Maybe Kings Need a Different Game Plan

So King President Tim Leiweke once again displays his lack of hockey knowledge by declaring that management is prepared to dump salaries, go with unproven younger players and once again not sign any name free agents this summer. He made that same promise after last season and the current squad has promptly nose-dived into a battle for last place in the Pacific Division and the Western Conference.

Leiweke is so in touch with the fans that perhaps he can spend his time acquiring items that the people of L.A. so obviously want -- a stadium for bicycle races and soccer games, for example -- and leave the hockey team to people who actually know what they are doing.

When Staples Center was built, Leiweke gloated that the Kings would finally have the necessary resources to attract star players to L.A. So much for that strategy, apparently. Can anyone in King management (and how’s that for an oxymoron?) see by Dallas’ exceptional performance this season that signing the right free agents over the summer can indeed be beneficial?

Is billionaire owner Philip Anschutz so desperate for a tax write-off that he will continue to reign over this rudderless ship while refusing to take any steps to improve the product?

Andrea James

Redondo Beach

*

If the Kings dump high-salaried players such as Ziggy Palffy before the trading deadline and cut their payroll by, let’s say, 20%, does that mean that season-seat holders will be reimbursed by the same 20% on our credit cards that we were charged, in full, before the season began?

Yossi and Yehuda Strasser

Sherman Oaks

*

So Jere Karalahti is willing to pay $600,000 for a beer. It had better taste great, because it sure is less filling!

Ken Artingstall

Glendale