Kings general manager Dean Lombardi might have gone too far with some recently published comments.

While that’s nothing new, some unique circumstances were conspiring against Lombardi on this occasion. It was enough to throw the GM into rare damage-control mode, and to throw his relationship with defenseman Jack Johnson into at least temporary turmoil.

On Wednesday, the most recent of a series of articles based on an interview with Lombardi appeared on Hockeytalk.biz. In it, author Gann Matsuda quotes Lombardi as saying that Johnson “never had any coaching” at the University of Michigan and that “he was awful as a hockey player” in college.

“Michigan is the worst,” Lombardi told Matsuda. “For hockey people, if you’ve got a choice between a kid — all things being equal — one’s going to Michigan and one’s going to Boston University, you all want your player (going to Boston University). Michigan’s players — (head coach) Red (Berenson) doesn’t coach. It’s ‘do what you want.’ He gets the best players in the country.”

Johnson blasted back in the Los Angeles Times, calling Berenson “one of the finest coaches and men that I've met. For my general manager to rip me as a person and criticize me as a person and as a player and call me an awful hockey player is irresponsible and unprofessional.”

Lombardi didn’t dispute the quotes but retreated heavily, praising Johnson’s potential and physical skills, and claiming to the Times that he was “defending” the defenseman. Lombardi also said he didn’t expect his comments to be published, even though he acknowledged never designating that part of the conversation as “off the record.”

“The whole article was completely out of context,” Lombardi said.

Berenson's Wolverines have churned out many future NHL players, reportedly the most of any NCAA program. The coach, for his part, offered no comment in the Detroit News. Making matters worse for Lombardi, the fiasco came immediately prior to a Kings road trip to — of all places — Detroit.

Johnson had to face the local press after the Kings’ morning skate Saturday in Michigan and was asked if he felt like his relationship with Lombardi had been damaged. His answer revealed a still-fresh wound: “Well, I don’t know. I spoke my piece about it. I’m not going to say anything else about it.”

 

For the first time since Dec. 22, the Coyotes could fall out of second place in the Pacific Division on Tuesday with a loss in Detroit, and a Kings victory in Toronto. The game at Joe Louis Arena, the second on a two-game road trip for the Coyotes, will be televised nationally on Versus. ... Daniel Winnik is questionable for the game with an upper-body injury. ... Follow a day in the life of head coach Dave Tippett. ... D Sami Lepisto played against the team that traded him to Phoenix, the Washington Capitals, for the first time Saturday. A former third-round pick by the Caps (66th overall in 2004), Lepisto played 23 shifts and blocked three shots. ... Watch Scottie Upshall's three goals from Thurdsay's win over Nashville. ... The 'Yotes lost to the Capitals, but didn't leave D.C. without a victory. NBC Washington reported that C Vernon Fiddler, D Jim Vandermeer and G Jason LaBarbera won a drinking game at a local bar against Georgetown University students.  ... The victory was Tippett's 300th as an NHL head coach. ... It was also the first game for Fiddler played against his former team; Fiddler played 305 games for Nashville over six seasons before coming to Phoenix as a free agent last summer. ... AHL affiliate San Antonio is 12-10-2, and has ended an 11-game losing streak, since replacing head coach Greg Ireland with assistant Ray Edwards.

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