Dean Lombardi

Dean Lombardi
Born	Dean Lombardi March 5, 1958 (1958-03-05) Holyoke, MA, USA
Occupation	General Manager & President of the Los Angeles Kings

Dean Lombardi (born March 5, 1958 in Holyoke, Massachusetts) is President and General Manager of the NHL's Los Angeles Kings. He previously served as GM of the San Jose Sharks, a position he held for seven seasons (1996–2003).

Early life

Lombardi grew up in Ludlow, Massachusetts. During the 1974-75 season, as a junior at Ludlow High School, he was an All-Western Massachusetts forward. The next season (1975–76), as a senior, Lombardi was a member of the Wallace Cup champion Springfield Olympics of the New England Junior Hockey League, where he played for Gary Dineen. Lombardi then played two more seasons for Dineen, and was selected to the All-America Junior hockey team. During his college freshman year he played college hockey at the Division 2 Elmira College, then transferred to the University of New Haven, where he was selected the scholar/athlete his senior year, and served as captain his junior and senior years. Lombardi graduated third in his class.

Lombardi later attended law school at Tulane University, graduating with honors and specializing in labor law. He initially became a player's agent under the famed agent Art Kaminsky, then crossed over into management as assistant general manager to Jack Ferreira with the Minnesota North Stars from 1988–1990, then moved with Ferreira to the expansion San Jose Sharks. Lombardi was appinted general manager of the Sharks in 1996. He is the son-in-law of the Hockey Hall of Fame winger Bob Pulford, also a longtime NHL general manager.

As GM

Upon taking over the San Jose Sharks, he was widely criticized for signing veterans. This move, however, proved to be beneficial while stockpiling the team's farm system with homegrown talent. During his tenure as Sharks GM, he drafted Patrick Marleau, Brad Stuart, Scott Hannan, Marco Sturm and Marcel Goc in the first round along with Jonathan Cheechoo, Mark Smith, Ryane Clowe and Christian Ehrhoff in the later rounds.

He also traded for established veterans, including Owen Nolan, Teemu Selänne, Adam Graves, Vincent Damphousse, Mike Ricci, Kyle McLaren, Mike Vernon, Todd Harvey, Bryan Marchment and Scott Thornton, while developing their prospects slowly. All would become vital in the Sharks success during his tenure. The team would increase their point totals for six straight seasons during his guidance, becoming only the second GM in NHL history to accomplish the feat. Only Hockey Hall of Fame GM Bill Torrey accomplished the same feat overseeing the dynasty of the New York Islanders in the early 1980s.

Lombardi was relieved of his duties, along with head coach Darryl Sutter, late in the 2002–03 NHL season, a season in which many felt the Sharks would go deep in the playoffs, but struggled with a slow start and never recovered. This could be mainly attributed to the lengthy contract hold-out of star goalie Evgeni Nabokov.

Shortly after his firing he was hired by the Philadelphia Flyers as a Western Conference scout, a position he held until April 2006 when he was appointed president and general manager of the Los Angeles Kings.

Preceded by Chuck Grillo	General Manager of the San Jose Sharks 1996-2003	Succeeded by Doug Wilson
Preceded by Dave Taylor	General Manager of the Los Angeles Kings 2006–present	Incumbent

References

• "Dean Lombardi biography". Los Angeles Kings Hockey Club. http://kings.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=41315. Retrieved 2010-03-11. </ref>
• "Lombardi unveiled as Kings' GM". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 2006-04-21. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2006/04/21/lombardi060421.html. Retrieved 2010-03-11.