King Fans Seem a Little Rocky About Sending Blake to Colorado

To the King “brain trust”:

Well, you numskulls finally managed to do it. After months of campaigning in the press, spewing the ridiculous spin that you “couldn’t afford him” and that your “hands were tied” (what a load) the only two-way blue-chip defenseman this franchise has ever had is going to be wearing an Avalanche jersey. And Dave Taylor, who had to spend a good part of his career on the ice pining away for a defenseman of Rob Blake’s caliber (you never know, we might have gotten to the second round of the playoffs once in a while) is the guy doing the dirty work. Thanks Dave, for turning a merely mediocre hockey team into a complete train wreck.

(Felix Potvin? Hey Dave, I hear Mario Lessard is looking for some part-time work).

JOHN SUSOEFF, Long Beach

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It’s not about whether the Kings should have kept Rob Blake or not. It goes far beyond that. They say in sports that it all starts at the top (management and ownership). It’s no wonder that the Kings are in the state that they are in. Worse, the dark ages of George Maguire are back. The Kings have an uncanny instinct like no other team of finding players whose best days are long since over and letting go of gems before they glow (Larry Murphy, Alex Zhitnik, Daryl Sydor, to say nothing of Larry Robinson winning the Stanley Cup with New Jersey).

Management’s point of view changes almost as often as women’s fashions. With so much inconsistency, is it any wonder that they constantly draft inconsistent players (Olli Jokinen, Jamie Storr, and Aki Berg); and how sad to see players who get paid so much yet care so very little.

Hockey in Los Angeles is in a seriously bad way and one can only wonder where it goes from here. Does anyone know when Bruce McNall gets out of jail?

DREW SACKHEIM, London

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I congratulate Rob Blake for figuring out how to get the hell out of Dodge. And Steve Reinprecht is a lucky fellow, as a rookie, to experience a real hockey organization in which to blossom. These two guys will have Stanley Cup rings in a few months while their poor struggling former teammates will be wallowing in the Staples cesspool praying for the same stroke of luck to get them out of there.

TERRY CASSEL, Los Angeles

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After 33 years as a die-hard King fan (14 years as a season-ticket holder), win or lose, I have never been more disappointed in the team’s management. If you are not committed to winning, do us a favorite and sell the team to someone who cares. Give Mark Cuban a call. Maybe he cares enough to shell out the bucks to win, not the multi-billionaire we have now.

TODD BURDICK, Hermosa Beach

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A tip of my cap to the Kings’ management for pulling off a hat trick. Finally an entity has stood up to 1) the players union, 2) the player and 3) the agent, in not giving in to tactics that are becoming the ruin of professional sports. If only something similar would happen in baseball, maybe our national pastime could regain some semblance of respectability despite the lack of leadership by Bud Selig.

DAVID NORDQUIST, El Segundo

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As great as Rob Blake is, I can still see the merits of trading him if you get, among other things, a good young goaltender. But instead, Blake is traded for two journeymen who basically are the equal of the Kings’ Glen Murray and Jaroslav Modry. Is there another GM besides Taylor who would have traded Blake for Murray and Modry? I don’t think so.

Being a big Dodger fan, I want to thank you, Mr. Taylor, for taking my mind off the Piazza and Martinez trades and the continued ineptness of Kevin Malone. Turn in your badge, Malone, we now have a new sheriff in town.

CHUCK MOZENA, El Segundo

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When the Kings traded Marcel Dionne it was the right thing to do. As much as it hurt to see a legend leave L.A., Rogie Vachon knew that Dionne was on the downside of a brilliant career and he got something for him while he could.

When the Kings traded Wayne Gretzky, it was the right thing to do. Gretzky was past his prime and indicated his desire to have another shot at the Stanley Cup. His view was that the Kings would not be ready to compete before he would retire. He was right.

The trade of Rob Blake was the wrong thing to do. Not only is he in the prime of his career, no team in recent history has won the Stanley Cup without a dominant defenseman. The Kings, if they ever become serious contenders, will be shopping for a “Rob Blake type” defenseman to put them over the top.

One consolation. I’ve always wanted to see Blake hoist Lord Stanley’s hardware in victory. I am fairly certain this will happen this coming June. Any chance of sending Luc to Colorado? I’ve always wanted to see him hoist the cup as well.

ADAM MOOS, Westwood