Last Updated on January 14, 2023 by CCAR Staff
Kings general manager Dean Lombardi stood in front of the team last week, before training camp began at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, and delivered a speech like none of the others he’s given in his long management career in the NHL.
Lombardi had a good deal of ground to cover in the wake of the arrest of Slava Voynov on a domestic violence charge last October and the drug busts of Jarret Stoll and Mike Richards during the offseason, and this was the time for a simple and direct message.
“We had a tough talk here last week, the hardest talk of my career with my team,” Lombardi told Kings beat reporters before Tuesday’s exhibition against the Arizona Coyotes at Staples Center. “It was hard enough to even decide to go in there. I agonized for a week.
“We’ve got to face it head on. I told them it’s not the time to be sensitive or politically correct right now. One thing about them, they’ve met every challenge they’ve ever faced and I have a feeling they’re going to meet this one, too. I believe we’re going to learn from it.”
Lombardi said he blamed himself for being caught unprepared for the off-ice issues of the last year. He said he missed the warning signs despite decades as a general manager with the Kings and the San Jose Sharks, as well as serving as a scout with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Richards’ arrest after a stop at the Canadian border was especially troubling for Lombardi, who counted the forward as one of the team’s leaders and a driving force in the Kings’ run to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup championship in 2012.
The Kings terminated Richards’ contract not long after he was stopped June 17 at the Emerson, Manitoba, border crossing, allegedly while in possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, reportedly Oxycontin. The players’ union has filed a grievance on his behalf.
“The first thing is the sense of trust, you know?” Lombardi said, speaking in general terms. “That’s the hardest part. One of the things we’ve been built here and I think why we were so successful was those values were in place.”
Speaking of Richards, Lombardi added, “I don’t know if I’ll ever get over it, quite frankly.”
Lombardi couldn’t speak about the details of Richards’ case, but promised to do so later. Richards has a court date in Canada in December. Lombardi said the cases of first Voynov and then Stoll and Richards prompted him to enact a series of off-ice initiative, including the hiring of former NHL player Brantt Myhres as a special consultant.
Myhres spoke to Lombardi several times about serving in a player-assistance capacity. Myhres played for six teams in the league, including for the Sharks while Lombardi was their GM. Myhres was suspended four times for positive drug tests, but has been sober for seven years.
“I think he came by three years ago,” Lombardi said. “He contacted me a number of times. Actually, reflecting back to some of the things he told me, I should have listened. Unfortunately, it takes something like that to open your eyes and wake up. He was ahead of the curve.”
