This here in a nutshell is why bitching about a teams leadership is like betting on the house in Vegas. You can't lose. Not when the odds are 31/32 that you will be right year after year after year.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't mind watching Kings hockey when they are playing above 0.500 hockey. The reason is simple, historically there aren't that many seasons where they are. That's how low the bar has been for this fandom. The black hole matters on draft day sure, but when I get a team I can turn on and watch without killing my blood pressure 15-20 tues and thursday nights out of the season. Well thats what I'm paying for.
Some history for you:
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Yes thats the kings sitting there with a lifetime % of .499
Sure they made the playoffs 33 times, 11 of those 33 times they made the playoffs with a 0.500 record or worse, by virtue of 16 of 21 teams making the playoffs.
Series wins? Before Gretzky shows up the club had 2 series wins in their history. With Gretzky they tally a remarkable 6 over 5 seasons! We're up to 8! Stunner at Staples leads us to 9! 2011-2014 nets us another 11 for 20 series wins in all of club history.
This club has not even remotely had any period of sustained excellence other than it's recent past under the Anschutz ownership or milking Gretzky for every bit of juice he could put on the ice. So for anyone out there that finds it unthinkable, or a travesty that this organization isn't competing for cups year after year, you go ahead and keep blowing that smoke.
The fact is that even if every move is optimized, it's no guarantee of success. So I'll take what I want from the club, which is icing a group that is competitive on paper, has been in the standings (last month aside) and enjoy seeing how they're doing. Do I think Blake and Luc deserve to be where they are? I like what Anschutz has done with the place and I trust his judgement on when it's time to move on.