LOS ANGELES—The LA Kings have dismissed the team’s president and general manager Dean Lombardi along with head coach Darryl Sutter, according to Dan Beckerman, president and CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG).
Lombardi, 59, the son-in-law of Hockey Hall of Fame player and former Kings head coach Bob Pulford, commenced his career with the Kings in 2006. Sutter, 58, former left wing for the Chicago Blackhawks, replaced Terry Murray as the head coach in 2011. Lombardi and Sutter, who is departing the team with a 225-147-53 record, helped lead the Kings to two Stanley Cup championships in 2012 and 2014, the only titles earned in the team’s history.
Since their 2014 championship, the Kings failed to advance to the playoffs for two seasons in 2015 and in 2017. They were defeated by the San Jose Sharks (4-1) in the first round of the 2016 playoffs. The team finished the 2017 season with a 39-35-8 record.
“This was an extremely difficult decision and was made with an enormous amount of consideration for what we have accomplished in our past. But the present and future of our organization is the highest priority. Words cannot express our gratitude and appreciation for what Dean and Darryl have accomplished for the Kings franchise. They built this team and helped lead us to two Stanley Cup Championships and will forever be remembered as all-time greats in Kings history. But with that level of accomplishment comes high expectations and we have not met those expectations for the last three seasons. With the core players we have in place, we should be contending each year for the Stanley Cup. Our failure to meet these goals has led us to this change,” Beckerman stated in an AEG press release on Monday.
The team has appointed Luc Robitaille as the team’s new president and Rob Blake as the new general manager and vice president. Both Robitaille and Blake are members of the Hockey Hall of Fame and former Kings captains.
A press conference will be held on Tuesday, April 11 at the Staples Center.
