Rog or Reg?
Super Star
LOL! Well played sir!
What Are the Odds Rob Blake is Fired After the Season?
- Thread starter Rog or Reg?
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VCRW
Classic player
Technically, Blake is on his third hire. Hiring Stevens was a done deal engineered by Lombardi and AEG well before Rob was hired. It was part of Stevens deal that he would succeed Darryl. That happened when they stopped calling Stevens "Assistant" and started calling him "Associate". Blake could only rubber stamp it when he became GM.
orpheus
The Dolphin Cares!
I don't think he gets fired this year regardless of how the season ends. Missing the playoffs this year AND next year will probably do it, but I have a hard time believing this roster would end up doing that.
Dunno, has the Kings ownership done a staying on course press conference?
Rog or Reg?
Super Star
I don't think he gets fired this year regardless of how the season ends. Missing the playoffs this year AND next year will probably do it, but I have a hard time believing this roster would end up doing that.
Dunno, has the Kings ownership done a staying on course press conference?
I honestly have to say, I love you.
LGK wouldn't be LGK without The Dolphin Factor.
Your ability to lighten things up when they are darkest reminds me of one of my all-time favorite movie quotes. From Roger Rabbit:
“A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Sometimes in life it's the only weapon we have.”
Words I live by
dannybuoy1
Cause Mitchrock said so
I cannot imagine him keeping his job if they fail to make the playoffs or past round 1. Then again he should have lost his job for signing Kovalchuk alone.
^^^
This
Rog or Reg?
Super Star
Yet another article on Rob Blake's tenuous grip as GM for the Kings.
From The Athletic:
theathletic.com
From The Athletic:
Rob Blake is in a precarious position as Kings GM after coaching change gambit
Replacing Todd McLellan with Jim Hiller might be the only move Blake has left to make for the Kings.
theathletic.com
IMHO I always found the reasons around Stevens hire/promotion/promised position dubious at best.
When you hire a competent GM, they want THEIR coach, THEIR roster. It's why you hire them. A changing of the guard because the guy who came before you failed.
You don't want to be saddled with the former guys "hold-over decision".
If Blake wanted to, he could have said no to Stevens. He could have made the case to Danny B and AEG as to why Stevens is not his guy and is not the guy the Kings need.
Instead, Blake rolled with it. He was promoted to the position, and played ball with Danny B and the number crunchers.
VCRW
Classic player
You may want to revise history, but Blake had no say in the Stevens hiring. It was dictated by the contract Stevens signed with AEG while Darryl was still head coach. It was appeasement and the only way to keep Stevens on the staff at the time.
JayWells24
Top Forward
“It’s my responsibility to hire Todd,” Blake said. “It was my responsibility to let him go the other day. And I fully understand the repercussions if this team does not win or have success.”Yet another article on Rob Blake's tenuous grip as GM for the Kings.
From The Athletic:
Rob Blake is in a precarious position as Kings GM after coaching change gambit
Replacing Todd McLellan with Jim Hiller might be the only move Blake has left to make for the Kings.
Clearly, Flake knows his job is on the line with that quote if the team continues its poor play. As it has been mentioned several times on this forum, anything less than a playoff series win will seal his fate.
If you go back and watch the exit interviews from last season, winning a playoff series at the least was the goal mentioned by several players. Especially having Edm on the ropes the past 2 seasons and unable to close it out. I still have nightmares about that 3-0 game 4 blown lead.
So you can imagine how painful it was to actually live here amongst all those Oilers fans. I do not want to revisit that again this year
You misunderstand. No revisionist history. I just never bought into "AEG was "forced" to hire Stevens".
They never were. They decided to keep him on and promote him, and Rob went along with the easiest choice.
AEG could have bought out any contract that was signed by Stevens. They could have voided any "handshake agreement" they wanted.
If the new GM (Rob) was adamite that he wanted "his" coach choice, and that the Kings needed someone better, it could have been done.
Sure Stevens would have been upset, but that's pro sports. Coaches get let go all the time.
Coaches get paid out their contracts while they are not coaching. It's how things are done.
Danny B, AEG, Luc, & Rob went for the easiest low hanging fruit decision in promoting Stevens.
Perhaps Danny B did not want to part with any owed $$. (Turns out it was a very poor choice)
Point being IMHO, under Rob, there has been a pattern of poor coaching choices.
The track record is clear, Rob will never make the Kings contenders.....just like his choice Todd was never going to either.
Rog or Reg?
Super Star
That game was one of the worst losses I can recall seeing in person.
I think the worst was the first Cup Final game in Los Angeles with Carbonneau covering the puck in the crease and getting away with it. That one hurt. After the Hardy hit on Keane the Kings came storming back, only to lose in OT after the ref admitted he blew the call. And man oh man, what a penalty shot that would have been, with you know who taking the shot. What I remember best was the long drive home from The Forum.
The Oilers game last year was a close second. I had a date with a hot Korean lady and stood her up because my buddy got tickets to the game at the last minute. She still hasn't forgiven me. Once again, what I remember best was the drive home. I'm still depressed just thinking about it. I thought we had that game won.
As for Blake, well, the Kings better start winning or Blake will need to start working on his resume.
VCRW
Classic player
Then you are in denial. Anything after that statement quoted is meaningless.
At the time the Stevens hire was approved by nearly everyone. It was “Anyone But Sutter!” And “Stevens has earned his shot!” And then, of course, the players quit on Stevens.
Your differences of opinion with AEG are well-documented here on LGK. But if you want to talk the Desjardins or McLellan hire, then I am right there with you.
On the contrary, everything I wrote after that is the point exactly. If there was a signed contract, they could have bought him out.
They were never forced to keep him on and promote him.
They could have passed on Stevens, but they decided to stay the course.
They could have underwent a massive coach search, but they didn't.
One of many poor decisions.
Acting like their hands were tied is silly. They just made a choice at that time that ended up to be a bad one. (like all the other coaching hires)
The Blake hire to Sutter fire took all of two weeks. Why they didn't do it all in one move is the part that I don't get. But even then, hiring "Blakes" coach instead of going the interim route would have been a shock 1, and 2 Stevens was highly regarded league wide at the time. There might have been a couple of DQ jokes from the more snarky of us but VCRW has it right, the feeling was anyone but Sutter and Stevens was icing on the cake.
Bill Hicks
LGK Agitator
Statue4Deano
Super Star
now do literally every other team in the league over that same time span…
DRGinLBC
They're a finesse team.
I was at that game...yeah. Awesome.
