More on Luc

By Rich Hammond on January 21, 2007 9:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) |

I was sorry to have missed Luc Robitaille's ceremony, but I thank Ramona Shelburne for capably filling in. It doesn't surprise me in the least that so many people would attend the event or record video messages for Luc. Any fan who has ever met Luc knows what a class act he is. From a reporter's standpoint, he's the first athlete who ever told me, ``You have my number, call me whenever you need something,'' and that was before I even started covering the Kings on a regular basis. That kind of cooperation is rare and valued.

How classy is Luc? He invited longtime team staff members Pete Demers and Peter Millar -- who were coldly dismissed by the team after last season -- to the ceremony. How many players would take the time to remember a couple guys whose hard work is usually taken for granted by the players?

Luc's speech went on for approximately 25 minutes. That's not shocking, knowing how much Luc always valued his time on the ice... But seriously, he deserved the moment.

Condolences go out to another class act, Dave Taylor, the Kings' former GM and longtime teammate of Robitaille, who missed the ceremony to attend his father's funeral.

A light moment came after the ceremony, when Robitaille realized he had forgotten to thank Barry Melrose, the coach who led the Kings to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993. Robitaille told reporters that he felt terrible about the accidental snub and promised Melrose, now an ESPN analyst, a lenghthy on-air interview.

Marcel Dionne, Luc's close friend and former teammate, missed the ceremony due to a family committment. Wayne Gretzky, coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, was in attendance, and a message from the Lakers' Kobe Bryant was played on the video board. TIm Leiweke was resoundingly booed.

And...the Kings lost the game because they started a goalie who wasn't in game shape. They head into the All-Star break on a seven-game losing streak.

[edit: I should have made that last graph a little clearer. My point was that starting Burke hurt them, because he couldn't finish and they had to go to a cold goalie off the bench. If Fukufuji plays the whole game, maybe he's in a better rhythm. Probably not, but maybe.]

2 Comments

FrolovFan said:

Based on Fukufji's play, I think the out of shape guy was a much better choice!

January 22, 2007 7:30 AM

GMatsuda said:

Rich...actually, Burke was quite solid until he was forced to the leave the game due to dehydration and the resulting cramps. His positioning was excellent all night...he often barely had to move at all to make a save. After expecting him to be a total bust since he hasn't played in at least 6 weeks, not to mention the fact that the guy is clearly past the twlight of his NHL career. he surprised me. And he was many light years ahead of anything Dan Cloutier is capable of (before he injured his hip).

As for Fukufuji, the guy is quicker than Brust, and has a quicker glove hand. From what I've heard, the Kings believe they can fix the flaws in Fukufuji's game, but would have a lot more trouble doing that with Brust.

Neither Fukufuji or Brust are/were ready for the NHL. It's too bad the Kings had to toss them into the fire. One has to wonder what all this has done to their confidence and mental game.

The sieve that is the Kings defense isn't helping the young kids in goal, either.

On a separate note, it's great to see your blog back in action!

January 22, 2007 10:24 PM

J.P. Hoornstra writes about NHL and IHL hockey for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group. He welcomes any and all dialogue on the finer points of hockey. E-mail J.P. at jp.hoornstra
@inlandnewspapers.com.

Jill Painter joined the Daily News in 2000 and during the last eight years she's covered the Dodgers, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Kings, golf and everything in between. Even though she's from Colorado, she still freezes in the Staples Center press box but always manages to thaw her fingers in time to make deadline. E-mail Jill at jill.painter@dailynews
.com.