Results tagged “Rob Scuderi” from Inside the Kings

A quick interview with Dean Lombardi...

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Question: How did this one come together?

LOMBARDI: ``We were trying to avoid what happened last year with Orpik. It was the exact same situation. With Orpik last year, we knew what Pittsburgh offered, and we made our offer but the (current team) is always going to get the last chance, and they got him. In this case, we found out what Pittsburgh was offered and we knew we just had to blow them out of the water. When you're talking about offers, it's not just the money. It's cost of living in L.A. and it's taxes. If you're offering $500,000 more, it's really not that much when you look at everything. So we knew we had to blow Pittsburgh out of the water, but we wanted this guy. He has a ring and there are no questions at all about his character.''

Question: Where do you see him fitting in with the guys already here?

LOMBARDI: ``He's a steady guy who can go with Doughty and a steady guy that can go with Johnson. We like the guys we have, the Quinceys and the Greenes, but the real steady guys I've got are the ones that are coming up through the system now. I didn't want to have to play those kids right away. I wanted another guy with experience, and now I can put all of those kids in the minors for a year and I've got a guy with a ring. Now hopefully I don't have to go back into that (free-agent) market for a while looking for guys (on defense).''

Question: Looking at the roster, it would seem that you have six NHL-ready defensemen. Is there a chance one of the kids could still jump out at you?

LOMBARDI: ``Sure there's a chance, but there's also a question of how the money might even out. It's a huge price to pay to break a kid in at this level. You get him in, then he maybe has one good year and then, boom, he's asking for (a big contract). When you build depth, you try to do it the way Detroit did with (Jonathan) Ericsson, and bring them along slowly. Let's say Hickey comes in and lights it up in training camp. OK, that's a good problem to have, but in the long run, if you can wait until your guys are completely ready, you hopefully end up like Detroit. It gets tough when you have a situation like we had with Moller. He has a great camp and we take him, but he's not really a man yet. I hate to do that, so this (Scuderi signing) helps us.''

It's tough to make judgments based on a phone call, but it seems safe to say the Kings got a great character guy today in Rob Scuderi. Often it's the little things that say a lot about in person. In Scuderi's case, he made two attempts to reconnect after his cell phone cut out, and apologized profusely for interrupting the conversation. It's already clear that Scuderi will be a ``go-to guy'' for reporters seeking quotes.

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Question: Did you think the Kings were an option from the start, or is this something that just developed over the last couple days?

SCUDERI: ``They showed some interest on the first day, but they didn't really make an offer, so my agent and I didn't really know what would happen. I was interested in the Kings, because obviously there's a lot of young talent there. Today they made an offer and we got it done.''

Question: You mentioned the young talent. How much do you know about this Kings team?

SCUDERI: ``When you play in the East, you don't look a whole lot at the West. I think we played them once or twice during my time with the Penguins, but when I talked to Lombardi and Hextall, they told me to take a long look at the roster. It's not hard to see the good mix of talented guys and the young talent they have coming up. It's hard to miss guys like Doughty and Johnson, and it looks like there's a whole lot of potential on this team.''

Question: In talking to Lombardi, he seemed to be looking for a guy with some experience and leadership. Did he talk to you about what he expects, on and off the ice?

SCUDERI: ``One of the positives, one of the things that made my decision easier, is that they don't expect me to do anything different than I did for the last four years in Pittsburgh. A lot of guys, when they sign a free-agent contract, they feel like they have to do more and they feel obligated to live up to it, and it ends up hurting them because they try to do too much. They know what they can expect from me, both on and off the ice. I'm a family man, and I'm not the type of man who's going to be out burning the candle at both ends. I hope I can bring some leadership to the team.''

Question: Fans saw a lot of you in the playoffs, obviously, but maybe not a lot in general. What should people know about your game?

SCUDERI: ``I'd say I'm an extremely under-the-radar type of player. If you haven't noticed me during a game, I probably had a good one. You can expect me to make the simple plays when they need to be made and not take chances that lead to bad mistakes.''

Question: During your time in Pittsburgh, the Penguins went from being a pretty bad team to being champions. What types of things do these young Kings need to know about winning?

SCUDERI: ``It's all about the attitude and work ethic that you bring to the rink every day. We tried to create a winning culture in Pittsburgh, and I've seen how fast things can turn around for a team. I'm hoping I can be one of the players who helps create that type of culture here. This is a talented team, with all the defensemen and with guys like Kopitar and Brown and Frolov. They're not that far away. They were in it until the final month of the season, and I really think they're not that far away.''