Dean Lombardi -"Passionate" Italian, New
Los Angeles Kings President
The
ANNOTICO Report
Let's take
a moment from the usual serious thoughts for a "feel good"
moment.
Too seldom
do I see an Italian wearing his Heritage on his sleeve like the New President
of the Los Angeles Kings, Dean Lombardi.
Crowd
favorite, Mighty Ducks' Teemu Selanne,
who was traded to the Sharks in 2000-01, and just returned to the Ducks, says
of Dean Lombardi "This guy, I've never seen anyone who loves
the game as much as Dean," "He can watch hours and hours and hours of
junior hockey, or anything that involves hockey.
He
is so passionate about hockey. He's passionate about everything. I asked him
one day if his ancestors were from
Lombardi,
45, grew up in
It didn't take long for his hockey passion to lead him into team management. He
was an
From there, the Sharks improved steadily, using the draft and a few key trades —
Selanne, Vincent Damphousse,
Mike Ricci.
The Sharks, Western Conference finalist in 2003-04, are still benefiting from
Lombardi's work, with Cheechoo, Patrick Marleau and Vesa Toskala among the players he drafted. The Sharks used
Stuart and Marco Sturm, another Lombardi pick, to acquire Joe Thornton, who led
the NHL in scoring this season and was the ramrod that got th! e Sharks to the playoffs
this season.
"That team is still Dean Lombardi's team, everybody talks about
that," Sutter said. "You saw what they gave up to get Joe Thornton,
two great first-round kids who were basically stars. The important part of his
work is still there, the long-term vision and work ethic. We're the same age; I
learned a lot from him."
New
By Chris
Foster
Times Staff Writer
This is what the Kings were looking for, and why they
will announce today that Dean Lombardi is president and general manager.
Lombardi saw an opportunity before the 1998 NHL draft and acted, with a jackpot
payoff.
The Nashville Predators, who held the third pick, craved center David Legwand. Problem was, the San Jose
Sharks were looking down on them from the second pick.
Lombardi, then the Sharks' general manager, had already decided to draft
defenseman Brad Stuart. Lombardi, though, wasn't about to let that piece of
information slip out and sent signals that he was interested in Legwand.
The Predators and Sharks swapped first-round picks, but it cost
Now he has another opportunity.
He replaces ! Dave Taylor, who was
fired Tuesday, one day after the Kings finished a disappointing season.
How good this could be for the Kings was made clear by one who used to work for
Lombardi.
"I wish he would have went to the Eastern
Conference," said Calgary General Manager and Coach Darryl Sutter, who was
the Sharks' coach under Lombardi from 1997 to 2002.
The Kings can only hope Lombardi will be able to mimic at least some of his
past success.
The Sharks improved in wins and points in each of Lombardi's first six seasons
as general manager — which included the Pacific Division championship in
2001-02 — and reached the Stanley Cup playoffs five times. That came
crashing down the following season, when holdouts and inconsistency sent the
Sharks to the bottom of the division.
Lombardi was fired near the end of that 2002-03 season,
partly because of the team's collapse and, according to sources formerly with
the Sharks, partly becaus! e
of constant head-butting with Shark President Greg Jamison — who later
headed a group that bought the franchise.
Lombardi spent this past season as a scout with the Philadelphia Flyers and was
a hot commodity for teams looking for a new general manager. He talked with the
Boston Bruins and New York Islanders, as well as the Kings.
The Kings offered a bit more power than the Bruins and Islanders seemed willing
to give. Lombardi, the son-in-law of former King player
and coach Bob Pulford, takes over just as Tim Leiweke, president of AEG — the Kings' parent company
— has removed himself as the franchise's chief executive.
"We want a clear leader on the hockey side who will work to bring the
Stanley Cup to
Leiweke, league sources said, was looking for a more
assertive personality to lead the organization and Lombardi seems to meet that
criteria.
"I think I met with him once a week," said the Ducks' Jeff Frie! sen,
who played his first seven seasons with Lombardi's Sharks. "It was movie
time. He'd show me tapes of Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic.
He wanted me to compete like them."
Lombardi inherits a team that failed to live up to in-house expectations this
season. The Kings were second in the Western Conference on Jan. 6, then collapsed, and finished 10th.
Lombardi is expected to rework the organization, from the front office on down,
with the type of obsessive focus Leiweke believes was
missing. That's certainly part of Lombardi's character — he still has the
notes from every meeting from the seven years he was the Sharks' general
manager.
"This guy, I've never seen anyone who loves the game as much as
Dean," said the Mighty Ducks' Teemu Selanne, who was traded to the Sharks in 2000-01. "He
can watch hours and hours and hours of junior hockey, or anything that involves
hockey. He is so passionate about the whole game. He's passionate about
everything. I asked hi! m one day if his ancestors
were from
Lombardi, 45, grew up in
It didn't take long for his hockey passion to lead him into team management. He
was an
Lombardi was elevated to general manager in 1996, taking over a team that
finished last in the Western Conference with 47 points.
From there, the Sharks improved steadily, using the draft and a few key trades —
Selanne, Vincent Damphousse,
Mike Ricci.
The Sharks, Western Conference finalist in 2003-04, are still benefiting from
Lombardi's work, with Cheechoo, Patrick Marleau and Vesa Toskala among the players he drafted. The Sharks used
Stuart and! Marco Sturm, another Lombardi pick, to acquire
Joe Thornton, who led the NHL in scoring this season and was the ramrod that
got the Sharks to the playoffs this season.
"That team is still Dean Lombardi's team, everybody talks about
that," Sutter said. "You saw what they gave up to get Joe Thornton,
two great first-round kids who were basically stars. The important part of his
work is still there, the long-term vision and work ethic. We're the same age; I
learned a lot from him."
And will now have to face him.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/hockey/nhl/
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