Taylor Curbs Ego, Emotions and Provides a Steadying Influence as He Rebuilds Kings in His Image

The Kings’ 4-0 first-period lead at Phoenix had suddenly turned into a 4-3 game, but General Manager Dave Taylor’s expression never changed.

With each Coyote goal, Taylor reacted without apparent emotion, just as he had when the Kings scored their first four. Because he’s not known for showing his feelings, it was no surprise that Taylor simply stood and left after the Kings held on for a key road win.

No big smile, clinched fist or even a sigh of relief. Just Taylor being Taylor.

“David is just so solid and so steady, his voice always stays the same,” said King President Tim Leiweke, who promoted Taylor to replace Sam McMaster as general manager last April 22. “He used to really tick me off because he never shows emotion. I go in his office after a good game, he would be the same. After a loss, he would be the same. . . . That’s really to his credit. No matter when you talk to him or what you do with him, he remains the same. He’s an amazing guy.”

In his first season as general manager, Taylor--who spent 17 seasons playing forward for the Kings--has played an important role in the team’s turnaround as it closes in on its first playoff appearance since reaching the Stanley Cup finals in 1993.

Taylor, who has given Coach Larry Robinson and his staff room to work, brought in veterans Luc Robitaille and Garry Galley before the season. Two former teammates of Taylor, they have helped with the Kings’ chemistry off and on the ice.

Taylor’s best move might prove to be the acquisition of Jozef Stumpel, who at 25 is already considered among the top two-way centers in the league.

But Taylor also has gained notice around the league for the moves he didn’t make while he stayed true to the Kings’ rebuilding plan. That was evident last month when the Kings resisted making a deal before the NHL trading deadline because Taylor believed that it would affect the team’s long-range plans.

“There’s a certain confidence in him. . . . He doesn’t knee-jerk, and for us that’s critical because we’ve been one of the greatest knee-jerk organizations in the NHL,” Leiweke said. “Dave won’t do that. He doesn’t live for the moment. As the year has gone on, he’s gotten more confident that he doesn’t have to get instant results.”

Being a hands-on general manager who likes to mingle in the team’s dressing room after practices and games has helped bring a sense of direction to the players. They realize the Kings finally do have a plan and that Taylor is the man behind it.

“Dave is great for this organization and this team. . . . He’s very, very fair,” Robitaille said. “He’s direct with guys. If he doesn’t like something, he tells you and if he does, he tells you too. It’s not only negative, and that’s important.”

Taylor doesn’t often show his emotions, but that’s not because he doesn’t have a competitive streak that can be intimidating. Even though he finished his playing career with 431 goals, 638 assists and 1,069 points, he was known more for his toughness than as a scorer and as someone who never backed down from a fight.

“As a player, I was a lunch-pail kind of guy who tried to do things to make others better,” said Taylor, who played in 1,110 games. “I try to be ‘even-keeled,’ but having a mean streak can sometimes be a good thing.”

At Clarkson College, where Taylor played before he was selected by the Kings in the 15th round of the 1975 draft, he showed his toughness in a game against rival Vermont.

Taylor had suffered a serious mouth injury when he was hit by a puck in Clarkson’s previous game, against Boston College, but the Vermont coaches would not allow him to play with a special protective face mask. Taylor played anyway and scored four goals in a 6-4 victory.

“It was a pretty serious injury, but Dave just was determined to show people,” said Bill O’Flaherty, who coached Taylor at Clarkson and is in his first season as director of player personnel for the Kings. “He’ll always find a way to get it done.

“I would say that Dave is a little bit more emotional than people see. . . . He’s always had that ambition and desire to do everything that he could with his natural ability. He has a great inner drive to succeed.”

Robitaille says Taylor’s quietness can be misleading. Once early in his career, Robitaille said he accidentally broke Taylor’s nose with a cross-check during a game but was afraid to tell Taylor he was responsible.

“He came back to the bench the next period, and he was sitting next to me asking, ‘Do you know who did this to me? I’m going to get him,’ and when Dave got mad you got away because no one was going to stop him,” Robitaille said. “I was really scared because he thought it was a guy from the other team. I waited a whole year before I told him. He just laughed and said, ‘Well, at least you got me to wear a visor.’ ”

In his hometown of Levack, Ontario, a small Canadian mining town a five-hour drive north of Toronto, Taylor is a local hero. But you would never know it from Taylor, who visits his parents there as often as he can.

Even though he played on the most formidable line in King history (the “Triple Crown” line) with Marcel Dionne and Charlie Simmer, Taylor downplays his accomplishments as a player because, as he puts it, “I just take a lot of pride in my job in whatever I’m doing.”

After Taylor was finished playing, he became an assistant general manager under McMaster. In his first year in management, Taylor simply observed how things worked, and in his second year he began to do some scouting and handling of contracts with the Kings’ minor league affiliate in Phoenix.

The next two years, Taylor’s duties expanded to the point that Leiweke considered him the perfect successor for McMaster.

“It was difficult [to replace McMaster]. . . . I was grateful for the opportunity, but I was disappointed to see Sam leave because he had helped me so much my first few years,” Taylor said. “I had always hoped to one day be a general manager, but the opportunity came a little quicker than I thought. It was tough because I was close with Sam.”

Said Leiweke: “Dave has no ego; he’s one of the most enjoyable persons I’ve ever been around in sports. He is so opposite of where our industry has gone. Our industry is full of greed and selfishness, and he never, ever wants to try to take away from the fact that Sam brought in and developed a lot of our young talent.

“Now this is not a knock on Sam, but the difference with Dave is that he has the passion and vision [the Kings need]. He’s been with this organization for 20 years, and he knows where we have to go.”

So far, all of Taylor’s decisions seem to have worked. The Kings have been among the league’s most improved teams all season, and despite some late-season injuries, they are almost a lock to face St. Louis in the playoffs as the fifth-seeded team in the Western Conference.

When he was a player, Taylor’s teammates used to tell him that he would always be a King, and nothing has indicated anything different since he has moved upstairs.

He is signed through the 2000-2001 season, and “there’s very little doubt in my mind that David will retire a King,” said Leiweke. “We want to make sure that he feels as strongly about it as we do. I can’t imagine any another general manager. He’s the best. He is the Los Angeles Kings.”

But even if the Kings continue to improve and win the Stanley Cup with Taylor as general manager, don’t look for him to change.

“The day we win the Cup, he’ll be the happiest guy, but the next day, he’ll get right back to work,” Robitaille said. “That’s just the kind of guy he is.”