An actual, genuine update
I just got off the phone with Jeff Solomon, who filled me in on the progress of contract negotiations with Patrick O'Sullivan. Solomon said he expects to begin deep negotiations this week and said, ``The one thing I can tell you, unequivocally, is that we want to have this guy here as part of our young core. This (contract) is something that I don't envision much of a problem with.''
I'll post the full interview soon, as Solomon goes into greater detail about O'Sullivan, the status of the RFA signings in general and his thoughts about the market for young players in this era of Burke vs. Lowe.
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About Rich Hammond
Rich Hammond has covered the Kings, on a full-time or part-time basis, since the 2000-01 season. He was the beat writer for the entire John Torchetti era and has witnessed Bob Miller singing country music in a Nashville honky-tonk bar. A native of Los Angeles, Rich has worked at the Daily News since 1999 and also serves as the paper's deputy sports editor. E-mail Rich at rich.hammond@dailynews.com.
Seriously, what would we do without you Rich?!! We'd be ignant Kings fans!
THANK YOU
RICH FOR PRIME MINISTER!!! (that's our Canadian version of the President. lol)
I think it will be interesting to hear Jeff Solomon's take on the Lowe vs Burke thing. Rich, Do you think their conflict will end in some sort of steel cage deathmatch ?
As usual, thanks for keeping us all informed. You continually do an amazing job.
Friggin awesome. I really don't remember how I ever survived the summer with you Rich.
I heard that Solomon is good friends with Burke. I'm curious to see what his take is.
Thus far this summer, Rich is the MVP.
Its good to know that management wants Sully around for a while. If he would have been dealt i would have lost a lot of confidence in Lombardi's rebuild.
Lets just hope this gets done quickly so we could move on.
-Fyshfan-
Rich, you are doing an outstanding job, as usual, keeping all of us informed as much as humanly possible.
I really hope that Kings ownership is taking note of all this and at some point you will be offered a position in the Kings organization with a nice increase in compensation.
Rich, we ALL owe you. Eklund owes you. HNIC owes you. Don Cherry owes you. Anyone with a rumor blog owes you. You deserve a lot of credit my good man.
Maybe someone can make the detailed argument why Lowe is in some ways to blame for the rising salary issues we see as Burke suggests, but I kind of see Lowe as a symptom of the problem, the that cause so much. Is Penner's contract really seen as a benchmark? Maybe the Vanek one is the bigger problem?
It seems to me the CBA has had an unintended consequence. Instead of putting more good young players into the free agent market and driving the prices down through availability, it seems like the new rules have motivated GMs to throw larger dollars at young player in order to keep them from reaching free agency or becoming available as RFAs to offer sheets.
On the "Burke is a moron" part of the argument, I also kind of see Lowe's point. I think the guy is a rather smart and capable GM, so maybe "moron" goes a bit too far, but I don't see him as the genius some people claim. He does tend at times to make ridiculous arguments just to suit his preferences. For example: having more inter-conference games wouldn't solve the problem of fans not getting to see talents like Malkin and Crosby and Ovechkin because down the road, bigger talents may be in the West instead of the East he claims without the obvious realization that flatten the schedule means it doesn't matter where the talent is and fans still get to see it.
He also doesn't seem to have left the Canucks in terribly good position to win anything but the sympathy of the rest of the league, like Lowe says. And also, it isn't like he had a lot of building to do when he comes to the Ducks and they already have an elite calibre goalie (at times at least) and Perry and Getzlaf aren't his picks. Kopitar is beating the hell out of the guy he picked #2 in the same draft.
I like the guy and would not be unhappy if he were running my team (Hmm...would he be a good guy to replace Lombardi and make the jump to winning after DL builds the reserves and we are ready to make the move? Just musing hypothetical there...), but I think Lowe does have some valid points, and I think Burke's attacks on him have been rather unseemly, so I can't get mad at Lowe for starting off his response to the guy's attacks by naming him a moron.
Its good to know that management wants Sully around for a while. If he would have been dealt i would have lost a lot of confidence in Lombardi's rebuild.
Lets just hope this gets done quickly so we could move on.
-Fyshfan-
Burke won the cup with 16 guys on a 26 man roster that HE acquired in the space of 2 years. He inherited Getz, Perry, etc, but signed or traded for Neidermayer, Pronger, Beachemin etc. He's very very responsible for bringing the first cup EVER to California .. something San Jose and the Kings can tell you is very difficult to do.
And his argument against more play vs the East was based on this: Sure, everyone wants to see Crosby, but how are you gonna sell tickets to see the Duck play TAMPA BAY or some other crappy team. He said, in essence, that you can sell tickets to see Crosby play anywhere, the PROBLEM is selling tickets to see crappy teams play, and that doesn't make the sth's (who have to pay for Tampa tickets) any happier, even if they say they'll be.
Lowe's right that Burke is an egomaniac, but he's wrong when he says he's not a good GM. What he did in Anaheim is nothing short of IMPOSSIBLE, and any King fan should know that well, seeing their GM's try for 41 straight years and STILL be waiting and excited about drafting 15 guys who are 18 years old. Whoopee.
"And his argument against more play vs the East was based on this: Sure, everyone wants to see Crosby, but how are you gonna sell tickets to see the Duck play TAMPA BAY or some other crappy team."
Yeah, and each conference has crappy teams. It's harder to sell tickets to see the NYI or TB (although Lecavalier can sell tickets), but not the extra games against PHX or CLB when they suck? The argument still doesn't hold up. There are bad teams in both conferences, but the ones in your own people want to see more?
This is where I would start thinking about reading between the lines because what is being said doesn't hold water under scrutiny.
Not to get too off the track with the interconference play argument, BUT...for a West Coast team like the Kings it's a treat when the East Coast teams come into town once a year. All the people who follow the Rangers, Bruins, Leafs, Canadiens, Flyers etc pull out their sweaters and come out to the game. It's good for the NHL and strengthens their brand. And you get to see other teams' stars, both young and old.
For all of us STH's who remember an integrated schedule of home and away with East Coast teams, the division based format didn't make sense. I can do without Dallas four times a year. 3? Ok. But shuffle the cards and let me see the Devils, Islanders and Rangers...even if it means I have to see the Thrashers too.
As a fan, an integrated schedule expands my knowledge and appreciation of the NHL as a whole, rather than a limited understanding based on just my conference and division. I don't want to just hear about Crosby or Ovechkin...but see them play in person here at 1111 S. Figueroa Blvd. And the way Kings fans still love B Mel, we'd probably root for Tampa too when they came to town. Yeah, he can bring Stamkos with him if he wants.
"he expects to begin deep negotiations this week" - this week? - what the heck have the Kings front office been doing for the last week?
Thanks for the update!