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Former Kings executive says Los Angeles is ‘not a hockey town’

2012 MLS Cup - Houston Dynamo v Los Angeles Galaxy

CARSON, CA - DECEMBER 01: Tim Leiweke, president and CEO of AEG, arrives before the Los Angeles Galaxy take on the Houston Dynamo in the 2012 MLS Cup at The Home Depot Center on December 1, 2012 in Carson, California. (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)

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Current Maple Leafs executive Tim Leiweke isn’t doing much to make his old town feel good about hockey.

Leiweke spoke with Leafs TV (as the L.A. Times shares) about his time with the Los Angeles Kings and wasn’t too flattering about the city’s passion for hockey. While talking about the Leafs’ exciting season and run to the playoffs for the first time since 2004, he says he never saw the same kind of passion from fans in L.A. when it came to the Kings.

“We didn’t see that in L.A., and we won the Stanley Cup. We finally saw it at the end. It took us getting to the finals in order to awaken that town. It’s not a hockey town.”

Oddly enough, as Chris Foster of the L.A. Times noted, Leiweke called Kings fans the best in the league just a few years ago. I guess the only thing we’ve learned out of this is that executives are really good at pumping the tires of the fans of the team they’re running.