Interview with LA Kings Overtime Hero Eric Belanger

After the Los Angeles Kings had lost the 1993 Stanley Cup Final to the Montreal Canadiens, a dark age of Kings hockey had set in and casted a long and depressing shadow that lasted for a strong and agonizing 8 years.  Twice there seemed to be a bit of light that would fight through the shadow of darkness when the Kings made the playoffs in 1998 and 2000, only for that light to be quickly snuffed out in embarrassing 4 game sweeps.  Then came the 2001 playoffs and Eric Belanger and the dark ages were no more.

Born on December 16, 1977  in Sherbrooke, Quebec, and drafted 96th Overall by the Los Angeles Kings at the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, Eric Belanger battled against insurmountable odds of ever playing at the NHL level after suffering unimaginable obstacles and setbacks from many different serious injuries, that for a time it seemed that he would not only not reach the NHL, but may not be able to live comfortably in life without pain.  But with patience, strong willpower and determination, in time all of his wounds were healed and Belanger was back at full health and realizing his dream of playing in the NHL.

Best known for his years playing for the Los Angeles Kings, and for his heroic overtime winning goal during the “Frenzy on Figueroa,” Belanger was a player who was tough as nails, had quick hands and was a force in the face-off circle.  He also had amazing puck possession skills during a time before having great puck possession was important or advanced hockey analytics was even a thing.  Underrated by all means, Belanger was a player before his time.

Another Kings’ idol and favorite of mine, I was fortunate enough to recently talk to Mr. Belanger over the phone and talk about the obstacles that he had to face in his life, his career in the NHL and with the LA Kings and how I hold him solely responsible (kind of) for breaking a very expensive treadmill that I had bought back in 2001.  Enjoy!

Thank you Mr. Belanger for doing this interview today for CaliSports News

Oh you’re welcome. It’s my pleasure.

Growing up as a child, who were your hockey heroes and inspirations?

Well Mario Lemieux was my inspiration while growing up as a French Canadian and also a guy like Joe Sakic when he was playing for the Quebec Nordiques.  I used to be a huge Quebec Nordiques fan so Joe Sakic was a guy I looked up to. He was the kind of player that I wanted to become like as a kid growing up. And Mario Lemieux was the whole package. He was the most talented player in my mind that played the game. He was a big guy that can skate and do everything and being French, it was an easy choice for me.

They were great choices that’s for sure. In 1996, you were drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the NHL entry draft.  What were your initial thoughts and feelings about being drafted to Los Angeles?

Well the whole process of the draft was a roller coaster, which probably the same for every kid dreaming to be drafted into the NHL.  I had a really good season the year before. I was ranked pretty high in the draft.  I think I was ranked in North America 26^th overall so for me, I thought I was gonna be picked before the 4^th round.  So when you’re still sitting in the stands you start doubting yourself, “Why is that guy going before me? Why is this guy getting drafted before me?” You meet with twenty different teams and they tell you if you’re still there in the 2^nd round, we’ll get you and you’re still there and this team and that team is not picking you so you think, “What the hell is going on?” And then to be picked up by the Kings … the Kings back then wasn’t a team where people were watching them as much as they do now, but for me it was a great opportunity. Larry Robinson was the coach and Wayne Gretzky had just finished his time there with the Kings so I knew there was gonna be some big changes there and I thought it would be a great opportunity for me there.  I was really pumped to be drafted by them.

Speaking of roller coasters, you had to battle through some serious, serious injuries that ended up delaying your official NHL debut and your debut with the Kings.  Could you take us back to that time when you had all of those hardships and tell us what kept you going, as I feel it is a very important and inspirational story on why you never gave up, to people who are facing those type of challenges today?

Oh I’m not gonna lie, I wanted to give up so many times. I think it was just in my DNA that I was never gonna give up because I still believed in myself, and I believed that if I was healthy, that I was gonna be able to play in the NHL for a long time and I did.  But to go back to my first year in the American Hockey League in Fredericton where the Kings and the Montreal Canadiens were affiliated together, so there was like seven of us and the rest were under the Montreal Canadiens organization. I had a really good first year under Michel Therrien as the coach. I missed some games there with back problems.  I really had some back issues but I finished the year strong and I was called back as a “Black Ace” with the Kings in the playoffs, against the St. Louis Blues in the old “Great Western” Forum and some of the players were hurt, so I almost made my NHL debut in the playoffs, but all the guys ended up still playing.  I came back and had a really good summer of training and I get to my second training camp with the Kings starting on a line with Russ Courtnall and Craig Johnson.  So for me it was sign that this was my shot.  I was very, very ready and in the best shape of my life. I got there on my first day and scored a goal.  My second day, a stick to the face broke my nose.  The third day I came back with a goal and an assist and I think on the fourth day, a stupid hit at the middle of the ice, I got off the bench and hit someone and broke my hand and I was out for six to eight weeks.

Ouch.

Yeah, my hand was in a cast so that was the end of that for that training camp.  Obviously the team is made up and I have to go back to the minors in Springfield, which was the worst year in my life.  I had back injuries, over and over again. I only played 33 games so I never got a shot to be called back up. And that year … was the most frustrating year in a sense where I’m like, “Okay, my back just isn’t gonna hold up. Do I need surgery? Do I need to quit hockey? What am I gonna do?”  I wanted to quit probably ten times during that year. And after that nightmare of a year, I packed up my stuff from my apartment and I moved back to my parents house.  I get home and I’m like, “Okay, this year is behind me.  I’m gonna do everything I can to heal my back and make sure this is the year for me.”  I get home and all of a sudden I look like Arnold Schwarzenegger with my big 25 inch arms. I go to the hospital and I ended up staying there and being hospitalized for ten days with a blood clot in my vein going to my heart.

Oh wow.

Yeah, so that was a bummer.  I ended up taking care of it with some Coumadin and some blood thinners for the whole summer.  I was able to work out and as soon as I went back to the Kings for training camp, they did some tests on me and the next day I was on an operating table removing a rib and a muscle because the blood clot was still there. So that was another blow for me. Another opportunity missed.  So after another two or three months of rehab, I went back to the minors and had another year in the minors with Bruce Boudreu in Lowell and I never got called up.  So by then you’re starting to doubt if there’s ever going to be an opportunity for me to play.  Then the next year I go to training camp and all of a sudden that surgery was behind me and all of a sudden I had no more back issues, and then you know what they say, “Everything happens for a reason,” because Jozef Stumpel decided to hold out on his contract and I had a really, really good training camp and I guess [head coach] Andy Murray liked what he saw from me so I started the year there.  The first 9 games, I think I was the second or third highest scorer on the Kings, top twenty in the NHL.  And then Jozef Stumpel probably didn’t like what he saw so he decided to sign and game 9, game 10 came and you know what happens after game 10 as a rookie.  If they decide to keep you, it counts as a full year on your NHL entry contract so I was sent down to the minors. Again it was another deception, but I knew I had my place in the NHL and I knew it was just a question of time, so I went back to the minors again and played for Bruce Boudreau.  I had something like 18 points in like 13 games and I was called back up and I never went back to the minors and played 820 games in the NHL.  So I probably would have played during my second year in the NHL if I didn’t have all of those injuries, who knows? Maybe my career would have lasted five years, ten years, twenty years who knows, but everything happens for a reason and it made me a stronger player, a stronger person and I had a great career and I’m proud of what I’ve done.

As you mentioned, everything does happen for a reason and like I said before, this truly is an inspirational story and a very important one that people should hear about, because you went through such hell with one obstacle after another that was completely out of your control but yet you persevered and did indeed make it into the NHL and had a great career. 

Oh well thank you.

And as everything happens for a reason, that led to your first season as an LA King in 2000-01.  In those 2001 playoffs, you and the Kings battled against the Detroit Red Wings.  Being down in the series against the Wings and down in a game at the Staples Center 3-0, you guys beared down and came back, tying the game 3-3 to take it into the overtime, which saw you score the epic overtime winner to win that game and seal the epic comeback, which is now famously known as the “Frenzy on Figueroa!” You and the Kings then went on to win that series against Detroit in 6 games, making it the first playoff victory the Kings had since they beat the Toronto Maple Leafs back in the 1993 Conference Final.  Can you take us back to that exciting and epic series against Detroit and of course, to that awesome overtime goal you scored?

 Yeah, they were the second seed and we were the seventh seed in the conference and we lost the first two games in Detroit.  We came home and we were down 3-0 in the game but we still believed we had a chance because we played well against them.  They had a great team but so did we.  All of a sudden in the 3^rd period, some magic started happening.  I got an assist on Scott Thomas’ goal to make it 3-1 and then I think Stumpel scored and Bryan Smolinski scored to tie the game.  I came off the bench in overtime and I was at the right place at the right time and scored the biggest goal of my career which is going to be in the books forever in Kings history.

Most definitely.  That goal and game was huge!

For me that first year was very special.  Starting in my first game playing on a line with Luc Robitaille, a guy that I also grew up idolizing.  He was one of my favorites. Being on a line with him and Zigmund Palffy and scoring a goal and an assist in my first game, and having a really good season, and then playing in the playoffs on a line with Luc and Ian Laperriere, which was a line that had a really good impact on the team and the chemistry was unbelievable. For me to be able to contribute for the team was amazing.  Those were the best memories of my career by far.

I have to admit Mr. Belanger, I was so nervous watching that series and that game on Hockey Night in Canada, that I decided to build a treadmill while it was on. I had bought an expensive treadmill and I decided to build it during that game to get my mind off of it.  Things didn’t look too good for the Kings but when you guys started making that comeback, I got even more nervous and wasn’t really paying attention to what I was doing with the treadmill, but when you scored that overtime winner, I completely lost my mind in celebration and I don’t know what I did to that treadmill but I broke it somehow. It never ended up working properly and I ended up selling it in the end for a cheaper price, but it was totally worth it just by seeing you guys comeback and seeing you score that goal! So yeah, forget the treadmill, thank you for scoring that huge goal! That was so amazing!

*Laughs* Hey anytime!

Rob Blake of course, was a long time LA King and a former Captain of the team and he was traded to Colorado earlier that season around the trade deadline.  You the Kings ended up facing him and the Avs in the second round of that 2001 playoffs, as well as the following year in the playoffs.  What was the vibe in the locker room and on the ice from the Kings’ perspective on Rob Blake leaving for Colorado and then having to battle against him in the playoffs so soon?

“Blakey” was one of the best captains that I ever had in my career and I had some really good captains. “Blakey” was a quiet guy, but he was able to do everything on the ice and would lead by example.  When he spoke in the room we would listen but for him to leave LA, it was a big loss for us and for the fans because he was liked in the room, he was liked in the community.  But trades happen, it’s a business as everybody knows.  We got some really good players in return with Adam Deadmarsh and Aaron Miller which helped us tremendously at the end of the season and throughout those playoffs.  Facing “Blakey” was tough and it was frustrating.  At the end of that series, they ended up winning in 7 games and then winning the Cup.  We knew we had a chance.  We knew if we could beat Colorado we could have a chance to go all the way because our team was very, very tight.  After beating Detroit and facing Colorado and going to game 7, we knew we had a chance to beat them but it was their year.  Their team was unbelievable with “Blakey,” Ray Bourque, Patrick Roy in net, Chris Drury, Sakic, Peter Forsberg, they had an all-star team.  I was really proud of our team and what we were able to accomplish, but I wish we had beat them.  My only regret is that I was never able to win the Stanley Cup.  It’s a tough trophy to win.   I thought that year and the year in Washington, those were the two years I had the best chance to win the Stanley Cup but it didn’t happen.

You mentioned that you guys had a chance to go all the way that year.  Over the years I have had many friendly discussions, debates and even heated arguments over those 2001 playoffs with many different people from different fan bases.  As someone who was there and had played in that series and playoffs, and as someone who is now a respected hockey analyst today, in your honest opinion, if the Kings had beaten the Avs in game 7 during those 2001 playoffs, would the Kings have won the Stanley Cup that year?

I think we would have.  It’s easy to say while sitting here talking to you, but I felt after beating Detroit and after if we were able to beat Colorado, we would’ve been the underdogs and I think we would’ve faced St. Louis right after and our match up was really good against them … I don’t remember, who did Colorado end up beating in the finals?

They beat New Jersey in seven games.

Yeah, you know so, I’m not saying we would have won the Cup for sure, but I really believe we would’ve been close and our chances would have been there but you know, hockey is a cruel sport sometimes.  I really, really feel the team was so close and so confident at that time and Felix Potvin was playing unbelievable for us and we had some really good chemistry.  All four lines and the defensemen were really well-balanced everywhere and Andy Murray was doing a tremendous job behind the bench with the coaching staff, so I felt if we had beat Colorado, I don’t think there was anything that would’ve stopped us, but it didn’t happen so it is what it is.

For the following 2001-02 season, the Kings had some roster changes with Luc Robitaille going to Detroit and the Kings bringing in Jason Allison, but overall you guys still pretty much had the same team.  You ended up facing Colorado again in the playoffs in yet another tough and tight seven game series.  If the Kings had won game 7 in that 2002 series against the Avs and ended up playing Luc Robitaille and the Detroit Red Wings in the Conference Final, how well do you think that 2002 version of the Kings would have done against the Wings?

I think we would have matched up well.  We had a really good team too.  I think when you get to the playoffs, the toughest round to win is the first round.  And when you get to game 7, it’s a cruel way to end the season, but if you go through, and you have confidence, you have a boost and I think it would have been unbelievable to face Luc.  But in another sense, I was glad.  You know if I’m not to be selfish by not winning the Cup, I was happy that Luc was able to win the Stanley Cup because he deserved it.  He had a long career and Detroit had a really good team again.  I would have preferred to beat them and raise the  Cup, but I was glad my friend Luc was able to do it.

That is completely understandable and relatable because I know for myself and for Kings fans, of course we would have preferred to have you and the Kings go on and win the Stanley Cup that year but we all loved Luc too and to see him and Steve Duchesne finally win the Stanley Cup was also very special. 

Yes.

It’s just too bad they didn’t win that Cup with the Kings.

Yes. *laughs* That is what I was thinking too.

After the yearlong lock out, the Kings seemed to be on a roll during the first half of the 2005-06 season, even placing in second place in the Western Conference around Christmas and New Years Eve, but then the team collapsed during the second half of the season and ended up not making the playoffs at all. That led to consequences with many firings and changes within the team and organization.  Could you take us back to that season, and inform us in your opinion what happened and what went wrong with the Kings during that second half?

I don’t know.  I wish I would’ve known back then so we could have resolved the problem.  I just think, maybe it was time for Andy … because the message wasn’t getting through anymore.  You know I would never say anything bad about Andy Murray because he was the first coach to give me a chance.  He gave me a great role on great teams for six years, well five years because he got fired at the end of that year.  I don’t know, we just collapsed and we weren’t able to get it back.  Was it a lack of leadership?  We had some injuries, some key players were out, there was a bunch of things that went wrong.  I know [Kings’ GM Dave] Taylor tried to sparkplug the team by making a coaching change, but I think it was too little, too late.  We were on a roll like you said for a long time playing some really good hockey and feeling really good about ourselves, but then injuries, and some guys didn’t like the decisions that Andy was making, I don’t know.  I was still too young to be involved in those decisions but there was a bunch of things that made us unable to grab it back.

Shortly after that, in a very, very sad day for me and many Kings’ fans, in September 2006, you along with Tim Gleason were traded to the Carolina Hurricanes.  What were your initial thoughts and feelings when you learned that you were being traded out of Los Angeles?

 I was crying like a baby.

Oh no way? We were all crying too!

 Yeah, that was my first reaction.  You know, being drafted in ’96 and being there for 10 years later with all the heartfelt feelings and the ups and downs that I went through with that organization, you feel like you’re going to be there forever.  And all of a sudden, there’s a new GM and a new coach and they want a new direction, and being a part of that trade, they got a really good player for me so I took it hard, but I also took it as a compliment.  That Carolina team won the championship the year before so it was cool that they wanted to go after me and Tim Gleason.  But for me it was very, very hard.  That’s when my kids were born.  I remember we had some people working on my house when I heard the news that I was traded.  I was in the office with Ron Hextall in San Jose in a hotel and all of a sudden your life just goes in shambles and you got to pack your bags and go to your new destination, leaving your family behind with some workers on the house and you have to take care of everything away from home and play for a new team that just won the Cup.  That year was just a mess for me in Carolina.

Oh really?

Yeah.  They had a Cup hangover and my chemistry with the team was terrible.  They didn’t make the playoffs that year and I wasn’t getting along with … I wasn’t a good fit with them, let’s put it that way.  After 53 games I had enough so I was traded to Nashville for 24 hours and then to Atlanta, where [head coach] Bob Hartley put me under his wing and I had my best moments offensively in the NHL then playing on a line with Marian Hossa and Slava Koslov.  So the trade from LA was the hardest thing in my career.

You mentioned having chemistry and playing well with Luc Robitaille, Ziggy Palffy, Ian Lapperriere, Marian Hossa and Slava Koslov.  Who were some other players that you really enjoyed playing with?

Well Hossa was the best player, the best complete player that I ever played with on a line by far.  I played with Alexander Ovechkin, I played with Luc, I played with Palffy, I played with Keith Tkachuk, I played with some amazing players.  Eric Staal in Carolina.  Marian Gaborik in Minnesota.  The most well rounded player that I ever played with was definitely Marian Hossa.  As a guy, as a player, as a leader in the room, he was unbelievable.  I guy that is still underrated was Niklas Backstrom in Washington.  He was another guy to me that was an unbelievable player and very underrated in this league. 

Speaking of you playing with Ovechkin and Backstrom with the Washington Capitals, I have always said for years that you were a very skilled and underrated player. The type of player that every team should have, and this is no hype but you were honestly one of the toughest SOB’s that I have ever seen that played the game.  And I don’t mean tough as like you were a goon or dirty or anything like that because you weren’t, I mean you were tough because of everything you went through and your ability to absorb punishment and yet still come back strong immediately in that same game right after like no one I have ever seen.  Playing for Washington, you guys faced off against the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the 2010 playoffs and I remember vividly being at my sister in law’s birthday party, where mostly everyone was a Montreal Canadiens fan. I’m a Kings fan of course so I didn’t have a horse in the race, but you were playing for the Capitals so I was like, “Hey, there’s my boy Belanger,” and in that playoff game against Montreal, you took a high stick to the mouth, which I don’t know how many teeth you ended up losing but it was a lot and I know I would have been knocked out if I got hit in the face like that, but not only were you not knocked out, but you went back to the bench and on live television, and in front of everybody in this party, you pulled out a remaining loose tooth from your mouth, which I have to admit sir, I jumped up and cheered as if you had scored another epic overtime goal because it was one of the most badass things that I have ever witnessed in my life!

 *Laughs*

Now it made everybody else at the party queasy and made them feel the agony of the pain, but I remember you came back to play into that game and I was thinking, “Man, Eric Belanger is so freaking tough and awesome!”  Could you tell us what was going through in your mind when all of that happened from the high stick, the epic tooth pull seen around the hockey world and still being able to play in that game and playoff series?

When I got hit with a stick in the mouth, I just knew I was in trouble.  I didn’t know the extent of the damage until I got to the bench and to the room after, but as soon as I got to the bench, I started feeling around my mouth and my teeth with my tongue and I felt that the one was loose so I thought I might as well pull it and save it for later. You know you’re in the heat of the moment and hockey players in the hockey playoffs, we’re stupid that way.  I pulled out my own tooth and I went into the locker room and got fifty-some stitches.  I ended up getting some root canals, I think seven or eight for my teeth and as stupid as it sounds, I went back and played.  I don’t remember the rest of the game, but I went back and played.  The next day I was on the dentist’s chair for about five hours so I mean, it’s crazy thinking back about it because sometimes you’re asking yourself, “Why did I do that? Why did I take a chance with my health?” Because no one is here right now asking me how I’m doing or if I need anything from those teams.  That’s what players should remember.  How many times did we play hurt? How many times did we have injuries or we were sick and we still played?  We are proud as hockey players and we are proud to play in the NHL, play for the teams and the jersey that we are wearing, but at the end of the day, why?  Looking back at it sometimes, you ask yourself, “Why did I go through all that?”

Right and without a doubt, that’s a serious issue not just in hockey, but in all sports, especially with concussions and everything we have learned in recent times about them and the long term effects of having them. But for what it’s worth, I hope you’re doing okay today, because to me when I think of Eric Belanger, the word ‘warrior’ comes to my mind and that’s what I always saw you as, a warrior.

Thank you, I really appreciate that.  It’s always nice to hear people say things like that after you retire.  It means a lot to us.  I’m doing great.  I have two beautiful kids and both of them are healthy so my life is good.

That is excellent and so great to hear.  In 2012 and then again in 2014, the Kings finally won the Stanley Cup for the first time and then second time in franchise history.  As a former Kings’ player and someone who is still beloved by the Kings’ fan base, what were your thoughts and feelings when you saw the Kings finally win the Stanley Cup?

I was happy for them.  The LA Kings’ fans are one of the greatest fan bases in the league and they are underrated around the league.  I still remember in 2001 when we beat Detroit how amazing those fans were.  I thought that building was going to explode! Those fans deserved it.  I was happy that some of the people were still there from when I was there back then.  One of my good friends Simon Gagne was there and won the Cup.  You know it was good to see some of the people who worked so hard throughout the years to be able to win it and to have the fans that had some tough years, now be able to enjoy winning it two times was amazing.  I was happy for all of those people.

After retiring from playing in the NHL, you have become a respected hockey analyst for the French Canadian sports channel RDS.  Was becoming a hockey analyst something you always wanted to do post playing career?  How did that all come about?

It started during my career where, you know every year, once or twice a year after the season ended when I was coming home, I would spend the summers in Quebec City and I guess they liked the way I spoke frankly.  I have never been a guy that spoke around the bushes, I was straight to the point.  Sometimes maybe too much, but that’s why I have a good job with working on television, talking about what I like to do. It’s definitely something that I was aiming to do, but I didn’t know how it was going to work out, but at the end of the day it worked out.  It’s fun.  I have great people who I’m working with and I get to talk about hockey.  I analyze the games, I analyze the players, I analyze teams so for me it’s just easy.  It’s what I grew up to do, but in the last two years I started to coach and now I’m finding myself loving coaching.  I just really love coaching and it’s in me.  I’m coaching a bantam triple AAA team here in Quebec with 13, 14-year-old kids, which is amazing.  For me, it’s a great compliment to be able to coach and still give me the flexibility to work on TV, but long-term for me I would like to be able to pursue coaching as a head coach.

That is fantastic.  We would love to see you back in Los Angeles as the head coach some day!

 That would be an amazing scenario.

Drew Doughty recently won the Norris Trophy for the first time, while Anze Kopitar won the Selke and Lady Byng Trophies.  Jonathan Quick was nominated for the Vezina Trophy for the second time in his career, which he didn’t win, but he has won the Conn Smythe and Jennings Trophy in the past.  As a hockey analyst, what is your professional opinion on the three top players for the Los Angeles Kings today, Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar and Jonathan Quick?

Well they are definitely the backbone of that team and that’s what I like about Dean Lombardi the GM.  How he was able to keep the core together and always being able to bring in some guys in and out, bringing in some free agents.  He was always able to sign those key players to long-term deals.  Kopitar, who I got to play with a little bit in his first year, you could see he had a tremendous talent, which in my mind is another guy that is still so underrated.  He is one of the best players in the league.  He’s starting now to get the respect he deserves.  Doughty, he’s a top 3 defenseman in the league.  Quick has done some amazing things, winning those 2 Stanley Cup championships with the Kings, so those players are really key players, but what I like mostly is that the Kings were able to keep those players and merge in some young talent while being able to bring some guys like Gagne to win the Cup and Gaborik and Milan Lucic last year, which he left now, but they’re always able to bring in some good players to play around the core players and that’s what I like the most about what they were trying to do in the last few years.

You mentioned that you grew up a Quebec Nordiques fan and we all know the NHL recently granted the city of Las Vegas with an expansion franchise.  It was well-known that Quebec City is eager, hungry and very committed to bringing a franchise back to that city.  How disappointed was the Quebec community when they learned that their expansion bid wasn’t accepted by the NHL and how close are they to getting a team?  Will we see an NHL team, hopefully named the Nordiques, back in Quebec City in the near future? 

I definitely hope so.  The building is amazing.  I had a chance to go up and down and everywhere in every corner of that building and it’s amazing what they built there. The people were devastated when they heard that the team was going to Vegas, but I think it’s just a question of time.  I think with the Canadian dollar being so low right now, it’s not helping the new ownership.  The NHL is definitely waiting to see who is going to come up front for ownership. I know the league is very, very tight on who is owning an NHL team and I think that’s what they’re waiting for to see if the ownership that wants an NHL team is strong enough and be willing to work with them.  I think that’s the biggest hurdle right now, that and the dollar. I just think people need to be patient within the next 3 years.  For me, I think if I talk as an analyst or as a fan, I think the NHL from the get go knew that the team was going to Vegas because the group that they have in place there, they’ve been very low-key and it’s a well-respected owner that bought the team and I think it’s just a good bet for the NHL. I think they’re keeping Quebec on the back burner for a team that is going to be struggling in the next couple of years. We keep hearing about Carolina, Florida in the last couple of years so I think in my mind we want to keep the door open for a relocation scenario over an expansion. That’s my feeling.

Well Mr. Belanger, on behalf of CaliSports News, and for myself as a long time LA Kings’ fan and a big fan of yours, this was a dream come true for me, thank you so much for this interview today.

You’re welcome and anytime.  If you need me to do anymore interviews during the year, it would be my pleasure, anytime.

*Special thanks to Eric Belanger, Theresa Walsh Duarte, Mario Hicks and Ryan Cowley for their help on this article.

Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things Los Angeles Kings and the rest of the LA sports teams! All Cali, All the time!

 

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One Comment

1. 

   Faye Howell Walsh

   September 7, 2016 at 8:41 am

   Jeff, sorry that I took a long time reading your article. But it was very good again. Keep up the great work. Momfaye.