How Long Can Management Go Without Being Held Accountable?

So long as Kings fans are content with mediocrity, and continue to be apologists for the front office, combined with continually attending games and buying merch........same as it ever was.
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I'm older than dirt, and I'm tired of Blake.

For younger Kings fans here, they must feel like they've been cast into the Gorge of Eternal Peril
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After most college players with his skill have long since signed. Yeah, he gave up a year of FA (millions), not to mention a nice paycheck to play another college year. Only a dim bulb believes for a second that he was going to sign with the Kings. That is why Blake had to trade him to Minnesota and not elsewhere.
Only a dope believes that a 20-yr old prospect can dictate exactly what team he needs to be traded to. In addition, the dude didn't actually SIGN with the Wild until a year after the trade...why??
 
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I’m still annoyed he let Chychrun get traded for a 3rd round pick and a 33 year old stay at home dman to Washington. Chychrun already has 13 goals and 20 assists on the season. Are you telling me the Kings couldn’t use a 50-60 point blue liner PP specials playing 20 minutes a night?
Good point.

But to be fair, Blake traded a 1st and a 3rd and Quick for Gavi and Korpi. And then give away Durzi and Wagner for nothing (guys who are a top 4 D and a guy flipped to CO for a first and a throwaway player) to free up the cap space to sign Gavi. When you're that far invested into one LD, you don't spend assets to get another one even though Chychrun was the player to get in the first place 2 years ago.

And that is why the Kings are a firmly stuck as the 10th-16th best team in the NHL. Blake is mediocre.
 
Only a dope believes that a 20-yr old prospect can dictate exactly what team he needs to be traded to. In addition, the dude didn't actually SIGN with the Wild until a year after the trade...why??
Famous LGK fables include:
Faber was NEVER going to sign with the Kings
Vilardi wanted a HUGE contract for his extension

It is like Blake has a half dozen burner accounts to justify the crazy moves that he has made.
 
Only a dope believes that a 20-yr old prospect can dictate exactly what team he needs to be traded to. In addition, the dude didn't actually SIGN with the Wild until a year after the trade...why??
Only a dim bulb doesn't understand how college prospects work.
 
Famous LGK fables include:
Faber was NEVER going to sign with the Kings
Vilardi wanted a HUGE contract for his extension

It is like Blake has a half dozen burner accounts to justify the crazy moves that he has made.
Yah, it's always some clown on a soapbox spouting off conspiracy theories that they've picked up from other clowns and have zero evidence, quotes, etc. to back it up.

Here's the thing, I actually think it was a good trade at the time. The team needed scoring, and Blake made a move to make that happen. Problem is, it was supposed to yield better results...and 4 years later, it just hasn't happened. Now Blake has to answer for it.
 
I’m still annoyed he let Chychrun get traded for a 3rd round pick and a 33 year old stay at home dman to Washington. Chychrun already has 13 goals and 20 assists on the season. Are you telling me the Kings couldn’t use a 50-60 point blue liner PP specials playing 20 minutes a night?
This is the right kind of missed-move to be mad about.
Famous LGK fables include:
Faber was NEVER going to sign with the Kings
Vilardi wanted a HUGE contract for his extension

It is like Blake has a half dozen burner accounts to justify the crazy moves that he has made.
The never signing part may be a stretch, but he didn’t sign and became a riskier prospect. That much is at least based in fact. Faber is one of the few examples where Blake cashed in when he could. Most prospects have died on the vine.

Gabe wanting a huge extension is pure make believe to sooth the hurt. It’s also unnecessary because the facts are that his time here was marred by concerning injuries and public attitude issues.

It’s reasonable both were traded. Not speaking to quality of trades, just it’d reasonable they were moved at all.
 
No indication other than the fact that he wouldn't sign a contract.
Via Hoven, whether you believe him or not:

Faber’s Fables

Just a few notes on defenseman Brock Faber to pass along. With ‘fake news’ becoming such a popular phrase over the past few years, it seemed almost appropriate to chime in the former Kings draftee.

Indications are, Faber wasn’t traded because he refused to sign with the Kings, nor because he did not want to play in LA. Faber himself has even publicly shot down the latter point. To hear him tell it, he was devastated at the time of the trade because he was eventually looking forward to joining the Kings organization. At the time, he just really believed in his teammates at the University of Minnesota. They were considered heavy favorites to win the National Championship the following year and he wanted the opportunity to be part of that experience. As a native of the area, doing something like that as a member of the Golden Gophers hockey team was a childhood dream.

Why was he traded then?

It boils down to options in the moment. The Kings were making a hockey trade with Minnesota. That’s what it was, similar to acquiring Mike Richards from Philadelphia for Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn. This isn’t to say that Kevin Fiala is Richards in any way whatsoever. It was a hockey trade, though. The deal wasn’t Kevin Stevens (then a Kings prosect) for Anders Hakansson in 1983.

At the time, Faber was one of a handful of right shot defensemen in LA’s system. There wasn’t going to be room for all of them to make the NHL. Does GM Rob Blake likely wish it was one of the other RHD who were included in the deal? Sure. That’s not how trades work, though. You have to give to get and it’s tough to look back on things after the fact.

In exchange for a top prospect at the time, LA received Fiala, the player Kopitar recently referred to as the Kings game-breaker.
 
I'm not sold that Faber would have ever signed with the Kings, and if he did I believe it would have been short term. Faber's words and actions simply have never lined up.

I read the articles, interviews and insights available and can tell that he comes from a business savvy family who always had a plan in place for him. What they never did was: reassure the Kings that Faber would sign with them, always give the Kings Org face time when requested, or treat the Kings Org as any kind of priority. Personal opinion is that they said what they said publicly in order to save face.

Faber was sad to be traded, but that is because, imo, he couldn't believe a team gave up on him rather than truly wanting to be with the Kings. Being traded sucks, and he and his family believed they had all the leverage.

That said, once Faber became eligible for an extension he capitalized on it right away. No bridge or home town discount, like Mikey Anderson, just straight for the jugular. Again, business savvy family.
 
I'm not sold that Faber would have ever signed with the Kings, and if he did I believe it would have been short term. Faber's words and actions simply have never lined up.

I read the articles, interviews and insights available and can tell that he comes from a business savvy family who always had a plan in place for him. What they never did was: reassure the Kings that Faber would sign with them, always give the Kings Org face time when requested, or treat the Kings Org as any kind of priority. Personal opinion is that they said what they said publicly in order to save face.

Faber was sad to be traded, but that is because, imo, he couldn't believe a team gave up on him rather than truly wanting to be with the Kings. Being traded sucks, and he and his family believed they had all the leverage.

That said, once Faber became eligible for an extension he capitalized on it right away. No bridge or home town discount, like Mikey Anderson, just straight for the jugular. Again, business savvy family.
How do you have all this intel, you the kid’s uncle or something?
 
Via Hoven, whether you believe him or not:

Faber’s Fables

Just a few notes on defenseman Brock Faber to pass along. With ‘fake news’ becoming such a popular phrase over the past few years, it seemed almost appropriate to chime in the former Kings draftee.

Indications are, Faber wasn’t traded because he refused to sign with the Kings, nor because he did not want to play in LA. Faber himself has even publicly shot down the latter point. To hear him tell it, he was devastated at the time of the trade because he was eventually looking forward to joining the Kings organization. At the time, he just really believed in his teammates at the University of Minnesota. They were considered heavy favorites to win the National Championship the following year and he wanted the opportunity to be part of that experience. As a native of the area, doing something like that as a member of the Golden Gophers hockey team was a childhood dream.

Why was he traded then?

It boils down to options in the moment. The Kings were making a hockey trade with Minnesota. That’s what it was, similar to acquiring Mike Richards from Philadelphia for Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn. This isn’t to say that Kevin Fiala is Richards in any way whatsoever. It was a hockey trade, though. The deal wasn’t Kevin Stevens (then a Kings prosect) for Anders Hakansson in 1983.

At the time, Faber was one of a handful of right shot defensemen in LA’s system. There wasn’t going to be room for all of them to make the NHL. Does GM Rob Blake likely wish it was one of the other RHD who were included in the deal? Sure. That’s not how trades work, though. You have to give to get and it’s tough to look back on things after the fact.

In exchange for a top prospect at the time, LA received Fiala, the player Kopitar recently referred to as the Kings game-breaker.
There ya go @Halfwall….put that in your pipe.
 
I'm not sold that Faber would have ever signed with the Kings, and if he did I believe it would have been short term. Faber's words and actions simply have never lined up.

I read the articles, interviews and insights available and can tell that he comes from a business savvy family who always had a plan in place for him. What they never did was: reassure the Kings that Faber would sign with them, always give the Kings Org face time when requested, or treat the Kings Org as any kind of priority. Personal opinion is that they said what they said publicly in order to save face.

Faber was sad to be traded, but that is because, imo, he couldn't believe a team gave up on him rather than truly wanting to be with the Kings. Being traded sucks, and he and his family believed they had all the leverage.

That said, once Faber became eligible for an extension he capitalized on it right away. No bridge or home town discount, like Mikey Anderson, just straight for the jugular. Again, business savvy family.
Indeed. The idea that he was "devastated" at being traded to his favorite team in his hometown is beyond laughable.
 
Indeed. The idea that he was "devastated" at being traded to his favorite team in his hometown is beyond laughable.
Quotes from a story out of the Athletic in ‘23:

>>It might never have happened had Faber signed with Los Angeles after his sophomore year. As big of a Wild fan as he is and was, he was all-in on the Kings. But he had unfinished business on the Gophers’ campus after advancing to last year’s Frozen Four.

“He made the decision to come back all on his own,” Motzko says. “I didn’t even have a meeting with him. He came in and knocked on my door and said, ‘I’m coming back.’ And, of course, I stood up and hugged him.”

Faber’s parents say Kings general manager Rob Blake and his staff treated Faber like gold, and Faber was initially devastated last June when he learned he was dealt to the Wild along with a first-round pick for Kevin Fiala.

He was writing an essay for his computer ethics class and put his phone across the room so he wouldn’t be distracted. He kept hearing it buzz and finally got up to make sure nothing was wrong. The missed calls were from Blake. He called back and learned of the trade.

Faber quickly called his dad, who was shopping at Home Depot. Then his mom.

“He was hurt,” Karri recalls. “He asked, ‘What did I do wrong? Why don’t they want me?'”

“He didn’t know the business part of it,” Jay says. “I actually called Motzko and said, ‘I’m worried about Brock because he thinks the Kings didn’t want him.’ He said, ‘No, no, here’s how much (the Wild) wanted him.”<<

So @Halfwall says the parents are lying….cool.
 
I will always compare Blake’s build of this team to Lombardi’s build to those Cup teams. Lombardi would never have made this trade for a winger when the team was where it was at. Faber for a center with skill and character? Absolutely Dean would. Lombardi always felt wingers were the last piece.

Blake went for the flashy winger (with some selfish issues) before he even figured his defense out or his 4 centers. And getting that flashy winger was at the expense of his future defense. The defense got attention a bit too late in my opinion.

And yes, I’m firmly in the camp that Blake needs to go. Luc too for all the cronyism that he’s implemented.
 
Quotes from a story out of the Athletic in ‘23:

>>It might never have happened had Faber signed with Los Angeles after his sophomore year. As big of a Wild fan as he is and was, he was all-in on the Kings. But he had unfinished business on the Gophers’ campus after advancing to last year’s Frozen Four.

“He made the decision to come back all on his own,” Motzko says. “I didn’t even have a meeting with him. He came in and knocked on my door and said, ‘I’m coming back.’ And, of course, I stood up and hugged him.”

Faber’s parents say Kings general manager Rob Blake and his staff treated Faber like gold, and Faber was initially devastated last June when he learned he was dealt to the Wild along with a first-round pick for Kevin Fiala.

He was writing an essay for his computer ethics class and put his phone across the room so he wouldn’t be distracted. He kept hearing it buzz and finally got up to make sure nothing was wrong. The missed calls were from Blake. He called back and learned of the trade.

Faber quickly called his dad, who was shopping at Home Depot. Then his mom.

“He was hurt,” Karri recalls. “He asked, ‘What did I do wrong? Why don’t they want me?'”

“He didn’t know the business part of it,” Jay says. “I actually called Motzko and said, ‘I’m worried about Brock because he thinks the Kings didn’t want him.’ He said, ‘No, no, here’s how much (the Wild) wanted him.”<<

So @Halfwall says the parents are lying….cool.

Quotes from a story out of the Athletic in ‘23:

>>It might never have happened had Faber signed with Los Angeles after his sophomore year. As big of a Wild fan as he is and was, he was all-in on the Kings. But he had unfinished business on the Gophers’ campus after advancing to last year’s Frozen Four.

“He made the decision to come back all on his own,” Motzko says. “I didn’t even have a meeting with him. He came in and knocked on my door and said, ‘I’m coming back.’ And, of course, I stood up and hugged him.”

Faber’s parents say Kings general manager Rob Blake and his staff treated Faber like gold, and Faber was initially devastated last June when he learned he was dealt to the Wild along with a first-round pick for Kevin Fiala.

He was writing an essay for his computer ethics class and put his phone across the room so he wouldn’t be distracted. He kept hearing it buzz and finally got up to make sure nothing was wrong. The missed calls were from Blake. He called back and learned of the trade.

Faber quickly called his dad, who was shopping at Home Depot. Then his mom.

“He was hurt,” Karri recalls. “He asked, ‘What did I do wrong? Why don’t they want me?'”

“He didn’t know the business part of it,” Jay says. “I actually called Motzko and said, ‘I’m worried about Brock because he thinks the Kings didn’t want him.’ He said, ‘No, no, here’s how much (the Wild) wanted him.”<<

So @Halfwall says the parents are lying….cool.
Apparently you and I have different dictionaries. I'm not seeing devastated here.
 
Indeed. The idea that he was "devastated" at being traded to his favorite team in his hometown is beyond laughable.
“It was good getting in bed and putting the phone down,” he said. “Then waking up this morning, it kind of sunk in a little bit more. It’s pretty special.”

>He doesn't sound too devastated here. Also he claims in the article:

"“Obviously it was a pretty crazy day,” he said. “I was doing homework at the time I got the call. I was trying to focus. Then there wasn’t much more school done.”

Because he was working on an essay at the time, Faber silenced his phone so that he wouldn’t be distracted. He missed a call from Kings general manager Rob Blake and actually didn’t find out about the trade until it already was all over Twitter.:

>Yet in another article he admits he missed several calls from Blake. We also see some wordsmanship here in the above quote. He learned about it from Blake, no twitter, and the only reason it was already on twitter is that he missed several calls from Blake. Weird that he answered when Guerin called, however. It's all PR...

"Yeah, no, I was in my college apartment, I was doing homework and I had phone across the room and it kept buzzing. A few missed calls from Rob Blake (L.A. Kings GM) and there it was." Faber said.


 
No need to take other people's opinions personally. Let's keep it respectful.
“It was good getting in bed and putting the phone down,” he said. “Then waking up this morning, it kind of sunk in a little bit more. It’s pretty special.”

>He doesn't sound too devastated here. Also he claims in the article:

"“Obviously it was a pretty crazy day,” he said. “I was doing homework at the time I got the call. I was trying to focus. Then there wasn’t much more school done.”

Because he was working on an essay at the time, Faber silenced his phone so that he wouldn’t be distracted. He missed a call from Kings general manager Rob Blake and actually didn’t find out about the trade until it already was all over Twitter.:

>Yet in another article he admits he missed several calls from Blake. We also see some wordsmanship here in the above quote. He learned about it from Blake, no twitter, and the only reason it was already on twitter is that he missed several calls from Blake. Weird that he answered when Guerin called, however. It's all PR...

"Yeah, no, I was in my college apartment, I was doing homework and I had phone across the room and it kept buzzing. A few missed calls from Rob Blake (L.A. Kings GM) and there it was." Faber said.


You probably understand that these trolls come over here from that other board--somehow thinking that will get Blake fired.
 
I'm not sold that Faber would have ever signed with the Kings, and if he did I believe it would have been short term. Faber's words and actions simply have never lined up.

I read the articles, interviews and insights available and can tell that he comes from a business savvy family who always had a plan in place for him. What they never did was: reassure the Kings that Faber would sign with them, always give the Kings Org face time when requested, or treat the Kings Org as any kind of priority. Personal opinion is that they said what they said publicly in order to save face.

Faber was sad to be traded, but that is because, imo, he couldn't believe a team gave up on him rather than truly wanting to be with the Kings. Being traded sucks, and he and his family believed they had all the leverage.

That said, once Faber became eligible for an extension he capitalized on it right away. No bridge or home town discount, like Mikey Anderson, just straight for the jugular. Again, business savvy family.
The only fact is that Faber didn’t sign when he could, and being s college player carried the risk of walking for nothing.

If anyone wants to take his word for it that he was “devastated,” okay, but it’s pretty funny how his words outweigh his actions for a significant part of this fanbase. Anyone who wants to play “I told you so” based off a quote vs. what actually happened in the real world is doing so because it’s impossible to be proven wrong. Blake didn’t hold onto him long enough for us to find out.

One last note, this is the not the guy the Kings are missing right now as a defensively elite team. Vilardi is given they can’t score. And there’s a whole different story there, also.
 
The only fact is that Faber didn’t sign when he could, and being s college player carried the risk of walking for nothing.

If anyone wants to take his word for it that he was “devastated,” okay, but it’s pretty funny how his words outweigh his actions for a significant part of this fanbase. Anyone who wants to play “I told you so” based off a quote vs. what actually happened in the real world is doing so because it’s impossible to be proven wrong. Blake didn’t hold onto him long enough for us to find out.

One last note, this is the not the guy the Kings are missing right now as a defensively elite team. Vilardi is given they can’t score. And there’s a whole different story there, also.
Could the Kings use Vilardi on the PP? No doubt. Losing Iafallo and Kupari-- not worth a thought. Moreover, getting Kuemper for PLD was fantastic. Also, keep in mind the Kings had the 12th best PP last year without Gabe. FWIW, as painful as it would be if I were the coach I would demote Kopi from PP one.
 
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