Comments on: July 1 Was The Time For Dean Lombardi To Gamble http://frozenroyalty.net/2009/07/03/july-1-was-the-time-for-dean-lombardi-to-gamble/ News & Views on the Los Angeles Kings and the National Hockey League by Gann Matsuda Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:07:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Roger http://frozenroyalty.net/2009/07/03/july-1-was-the-time-for-dean-lombardi-to-gamble/#comment-4220 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:54:17 +0000 http://frozenroyalty.net/?p=2451#comment-4220 I would have liked to signed Hossa but he wants to play for a winner. As far as Havlat goes he is a chemistry wrecker, problem child and is injury prone. And I cant believe some of you are saying lets sign Gaborik you guys would call for Dean’s head when our 6 million dollar player played in 17 games a season. I think alot of you are beat down from the past. Not making the playoffs, stupid trades, and PICKING UP VETERENS WHO DONT PAN OUT. I understand that. I Believe Lombardi is on the right track. We can still take on a contract at the trade deadline because we are way under the cap. The important thing is build the right way. GO KINGS !!!

]]> By: Marc http://frozenroyalty.net/2009/07/03/july-1-was-the-time-for-dean-lombardi-to-gamble/#comment-4207 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:01:18 +0000 http://frozenroyalty.net/?p=2451#comment-4207 ian22, you’re correct in saying that whatever a player can sign for is his market value. But what I’m saying is that Dean Lombardi has an idea of who he was willing to give a huge contract to and Havlat & Gaborik weren’t among them. So in his mind, giving them 5 or 6 years at $6 Million or more a year is overpaying. And I guess you can either agree or disagree.

And dave, I don’t know what to say other than is this the 3rd year of the 4th grade or the 4th year of the 3rd grade?

]]> By: dave http://frozenroyalty.net/2009/07/03/july-1-was-the-time-for-dean-lombardi-to-gamble/#comment-4199 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:00:58 +0000 http://frozenroyalty.net/?p=2451#comment-4199 yes nothing because we have plenty of defensemen …. absolutely nothing …. we need goals and i dont care if heatley sells crack to babies, the guy scores at least 40 goals a year and thats all i care about resigning fro is going to cost anywhere from 4.5 to 5.5 probably so possibly only 2 million more not 3 like i previously mentioned ….. and gann lol u just said we needed to gamble …. well theres your gamble …… as far as im concerened its no gamble at all …. the guy produces and has stanley cup experience …… ive ben following this team since the early 80s and trust me i know way more than idiot lombardi …. for example ……. lets not even talk about mccauley nagy pressing willsie …. trading avery for nothing ….. sean burke …. lol 800 year old sean burke ….. i mean the list goes on and on …. i could be here all night ….. but the one moves that proves this guy is a complete moron was one of the first moves he made …. when i heard okay we have a new gm – okay well lets see , why not get excited, but what does he do he goes out and trades a second round pick for the worst starting goaltender in the nhl ……… if u polled any fan or hockey gm who was the worst the answer would have been dan cloutier …. i mean cloutier single handedly was the reason why the canucks didnt win the cup in 2001 or 2002 or 2003 those years under crawford those teams with bertuzzi and naslund in their prime were as good as it gets and that dummy in goal was letting in goals from center ice and aised from that he just sucked overall and everybody knew it ….. except f course dean lombardi i guess …. i mean what an idiot he trades a second round pick for the worst starting goalie in the league who also happened to be coming off major knee surgery ….. has to be the most nonsensical thing i have ever seen done since i have follwed the team and lol lol lol to top it off he promplty gave the worst goalie in the league coming offmajor knee surgery a two year extension lol lol lol what an idiot ….. when i heard we aquired cloutier i said “oh my god our new gm is an idiot ” so from that second on i decided to never go to another game again and i watch them all from home …. and druing that cloutier era i couldnt even watch the games on tv for those two years because i couldnt even stomach it ….. i mean here i was not even watching kings games and just giving up and being like “oh the king game is on – who cares “.. i mean completely disinterested ….. as passionate as i have been about this team since early 80s if u would have told me that “hey dave in 2006 and 2007 you wont even care or watch kings games these years” i would have said your crazy … i deceide to get back on board this past season when i knew cloutier was finally gone for good …. onlyu to see labarberra absolutely stink it up …. i was once again going to boycott anything to do with the kings and just when i made this decision the next day they traded labarbera …… so im like okay, labarbera cost us a playoff spot this year but i love what i see from quick so im going to be a fan again ….. and yes because labarbera was so pathetic early on and cost us a ton of points we couldnt squeeze into the playoffs , but at least we have a goalie now so im back on board……… and not trading for heatley would just be plain stupid …. but like i said lombardi is stupid, so it wont happen …….smyth alone is not gonna make us a contender …..smyth and heatley now thats a contender ………… peace gann …… nice articles

]]> By: Redemption For Dean Lombardi: LA Kings Acquire Ryan Smyth « Frozen Royalty http://frozenroyalty.net/2009/07/03/july-1-was-the-time-for-dean-lombardi-to-gamble/#comment-4197 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:21:39 +0000 http://frozenroyalty.net/?p=2451#comment-4197 [...] July 1 Was The Time For Dean Lombardi To Gamble [...]

]]> By: Gann Matsuda http://frozenroyalty.net/2009/07/03/july-1-was-the-time-for-dean-lombardi-to-gamble/#comment-4196 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:09:36 +0000 http://frozenroyalty.net/?p=2451#comment-4196 Nothing? Kyle Quincey was nothing? Can’t agree on that. As for the rest of your comment, well, read my next story. :-)

About Heatley…the guy is a total headcase..a totally selfish player. Exactly what this young team does NOT need.

]]> By: dave http://frozenroyalty.net/2009/07/03/july-1-was-the-time-for-dean-lombardi-to-gamble/#comment-4195 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:05:03 +0000 http://frozenroyalty.net/?p=2451#comment-4195 smyth is good for us because we gave up absolutely nothing to get him …even dumping pressing which i thought no team was dumb enough to take on …. so great move eventhough smyth is in twilight of his career, we gave up nohting to get him and since we dumped pressings salary there is still plenty of money left to trade either frolov or brown in a package for heatley because fro and brown are around 4 or 5 mil and heatleys 7.5 is only 3 million more wed have to spend ….. i ask you for only 3 million dollars more wouldnt u rather get heatley than resign frolov ….. if dean lombardi does not aquire heatley when he is just sitting there waiting to come here (la is on the list of teams he wants to play for ) then hes gotta be the dumbest gm on the planet …. and as far as his character goes, chris pronger demanded a trade from edmonton and lombardi just said a week ago how great that worked out for the ducks …. come on dean only 3 mil more (which is nothing ) for a guy who routinely scores 40 goals and who has two 50 goal 100 point seasons on his resume …. if u do this move that seems so perfect we could actually compete for the cup this season (along with the smyth trade that was just announced ) you are dumb deano if u dont do this

]]> By: Mel http://frozenroyalty.net/2009/07/03/july-1-was-the-time-for-dean-lombardi-to-gamble/#comment-4190 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:12:13 +0000 http://frozenroyalty.net/?p=2451#comment-4190 As with Hossa, who wanted to go only to a top contender, is it possible that Dean Lombardi’s hands are tied not by his own willingness to go after the players “he” wants but by the perception around the league that the Kings organization still is not committed to winning the Cup? Lombardi wants the Cup; but that Tim Leiweke comes out and says “we need to make the playoffs” as if that is the goal. What if it’s just that no top-tier player with a choice (and especially without a Cup ring) wants to come here knowing there’s no Cup-driven ownership?

]]> By: Gann Matsuda http://frozenroyalty.net/2009/07/03/july-1-was-the-time-for-dean-lombardi-to-gamble/#comment-4188 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:28:43 +0000 http://frozenroyalty.net/?p=2451#comment-4188 Gambling just for the sake of gambling would be foolish, but under these circumstances, it was time to gamble.

]]> By: ian22 http://frozenroyalty.net/2009/07/03/july-1-was-the-time-for-dean-lombardi-to-gamble/#comment-4185 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:08:39 +0000 http://frozenroyalty.net/?p=2451#comment-4185 I take exception to commenter Marc’s term “overpay”. Exactly what is “overpaying”? Isn’t the value of something what people are willing to pay for it? If you have to outbid everyone else that isn’t “overpaying”. It’s paying market value.

Nice job on this article, Gann. I’m hoping DL is just in the works to make a trade for his IDEAL guy in the LW position. Not just the best of the available UFA wingers, his IDEAL guy.

I’m also hoping that DL isn’t just being ultra-conservative and gun-shy about signing players with injury histories due to his previous injured-player fiascoes. You’re right that sometimes there isn’t a “sure thing” and you need to gamble. I’d rather see DL gamble than sit on his hands.

]]> By: S2 http://frozenroyalty.net/2009/07/03/july-1-was-the-time-for-dean-lombardi-to-gamble/#comment-4184 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:44:43 +0000 http://frozenroyalty.net/?p=2451#comment-4184 It was time. I guess we’ll see what the rest of the off-season holds.

]]> By: Bob Bobson http://frozenroyalty.net/2009/07/03/july-1-was-the-time-for-dean-lombardi-to-gamble/#comment-4183 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:39:48 +0000 http://frozenroyalty.net/?p=2451#comment-4183 Good article Gann and I like your point that it will be hard to attract free agents unless we become a playoff team. With this current roster, I say we are hard-pressed to be one even with improvements in Kopitar’s workout routine. If we maintain that philosophy, we will not make the playoffs for another two or three years. Where would the fanbase be then ?

I don’t think any professional sports franchise can realistically afford to suffer through a “true” rebuild where the team grows together completely from the ground up w/o any outside free agents. You can only attract crowds on the promise of a good future for only so long. Adding to this is the fact that a young team often needs guidance about how to win. Adding Williams and Scuderi help but having that main guy would do wonders for the team and its fanbase.

Having said all that Lombardi’s plan of building a contender for years is ambitious and I am willing to stick by it. Investing that much length in Gaborik is too high-risk and paying Havlat for six years is outright silliness. The best way to get that “main guy” at a good salary is probably through a trade. Hopefully, we can leverage some of next year’s draft picks along with a prospect into someone who can make the playoffs not just next year but for years after at an affordable price.

My main concern is what happens if we trade for Kovalchuk or Gagne or whoever and he demands $8MM/yr or $9MM/yr for 12 years also ? Giving up assets just to be in the same situation later on is even worse.

]]> By: htxt http://frozenroyalty.net/2009/07/03/july-1-was-the-time-for-dean-lombardi-to-gamble/#comment-4181 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:32:31 +0000 http://frozenroyalty.net/?p=2451#comment-4181 Gann, I think this sums up the frustrations of many fans. Lombardi has done a good job overhauling the prospect and development aspects of the Kings. But he keeps talking about being ready to acquire top-flight talent from outside when there is a need, and yet did not make a serious effort to sign Gaborik or Havlat when option A (Hossa) was not available.

Now, Lombardi has dropped hints that he had a very short list of candidates that he was targeting via UFA. It could very well be that he has trade targets that are more attractive in terms of contract terms and how the would fit with the team than Gaborik and Havlat. But as fans we have no indication that this is the case.

Lombardi is a bit of a paradox: he is far more open about his philosophy of building a team than any other GM I’ve seen, and yet is extremely tight-lipped when it comes to potential moves that he might make. It seems that he’s only forthcoming after the trades/signings are over.

Regardless, I think the fans were looking for a sign that the Kings were ready to take the next step, even if it involved gambling a bit on top-end talent. Instead, they left fans with very little excitement about the coming season.

]]> By: pnf http://frozenroyalty.net/2009/07/03/july-1-was-the-time-for-dean-lombardi-to-gamble/#comment-4180 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:14:22 +0000 http://frozenroyalty.net/?p=2451#comment-4180 Good, well balanced, article. We will wait and see what Deano has up his sleeves, but as of day 3 of FA madness, at best his grade is C-.

]]> By: Marc http://frozenroyalty.net/2009/07/03/july-1-was-the-time-for-dean-lombardi-to-gamble/#comment-4178 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:03:50 +0000 http://frozenroyalty.net/?p=2451#comment-4178 “one has to seriously question if he really knows what he’s doing”

Really? Because he wouldn’t overpay for a free agent? I don’t think so. Dean Lombardi said he would make a deal for the right guy. And agree or not but in his mind Hossa was the right guy and Gaborik and Havlat were not. And while I have no problem with the annual salaries, I wouldn’t give either of them more than 3 years considering both their injury histories. You say it’s worth the risk. But what if they signed one of them and their injuries returned? The fans would call for Dean’s head for signing another injury prone player to a huge contract. Not to say I agree with giving Hossa a 12 year deal. I wouldn’t give that to any player. But he’s more worthy of a long term deal than either Havlat or Gaborik.

I get caught up in free agency just like everybody else. But can you name the last big time free agent that led their new team to a Stanley Cup?

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