Without Blake, Can Kings Go Anywhere but Down?

The Kings have one of the three defensemen in the NHL considered dominant, Rob Blake. He wants to stay.

The Kings--a huge-market team whose owners happen to be the same guys collecting rent from the Lakers--are pinching pennies. Fine, that’s their right. But what do the Kings want? Team President Tim Leiweke’s goal is to be “fiscally responsible” and to “make the playoffs.” Other teams--at least teams that want to win championships--find ways to keep their best assets. We just want to finish eighth.

The Kings don’t want to win championships. They’ve made that clear for more than 30 years. Owners change, personnel changes, even buildings change, and yet the Kings continue their time-honored and desperate grasp at the exact midpoint of mediocrity.

The teams that win championships are the teams that focus on winning championships, talk about it, demand it, live it. Until the Stanley Cup proudly bears the engraved name of a superstar named Fiscal Responsibility, that’s not going to change. Until the Kings figure that out, they’re not going to change either. Someone say hi to Lord Stanley when you see him. He won’t be coming to Los Angeles unless the Kings stop stringing their fans along and actually aim for the Cup.

MEL POWELL

Sherman Oaks

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Hey, King fans, why all the concern about Rob Blake being traded? Let’s look at the history of King trades: Bernie Nicholls, Marcel Dionne, Luc Robitaille, Bill White, Billy Smith, Butch Goring and, of course, “the Great One,” Wayne Gretzky.

There will be dark days coming for King fans. So brace yourselves. We will become the laughingstock of the hockey world again.

Happy New Year to King management. You’d better start finding other sports to fill Staples Center, because it’s going to get really, really quiet at hockey games. How about bringing back roller derby or, better yet, sell the Kings to Vince McMahon of the World Wrestling Federation. There’s a guy who will make the Kings a winner.

CHARLES SELESNOW

Woodland Hills

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Dear Mr. Blake,

We’re going to miss you. We’re going to miss the stupid penalties you take at all the wrong times. We’re going to miss the fact that your plus-minus rating is minus. We’re going to miss your lackluster effort, game in and game out. Besides a check here and there and a point here and there, can you honestly say you give it your all each shift?

We’re going to miss your holdouts. We’re going to miss your injuries. We’re going to miss your leadership. (See how well Darryl Sydor and Alex Zhitnik are doing out from under your wing?)

For $5.2 million, Rob, you owe the Kings a lot more than what you’ve given. Enough surviving off your reputation. You’ve won nothing. You’ve led nobody and you know it. Is $7 million not enough to stay in sunny Southern California and help this franchise reach the next level? Obviously, you know you don’t have what it takes to get this team to the next level, so you’ll take the money and run.

Go ahead and take advantage of your free-agent situation, take the $10 million and go. It’s what you’ve done all your career, act selfish. Too bad you’re not playing an individual sport. You’ve fooled enough people long enough, and refusing to sign a long deal here or elsewhere is just another example of hurting the team’s trade ability.

SETH PALANSKY

Los Angeles

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So 27 teams are interested in signing Rob Blake, should the Kings make one more stupid move by not signing him to a long-term contract? Well that’s no surprise. He is a Norris Trophy winner, proven high-caliber defenseman, solid leader to his team, highly respected around the league by his peers.

Do the Kings have a surplus of Norris Trophy winners stashed away somewhere that they haven’t revealed to us, the beleaguered season-ticket holders? I didn’t think so! The Kings’ record shows the consequences when Blake is not in the lineup.

A message to management: Sign him, and do it fast! Swallow your pride, Dave Taylor. You’ve lost this little battle. Let it go. Keep this team solid. You owe it to those of us who have been here through thick and thin.

TRISH CASTRO

Montebello

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I’ve been following the Kings’ ongoing saga with Rob Blake, and it’s apparent to me that Dave Taylor is still suffering from vertigo. The one thing that I didn’t know was that vertigo was contagious. It must be because it spread throughout the entire King management. I’ve got proof that vertigo is contagious. The Kings give a “take it or leave it” offer (threat) to one of the best defensemen in the NHL, proving that they still can’t figure which way is up.

SCOTT DOWNING

Temple City

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I’ve decided to try out Dave Taylor’s negotiation style--sign Rob Blake or risk losing me, a 20-year fan, at the end of the season. Take that or leave it!

JIM POLLOCK

North Hollywood