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Kings GM Lombardi on building winning culture: “They got Wayne Gretzky and that was successful, but it had no staying power”

Dean Lombardi

Say this about Dean Lombardi -- he’s one helluva quote.

The LA Kings GM (same guy that brought you “recalibrate the coulombs”) conducted a lengthy interview with LAKings.com about the culture of winning and how he’s trying to build the Kings’ identity. Lombardi’s known as a rather loquacious, candid individual...that’ll talk your ear off if given the opportunity.

It appears as though the interviewer, Doug Ward, gave him that opportunity. Here are a few of Lombardi’s finer quotes.

On the modern athlete: “Tom Landry said, ‘you have to convince an athlete to do what he doesn’t want to do so he can become what he really wants to become.’ He was right. We keep throwing all these temptations out there at our athletes: money, flattery, the media, all this stuff. But, like Landry said, deep down, the athlete wants to be a winner. It’s just getting harder and harder to get to his soul.”

On establishing team culture: “The Patriots did it. The Yankees did it. If [Anze] Kopitar and [Drew] Doughty and [Jonathan] Quick and [Jonathan] Bernier and all these guys become the equivalent of [Derek] Jeter and [Mariano] Rivera and [Jorge] Posada and [Andy] Pettitte, you can now venture out and bring in a guy with a little less character because he is going to fit in.”

On L.A.'s history of winning culture (or, lack thereof): “I had done some research before I came here and I remember looking at the Kings’ history. It was 10 years before a first-round pick -- Jay Wells -- played for them. You have got to try to mess up your drafts to go 10 years before your first first-round pick plays for you. They either traded the picks to Montreal, or made bad picks. Then they had a little period where they drafted well, but they traded Larry Murphy. They got Wayne Gretzky and that was successful, but it had no staying power.”

On Kings fans: "“The people are much more knowledgeable about hockey. I think the fans are as passionate as I’ve ever seen, including the major hockey cities. If there is any core group of fans that deserve a winner –- in any sport -– our fans are right up there with the [Chicago] Cubs.”

In closing -- I know Brian Burke is the runaway No. 1 pick for “Most Entertaining GM,” but feel Lombardi is a legitimate 1a.