As the rebuilding continues, from the beginning, Lombardi consistently preached patience – he explained that the farm was empty pre-him per him and this wasn’t a problem that could be remedied over night.
It turns out the Manchester Monarchs’ GM, Ron Hextall, gave a similar prognosis to Monarchs’ fans as well. The difference there is fans looked for veteran help as their defensive squad was less heralded than the Kings …. And that is a scary statement in and of itself.
After the Monarchs made the post-season for the sixth straight year, they got swept by the top-seeded Providence Bruins, the local paper, the Union Leader, explained the series result:
“But in the real endgame, the scores may have been close but the teams were miles apart. Not even close. It was defense that separated the two clubs.
It was defense that won the series.
Defense was the Achilles heel of the Monarchs all season. They lacked veteran experience there and Manchester coach Mark Morris warned of it all year.
"(Providence) had the experience and the explosiveness to beat you if you're not sharp," said Morris. "I know we would have liked a better fate, but we just broke down. Again costly turnovers were our nemesis as they were in the beginning the season."
The replies to the article provide a sense of what the fans’ take who get to regularly see the Monarchs. There, Ted from Manchester, proves himself to be a similar contrarian to Anthony in the Daily News blog, insidesocal.com/kings, and CBGB on letsgokings.com. Here is Ted’s take:
"A good effort by a young team.
I agree with Anna.... where's the veterans Hextall said we would have!
Without seeing some improvement guaranteed for next year why do I want to keep my season tickets?
Think about how many games we lost in the last three minutes.
I even took a "pass" on going to some games that were not in our division.
Let's get a few older players. Maybe attendance would improve with a better team. Management knows attendance is dwindling. Do something, please."
Monarchs’ Too Young and Too Flawed
In the wake of obvious disappointing seasons with the Kings and Manchester compared to the Eastern Finals a scant year earlier there, it begs the question what is a reasonable expectation for next year? The net factor seems less uncertain but the next huge stumbling block has to be the defense. The only Monarch who is ready for prime time appears to be Harrold. The experiment on Boyle got squelched and he is back to being the forward/center he appears to be more suited for. Thus, the defensive corps for now seems to be:
• Blake (He will be back; this seems certain absent a continued greed streak of Blake if thinks he is still a $6 million dollar man.)
• Johnson (I agree with Lombardi; where would we be if Johnson left college when demanded by Carolina.)
• Visnovsky (Lets hope my belief that big contract extension players return to true form the year after they sign the big $$ deal.)
• Preissing (He is adequate but so is his contract in a salary cap world.)
• Harrold
• Dallman (UFA so questionable)
• Fill in the blank …. Could it be…?
This leads to the most recent signing of Kings’ draft pick and classmate of Jeff Zatkoff, Alec Martinez. Read more about him here:
“Martinez, 20, recently finished his junior season with Miami University (Ohio) where he recorded 32 points (9-23=32) and 42 penalty minutes in 42 games. He also this past season earned CCHA All Tournament honors; was named the CCHA Best Defensive Defenseman; led all CCHA defensemen in goals and points; and was fourth among all CCHA defensemen in assists while his 32 points and his 23 assists were personal highs.
The 6-foot-1, 207-pound native of Rochester Hills, Michigan, compiled 67 points (21-46=67) and 113 penalty minutes in 123 career games during his three collegiate seasons. During the 2004-05 season, Martinez played for Cedar Rapids of the United States Hockey League, where in 58 games he recorded 21 points (10-11=21) and 30 penalty minutes.”
Other signings of late include:
“Since April 1, the Kings have signed defenseman Davis Drewiske (free agent, University of Wisconsin); goaltender Jeff Zatkoff (third-round, 74th overall, 2006); forward Oscar Moller (second-round, 52nd overall, 2007); forward Bud Holloway (third-round, 86th overall, 2006) and Martinez.
The Kings also enter the 2008 NHL Entry Draft with 15 total selections over seven rounds – including the second overall selection. In total, the Kings have two selections in the first round, three in the second round and three in the third round. The 2008 Draft takes place in Ottawa from June 20-21.”
Kings’ Sign Martinez and others
Bottom Line:
Next year’s Kings may prove just as frustrating if Lombardi’s quest to build this team from the net out continues slower than wanted since the team’s non-existent defensive depth takes center stage at both the AHL and NHL levels.
Carla Muller Carla.hockeygal@att.net
P.S. I do get that the tenor of my off- season blogs go from optimistic to realistic to pessimistic. I am becoming of the belief that this makes me a typical Kings’ fan. This team makes you both cry and laugh …. And scarily enough, often in the same game! (Yikes.)
Carla Muller
Kings' Defense: Prognosis Guarded 
