Lombardi, on Cloutier

Here’s the transcript of the Lombardi interview. Just to clarify, this leaves the Kings with Aubin, Bernier and LaBarbera in goal. They are allowed, by the NHL, to carry all three in London thanks to eased roster restrictions. Once they get back to the states, they’ll have to decide whether to use an extra roster spot on a third goalie. Bernier can play in nine games before the Kings must either a) send him back to his junior team or b) play him in a 10th game and burn a year of his NHL contract.

Here are the quotes:

Q: When did you guys come to this conclusion and what are you trying to accomplish with the move?

LOMBARDI: I think, in looking at it, the thing we’ve come to realize is that the only way… If you take this in steps, he didn’t have a good year last year, with the combination of injuries or whatever. He did go back and he got completely healthy. He was really good this summer in terms of doing all the goalie camps and working with our goaltending people to get his game back technically. So, physically he repaired himself. Technically, he did everything that was asked and he looked a lot better.

But it still comes down to playing. The way we’re looking at it is, the reality is that he hasn’t played in three years. The only way he’s going to totally get his confidence is, first you’ve got to get physically healthy, and then in order to get his rhythm back, the only way to do that is to play. We were kind of looking at it and seeing where his game was at, and we just felt this was the best thing for him. It will give him a much better base with which to come back and try to be the goaltender he was before we got him.

We were talking about it as we were going through it, and watching his game and seeing where he was mentally and things, and it just reminded me of some pitchers in baseball who you see this happen to. They might lose an inch off their fastball or curveball and (teams) send them down for an assignment to get their game back. So, this guy is coming back from an injury and this is the best way, we think, to handle it and give him the best shot, in terms of when he comes back, to be ready mentally and physically. That mental part isn’t really going to turn the corner unless he sees a lot of pucks. That gets his rhythm back. The best place to do that is in the minors. And that’s basically it.

Q: Do you do this with the thought that he will definitely be back with you guys this year, or is that still an open question?

LOMBARDI: We do this with the idea… It’s still up to him. Is it definite? No, he’s got to perform. But the intention is to have him back at some point. But to say you can guarantee it, if we had to guarantee it then we probably wouldn’t be doing it in the first place. To us, the final thing about getting himself mentally tough, it’s only going to come from playing, and that needs to happen there and not here. But to say, are we looking at a crystal ball and we know this is going to work? No, but we think it’s the best avenue to take.

Q: What does that mean for you guys now? You’ve got three guys, and one of them is Bernier. What does this mean for you, going forward?

LOMBARDI: Well, we’ll see how these guys perform. I don’t think that this anoints anybody, as far as the other three, but obviously we’ve got to trim this down. We thought this was the way to do it and hopefully to get Cloutier back to where he’s capable. It doesn’t really mean anything for the other three, other than, keep playing and you’ve got to take the job.

Q: I guess the downside is that if you bring him back and somebody takes him, you’re on the hook for half his salary…

LOMBARDI: Yeah, and we talked about that. That’s one of the risks but I think it’s a risk you have to take (in order) to get him where he needs to be. Obviously we gave this a lot of thought. We talked all through the summer and that was one of the things we had to balance in making that decision. We felt that the most important thing is to get his game back, or it doesn’t do anybody any good. Then if he comes back, well, it’s a chance you’ve got to take. I don’t disagree that, as you coined it, it’s a potential downside, yes.

Q: If he did come back, and another team claimed him, are you on the hook for the balance of the contract, or just this year?

LOMBARDI: It would be for the balance of the contract. Like I said, this was all discussed and it’s a chance we have to take.

Q: Where are you with Bernier right now? Marc has been clear about taking as much time as he needs, but at some point you’re going to have to make a decision. Are you any closer to figuring out what to do with him or what you think he’s ready for?

LOMBARDI: Well, I think you know how I feel, in terms of how careful you’ve got to be. I think you let it go day to day. At the minimum, in his case, he’s getting valuable experience , and it’s experience you can’t get in junior hockey, and that’s the way we’re approaching it. It’s like, you watch practice today, and he gets to face NHL shooters and then he gets a half-hour of practice a NHL goalie coach. That’s the way we’re approaching it.

We still have time, under the rules, to see this through and give him experience. He’s accomplished a lot in junior hockey and now we’re trying to train him at the next level and we’ll see. But to say that anything has been decided on that front, no.

Q: I know you can have all three guys in London. Would you consider keeping all three of them when you get back, at least in the short term.

LOMBARDI: You used the word `consider,’ and yeah, I guess right now you would consider anything. But that is a viable option, depending on how it plays out.

Q: Was the thinking that the other three guys had outplayed Dan?

LOMBARDI: No, it’s hard to say that right now. If you look at all the games, they really haven’t. That’s why I say that we just looked at it in the sense of getting his game back, and what’s the best way to go. Because I don’t think it’s fair for anybody, even for the other three. It goes back to the question just before you. You can’t really make a decision on the other three based on these three (preseason) games either. Ninety percent of that was focused on, hey, we have to get this guy back mentally and physically, and this is the best way to do it.

Q: What has Dan’s reaction been to all this?

LOMBARDI: I think he’s certainly disappointed. Marc and Hextall and I met him this morning and he was kind of quiet. You really don’t know their entire reaction. I think they go through the whole spectrum of emotions. You know, mad, angry, sad… That’s just the nature of it, when news like this is delivered. We talked to his agent and explained to him that the job has to be, go down and get your game back. So, he was kind of quiet and really didn’t give a reaction either way. I think it’s safe to say he was certainly disappointed, but in the end this could be the best thing for him, which is why we’re doing it.

Q: You’ve got a couple other young guys in Ersberg and Quick. If the plan is to get Cloutier a lot of games in Manchester, what does it mean for those guys?

LOMBARDI: I don’t mind it, because if you look at the history of the East Coast league for goalies, it’s very good. You look at Vokoun and Kolzig and Toskala, all these guys did time in the East Coast league. That league is not bad for a freshman goalie. One of them will be there. We own part of Reading, so we can control that. It’s one of the advantages of owning the team. Whoever does go down there will have two goalie instructors. One will be there a minimum of once every two weeks, and he will play.

Then as far as Manchester, again, the idea is that’s not an easy league to play in for a freshman. He’ll certainly get playing time. They play three (games) in three nights a lot, so he will be broken in slowly and I don’t have a problem with that. He’ll be learning that league and he’ll be learning from a NHL goaltender and he’ll be getting his games. If those guys were second- and third-year pros, you might have a bigger issue. That was the other thing we looked at when we did this.

It’s all part of getting the goaltender food chain in order. I see where it could come into order, but we’re still working our way through it. But as far as those two kids that are bona-fide prospects, they’re still covered. That’s also a function, like I said… Sometimes these kids get lost, but that’s the advantage of having two goaltender instructors and it’s one of the reasons we hired two. We knew we were going to be in this position at some point this year, in terms of young goalies. They’ll be fine.

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