When King owner Bruce McNall stopped the music and surveyed the occupied chairs around him, one question remained unanswered at the Sheraton on Thursday afternoon.
Did all of this merely amount to cosmetic surgery?
With the exception of one name--Coach Barry Melrose--this cast of front-office types has been on the job at the Forum since the beginning of the Wayne Gretzky era.
And the Kings have crept no closer to the Stanley Cup than the Angels have to the World Series. A scary thought, if you happen to be a Kings' fan.
There is one prevailing feeling that the housecleaning doesn't mean a thing, especially since one person not at the news conference, Gretzky, was being mentioned about as much as everyone else.
McNall was asked whether Gretzky's perceived influence would change in this new administration. The King owner turned to his left and looked at the new general manager, Nick Beverley.
"All right, Wayne take your mask off," McNall said, joking.
This has been the enduring problem in the Kings' organization since Gretzky came to Los Angeles in 1988. The word quickly went out that Gretzky was the general manager on ice--that he and McNall were working the phones and making the big trades. And that Rogie Vachon, the general manager since 1984, was virtually powerless.
Much to the chagrin of Vachon, other general managers started saying it publicly.
"He's looked on by the rest of the league as basically a puppet," one NHL general manager told The Times in 1990. "He's a nice person, and he does the best he can under tough circumstances. He's a guy with little to no background to have that job, and he just rolls with the punches. People look at McNall as running the whole thing. Gretzky says what he thinks to McNall, and McNall tells Rogie to do it."
It's little wonder that Vachon was starting to look a little better on Thursday, having spent the last eight years on the firing line. Those days of tending goal during the Kings' most inept times had even started to look good to Vachon.
Vachon was asked if he felt some sadness.
"In a way, yes," he said. "At the start, it's tough to take. It's going to be a big change in my life, in my family's life after eight years and 16 years prior playing hockey. But I'm starting to relax, have a smile on my face."
Vachon's record in the days before Gretzky was not stellar, but he can't be blamed for everything that went wrong. Jerry Buss hired Vachon and McNall kept him after assuming majority control of the team in 1988. Perhaps a strong, vocal general manager would have prevented the Kings from becoming Edmonton South--a cadre of aging, highly paid players.
Now the gatekeeper is a former King defenseman, Nick Beverley. He played for the Kings for one season in the '70s and has been in the organization since 1980. He is a well-seasoned hockey man who apparently has a tougher personality than his predecessor.
Already, he has the strong support of his immediate boss, President Roy Mlakar. Mlakar, who can be headstrong, has known Beverley since their days together at the Kings' former farm club at New Haven, Conn. That relationship, it seems, was sometimes a love-hate affair.
"It's been a wonderful relationship," Beverley said, looking at Mlakar. "It's been a little tumultuous at times. You do get on my nerves. Again, I think a lot of people in this room could express that, too."
He was joking--well, sort of.
But Mlakar won't be the problem. Nor will Melrose.
Melrose can bring all his youthful enthusiasm and motivational skills to the job, but that won't be the biggest factor in the Kings' ultimate success, or lack thereof. It will depend on Beverley's autonomy and strength of character in backing his new coach.
Beverley may be the one person in the organization who has the ability to stand up to Gretzky and say no. Perhaps he won't need to do that now. But Beverley made it clear that he will not accept any end runs from the players.
"They can try the end run," Beverley said, looking irritated at the thought. "But when they come to the point of getting somewhere, there are going to be plenty of fences up. . . . They won't be trying to come see me until they've had it out with Barry.
"And I don't see that being a problem. He's an excellent communicator and he can go one-on-one with any player."
The Kings now have a former stand-up defenseman as a general manager. Whether Beverley ends up being a stand-up general manager could say a lot about the Kings' future.
* A NEW LINEUP
The Kings announce a series of moves that revamp the makeup of the front office. C8
