Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

The Positives And Negatives Of Dean Lombardi Regarding The Buffalo Sabres

04/23/2017 at 8:40am EDT

from Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News,

Dean Lombardi might be a fine choice for the Sabres, either as a president of hockey operations or the general manger to replace Tim Murray. He's closely tied in with USA Hockey, just like the Sabres are now with advent of HarborCenter. And it's hard to ignore his two Stanley Cups in Los Angeles.

But in the wake of sweeping Murray and Dan Bylsma out the door, what Terry Pegula needs to do is look for the red flags. Too often in the past, the Sabres have ignored them. There's plenty of them around Lombardi that make the 59-year-old far from an automatic choice even though he's perceived to be the quick frontrunner because of his experience

The Kings' two Cups were a result of great goaltending from Jonathan Quick and a bruising style of play that was perfect for the playoffs but would not work in the regular season. And it's quickly gone out of favor in a league built on youth and speed. Would Lombardi be able to adapt?

The Kings, remember, were only third in the Pacific in both Cup years and won in 2012 as a No. 8 seed. They won one or more playoff series in only three times in Lombardi's 11 seasons; three other times, they were first-round losers. After winning their second Cup in 2014, the Kings missed the playoffs in 2015 and this spring. They were knocked out in five games by the Sharks last year. So one playoff win in three years got both Lombardi and coach Darryl Sutter their exit papers.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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