Susan Valot
July 17, 2008
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It's been almost 20 years since the L.A. Kings enjoyed the best day in their history. The National Hockey League franchise traded for superstar Wayne Gretzky, and introduced him to a hockey-skeptical Southland. That was a long, long time ago. The Kings haven't been to the playoffs in five years, and they've been frozen out of the hearts of Southern California's fickle hockey fans by the high-flying Anaheim Ducks. But KPCC's resident hockey expert Susan Valot says the new coach just introduced at the Kings' El Segundo headquarters might be able to return the team to regal stature.
Susan Valot: Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi made the announcement.
Dean Lombardi: I'm pleased today to introduce to the Los Angeles Kings Terry Murray, but I'm also introducing him to what I think is the toughest job in the National Hockey League right now.
Valot: Boy, you could say
that again! The L.A. Kings are a shadow of their former selves, a whimper of when superstar Wayne Gretzky effortlessly cruised the ice and made hockey
cool in L.A. Last season, the Kings finished in a tie for the worst record in the entire National Hockey League.
The Kings were very bad. They're also very young, and new coach Terry Murray will bring a lot of experience to his young squad. He's the brother of former Anaheim Ducks GM Bryan Murray, and he led the Philadelphia Flyers to the Stanley Cup Finals a decade ago. It was a team that, like the Kings, had missed the playoffs five seasons in a row.
Bryan Murray: Well, the way you turn it around in the game today is by doing what we're doing right now. And that is having a plan, sticking to it. That's very important, right from management through the ownership, that everybody's on board, and we know what it is, and then we stay with it.
Valot: Murray, who's no relation to former Kings coach Andy Murray, says in today's league, especially with the salary cap, you've got to develop your own young players. Kings GM Dean Lombardi says it's tough to trade for a top-notch player who can carry a team like Gretzky. He says, for the past few years, the Kings
tried to do that, and each time, they failed.
Lombardi: The problem is, there's
nobody like Gretzky and
nobody could do what this guy did. If you're
gonna do that route, you not only need great players, you need winners. But if it don't, if you don't get it, you're just gonna be end up treading water in that middle group, never really amount to anything.
Valot: That's why Lombardi says this time around, the Kings are concentrating on developing their young guys. This summer, the team parted ways with veterans Rob Blake and Lubomir Vishnovsky. They'll stick with the younger talent to score the goals: Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar, and Alexander Frolov. But to keep the other teams from scoring, Lombardi says the Kings still need a couple of top defensemen.
Lombardi: And God hope we get a goalie, if we ever get a goalie in the 40 year history of the Kings! The only thing I can say right now is just the fact that three top young players from within your system are already here, and then there's
hope for maybe three or four more. That's the only way I can look at a fan and say, "Hey, it might be different this time."
Valot: The Kings are getting a look at the next generation of potential players with their prospect camp this week. And this season, they can keep a closer eye on their developing players. The new Kings farm team, the Ontario Reign, is the new minor league hockey team in the Inland Empire. It hits the ice in the I.E. for its inaugural season this fall.
Susan Valot/KPCC
