
hockeysister Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:06 pm
@KOHO,
They are paying him $10M because they don’t have to worry about salary cap and other members of the team. But, think about it, has he really done the Galaxy any good? Have they won anything as a result of having him? Not really. So maybe they learned their lesson from the Beckham fiasco and aren’t about to repeat it with Kovalchuk.
ghaad Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
@KOHO,
There isn’t a cap in soccer and they are doing for Marketing purposes to draw attention to the league. Get it through your thick skulls. AEG is an entertainment company. They aren’t cutting back on security guards at Nokia or giving you less nacho cheese in order to pay Beckhams salary. It’s not as simple as I have a thousand dollars, should I gamble at the tables or find myself a lady of the night and some party favors. They still make movies, they still run their venues, they still have budgets that are per project.
Interesting, can’t believe we were simply so much shorter on cash (or that lou had so much more) on both the short and long term deal.
If that was the case why did DL pursue it so long? I wonder if there was simply nothing else workable. I mean Gagne seems cheap to Tampa, but its probable that he wouldn’t waive his NTC to come here vs there.
[Reply]
Guitpik Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 5:37 pm
@jammer06,
It’s my opinion that Kovalchuk never planned on signing in LA. He was just using the process to squeeze as much as he could out of the team he intended to sign with.
That’s fine with me because that Kings are not going to be on-the-hook in year four with this guy, let alone year 10 and on.
[Reply]
jammer06 Reply:
July 20th, 2010 at 7:06 am
@Guitpik,
I agree somewhat. I think Lou was comfortable structuring the big money after the new CBA because he thinks there will be a real salary reduction on all existing contracts not just a “cap prorating”. In which case this labor negotiation will suck for all of us.
[Reply]
Ready to move on from the Kovy saga, looking forward to what his comments are to what we will do next.
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I still want to hear from the person who wrote all those posts about “Kovi and his wife want to come to L.A.”!
Anybody out there?
No?
–Agent-planted nonsense!–
[Reply]
BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
@Ezepace,
(Took me awhile; found the name!)
–COMMENTS?–
[Reply]
ezepace Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 4:45 pm
@BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy, \Yes here I am. And what I told you was fact..And I am not an agent plant as you call it.
You sound like you blame me that it didnt happen..I wanted it bad…
But why would he sign in LA for the terrible offer we offered compared to what NJ gave him. Not even close dude…..
Ask tookie and ea management. I have emailed them…..
Im as sad as anyone today.
IM on vacation right now and out of state.
Not that you deserve an explanation from me but after what your 3rd or 4th post today I WANTED to set the record straight .
[Reply]
goldielocks Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
@BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy,
Maybe they saw 2012 on movie channel and got scared to come to LA. Mayan knew it so did Kovi family!
[Reply]
BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
@goldielocks,
Yep.
Kovee Babee held out for the big Russian plane they fly through everything and around everything in the movie.
The plane will be Kovee Babee’s bonus when he ‘retires’…
[Reply]
goldielocks Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
@BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy,
Right. And I hope they will end up in China.
Is this what it feels like to be a Knicks fan……………….
[Reply]
Paul From Oxnard Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
@’11CupWinners, No. The Knicks throw tons of money at complete garbage players and never win anything. The Kings won’t throw a little money at great players and they don’t win anything either.
I’m glad the Kings didn’t sign Kovalchuk. That contract sounds almost like a deal with the Russian Mob.
But I do agree that there better be a “plan B” in place, especially since Gagne went to Tampa (how does Tampa have the money to sign every player in the NHL again?)
[Reply]
Mike Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:40 pm
@Paul From Oxnard,
same way the heat had the money to sign lebron, wade, and bosh..lol
[Reply]
givemebackmylife Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
@’11CupWinners, worst than that….this is what it feels like to be a dodgers fan.. their ownership is as clueless as this one.
i bet you if kovi could sing 2 becomes 1 like beckham spice he would have been signed july 1st at 12:01 a.m. to an open contract
[Reply]
givemebackmylife Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
@’11CupWinners, worst than that….this is what it feels like to be a dodgers fan.. their ownership is as clueless as this one.
i bet you if kovi could sing 2 becomes 1 like beckham spice he would have been signed july 1st at 12:01 a.m. to an open contract who knows… maybe lieweekly asked kovi to try on a dress and a wig and that killed the deal
[Reply]
That is awesome. I hope what he said makes sense to a lot of you who have been posting how ridiculous this is and how D.L. can’t get the job done. This is exactly what many of us have been writing in the sense that you run all the numbers every which way. I’m prefectly fine that the guys we have coming up will be able to showcase what they have for many years here.
[Reply]
wavesinair Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
We tend to agree on most things Frank, and I’m not one to say it’s necessarily ridiculous. But I will say what Deano said doesn’t make sense to me.
“staying within your own parameters”
What does this mean? I interpret it to mean the limitations placed on him by ownership.
“you’re cognizant of the cash and revenue issue”
What cash and revenue issue(s)??? Acording to Leiweke, there is NO CASH ISSUE!!!
“whether the revenue is going to be able to cover this”
Oh really? So cash IS and issue after all.
It seems to me pretty clear there was a ceiling on how much ownership was willing to pay for a premium player, regardless of how the cap was affected, which flies directly in the face of what ownership is on record as saying.
And finally, you have to love this quote in regards to Kovi wanting 100 million, “Nobody wanted to believe it.”
Well, believe it.
Is 15 years at 80 million so different than 15 at 100 million? How would this have hurt our team? How would this have been a bad move for us? Sure, ownership would pay 20 million more, but hey, it’s not about the cash, right?
[Reply]
Masked Man Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
@wavesinair,
Anytime you have to sell seats for $11, you know there won’t be a large budget. Didn’t you notice all those empty seats in the Premier section last season?
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Marc Nathan Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:55 pm
@Masked Man, those empty premiere seats are sold. That’s why they can announce sellouts when you’re looking at an arena with 2000 empty seats.
wavesinair Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
Agreed. But it’s not about the cash. Right? Or do I need remind you again.
Four_Aces Reply:
July 22nd, 2010 at 10:00 am
@Marc Nathan,
Right, those seats are sold. To Lakers fans. Which is why they’re empty.
KOHO Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:50 pm
@wavesinair,
Exactly!!
Money has always been an issue, always will be.
Did the best they could…not good enough as usual.
[Reply]
BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
@wavesinair,
It wasn’t so much the length of the contract. It was the amount of money in 2012, 2013, 2014…
The end of the contract, when Kovee Babee would be preparing for Depends, pays little to no money. Those years are essentially voidable.
The beginning of the contract likely was not the issue, either, somewhere around $10 million a year.
The issue was the potential strike year and the following 2-3 years, where the essence of the CBA has yet to be determined yet Kovee Babee’s market value had not yet dropped.
Something tells me K.B. will ‘retire’ at the moment when he perceives his market value rises above his actual salary, and go play in the KHL… And, that may be as soon as 2012.
[Reply]
Captain Material Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
@BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy,
I hear you and mostly agree that there are issues out there, but when are there not going to be issues? When are a half dozen HoFer’s in their prime suddenly going to come to the Kings as UFAs asking for the league minimum? There is never going to be a perfect situation for the Kings to have the Cup handed to them on a plater. Never.
We always seem to be waiting for that moment though. We wait for a salary cap, then we wait for teams to get in trouble with the cap, then when top talent does become available as a result in a restrcited market…we still wait because we don’t want to spend the money. The deal wasn’t good enough, so now we’ll wait some more.
I would argue that top talent is never going to be available for peanuts. We are never going to get a top talent for a bargain basement price. The advantage that we could reasonabley wait for is access to a top talent, and we just had that and let it walk away.
Okay, so we finally have a top guy who addresses our needs for scoring, and BOS and NYR and PHI and TOR and all the other usual suspects of attractive UFA land spots are not is a position to compete against us. We are left as the most attractive location to land. That, realistically, is the advantage we have been waiting for. Not for a player to be available at a low price, but for one to simply be available to us at all!
We get that advantage finally after waiting and waiting for caps and issues to develop to allow us the oppertunity…and we pass on it.
We keep going to job interviews with 200 applicants for one job, and finally go to one with just a couple, and we turn the job down because we want three weeks vacation instead of two. We finally get the pretty girl to acknowledge our existance, but then blow it because we want her to commit to two dances instead of just asking for the one.
We got what we were waiting for in Kovalchuk. A real opertunity to land a top talent instead of simply being ignored as the guy signed with the Rangers or Philly or Boston instead, and we chose to pass on it because it wasn’t a bargain deal.
There are always going to be issues out there that make these decisions tough. Somehow other teams seems to build and win and make tough decisions. Sometimes they win and sometimes they lose, but they actually take the chance.
We wait and get fed an endless series of justifcations for how waiting now is worth it because we’re going to make a move down the road. The road just keeps on rolling while we wait year after year…
Masked Man Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
@EASportsMgt,
Exactly. And when I hear Kovalchuk wants 100 million dollars I picture Dr. Evil with his pinky in his mouth and laughing. Let Dr. Evil go to the Devil. He will get his hell.
[Reply]
John Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
@EASportsMgt,
Clearly it will not! I’m not sure some around here understand logic.
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RLane420 Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:05 pm
@EASportsMgt, Are you refering to the guys we are going to have to trade to fill the holes we now have. Who do you think it will take to get a top 6 forward and a top d man. Trade them or take the chance that we cant pay them later, we lose them either way.
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“What we offered out there certainly wasn’t chicken feed.” lol
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So frustrating being a Kings fan. You hope the young guys turn into a Kovulchuk. Without a 40 or 50 goal scorer we will not get to the next step.
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Space_Shot Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
@Rob,
Yes, the Blackhawks and Flyers really relied on their 50 goal scorer to get them to the Cup Finals.
….oh wait….
BTW, how’d that work out for the Lightning and Capitals?
[Reply]
Lars H Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
@Rob, what Space_Shot said.
How many 40-50 goal scorers do you see here: http://blackhawks.nhl.com/club/stats.htm?gameType=2&season=20092010&srt=g
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king lopez Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
@Lars H, NOT ONE
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5thLine Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
@Lars H,
Hossa is 40 goal scorer.
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John Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
@5thLine,
Not when he won The Stanley Cup, he wasn’t.
number 6 Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
@Lars H,
Not only that but Kane And Toews are very clutch Five on Five players so it’s not at all the same thing. Sorry to beat a very dead horse, but the team plays at a very different pace than the Kings and that accounts for a lot as well. They (Chi) also if you notice have two 17 goal scorers (pretty close to 20). Granted they are now gone, but if you figure them as 20 that gives them Eight twenty goal scorers. Also very true what 5th Line says… Hossa is definitely a 40 goal scorer and he missed 25 games last year.
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Minnesota Kings Fan Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
@Lars H,
Excellent point, my friend.
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joe Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
@Rob, and you wonder why hes not in san jose anymore
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mrbrett7 Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
@joe, Prey tell? How has that worked out for San Jose?
I forget…how many cups has San Jose won?
[Reply]
Rob Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:05 pm
@Rob,
Of course there are obvious examples of teams that do it. Every person will admit that the edition of a 40-50 goal scorer to our line up makes us instant cup contenders. If you deny that you’re dillusional.
[Reply]
The_Guv_ Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
@Rob,
Right on
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The_Guv_ Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
@Rob,
I agree with you Rob. We do have some good prospects coming up, but they’re just that, prospects. These kids are unproven, Kovi however, will score 40+ goals a year and make us legit contenders. Bottom line is, The Kings just don’t want to spend the cash. Same s**t, different year. Oh well, GO KINGS!!!
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Rob Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
@The_Guv_,
Agreed. I think we are all just frustrated. I know I am. I go to a lot of games and I was already looking forward to seeing some Kovi, Kopi finesse top shelf action. I should be looking for work. This has consumed me lately! Luckily I don’t have any kids to feed. I would have no problem with a 30 goal scorer or a few more 20′s. It just seemed like such a perfect fit for this team. OK. I am going to stop dwelling. Being a Kings fan is like being in jail with the tin cup.. nobody knows the troubles I’ve seen, nobody knows… lol. Can you spare a cup mister? Can you spare a natural goal scorer sir?
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Space_Shot Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
@Rob,
I’m not saying they don’t need an impact forward who isn’t on the current roster. I just feel that a “50 goal scorer” is not the answer to end all answers. I would take a clutch 30+ goal scorer who is able to finish, especially 5 on 5, in a heartbeat. I’m more upset that we didn’t trade for Gagne than not getting Kovy.
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I’m more interested in what he plans on doing going forward. The explanations for not signing him are good enough for me but we need to know what the backup plan is.
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Duckbasher Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
@sstephen17, – The backup plan is right in front of us all. We don’t need no stinking Kovi’s on our TEAM.
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I really am ok with not having a 17 year contract on 27 year old player…..Let’s move on now and improve the team thru trades…..
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Nor does Kovalchuk deserve chicken feed. DL probably spent the whole weekend figuring out how to shine up this turd of disappointment. Kings could have offered up a better deal. In reality, they played it a but too conservatively IMO, and now we will all drown in mediocrity. Yey us!
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RJC76 Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
@Doug D
80 Million is chicken feed?
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Thanks Rich – I hope you had the opportunity to press him over what options are left in the FA market, where he’ll turn his attention, who / what they’re targeting from other teams over the cap and any thoughts he has on what he’s prepared to give up in exchange for specific parts to fill…?
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The disappointment from the fans is understandable, but I think in the end we’ll likley be glad this didn’t happen.
Devils better start locking up draft picks, because they aren’t going to be able to afford much else besides Parise and Kovi’s contract.
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Sounds like more drabble to me. Lombardi is using the young players as an excuse as to why he couldn’t get it done.
It’s certainly a valid point, but considering what IK signed for, it was WELL within the parameters of being able to resign the ‘core’.
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number 6 Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
@Whodawat,
It’s not like he could’ve said ‘ok, we match the Devils offer’ and then Kovi comes running to LA. It’s ridiculous to put all the blame on Lombardi. What was he supposed to do? OK. No problem, We will give you $130million for 16 years!! Now THAT would be great.
It’s just not that simple and so many people seem to think it is.
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flex Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
@number 6, It is not simple ,specialy for you and me,but for this guy(Dl)..his time is up.We have been patient for long time.His records are the best proof ,he is not able to land ‘big”players…I do not care and I do not but buy anything ,any excuse. THIS IS Unacceptable miss.!!! Kovi is rare natural sniper and we all knew that ,when he was only 17 year old.In this huge dept we stuck with there is NOBADY ,noone with similar skills.period.
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fsd1 Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
@Whodawat, You seem to know alot about the Kings finances and plans, care to let us in on the secret? You already know what it would cost to retain the core? Really?
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Rich why dont you ask him what plan B is. What is he (DL) going to do now to improve this team for 2010?
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King John Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
@gene,
Rich already said in the 2nd sentence that he was going to ask DL next what he would do going forward. Pay attention!
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The Kings aren’t any better than they were last year. If the Kings organization is unable to bring in the players needed for the team to go to the next level, then I would’ve be surprised if other Kings’ players decide to sign with a team that can.
Why would Doughty and JMFJ want to play for a team that really hasn’t won anything significant in decades?
I love the Kings, but they have to do something about their offense. I think they really blew it on this one.
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Masked Man Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
@Jammers,
I hope Doughty and Johnson have more loyalty to the team than that. I’m sure they don’t see a problem in not signing Kovalchuk. They seemed pretty happy with who was on the team last season.
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Lloyd Christmas Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
@Jammers,
And this team is better than last year. JJ’s progress alone from opening night to Game 6 is proof of that.
I hate missing out on Kovi, but this team will be alright.
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USHA#17 Reply:
July 20th, 2010 at 8:24 am
@Jammers,
Its called taking responsibility.
How often to a couple of young guys get to move in, take over a team in the belief that they can go all the way (given that they can look at the Sharks and see where this team is going)?
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Nice slight on Atlanta. This guy is way to cocky about his prospect pool, and what they will be worth down the road.
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Rich – vacation…
We deeply appreciate this information, but… vacation.
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Just how conservative is this guy…I guess we’ll have to wait and see. We’re not going to win the cup with the young talent we have. We’re not going to win the cup with our young talent and another 30 goal scorer…We need atleast 2 more scorers and 1 more defenseman. I honestly don’t think Dean is ballsy enough to give us that.
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RLane420 Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
@andy, Sure he is if they will play for chicken feed.
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Condorguy… ha. That was probably me. I was so sure!!!! It seemed so simple. I’ve been to Jersey. There is no comparison! Turns out it was really just all about the money. I didn’t want to believe it. I love that Kovi drops the gloves without hesitation to stand up for himself or his teammates. What can you buy with 100 mil that you can’t with 80? More gold shower heads?
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fourtunato Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
@Rob,
After State, local, sales federal and agent’s commission, and adjusting for inflation over say 10 years we are really talking about taking home between 40 and 30 mil. that’s a take home of 3 to 4 mil a year and that’s pretty much it for his career. So the difference is much more than it seems.
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BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
@Rob,
Not you. It was Ezepace…
–I checked!
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Rob Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
@BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy,
3 or 4 as opposed to 5 or 6 over ten years may add up but that will never get spent. He will buy a 5 million dollar house. He will be able to buy any car, any jewelry, anything he wanted. These guys aren’t like NBA players and rappers. You don’t see hockey players on cribs too often. Majority will be invested anyway. My point being it turned out to be just about the money. Which sucks. Everyone can argue it until they are blue in the face that this is better for the team. No way. Everyone would be changing their tune if it went our way. Instant contenders. Now we are just still, rebuilding. Youthful. Potential. Yadda yadda yadda.
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@Rich: Thanks for taking time off from your holiday to do this.
Also, what’s AAV?
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Daniel Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
@Lars H, Average Annual Value
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Lars H Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
@Daniel and @DBB
Thanks!
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DBB Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
@Lars H,
My best guess is that it stands for Average Annual Value of a contract. Another way of saying a contract’s anuual salary cap impact.
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Good Job…DL…
@ Carol…none of the young guys are at their potential. DD, DB, JJ, Kopi…all have room to be better players. With a more balanced approach in goal this year the Kings team have a lot of potential. Kovi guaranteed nothing but a fat contract.
I want to hear what DL plans…
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Please can we have a little light on where we go from here. With whats left, what do we do to improve? Who do we trade and for what in return?
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Masked Man Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
@DC5275,
Take a look at all the UFA defensemen still out there. I sure hope there is a trade in the works for a goalscoring forward. Resigning Fro wouldn’t be a bad idea as long as he doesn’t get a huge raise.
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Rich, ask DL why they went so high on their offer. Kovi playing for the devils only had an average of 30/season last year.
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Again LA is not willing to put it out there and get a top player. What a joke. We are the Clippers of the NHL. Get Brian BUrke in here. Get rid of DL.
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king lopez Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
@gene, And what, be a one hit wonder? i’ve waited a long time to see the cup in LA and i’m not just wanting to see it one time and flop.
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mbrett7 Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
@gene, Why, so the Kings could be in the cap hell the Ducks are in where they can’t even sign their best young player to a measley 5 year deal?
No thanks.
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puck73 Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:40 pm
@gene, Why dont you just become a Rangers fan and go away Gene. They like pissing away money, you like pissing away money…sounds like a good fit to me.
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Best offer, Dean?
You and I know that it was a dream for Kovalchuk to accept your best offer. Players like him don’t come cheap.
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Steve McQueen Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
@Chris P. Bacon, just remember Chris,Lombardi isn’t the one holding the checkbook. He’s was given a set $$ amount and did what he could with it. Do you honestly believe Kovi is worth a 100 mil no matter what the terms were?
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Ok figure this out…it’s not all about the young guys…there are still holes to fill as well…DL has to sign DD, JJ, WS and still fill holes left by Modin, Fro, OD, a number #4 dman and an enforcer…thats 5 bodies that all will hit the cap. this isn’t rocket science but building a team not puttnig all the eggs into one basket…there is a balancing point here and yes we need a 40 goal scorer but we also need support from other spots as well. By not spending 80-100 million it leaves lots of room for a lot of other bodies to help finish building and bring a cup to LA!
Go Kings Go!
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Thomas Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 4:39 pm
@KNGFAN004,
I’m not sure why I see people say we need an enforcer. It’s fairly evident we are going with Wesgarth next year. And as for D-Men we have a glut in the minors, so that replaces OD. So it’s not as bleak as it’s made out to be.
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There is no way DL and RH et al were not working on plan B C D while all this is going on. There are too many whiteboards in El Segundo for him to resist. I look forward to part II
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Thanks for getting us hear DL and staff. Get us over the hump and get that sniper that we can’t seem to develop.
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Rich: Could you kindly ask Mr. Lombardi to explain how a 6m cap hit would prevent him from signing the young players coming up? Or how a 6m cap hit isn’t reasonable for a perennial 40-50 goal scorer?
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Ike Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:29 pm
@Jax, seems a lot of people are stuck on cap hit…
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One word for LA and DL. First class joke.
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fsd1 Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
@gene, then stop commenting here
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stagger Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
@gene, “One word for LA and DL. First class joke.”
Um that was 3. . . . O never mind.
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John Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:05 pm
@gene,
Yeah, it’s a first class joke how we’re loaded with young golatenders & dmen! That IS pretty funny. Thanks DL!!!
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puck73 Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
@gene, Brian Burke huh ? Why dont you ask leaf fan if he is happy with the results Burkie is getting for them. And another thing, why Burke would leave Anaheim where he had no media pressure on him at all to go to that cess pool of unreasonable expectations and “we want it now !” mentality is beyond me.
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Sorry DL – you just did not get it done. Your job is to find a way to make it work and it didn’t happen. You even had him in the shop and taking the car for a test drive (figuratively speaking with his LA visit) and you could not close. I’m not buying the damage control bit.
Execute on a solid Plan B and you may save a little of face.
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You were right Rich…. timing is everything. NOW GO ENJOY YOUR VACATION!
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Blah Blah Blah. You blew it Dumbo! Live in the NOW!! Watch the “CORE” get moved within 3 years! BANK IT!
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EVERYONE knows we need a top four scorer, especially with losing Frolov. Maybe Schenn will develop into that.
But let’s say we stay pat and finish 8th or worse this year while our “core” develops. Is that really enough?
Maybe Plan B is to not do anything until the trading deadline and be a “buyer” again, like last year?
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So much for all the tard bloggers who said “the deal is inching closer.” I well never trust a Helene or Matt as long as I live. And another thing..today is one of the harder days when it comes to being a Kings fan. It pleases me to see all the crappy trash talkers jumping off the LA Kings band wagon. REAL Kings fans see though the good and the bad and last season had a lot of good to it. GKG!
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David Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
@Darren, Trust or don’t trust who you want and deciding you don’t wish to trust Helene is perfectly legit but before you go out and bash her you should understand who you are talking about… this “Helene” that you speak of is Helene Elliott who is a sportswriter for the Los Angeles Times and she is in the Hockey Hall of Fame. To lump her in with “Matt” and call her a “tard blogger” is completely inaccurate.
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Guys.. It’s clear that Kovy/Grossman used the Kings as leverage, simple as that..
It’s time to move on, Rich plz ask DL if he had interest in Simon Gagné and if he’s asking the ‘Hawks about Patrick Sharp.
Thanks
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At some point a Chicago-like cap related risk is required for the Kings to become a true threat, it has to be put up against the value of winning a cup. I don’t know if management/DL is willing and/or able to place that bet. Being conservative and “logical” about it all is great when it comes to keeping the Kings as a contender, but will it be enough for us to win it all? When should they roll the dice? Not now it seems..
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If Kings management was competing with a 17-year deal, then good riddance. Sure we could use the 40-50 goals per season, any team could. But the Devils will be on the hook for Kovalchuk’s contract against the cap for nine years once he turns 35. With that in mind, I’d rather look forward to other available top-six forwards than cry over spilled milk.
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Thomas Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
@Gretz98,
In 2025, when NJ still has Kovi on the books, this deal is going to look really dumb.
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We may not have signed that key guy, but if someone within the system can replace O’Donnell and Jones and do a better job, that is a slight improvement. Perhaps Schenn can come up and be another extra push. Teams get better and teams get worse, but the Kings have for the most part stayed the same, and are now a year older and a year better.
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KC23 Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
@markisonfire,
Losing Frolov, Jones and O’Donnel is not staying the same. We have less debth.
Make no mistake about it, at this very moment we are less of a team not more. Banking on rookies with little to no NHL experience to take us to the next level is the definition of wishful thinking.
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rontheking Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 7:01 pm
@KC23,
I miss frolov already…but jones? you don’t think he’s replaceable?
Surely all the millions saved on the Kovi debacle must be burning a hole in lombardi’s pocket. I think OD will be replaced with a younger OD who isn’t about to OD, a more consistent “fro” will be added, and jones (hee hee hee)–let’s just say I’m not jonesing for another jones.
Kovi was a crap shoot–we won’t know for years if we won or lost. Move on. I still trust lombardi twice as much as any of his predecessors.
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Gretz98 Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 7:03 pm
@KC23,
Not sure what debth is but our depth is just fine. Anyone who’s been paying attention knows that with the work that’s been put into the draft ever since Lombardi was hired, organizational depth has been a priority.
Management seems to be approaching everything by making moves that make sense for the team, so we all just need to be patient. Lombardi will do right by the team and hopefully everyone will forget about today.
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i need to agree with carol. lombardi actually did the right thing here to be honest. thats whats best for the franchise and we have to many talented young kids to spend out our rear end for one guy. on the flip side like carol said the kings are still going to be a 6th place team if that. lets be real the west isent getting any easier. now that kovalchuks parade is finally rained on other guys will start coming out of the wood works for example simon gagne or jeff carter may be available… its rumored that phili is lookin to deal one of them for another goalie unfortunitly that means we would have to lose quick or bernier. . . which blows pretty bad but look at it like this quick has proven to be great, bernier is expected to be a premiere net minder so it sucks not signing kovi but we are still in a position to make a move because of our solid goaltending… do we wanna play it safe and keep the team the way it is and hope to over ahceive or do we take a chance try and get a key asset and take a run at the cup… who knows im glad im just a fan and not the GM
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stagger Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
@anthfromma,
Dude seriously, try capitalizing at least. You have some good/valid points, but it’s too hard to wade through and figure out what you’re saying.
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Who is this Ilya Kovalchuk guy???
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BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
@VanKingsFan,
Kovee Babee…
The least interesting man in the world!
He kept us thirsty…
He is not our friend!
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Don’t you all think that maybe Kovi “played” the kings to get the Devils to make him a better offer? He “may” have used the kings final offer and gave to NJ and told them to beat it? It sucks that the kings didn’t get him but it’s not the end of the world…
Also for those of you who thinks DL blew it by not getting Gagne, he had a no trade clause and maybe he didn’t want to come out here either. He forced Philly to trade him to the team he wanted to go to and didn’t get much of a return..
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number 6 Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
@Mike,
To answer your top question…. YES
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quisp Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
@number 6,
doesn’t sound like lamoriello budged from his offer of a couple of weeks ago. it sounds like maybe lombardi didn’t take the bait. but who knows.
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wavesinair Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
@Mike,
No. One day we’ll find out Kovalchuk wanted to come here but AEG wouldn’t cough up the cash.
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I hope you get a real vacation sometime soon, Rich. Maybe a hammock and drink with a twisty straw.
As for the Kings, I felt hopeful about them with or without Kovalchuk. Kovy might have accelerated the rebuild, but the rebuild plan hasn’t changed.
In regard to our offseason, I am waiting to pass judgment until September. Go Kings Go.
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The sky is falling once again in LA LA land!
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Minnesota Kings Fan Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
@MR King,
Ain’t it the truth. You’d think it was March all over again. Time to suck it up and move on, people.
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Luck Fie-weekly Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:13 pm
@Minnesota Kings Fan,
The sky fell a LONG time ago.
I only wish the “move on” crowd would learn to “move on” with using the phrase “move on.”
Not to mention this JUST HAPPENED TODAY!
Put the Kool-aid down for one second and realize that Kings fans are legitimately upset.
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What I love (hate) most about this whole saga is that somehow it all makes sense from a Kings fan perspective in that things rarely seem to go our way.
I’ve been saying all along Kovi would be a Devil. Yet, by the end of last week, I actually started believing he would be a King. I REALLY believed it.
This conclusion, of course, solidified the very thing I’ve been saying all along… that he wouldn’t be a King.
And so it goes…
Just as I think I’m starting to turn the corner onto “Positive Street” the detour sign comes up and redirects me down “Negative Alley.”
Ahhh, such is the life of a Kings fan.
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FU King Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
@wavesinair, Very well put! Sadly, I couldn’t agree more. I knew better, but after the July 4th weekend the rumors surfaced and foolishly bought into the hype and started drinking the Kool-Aide.
Hopefully, one of these years the talk from management regarding signing an upper tier player will be more than empty rhetoric. Sadly as Kings fans, when we hope in one hand and crap in the other, we all know which hand gets filled first.
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Stuart Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
@wavesinair, We are the epitomy of the Charlie Brown syndrome…THIS time Lucy will leave the ball down and we’re going to kick the sh!t out of it…and this time we’re laying flat on our backs just like last time.
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As Kings fans, how can management not expect us to be incredibly frustrated that the team has done absolutely NOTHING during this free agency?
The young talent has shown they’re at the cusp of doing something great, but hoping things will get better via subtraction (losing Fro, O’Donnell & Jones) is absolutely ridiculous…just ask the Dodgers.
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Rob Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
@FU King,
O’Donnell was a great guy but man, he was not good last season. Every time something ridiculous happened, I would say… who was that… oh Jones fell down again. Jones and Odi leaving will not be a bad thing. I think they will resign Fro now. Nobody else seems interested. He had a bad season but is very capable of putting up 20-30 again. Maybe this whole stupid thing will put a flame under his ars. He will change his attitude, score 35 an make a little more money next year.
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yobro Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
@Rob, Do you perhaps smell a conspiracy in TM sitting Fro and then giving him 3rd line minutes and linemates to keep his productivity down in a contract year, to make him seem less desirable to others, and cheaper for us to re-sign??
Go Kings
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Puckin-A Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
@yobro, I totally posted the same thought on a different thread. He was the teams fallback plan & scapegoat all in one.
FU King Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 8:51 pm
@Rob, Heheh, I know, I threw in O’Donnell just to bitch about being a bitch (I’ve lost my cool more today regarding the Kings than any point in the past 10 years that I can remember.) Just can’t believe that the Kings could have signed him at a reasonable rate with the help of some fancy contract structure and failed, yet again.
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It’s hard to be patient because we are in Year 5 of Dean’s Rebuilding, we are on the cusp of challenging for the Cup (like Chicago was after the 2008-2009 season) and unlike them, we haven’t added the extra pieces.
The ONLY saving grace is perhaps that DL will be able to pick up some really good players at bargain prices due to cap-related issues…for example, I would have loved Byfuglien or someone of his caliber — even Vesteeig would have been good.
Oh well. At least we have our “core”
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Here we are going into season 2010-2011, wow and were still talking about when the Kings will be a contender like it’s going to happen someday. How many years have I been saying next season?
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So much for that – my issue is now we leave the dance empty handed – miss out on the buff D men – martin – gagne – volchenkov – guys that could have really helped – what now the rest of the league and FA know were up against it now – that DL HAS to do something to placate the fans anger – and they have us backed into a corner – no one in their right mind is going to make a good trade with us and FAs know were desperate now to make the squad better so they can command a better deal – because the squad we have now IS not any better than what we ended the season with – Rich I’d be very interested in the current players take on this – if they pushed hard for kovi or not – with DL and made their wishes known – pretty bummed right now
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Mr. Lombardi,
Coffee is for closers. Whereas, your track record with free agent signings doesn’t merit you a 19 day old, bacteria festering, purple-hued cup of Sanka. I’d wish you good luck for the remainder of the off-season but you wouldn’t know what to do with it if you got it.
First prize is a Stanley Cup. Anyone want to see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Unfortunately, your inability to close any sort of significant free-agent signing in 4 years ensures you deserve no better than third prize. I think we all know what the third prize is, Dean.
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crashin' da net Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
@DBB, doesn’t even deserve a cold cup of Skanka!
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DL: “whether the revenue is going to be able to cover this”
TL: “This is not a cash issue, it’s a cap issue.”
Which one is it?
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Luck Fie-weekly Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
@Gerard,
Thank you so much.
I wish I could put together a compilation of all the b.s. Lie-weekly has spewed over the years and put it on YouTube. Oh, if I only had the time…
Double speak would be funny if it wasn’t so sad and pathetic for Kings fans.
[Reply]
If Devils paid 17/102 and Kings offered 15/80 I find it hard to believe Lombardi can’t dig up approx 650k per for another 2 years. That’s hardly a hindrance to re-signing Doughty et al long term. Blowimg Smoke if you ask me.
[Reply]
Don’t worry about locking up Doughty. He’ll bail as soon as he gets a chance, and for less!
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We will be ok….now sign Frolov, bring that beast back and let him play freely on the 1st line from Day 1 in training camp. Dont use him as a scapegoat and let him score 40 this year.
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yobro Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 4:18 pm
@Minas, AGREED !!!
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Here comes AEG PR plant Luc Robitaille,to make the radio rounds, to calm pissed off Kings fans..typical AEG move
[Reply]
John Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:07 pm
@vahe,
NICE! Now they’re attacking Luc…gotta love these “fans”
[Reply]
vahe Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
@John,
Actually Im attacking, AEG..
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Whoever keeps writing that we can sign DD, JJ and Simmer and can still afford to sign Kovi for a ridiculous number being salary or years is kidding themselves.
Hypothetically….lets say Bernier is lights out over the next year or two…where is the money to lock him up for 5 or 10 years? How about Hickey or Schenn or some other unknown player…people need to pull their head out and look at the big picture. You can’t spend 10% or your budget on one player when you already have committed over 6M season on Kopi, will need another 6M year to lock up DD and another 6 or 7M spread between JJ and Simmer.
Chicago won the SC and look what’s happened. They have over $5.5M committed to 5 players and they have lost 3 or 4 solid players with playoff and SC experience….and all came through their system.
As much as I want to win a cup, I don’t want to do it at the expense of losing a bunch of our young talent and taking two steps back. After you win the cup or have a great playoff run, its always about next season and the year after that and so on and we’ve seen more than our share of mediocre hockey in LA.
It may take a little longer and maybe we go with plan B or C this year and give the kids anothe year to develop, but thanks to DL we won’t repeat what other Kings GM’s have done in the past, and is watching closely to what Chicago has just experienced.
[Reply]
MD Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
@Barry’s Mullet,
and another year to develop, and another year, then another…..When do we start winning. That’s all we want and we have heard the same @#$ for 10 years.
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DL is telling us that this team will never have a Kovi,Crosby or Ovechkin type player.
Other teams like ANA,NJ,NYR,CHI,DET can but we can not.
My reply is that I will never spend my money on this team til they provide us loyal fans that top shelve player.
This ownership makes me sick.
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FU KIng Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
@just a gigolo, Pssh, like the Ducks, Devils, Rangers, Blackhawks or Red Wings have ever won anything…
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BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
@just a gigolo,
“Kovi, Crosby or Ovechkin type player…”
–Crosby and Ovechkin have never been free agents, and so should not be compared to Kovee Babee.
DET has had this guy, Nick Lidstrom… Kinda reminds me of Drew Doughty… I guess the Kings need to sign that guy they drafted.
Hmmm…
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Luck Fie-weekly Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
@BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy,
Did Detroit draft Hossa and Hasek too?
Hmmmm what? Yeah, you sign the guys you draft and you jump at the opportunity to sign a guy that you HOPE ALL YOUR DRAFT PICKS WILL TURN INTO.
[Reply]
fsd1 Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
@just a gigolo,can you point that out to me in his quotes please, we must be reading different reports and have you given up all hope the kopi or someone else becomes that scorer?
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the dude from the southeast Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
@just a gigolo, look at those teams now and tell me if they arent good. DET is to careless to let their players go, Chicago dumped half their team to keep niemi kane and teows, NYR dont have star players, NJ is screwed with PE MB and JL possibly leaving soon, ANA dumped most of its star players to trades or retirement. Look at washington with Ovechkin and they still havent won a cup. Key players are nice to have but a core team that is good through all lines is were u can or cant get the cup (hint: chicago and philly last year look at their teams rosters)
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See if Washington wants to part with Semin:) I doubt it, but a plan b needs to include someone good coming this way.
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VanKingsFan Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
@kingfletch, I would rather not with Semin personally. Another guy who seems to disappear in the big games, and another guy who gets injured often, and another guy who cant seem to push his team to the next level.
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If Kovi really wanted at least $100 million, then I don’t think we could’ve done anything to make it happen. I thought maybe we could offer $90 million, with an average of $6 million/year for 15 years, but I don’t see how we could do much more than that. We shouldn’t be paying too much in someone’s later years when production drops off (see Quisp’s article elsewhere).
A simple offer example:
$8 million avg first 5 yrs
$6 million avg second 5 yrs
$4 million avg last 5 yrs
or it could be 9mil/6mil/3mil or whatever, but that sure seems like a lot of money.
But DL says there is a lot of things to take under consideration and to offer more was prohibitive for us. It sure would’ve been nice to take a big leap this year though. Is there a Luc Robitaille hidden somewhere that we could nab?
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Luck Fie-weekly Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
@King John,
NJ signs Volchenkov and still sign Ilya. Kings haven’t signed ANYONE. How did NJ do it?
Seriously dude, quit convincing yourself that this was anything other than ownership not wanting to spend money. Guarantee you that if the Kings were an MLS team, Kovalchuk would be King.
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VanKingsFan Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
@Luck Fie-weekly, Your comparing Kovalchuk to Beckham?? Not even close mate
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All I read is womp womp womp womp.
In the end, NJ gets it done, Kings don’t. As usual.
How will this team ever compete in the league when it’s failing to sign top tier players out of fear of not being able to sign third-liners in the future?
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Doughty will be “the man” in Philadelphia after Pronger retires, meanwhile there will be rebuilding going on in L.A.
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Okay, the sky is not falling and the Ovy drama is finally over. Let us return to reality Sign Frolov
and fill in all the empty boxes. Use plan x y or z but get it done soon. We’re already being charged for next season’s tickets and need I remind you that season ticket holders pay full freight but lower bowl tickets are deeply discounted in order to fill the arena
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Whatever, Lombardi, just don’t do any trades/signings. There’s nothing left available that’s worth a damn. Anything that’s worth aquiring, isn’t available. Just play the kids, and lets get to October, without anymore “Justin Williams” additions.
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Luck Fie-weekly Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
@Ersberg,
Agree 100%.
Don’t make any stupid moves now to try and save face. That will only be insult to injury.
Though, it is the Kings we’re talking about here. Maybe they can throw another 4 million dollar a year contract to a guy that won’t show up until the tail end of the agreement.
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Kovi signing with jersey should bring kings closer together as a team. Anyone agree?
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Bottom Line: No one wants “Kovalchuk” per se. We all just want the LA Kings to be a great team and have a great season(s). But most of you assume that signing him is an automatic ticket to be a really good team. Maybe yes, maybe no.
BUT all I ask from the haters is for some patience and too see what happens the rest of the offseason and the start of the regular season. If we turn out to have a really good season (which I think we will) without Kovalchuk, then this is what all of us really want, right??
Just me?
It just baffles me that people assume we are now a bad team without him.
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illegalstick33 Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
@VanKingsFan, Well the kings are not any better without him and will be stuck in the middle of the pile until they GET A TRUE SNIPER!!!
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wavesinair Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:28 pm
@VanKingsFan, I’m with you. Definitely don’t think we’re a bad team but the bottom line is we have holes to fill (notice the plural?) and Kovi was not a “maybe” in the “fill hole” department. He was as sure as it gets (at least in the short term).
So we wait and see how the summer plays out. Yeah, let’s hope we can get LW and Dman and perhaps another vet C or RW.
But don’t be surprised if we trade a top prospect or two for a guy not nearly as good as Kovi when we could have had him had we had an owner that actually cared about the very thing you and I care about…
…having a really good team.
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VanKingsFan Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
@wavesinair, Agreed. But our options are way more open than they would be with Kovy, which is the upside. I think that was the main thing for DL and co. If we signed him, it was a lot of our eggs in the Kovy basket for better or for worse.
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broncokings Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
@VanKingsFan,
I know why we lost out with Kovi. He probably put him to sleep with the explanation he gave us as to why he could only offer the deal that he did.
You want to know why there are $11. seats and Premier seats that go empty? It starts with the product, and if you can’t produce a winning team,
people won’t pay to see a bunch of also rans….. What the Kings have done with the new young core is great, but we had a chance to jump to the
next level and we blew it. Once again, we’re heading for another year of “building for the future”, a future that never seems to arrive. – I feel like
we’ve just been the victims of a Nigerian Internet scam… we put all that time into this negotiation and sacrificed all the other free agents for a
great big goose egg. So what do we do now? Trade away those precious prospects we were going to keep to plug the holes? I don’t see it. AEG
will just bring up so more kids to fill the holes while they try to convince us that they’re the future… So sad, and there’s not a damn thing we can
do about it. This really sucks……
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I am not up on all things ‘cap’. Let’s assume that it is 17 years @ $6M per on average. What happens to the Devils in 10 years when Kovalchuk decides that he doesn’t want to play any more.
Do they still have a $6M cap hit for the last 7 years or can they weasel their way out of it?
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Goring's Helmet Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
@ViperHockey,
They could buy out the remaining 7 years of actual salary (as an example, say the deal was structured as $8.6M per year for the first 10 and the last 7 are at $2M each for a total of $100M). The cap hit is $5.88M per year for that deal. Anyway, as I understand it, they can buy out the last 7 years at 50% of the money remaining on the books ($14M x 0.50 = $7M) and spread that out for cap purposes over a term twice the number of remaining years on the deal (so that would be 14 years). The cap hit for NJ over those subsequent 14 years would be $500K per year).
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ViperHockey Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
@Goring’s Helmet,
Ahh., thanks. That’s the loophole that I’ve been hearing about.
The NHL shouldn’t allow 17 year contracts. I’ve heard talks of avoiding these sort of shenanigans by limiting players to no more than 1-2 years after age 35.
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VanKingsFan Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
@ViperHockey, Agreed, another thing is that there are almost no teams in the league that keep the same staff around for 17 years! You have all these teams now that are signing guys and the future GM is then going to be stuck with them. The current GM doesn’t give a crap as long as he looks good now.
Hey, cheer up guys. This is not the end of the world. I’m already recovered from this shit. We are Kings fans. And a true Kings fan should be made to be TOUGH. I love the idea of signing Bobby Ryan if it’s possible cause there will be a good chemistry between JJ and Brown from U.S national team. (And I bet Bobby really hates Ryan ‘Gold’ Getzlaf)
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It’s not that at all.
Kovalchuk wasn’t even a guarantee to the Stanley Cup finals this year.
I agree, it’s not Kovalchuk per se. It’s what he would have represented to the fans. It would have been proof that the Kings were serious about winning. That they had been making moves to shed salary all this time to put themselves in prime position to sign a big time UFA if necessary.
I just don’t see how the Kings are going to have a chance like this again. There were virtually no other teams that could have seriously competed with the Kings, even NJ, in terms of spending.
But, what did the Kings do? They let him walk. We’ve got a GM shaking in his boots about signing third line players three years down the road, meanwhile NJ, a proven winners, signs a top tier UFA defensemen and elite superstar forward. If that doesn’t plaint a clear picture of the difference in the mentality of the organizations, I don’t know what will.
This was a MAJOR reminder to the fans about what this organization is about – mediocrity.
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I think everyone needs to keep in mind:
The Kings never won the cup with Gretz!
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KOHO Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
@taz42,
Using your logic…The Kings have never won the Cup with a bunch of draft picks/2nd & 3rd tier free agents either.
The difference is the Kings with Gretzky could pick from the NHL talent pool and turn guys away. We can’t even get a respectable player to come here for more money let alone one that actually wants to come here on his own free will and we still fuck it up.
Give me the Gretzky years..atleast we were the talk of the NHL and the most exciting team in the league bar none.
You may say what you want but I know you remember how great it was to have Wayne in our sweater for all those years!
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Given the state of our team, and the fact that we have holes in both offense and defense that haven’t been filled, it seems that you’re awfully optimistic that something can be done to salvage the squad for next season. The King’s track record in FA is awful, and the fact that we have a habit of trying to fill our needs with players that other teams want to get rid of, well, it stands to reason that it would take an absolute miracle for the Kings to find much out there that could make us a real contender next season….. and frankly, I don’t see evidence that DL has what it takes to get to the big show…
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I’m ok with the non signing of Ilya Kovalchuck. After Kovy got traded Atlanta got better as NJ got worse! I don’t wanna throw a team we devoloped into a good team to seeing them in the toilet. Is signing Kovi worth losing Doughty, Kopitar, Johnson, Bernier, Quick? I think not. I’m not wanting to drop back as one of the worst teams in the league. So, what happends from here… is going to be a fun ride, and I look forward to it!
17 years… 150 mill… had my dad in shock, and my dad hates hockey!! He said its a rediculous contract for a 27 yr old. Kings original contract offer of 13 yrs. 84.5 mill was more reasonable!
From here we move on! And I’m sure we will be fine!! Go Kings Go!!!
Dear Dean,
Thank you for sticking to ur guns and not giving in. The Kings are a better team with you behind the desk. Not giving in to Kovis commands was good for this team. From here you move forward, and I believe in you! Thank you!! Keep up the good work!
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To all the people claiming the King’s offer was a joke and that it’s “only a 6 million cap hit”.
How are those interest only mortgages on a 600k two bedroom condo working out for you?
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Can someone refresh my memory on how Detroit on their stanley cups, and remained such a power house in the NHL?
I am disappointed, BUT I do have faith in the team that we have, and believe that the playoff exp. has helped a lot….
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Im actually more depressed we couldnt get Marleau!! he would have been awesome with Kopi.
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Lombardi has to go.. It’s one thing not to have landed Kovy, which I agree the asking price was ridiculous, but he is demonstrating no contigency plans..
Combine this with his questionable moves over the years in free agency and trades, and his lack of being able to sell the franchise to free agents and would be trade pieces. How long? How long do we have to endure this?
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I say just let Mrs. Kovalchuk deal with Ilya. She’s the one who wanted to come to LA and try to sign a recording contract. Not too sure the music biz is huge in New Jersey? Ilya Kovalchuk ruined his wife’s dreams this morning by signing with New Jersey. Now he’s got the contract he wanted, but he probably also has the world’s most unhappy wife…
[Reply]
slovenian fan Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
@Flake,
his wife will be very happy when she receives a credit card with 1 M $ bonus per year for the next 17 years.
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Don’t worry Kings fans!! PLAN B will come thru! Modano and Jimmy Carson are on the way! Maybe Shanahan will come out of retirement to help us out! We offered KOVI more money then he could spend in a life time and he didn’t want to be a KING! Plain and simple! He’s Russian and Has no loyalty to any team in AMERICA! His loyalty is to the DOLLA DOLLA BILL YALL!!!!!!!!!!!
[Reply]
King John Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
@illegalstick33,
I wish Luc could still score 40+!
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1) Rich, thanks for working on your vacation day. Way above and beyond, my friend. Your commitment to this job is incredible.
2) Math fact: $80 million for 15 years averages to $5.3 mil per year. Even if it’s heavily front-loaded (which the Kings offer must have been since we still have a couple of years before resigning our young guys), accounting for the time-value of money, that’s still not competitive for a top NHL player. That contract wouldn’t have paid butkis in the last several years, and why would Kovi take that? If he indeed took a $12 mil for 7 year deal with NJ as someone posted, that’s a much better deal for Kovi- he hits the free-agent market again in his mid-30′s and lands another sizeable deal. At the end of the day, I believe Kovi had a choice between more money in NJ, and being in his preferred destination in LA. He chose the money, which is his right.
3) C’mon everyone, let’s get real about Lombardi. According to Pierre Lebrun and Scott Burnside, they and others around the league view him as a Top-3 GM in the league, and I have to agree. This guy is a TREMENDOUS leader by example, is an awesome manager, and tells it like it is. I assure you- NO ONE wanted Kovi more than DL did. Having been in the corporate world for over a decade now, let me explain to you how this probably went down. DL goes to ownership and says, “We need to offer this $$$ contract.” Ownership comes back (after sitting on their sweet cheeks for unnecessarily long periods of time) and says, “No way, too bad, offer him this lesser $$$.” DL says, “Umm, that won’t cut it”. Ownership says, “Too bad, and if you fry me in the press I’ll fire your cheeks.” I have never been prouder of, or had more respect for, a Kings GM than I do for DL. Now ownership on the other hand…
3)NJ/Lou got his man, but they need to win THIS YEAR. Brodeur retires after this coming year, they lost Paul Martin, and their window is rapidly closing. Take a screenshot of their roster today, and then again at the beginning of the season, and see how many guys they had to move to make room for Kovi’s contract. The Kings weren’t going to win this year even with Kovi, so there’s not the same pressure to overpay in LA as there is in NJ. Isn’t it also telling that only 3 teams were interested in one of the top players in the league???
4) Summary: I think life goes on, but this does set the development plan back two years. I felt that with Kovi the Kings could win the cup in as little as two years. Without him, I think the window is 3-4 years, assuming all else goes to plan. I don’t thing AEG steppud up to the plate on this one. I respect their desire to run a profitable business, but AEG doesn’t need the Kings to be profitable since they bought the team in a larger deal to include Staples Center, etc. There’s another owner in Staples Center who is willing to spend to win (he looks like an 80-year-old version of Donald Trump) that AEG can look to if they want a role-model. I no longer live in LA and am not a season-ticket holder, but I don’t blame those ticket holders for being upset. My best friend had season tickets for years and quit two years ago because he was tired of paying that much $$ for a lousy product. It’s heart breaking, because we’ve both been fans our entire lives and he doesn’t even read about the team anymore. But have faith Kings fans. DL’s hand is now forced into trades for the summer, but we’ve already got an improving product, there will always be more free agents, and we are on our way to the Cup. It will just take a season or two longer now.
[Reply]
wavesinair Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
@KingsFan,
PEOPLE, read the above. It’s the most level headed, and probably the most accurate comment I’ve read all day.
AEG might not be donald sterling, but they certainly are not jerry buss.
We just may make it to the finals again under this ownership, but like KingsFan said above, it will take us longer to get there.
There is simply no reason, other than ownership not wanting to fork over cash, we couldn’t have gotten Kovalchuk.
Tough pill to swallow.
[Reply]
Not a blogger, but a life long Kings fan… I have to say, even if we got him I’d be watching the other Russian in DC wishing he had our jersey on instead of a guy who has 1/2 the heart . Dean is building a REAL hockey team. We cant get inpatient now just because were so close to being a big time contender n the west. I’d label the Kings “On the rise”, NJ “looking at their last years on the top”…
[Reply]
So we just keep a death grip on “the kids” and “hope” that they become elite players instead of obtaining an elite player. That makes sense. That attitude is why the Kings always have been…and always will be an NHL Farm Team.
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carol vadnais Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
@Ryan SD, EXACTLY! We are hoping they will be great. Meanwhile, we are a 6th place, first round playoff exiting team who have not improved themselves one bit.
I ask all of you: how do we score 5 on 5? With the sniping Brad Richardson leading the way?
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luc20rules Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
@Ryan SD, Paying Kovi more than Ovechkin, Crosby, both Sedins & Malkin is just not smart. Ovechkin to his credit is now the highest paid player in the league while being around the 15th best player. If Crosby & Ovechkin are perfect 100s then Kovi is a 81 at best with spotty D, reluctant checks, & poor play in the corners. Parise who will likely be hard to sign for NJ is a slightly better player. Its more than just Goals.
[Reply]
luc20rules Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
@luc20rules, My mistake I typed Ovechkin not Kovi.
Kovi to his credit is now the highest paid player in the league while being around the 15th best player.
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Remember were DL came from. Those boys from the bay that can never seem to get it done. hmmm.
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So did deano answer that one question, whether it’s money or years that was the back breaker ?
next, glad he is “fine with it” but this game & it’s teams are made up of role players; 2 way forwards, rushing defensemen, stay at home def. & goal scorers & we have most all the components except for a true sniper & this one was there to be had, his wife wanted to move here, yet they lowballed him right back to Joisy!
dean & timmy just won’t spend the money or aeg won’t let them, in that case, then dean needs to grow a pair & quit collecting an overpriced salary if he can’t do his job & i for one, don’t think he is, or can.
speaking of $$, aeg, the alleged Kings owners, forked out a boatload for a soccer player, david flake-em, spent money on a now dead music icon, they have built rinks in europe, but god forbid they spend anything for a true superstar!
its time bettman & the league step in & force aeg to sell to an exclusive to the kings, owner(s). they are simply not interested in trying to bring a cup here to us long suffering fans, like me, who has been with them since their inception in 1967!
oh, lets take a look at dean’s wondereful – ppffffttt – job on drafts days: not counting this years draft, but 06-09, he had 38 picks & of those,. 2 have made it to the nhl level & one, doughty, was a no brainer!
he has had 6 number 1′s & of those, 1 is on the team. he has had 5 number 2′s & one of them has made it – 11 total, 1st & seconds & only 2 have made it! yet look around the league at all the 1′s & 2′s that have been playing since their 1st or 2nd season, ala Kane, Johnson, Ovechkin, Crosby, Andre-Fleury, Nash, Kovalchuk, Thornton, Ryan, Malkin, Staal, Lehtonen, Heatley, Spezza, Sedin, Marleau – so yes, it c an be done, but deano hasn’t the ability to find those sure things with all the 1′s & 2′s he’s had.
i can tell you this; 6 of my friends canceled their season seats of many years, once they heard deano & timmy blew this deal. also,. in a kings message board, there’s at least 1 who said his offices was in the porocess of canceling their company’s season seats as well! why pay top dollar for a team that most likley wont make the playoffs this season. other teams have gotten better, but by them not being able to land kovalchuk, & therefore, missing out on all the top tier free agents, our team has regressed, so count this team out of the playofss at least for the next few years, or untilaeg wakes up & either sells or fires deano.
[Reply]
Old Codger Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
@Dallas, I hear the Ducks are still looking for fair weather fans. I doubt the business will ultimely cancel, its basically free for them as a tax write-off. Believe me, that I know.
[Reply]
luc20rules Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
@Dallas, you might be pretty shocked to know that of all the names mentioned only a couple were not picked in the top 5 overall in their draft year. Also who in our division improved? Which publication/expert has us not making the playoffs? The Kings will have about a 50% shot at winning the division this yr. SJ minus Nabokov, Dal minus Turco, Ducks minus Niedemeyer, Phx minus many Michalek, Stempniak, etc. Kings will be better just due to the fact with Bernier up we won’t ride Quick to death, and whos to say Bernier will not be the #1.
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Kinda interesting how easy it is to spend other peoples money. (Like our government).
A business is a business and will and should do what is best for the business.
We’ve seen what the results are when you have a one line team. (Wash,Sabers,Devils). Kopi started hot, the other teams soon found a way to stop him. He then IMPROVED and found a way to counter act and had a good year.
For those whiners that say our boys cannot improve, I say you’re drinking your bathwater.
Admit it,you have seen steady improvement during Dean’s tenure. Couple that with the prospects, many that have already seen some NHL time, and you do have a “core” that needs protecting. Going from next to last in the league to last season, I call that improvement.
Some of the players that read this blog have got to think “what the f***”, although most barbs have been directed at DL, those subtle comments about always being third line, never gonna improve,etc have got to sting.
LA has always had fickle fans. Win and “we were always with you, lose and the team’s a dirtbag”
We will one day win the cup, I just hope it is in my life-time. Until then I will support the team on the ice, and leave all of the “shouda’s, coulda’s, mighta’s to those responsible.
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I held my back until I saw a reputable source spill the yr by yr figures. Kovi = Ego this whole circus was conducted to get Kovi more than Ovechkin 10Mil/yr & 100 mil total. I can pretty much assure you he would have gone NYI or KHL if he didn’t get more than Ovechkin. If Ovechkin is a solid 10 as a player Kovi is a weak 8, a 2 being Randy Jones.
As for DL he must sign DD, JJ, WS, JB, etc to long term contracts, and get a #4 d-man, 1 top 3 forward or 2 top 9 forwards that are 20+ Goal scorers to get us where we need to be. We have playoffs maybe even a division title, but we need something to put us in real cup contention at least at this stage of development.
[Reply]
So, what I’m hearing from this, is we were never truely interest in adding a player of Kovalchuk’s calibre. At least not realisitically. If we could get Manhattan for a few beads, well okay, we make that deal, but if we have to compete with a market and pay market value for a guy, even a severely restricted one, forget about it.
We simply did not have the space to take on the salary that comes with a player of that level of talent because we value the young players ahead of adding a guy like that.
I suppose that’s fine. Don’t know why we bother playing this game of trying to get top talents in the UFA market if we are only realistically interested if the deal is ridculously in our favor, but okay, I understand that.
Now win. No top scoring talent because they don’t fit in our budget? Okay, win without it. Or scrap the current budget and figure out one that wins. If our current philosophy doesn’t allow us to add an elite player in an area we have the specific need for (five on five scoring), well those youngsters who we are so concerned with holding onto better be good enough to pull winning off without that need being addressed. Either that or we need to find another philosophy that will win.
The annoying part is hearing how we have cap space, living through years of waited for this moment when we could take advantage of the salary cap we wanted so we could jump out and get top talent when other teams had cap issues and we were sitting pretty in a position to make a move. Turns out that isn’t the plan, I guess, because we planned on getting top level talent in that situation for a song instead of actually having to pay what it is worth.
[Reply]
while some will improve, there is no 40 goal scorer on this team & none in the minors either & yes, it is deano’s fault – he is the point man foir trades, the draft & free agent signings.
And just who are these “many that have already seen some NHL time” ? as I posted right before you, of 38 picks from 06-09, 2, that’s TWO that are playing in the NHL & they have had 11 1st & 2nd rd. picks – funny the other teams find the great players with their 1′s & 2′s & they do play in their 1st & 2nd seasons!
Good, waste your money for over priced tickets, souvenirs, etc. & watch them play back to their traditional level of mediocrity! Go nuts! No, not their fault as most work very hard but that’s just it, this is about as good as the team itself will get. sure, there will be improvements by doughty, johnson, simmonds, but while smyth, kopitar, brown are very good, they’re not great & there is little room now, at their ages to improve much.
I am just extremely frustrated & angry at dean & tim – I have been with this team for it’s entire 43 year run, but with a few seasons of fun w/ goring, dionne, simmer, etcv. & once in 1993, then a mild spurt last season, i have seen far too many dismal seasons by the kings.
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How about some reporter asks Doughty, Simmonds and Johnson: “Hey, Lombardi says he couldn’t sign Kovalchuk because you guys will be expensive to sign in a year or two, and the team can’t afford it. Really, you guys are to blame for not being able to get Kovalchuk, not a GM without the creativity to manage the cap like other teams seem to be able to. How does that make you guys feel?”
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I like the team we got and the kids that are in the pipeline. I am not ready to judge DL until after next season’s RFA’s are taken care of. If he does a good job locking up all of his RFA’s I think he will have done well. I especially would like to see DD locked up early.
As for IK, I just wish Dean had told him and Grossman to pound sand within the first week so that we did not have to go on this ride. I know that Kovi was too attractive not to try and land, so I understand why he didn’t, but it would have been nice if this circus could have been avoided.
Plan B!
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Don’t cry before your hurt. The team isn’t set. See what moves are made. Trades are available. Gagne was not the answer with his chronic concussions either.
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Putting forth your best effort but still striking out three years in a row still leaves your average at .000
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Why dont we just help out Chicago and Take Hossa of their hands, he is a >>6mm hit, helps the hawks, gets us the player deano wanted, and all we have to give up is a few pics and propects! Someone here can think up a good trade I’ll bet!
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Is this Carol Vadnais, the excellent former NHL defenseman, that I remember watching as a kid growing up in Canada? If so, then you deserved better than playing for the Oakland Seals. In any event, if you are that same Carol Vadnais, then your hockey opinions are worth listening to.
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YES on 19 Reply:
July 20th, 2010 at 7:07 am
@Wade, People can choose whatever user names they wish. Just because someone picks the name of a former player because they liked him or thought the name was cool doesn’t increase their hockey IQ.
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My fellow kings fans, everybody who’s bashing Dean Lombardi for this missed opportunity, please hold on for one second. As righteous and warranted as our frustration is (and it freakin is), it’s misdirected. Dean is not the one to blame for this, we need to redirect our smear campaigns towards AEG. Ownership decided what they were willing to spend, and DL was left to try to make it work. He knew it wasn’t enough and I’m sure he tried expressing that to the owners, but if they’re not willing to spend what it takes, then what can he do? He deserves credit for working that hard and long to push what he knew was a low ball deal. Dean is a top notch GM, and where we are now is a testament to that. He’s drafted and developed his way to the best team we’ve seen in a while and our prospect pool is among the deepest in the league. Yes we could be better with a Kovi type player, but until the owners are just as committed to winning a cup, management is limited to what they can do. And I think Dean and the crew has done a hell of a job so far. AEG NEEDS TO WAKE UP!
KINGS FOR LIFE!!!
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