At the end of the disastrous 05-06 NHL season, the owners of the Los Angeles Kings had already concluded that change was not just some far-fetched and fanciful dream; it was a necessity. After all, LA’s hometown team had not really been an active contender to the Stanley Cup in quite some time. The once legendary franchise had been beset by injuries time and time and time again. So, when the season had finally come to a conclusion, modifications to the entire roster, from top to bottom, were implemented.
However, ordinary presumptions aside, these changes were not so much made to the active roster, but instead within the infrastructure of the team’s management. No longer “King” of the castle, gone was Dave Taylor, the team’s President and General Manager. The Kings’ fed-up owners also replaced interim head coach John Torchetti, as well as assistant head coaches Ray Bennett and Mark Hardy. All these changes, in addition to a loss of several important players, soon led to a somewhat barren kingdom for the 06-07 season.
A cynical mind might look at such cuts and see them as digressive. However, team owners saw it as an amazing opportunity, wisely filling vacant spaces with individuals of extraordinary and untapped talent. In place of Dave Taylor, team owners acquired Dean Lombardi, renown for his seven years spent with the San Jose Sharks, an era in which the Sharks reached the playoffs on five occasions. Another drastic shift in the staff was the hiring of Marc Crawford as head coach, a position he had thrived in with the Colorado Avalanche, evident by his 1996 Stanley Cup.
Immediately, these two started making changes all around the board to help the Kings back onto their once-legendary throne.
“We’re committed to playing a very entertaining style,” said Crawford. “We want to be a team that’s going to pressure the puck extremely well. We want people to come in and watch the Kings, at the end of every game be able to look and say, ‘Hey, that’s not only an exciting team, but certainly a hard-working team.’”
Of course, athletic veterans aren’t always open to drastically changing the plan of attack. Established players tend to resist change, whether due to a previously set style of play or from years of wear and tear on the road. For these reasons, both Crawford and Lombardi decided that a shift in the team’s roster was a clear requirement. However, this change was not so much a restructuring as it was a rethinking. Many of the same faces can still be seen on and around the ice, but many of the more youthful “princes” of the Kings line-up have been given more influence during play.
“This team is so new, from the trainers to the coaches to the management and everyone else around us,” explained Craig Conroy, 12-year veteran and center for the LA Kings. “But the best thing about it is that we’ve got a bunch of good, young guys. They’re going to be the future of the NHL.”
“This team is so new, from the trainers to the coaches to the management and everyone else around us,” explained Craig Conroy, 12-year veteran and center for the LA Kings. “But the best thing about it is that we’ve got a bunch of good, young guys. They’re going to be the future of the NHL.”
Then again, the future doesn’t always come soon enough. Sometimes it takes a long time for a King to realize his destiny. However, as Crawford tends to believe, when the team finally reaches that time, they will be more than ready to fight, no matter how big the battle or how dangerous the foe.
“We love the challenge,” explained Crawford. “We know this can be a wonderful, wonderful franchise. When they look at franchises, players ask, ‘Hey, does this team have a chance to win? What is the personnel like? What is the coaching staff/management staff like? What is the city like?’ I think we’ve got the ability to answer all those questions very well. If Los Angeles is a strong franchise, that not only helps hockey in California and maybe in the southern states, but I think it helps the entire league.”
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