Bruce Bennett/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — Longtime Los Angeles Kings general manager Dean Lombardi and head coach Darryl Sutter have been fired.
Lombardi, who was general manager for 11 years, will be replaced by assistant general manager Rob Blake, and former president of business operations Luc Robitaille was named club president.
The Kings won their first two Stanley Cups under Lombardi and Sutter, but this year the team missed the playoffs for the second time in three seasons.
In a statement, Dan Beckerman, president and CEO of AEG– the parent company of the Kings– said the firings were “an extremely difficult decision…made with an enormous amount of consideration for what we have accomplished in our past.”
“Words cannot express our gratitude and appreciation for what Dean and Darryl have accomplished for the Kings franchise,” he said in part. “They built this team and helped lead us to two Stanley Cup Championships and will forever be remembered as all-time greats in Kings history. But with that level of accomplishment comes high expectations and we have not met those expectations for the last three seasons.”
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