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Dean Lombardi Says “It Ain’t Me.” But How Much Credit Does LA Kings GM Really Deserve For His Team’s Success?

September 23, 2014 by 18 Comments

COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS: Since the Los Angeles Kings won the 2014 Stanley Cup Championship, their second Stanley Cup win in three seasons, Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi has received a great deal of praise for his work to build the Kings into a championship team and a perennial Stanley Cup contender. But he claims that he is not responsible for that success. Rather, it’s the players, head coach, and ownership who should get all the credit.

In this multi-part series, Frozen Royalty will take a close look at Lombardi’s role in the Kings’ success, how much of his vision has become reality, and how true his statement, “…it ain’t me” really is.

Los Angeles Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi.
(click above to view larger image)
Photo: Dawn Mounce/DG Photography]

EL SEGUNDO, CA — With the Los Angeles Kings having won two Stanley Cup Championships in the last three seasons, it is easy to forget that it was not so long ago when the franchise was teetering on the edge of becoming totally irrelevant in Southern California.

On April 21, 2006, Kings Vice President, Communications and Broadcasting Mike Altieri opened a press conference at what was then the HealthSouth Training Center (now the Toyota Sports Center) in El Segundo, California by saying that the team was about to “…embark on a new era of Kings hockey in Los Angeles.”

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LA Kings, Stanley Cup Bring Smiles, Excitement To Patients, Families, Staff At Children’s Hospital LA: 2014 Edition – In Photos

September 10, 2014 by Leave a comment

LA Kings mascot, Bailey, and members of the LA Kings Ice Crew took the Stanley Cup to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles on September 10, 2014, brightening the days of patients and their families, along with hospital staff.
Photo: Gann Matsuda/FrozenRoyalty.net

LOS ANGELES — After winding its way through Slovenia, Slovakia, Russia, Europe, across Canada and the United States as Los Angeles Kings players, coaches, front office and team staff got their days with the Stanley Cup, celebrating their 2014 Stanley Cup Championship, hockey’s version of the Holy Grail has returned to Southern California where more of the Kings’ staff are getting their time to spend with the Stanley Cup.

The Kings are also taking the most revered trophy in sports all over the Los Angeles area. But one stop in particular probably means more than most.

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Stanley Cup Makes Appearance At Echoes Of Hope Poker Tournament Fundraiser – Photos

June 23, 2014 by 2 Comments

Participants in the All In For Hope charity poker tournament, sponsored by Echoes Of Hope, got a chance to take
a photo with the Stanley Cup on June 22, 2014, at the J.W. Marriott Los Angeles at L.A. Live.
Photo: Gann Matsuda/FrozenRoyalty.net

LOS ANGELES — On June 22, Echoes Of Hope, the charitable organization found by Luc and Stacia Robitaille, held a poker tournament fundraiser at the J.W. Marriott Los Angeles at L.A. Live in Downtown Los Angeles.

Echoes Of Hope grew out of Luc and Stacia Robitaille’s Shelter For Serenity, which provided assistance victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Echoes Of Hope “…strives to awaken the spirit of hope in the lives of at-risk and emancipated foster youth by providing the resources, knowledge, skills, love, and support they need to reach their full potential,” according to the organization’s web site.

At their annual All In For Hope poker tournament, celebrities and athletes played in the tournament, as did Kings alumni such as Noah Clarke, Pete Demers (retired head athletic trainer), Nelson Emerson, Daryl Evans, Mark Hardy, Sean O’Donnell and Jamie Storr.

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Couple Travels 5,300 Miles To Witness and Celebrate LA Kings’ 2014 Stanley Cup Championship

June 21, 2014 by 12 Comments

2014 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONSHIP WRAP-UP: Part 5 of Frozen Royalty’s wrap-up of the Los Angeles Kings winning the 2014 Stanley Cup Championship and the ensuing celebration.

LA Kings fans Ida Holth (left) and husband Per-Christian Holth (right) during the Los Angeles Kings’ 2014 Stanley Cup Championship parade in
Downtown Los Angeles on June 16, 2014.
(click above to view larger image)
Photo: David Sheehan/FrozenRoyalty.net

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Kings’ journey to the 2014 Stanley Cup Championship was a long, grueling trek that took 82 regular season contests, 26 playoff games and thousands upon thousands of miles traveled by air, especially during the regular season.

Although their journey was not as long, either in the time it took or the total distance traveled, Per-Christian and Ida Holth are among those who traveled the greatest distance (they may be the ones who came from the most distant location) to see the Kings win the 2014 Stanley Cup Championship on June 13 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, and then celebrate the victory at the parade in Downtown Los Angeles on June 16.

The Holth’s traveled from Oslo, Norway, approximately 5,300 miles (eleven hours in the air on a direct flight), to be a part of history.

“We arrived on Thursday, and we had tickets for Game 5, so we arrived just in time,” said Per-Christian, 32. “We’re only staying for one week. We were so lucky.”

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Fans Appreciate LA Kings Winning The Stanley Cup More The Second Time Around

June 21, 2014 by 14 Comments

2014 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONSHIP WRAP-UP: Part 4 of Frozen Royalty’s wrap-up of the Los Angeles Kings winning the 2014 Stanley Cup Championship and the ensuing celebration.

Mike Bouffard (left) and his daughters—all LA Kings fans—during the team’ 2014 Stanley Cup Championship parade in Downtown
Los Angeles on June 16, 2014.
(click above to view larger image)
Photo: David Sheehan/FrozenRoyalty.net

LOS ANGELES — Looking back to the Los Angeles Kings’ 2014 Stanley Cup Championship parade in Downtown Los Angeles, as it was in 2012, fans came from miles and miles around, even though the majority were from the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

As yours truly walked Figueroa Street and Chick Hearn Court (between Staples Center and L.A. Live) prior to the start of the parade, I spoke with some of the more than 300,000 fans in attendance. Some had made the trip from surrounding counties, including Orange, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, San Bernadino, Riverside, Kern, Imperial and San Diego counties. One family came from as far as New Mexico.

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