LA KINGS OUTSIDER 2.0

Dean Lombardi was hired as General Manager of the Los Angeles Kings on April 21, 2006. Six years later, the Kings hosted the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history.  The former GM of the Sharks certainly didn’t hit on every trade, draft pick, or free agent signing he made during his tenure in Los Angeles.  But after a few short years in Los Angeles; he brought a sense of direction and an identity that the franchise had severely lacked for over a decade.    The 2016-17 season was an absolute disappointment.  With that said, I never understood how a GM who brought the franchise such success didn’t get the chance to breakdown the team he constructed and rebuild it.  The Kings were only a year removed from a 102-point season when Lombardi was relieved of his GM duties.  LOMBARDI 2.0?  I was surprised when the Kings promoted Rob Blake as general manager.  After all, he was hired as assistant GM by Lombardi for the 2013-14 season.  He was one of ‘Dean’s guys.’  Wasn’t he just

The Seattle Kraken were introduced as the NHL’s 32 nd franchise two weeks ago.  Normally teams will drag out their branding introduction; dropping little bits of information for fans to consume during the off-season summer months.  Props to Seattle for giving it to us all at once.  Team name, logos, and jerseys were the talk of the NHL and for good reason.  I think the Kraken will have some of the best-looking logos and jerseys in the league.  But how do they stack up against other team’s inaugural season launches of the last 25 years? I included re-located franchises but omitted the Anaheim Ducks and Arizona Coyotes re-brands.  So here’s the 12 franchises I looked at based on Logo and Jerseys. 1993-94: Florida Panthers, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 1995-96: Colorado Avalanche 1996-97: Phoenix Coyotes 1997-98: Carolina Hurricanes 1998-99: Nashville Predators 1999-00: Atlanta Thrashers 2000-01: Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild 2011-12: Winnipeg Jets 2017-18

Clearly, I’m a Jarome Iginla fanboy and I’ll share the reason why.  I was at an Anaheim Angels game back in 1998.  In line for concessions, 12-year-old me is contemplating nachos or Red Vines.  As I’m deep in thought, Jarome Iginla just paid for two ice creams and is walking right past me in line back to his seats.  I can’t believe it!   As he walked by, all I could blurt out is, “Are you Jarome Iginla???”  He smiled and seemed pretty surprised that anyone recognized him at a baseball game (The Flames were in town to play the Ducks in a preseason game the following night).  I asked if I could get his autograph; he said of course and I went running to the nearest usher for a pen.  When I handed him the pen and ticket stub; he handed me his ice creams to hold.  It was a pretty surreal moment to be getting an autograph of one of your hockey heroes.   He personalized the autograph AND spelled my name right???   It was long before the days of smartphones so I don’t have a selfie or photo wi

The last stop of Jarome Iginla’s illustrious Hall of Fame career in Los Angeles was brief.  When GM Dean Lombardi acquired the 39-year-old Iginla towards the end of the 2016-17 season; it was clear that his best days were behind him.  The Kings were in desperate need of an offensive spark trying to claw their way into the 8th seed.  Iggy registered a respectable six goals and three assists in his 19 games with the Kings.  The romantic in me of course wanted a Ray Bourque-esque ending with Iggy receiving the Cup handoff from newly appointed Captain Anze Kopitar.   Unfortunately, the Kings failed to make the postseason.  The Kings gold anniversary was a complete letdown and the Kings were mathematically eliminated with four games remaining in the regular season.   I always thought keeping Iggy one more season in a mentor role could have done some players on that roster some good (Oh!  Hey there Tyler!).   It’s anyone’s guess if a guy who scored 625 goals in hi

After an eight-year hiatus the LA Kings Outsider is back!  I'm still living in the glory of the 2012 & 2014 Stanley Cup winners.  The core of Brown-Kopitar-Quick-Doughty could go the rest of their careers without winning another playoff series and I would be completely satisfied. COVID-19 is changing our world forever.  Who knows the next time we'll be allowed back into Staples Center.  Who knows if the NHL's plan to resume the 2019-20 season will even get the go ahead.  There's so much uncertainty for the foreseeable future. I was at the Kings v. Avalanche game on Monday, March 9th.  My friend and I were aware of the possible threat but neither of us had any idea the severity of the situation.  I remember constantly washing my hands and heading for the hand sanitizer stations that were positioned all around the concourse every chance I got.  I remember being hesitant to high-five the strangers in front of me who turned around and faced us with extended hands for al