Rob Blake is out.

[What party?]

I think I have a new idea for NHL games which go past 2 OTs.

There's my guy. Making my dumb stuff even better. Hmmm.. well then my choice for the King's 2OT lip sync assassin: Kempe. Hair flipping is a big part of many successful queens' battle.

He's a romance novel author now, he doesn't have time for this nonsense.

"Avery announced the book's release on his Instagram page, teasing that it will "elevate the romance novel game". The story revolves around Jessica, who is pretending to have a mental breakdown to escape a chaotic life, and her unexpected connection with the hockey player"

Poor,um...sarcastic air quotes, Jessica.

 

[What party?]

I can't really argue with you I was just saying on paper to me it was the right move as the only other FA available I think was Bozak and he IMO wasn't going to help with what we needed. I remember a pre season goal Kovalchuk scored vs Vegas where he went though everyone and thought man he's still got it but like I said when 3 coaches can't work with you it's probably you.

...PLD has entered the chat

 

[DoubleMinor]

I agree with you in regards to Rob - I really think he was in the top 70% of GMs and the alternatives available are not appealing. I wouldn't mind giving Tony Granato a shot, though, but if we end up as Bergevin as GM I will likely need to take a break from this team (that guy demonstrated on several occasions a morally bankrupt attitude during his time as the GM of Montreal). I would be very surprised if Bergevin fixed any problems, and still think he had a large hand in the initial PLD trade.

Personally I would stick with Spence, I think he is much better than he is given credit for and will continue to grow with experience. He could be a very steady lower pairing presence on the ice and does everything well, though nothing truly great (as of yet).

I agree that Kopi and DD won't be moved unless they ask to. Kopi continues to earn his contract, however, while DD continues to not come close (simply because he was signed at way too high of an AAV). Given how the Organization treated Quick, DD really should be on the trade block.

I agree that Blake did a pretty good job. And I am concerned about what comes next. In fact that has been my primary concern with those who have advocated for heads to roll.

I don’t know if I am correct or not but my read on Blake leaving is that he did not get fired. I think Blake chose to step down. Whether he had issues with anyone above him, of felt he had done as much as he could, or had personal reasons, I think it was his choice.

I understand how he could have gotten to this decision. He has spent his entire adult life in hockey. He’s getting older. His family is probably reaching the ages where he is missing out on things that are important and has already missed out on too much of it.

I doubt I am alone here. My job was very demanding. Lots of hours at work and lots of hours at home working instead of being present with family. It takes its toll. And my job wasn’t in the public domain and I did not deal with social media criticism 24/7.
At some point I felt I had given too much time to that one part of my life and neglected the parts that are necessary. Work isn’t the most important part of our lives but it does provide a big part of what makes our lives work. For most of us the financial aspect plays into it. I doubt Blake needed to factor that part in.

Again, I could be wrong. Perhaps we will find out what happened. But reading the tea leaves makes me believe this was a voluntary move and a personal decision.

One final comment about the strategy aspect of the playoff series.
I’ve been a bit curious about people criticizing the strategy employed by the Kings and Hiller. I think some of it is absolutely fair; Rolling three lines, the challenge, the defensive utilization, are all fair game.

Where I get a bit frustrated with the topic is the notion that there is an acceptance that it was a conscious decision to repeat the same failures of the prior three years. I see how it looked. I understand that criticism. I just don’t necessarily think it was a predetermined strategy. We can certainly agree to disagree about all of it.

What I think the real strategy was is the Kings believed they could hold serve at home, go on the road and get at least one win in Games 3/4, and be up 3-0 or 3-1. That was the strategy. It was The Plan.
Six and a half minutes in Game 3. 30 seconds in Game 4. Hit posts. A failed clear. Several missed open nets. An obvious missed tripping penalty.

I honestly don’t know if people accept how close the Kings were to winning the series, and winning it convincingly.

I know they went into a shell. I know they blew lead after lead. Obviously it’s frustrating to watch and heartbreaking to see. And it’s entirely appropriate to question the facts of it.

But a 3-0 or 3-1 series lead was the anticipated outcome of Games 1-4. They were minutes and even seconds from that.
I guess my point is that I think the Kings were a much better team this year than last. I don’t think it’s even a close comparison. I would hate to see an angry or rash response that may derail an upward trajectory.
And I’m concerned that Blake’s departure (however it happened) may impact that trajectory.

 

[SirJW]

Islanders’ GM search could take Rob Blake twist after Kings breakup

The Hall of Fame defenseman, who notably won the 2002 Stanley Cup alongside Patrick Roy with the Avalanche, had been in the Kings front office since 2013 and had been general manager since 2017.

nypost.com

The comments are very similar to here.

 

[Kurisu]

Futa on NHL Radio right now saying this would be his dream job and he’d ideally beg Lombardi to come back as a senior advisor.

Ran through all the players in the league he scouted and had great careers.

Could there be a better candidate out there? I can’t think of one. Anyone have Luc’s cell?

 

[Bollocks]

I'd rather miss the playoffs and get picks than lose to the same team every year in round 1. Nothing is gained by our current "identity" as a team other than that we can't beat the Oilers. Lose some years, gain some picks, get some players, let McD and the other guy get old and then we'll be good. Easy?

Easy if the next GM will be hired to do that. I don't think he will be though.

Rob wasn't fired for making this team only a mediocre playoff team. He gave up for whatever reason and I suspect it wasn't because he was content with the vision of upper management and limitations in place regarding what he can and cannot do as a GM.

Anyways, we're just guessing here, but I fear the replacement will be Bergevin who will continue trying to keep this team a playoff team, not actually a long term contender.

I do hope I'm wrong of course...

 

[DoubleMinor]

Easy if the next GM will be hired to do that. I don't think he will be though.

Rob wasn't fired for making this team only a mediocre playoff team. He gave up for whatever reason and I suspect it wasn't because he was content with the vision of upper management and limitations in place regarding what he can and cannot do as a GM.

Anyways, we're just guessing here, but I fear the replacement will be Bergevin who will continue trying to keep this team a playoff team, not actually a long term contender.

I do hope I'm wrong of course...

I’m admittedly uniformed about Bergevin. What’s the issue with him?

 

[Pevsfreedom]

I’m admittedly uniformed about Bergevin. What’s the issue with him?

I am not so sure myself but I think it's a Luc's BFF type deal.

 

[DoubleMinor]

I am not so sure myself but I think it's a Luc's BFF type deal.

Obviously part of it but there’s gotta be more in his background with the level of dislike I see.

 

[DryKing]

I agree that Blake did a pretty good job. And I am concerned about what comes next. In fact that has been my primary concern with those who have advocated for heads to roll.

I don’t know if I am correct or not but my read on Blake leaving is that he did not get fired. I think Blake chose to step down. Whether he had issues with anyone above him, of felt he had done as much as he could, or had personal reasons, I think it was his choice.

I understand how he could have gotten to this decision. He has spent his entire adult life in hockey. He’s getting older. His family is probably reaching the ages where he is missing out on things that are important and has already missed out on too much of it.

I doubt I am alone here. My job was very demanding. Lots of hours at work and lots of hours at home working instead of being present with family. It takes its toll. And my job wasn’t in the public domain and I did not deal with social media criticism 24/7.
At some point I felt I had given too much time to that one part of my life and neglected the parts that are necessary. Work isn’t the most important part of our lives but it does provide a big part of what makes our lives work. For most of us the financial aspect plays into it. I doubt Blake needed to factor that part in.

Again, I could be wrong. Perhaps we will find out what happened. But reading the tea leaves makes me believe this was a voluntary move and a personal decision.

One final comment about the strategy aspect of the playoff series.
I’ve been a bit curious about people criticizing the strategy employed by the Kings and Hiller. I think some of it is absolutely fair; Rolling three lines, the challenge, the defensive utilization, are all fair game.

Where I get a bit frustrated with the topic is the notion that there is an acceptance that it was a conscious decision to repeat the same failures of the prior three years. I see how it looked. I understand that criticism. I just don’t necessarily think it was a predetermined strategy. We can certainly agree to disagree about all of it.

What I think the real strategy was is the Kings believed they could hold serve at home, go on the road and get at least one win in Games 3/4, and be up 3-0 or 3-1. That was the strategy. It was The Plan.
Six and a half minutes in Game 3. 30 seconds in Game 4. Hit posts. A failed clear. Several missed open nets. An obvious missed tripping penalty.

I honestly don’t know if people accept how close the Kings were to winning the series, and winning it convincingly.

I know they went into a shell. I know they blew lead after lead. Obviously it’s frustrating to watch and heartbreaking to see. And it’s entirely appropriate to question the facts of it.

But a 3-0 or 3-1 series lead was the anticipated outcome of Games 1-4. They were minutes and even seconds from that.
I guess my point is that I think the Kings were a much better team this year than last. I don’t think it’s even a close comparison. I would hate to see an angry or rash response that may derail an upward trajectory.
And I’m concerned that Blake’s departure (however it happened) may impact that trajectory.

I hope you're right in regards to it being Blake's decision to leave the team, but I suspect he was the scapegoat. Blake had promised a deep run into the playoffs by now, and failed to deliver. The irony, as you pointed out, is this team really could have achieved that goal.

I do think Blake's hands were significantly tied when Luc brought in Bergevin (it cannot be coincidence that as soon as Bergevin was brought on the Kings went for all his favorite targets). If Blake left, it was likely due to either wanting to spend more time with his family (as you mentioned) or simply wanting to be able to do his job properly without others restricting him. The answer will come if he jumps to another GM job right away or takes some time for himself.

My criticism on Hiller is the decision to only roll 3 lines during the playoffs. At best, you win a round that way and get smoked in the 2nd round as your primary player (especially those older like DD and Kopi) are banged up / injured and totally gassed. It tells me Hiller's main goal was to make it to the 2nd round, not win the Cup - as that is the limit of what his strategy was good for. The other criticism I had going into the playoffs is that he historically been slow to adjust his strategies once they are no longer effective. In his first playoff appearance with the Kings he got significantly outcouched. He developed a strategy that initially worked, Edmonton's coach countered by Hiller stayed with his original strategy and the series ended quickly. This time he did make some minor adjustments, but he once again got out-coached and lost to a team that we should have beaten. Last year was forgivable, but losing to a team which you had on the ropes this season is not.

We have Anahiem interviewing Quinnville, Gallant is also still out there and we have....Hiller. HIller could end up being really good with more experience, but for a team poised to make a Cup run why do we keep settling for below average coaches? 2012/2014 never would have happened within Sutter, and our next Cup will never be obtained without the right coach.

 

[What party?]

I am not so sure myself but I think it's a Luc's BFF type deal.

Ah yes....

 

[DoubleMinor]

I am not so sure myself but I think it's a Luc's BFF type deal.

Isn’t part of it that there is Bergevin blame for the PLD debacle? But what else is there?

 

[DryKing]

Obviously part of it but there’s gotta be more in his background with the level of dislike I see.

This is part of it. 31 teams passed on this player due to his situation and wishes (even though he was otherwise project around 15th by many) - Marc thought it would be a steal to go against the grain and draft him anyway.

Montreal Canadiens choose player with 31st pick who asked not to be drafted

The Canadiens stunned the rest of the NHL on Friday night by taking Logan Mailloux with the second-to-last pick in the first round of the draft

www.theguardian.com

 

[DoubleMinor]

I hope you're right in regards to it being Blake's decision to leave the team, but I suspect he was the scapegoat. Blake had promised a deep run into the playoffs by now, and failed to deliver. The irony, as you pointed out, is this team really could have achieved that goal.

I do think Blake's hands were significantly tied when Luc brought in Bergevin (it cannot be coincidence that as soon as Bergevin was brought on the Kings went for all his favorite targets). If Blake left, it was likely due to either wanting to spend more time with his family (as you mentioned) or simply wanting to be able to do his job properly without others restricting him. The answer will come if he jumps to another GM job right away or takes some time for himself.

My criticism on Hiller is the decision to only roll 3 lines during the playoffs. At best, you win a round that way and get smoked in the 2nd round as your primary player (especially those older like DD and Kopi) are banged up / injured and totally gassed. It tells me Hiller's main goal was to make it to the 2nd round, not win the Cup - as that is the limit of what his strategy was good for. The other criticism I had going into the playoffs is that he historically been slow to adjust his strategies once they are no longer effective. In his first playoff appearance with the Kings he got significantly outcouched. He developed a strategy that initially worked, Edmonton's coach countered by Hiller stayed with his original strategy and the series ended quickly. This time he did make some minor adjustments, but he once again got out-coached and lost to a team that we should have beaten. Last year was forgivable, but losing to a team which you had on the ropes this season is not.

We have Anahiem interviewing Quinnville, Gallant is also still out there and we have....Hiller. HIller could end up being really good with more experience, but for a team poised to make a Cup run why do we keep settling for below average coaches? 2012/2014 never would have happened within Sutter, and our next Cup will never be obtained without the right coach.

Yeah, the answer will come IF Blake takes another job.
I think personally I like Hilier, accept that he has the learning curve, but believe he can quickly become the Coach they need. That’s a lot of presumption on my part but I like the potential. Give me someone with promise with the patience to see it through is where I’m at.
Nothing more than a gut sense of it on my part though.

 

[Statue4Deano]

Futa on NHL Radio right now saying this would be his dream job and he’d ideally beg Lombardi to come back as a senior advisor.

Ran through all the players in the league he scouted and had great careers.

Could there be a better candidate out there? I can’t think of one. Anyone have Luc’s cell?

My money is on an internal hire but Futa should absolutely be on the short list. He obviously loved being a part of the organization and if he can coax Dean back into the fold I think that’s a huge win.

Mark Yannetti absolutely deserves a shot at the job if he’s interested. I’d probably put him at the top of my preferred list.

 

[DoubleMinor]

My money is on an internal hire but Futa should absolutely be on the short list. He obviously loved being a part of the organization and if he can coax Dean back into the fold I think that’s a huge win.

Mark Yannetti absolutely deserves a shot at the job if he’s interested. I’d probably put him at the top of my preferred list.

Perfectly happy with either of these two. Would hope the hire is familiar with the team and org structure.

 

[Johnnysuede71]

I agree that Blake did a pretty good job. And I am concerned about what comes next. In fact that has been my primary concern with those who have advocated for heads to roll.

I don’t know if I am correct or not but my read on Blake leaving is that he did not get fired. I think Blake chose to step down. Whether he had issues with anyone above him, of felt he had done as much as he could, or had personal reasons, I think it was his choice.

I understand how he could have gotten to this decision. He has spent his entire adult life in hockey. He’s getting older. His family is probably reaching the ages where he is missing out on things that are important and has already missed out on too much of it.

I doubt I am alone here. My job was very demanding. Lots of hours at work and lots of hours at home working instead of being present with family. It takes its toll. And my job wasn’t in the public domain and I did not deal with social media criticism 24/7.
At some point I felt I had given too much time to that one part of my life and neglected the parts that are necessary. Work isn’t the most important part of our lives but it does provide a big part of what makes our lives work. For most of us the financial aspect plays into it. I doubt Blake needed to factor that part in.

Again, I could be wrong. Perhaps we will find out what happened. But reading the tea leaves makes me believe this was a voluntary move and a personal decision.

One final comment about the strategy aspect of the playoff series.
I’ve been a bit curious about people criticizing the strategy employed by the Kings and Hiller. I think some of it is absolutely fair; Rolling three lines, the challenge, the defensive utilization, are all fair game.

Where I get a bit frustrated with the topic is the notion that there is an acceptance that it was a conscious decision to repeat the same failures of the prior three years. I see how it looked. I understand that criticism. I just don’t necessarily think it was a predetermined strategy. We can certainly agree to disagree about all of it.

What I think the real strategy was is the Kings believed they could hold serve at home, go on the road and get at least one win in Games 3/4, and be up 3-0 or 3-1. That was the strategy. It was The Plan.
Six and a half minutes in Game 3. 30 seconds in Game 4. Hit posts. A failed clear. Several missed open nets. An obvious missed tripping penalty.

I honestly don’t know if people accept how close the Kings were to winning the series, and winning it convincingly.

I know they went into a shell. I know they blew lead after lead. Obviously it’s frustrating to watch and heartbreaking to see. And it’s entirely appropriate to question the facts of it.

But a 3-0 or 3-1 series lead was the anticipated outcome of Games 1-4. They were minutes and even seconds from that.
I guess my point is that I think the Kings were a much better team this year than last. I don’t think it’s even a close comparison. I would hate to see an angry or rash response that may derail an upward trajectory.
And I’m concerned that Blake’s departure (however it happened) may impact that trajectory.

This. Thanks for saving me a lengthy post. I have very little time at work for it and you hit all my points. Blake...who without a doubt went through some trial and error in his 8 year tenure...put together a very good team this year. All the straight up HATE confounds me a bit.

The other thing that has been on my mind is not only how do we find an effective replacement....but how do we establish an even REMOTELY attractive culture to the kind of superstars the team has consistently lacked (i.e. Rantanen) and who inevitably will continue to pass on playing in LA (i.e. Marner...and no...there is no chance he signs here either.) No one wants to play here. Why is that do you suppose? (Most of you will reply with state taxes and then realize how many top tier free agents the Rangers and Devils have attracted over the years.) Something is wrong with this picture. Can it be fixed with a new GM and coach? (The four first round exits certainly don't make the Kings any sexier either.)

 

[VCRW]

One of the big problems the Kings had at the end of the Lombardi era were big contracts for Richards and Gaborik, who were instrumental in Cup wins, but were basically done and making a lot of money. Quick was no different, except that Blake learned a (good) lesson from Lombardi..

Mike Richard’s’ contract was inherited from Philadelphia. Mike never signed a contract with the Kings. Don’t understand why that misunderstanding persists.

 

[Kurisu]

Rob wasn't fired for making this team only a mediocre playoff team. He gave up for whatever reason and I suspect it wasn't because he was content with the vision of upper management and limitations in place regarding what he can and cannot do as a GM.

Futa said on the radio today that Rob had an extension on the table and could have stayed, but just wanted out of the grind to be a family guy now. Characterized it as genuinely a mutual parting of ways, not a firing, per se.

He also mentioned very coyly, and I may have been reading too much into it, but he said he knew nothing about Hiller and wouldn't comment further on that hire if he were theoretically to become the GM. Maybe he was just being politically correct, but he wouldn't touch the topic. The rest of the interview was him gushing about how much he enjoyed his tenure here, and how connected to the organization he felt, going back the Kopi / Doughty / Kempe drafts. He said his first real feeling of professional accomplishment was drafting Simmonds and how he (paraphrasing) felt emboldened moving forward evaluating other players. Mentioned Trevor Lewis, Brayden Schenn, Kyle Clifford, Tyler Toffoli, specifically, and talked about the other staff he worked with whose names I didn't recognize. But his earnest interest in the position was palpable.

 

[DoubleMinor]

This is part of it. 31 teams passed on this player due to his situation and wishes (even though he was otherwise project around 15th by many) - Marc thought it would be a steal to go against the grain and draft him anyway.

Montreal Canadiens choose player with 31st pick who asked not to be drafted

The Canadiens stunned the rest of the NHL on Friday night by taking Logan Mailloux with the second-to-last pick in the first round of the draft

www.theguardian.com

I had completely forgotten this. This should be disqualifying.
Thanks for reminding me.