from Lisa Dillman of the LA Times,

Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi already was making moves in early June to put programs in place to educate his players after Slava Voynov's domestic violence incident and Jarret Stoll's drug-related arrest in Las Vegas.

That wasn't going to be enough.

Mike Richards was arrested at the Canadian border later that month and eventually charged with possession of Oxycodone. This third blow devastated Lombardi, who once regarded Richards as the Kings' version of baseball's Derek Jeter, a heart and soul winner.

"So that hurts, particularly with a player like Michael in terms of the Jeter factor. You don't get over that right away," Lombardi said. "I don't know if I'll ever get over it, quite frankly.

"And then you question your own judgment. Then I just dived in. I said, 'OK, we're going to fix this. How do I do it?' "

Lombardi spoke with Kings' beat reporters shortly before the Kings' game against the Arizona Coyotes in the preseason Tuesday at Staples Center.

There were many aspects about the Richards case he could not discuss. Richards is facing a Dec. 8 court date in Emerson, Canada. The Kings terminated his contract and the NHL Players Assn. has challenged that action, filing a grievance. A date for the grievance hearing has not been scheduled.

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