Interview with Los Angeles Kings Legend Marcel Dionne
- Updated: June 16, 2015
There was a moment during last week when I was trying to decide what I wanted to do for my birthday weekend when I received a text from my good friend Brian Consolazio, who is from Culver City, CA. He tipped me off about Hall of Famer and legendary Los Angeles Kings player Marcel Dionne participating in an autograph signing session near Toronto, Canada. Thanks Brian! Now I know what I want for my birthday and that is to meet the King of Kings and to get a picture with his grace and an autograph. But then I thought bigger!
As the week went on, it dawned on me that this could be an amazing opportunity to sit down with Marcel in person and interview the LA Kings icon for CaliSportsNews.com. I called A.J. Sports World, who were hosting the autograph signing event (Hall of Famer’s Steve Shutt and Gerry Cheevers where there too) and through them I got the permission I needed.
So on Sunday, June 14th, 2015, 2 days after my birthday and one day after the Manchester Monarchs had won the Calder Cup (which was also the same day of the King’s second Stanley Cup-a-Versary), I was in Vaughn, Ontario (just outside of Toronto) sitting down beside the original Los Angeles Kings superstar, the man, the myth and the Legend himself, the one and only Marcel Dionne and I was going to interview him.
Thank you Marcel for taking the time to do this interview for CaliSportsNews.com
No thank you.
What is your favorite or most cherished memory of being a Los Angeles Kings player?
You know first of all, I was surprised to have gone there ‘cause I was a free agent and I didn’t think this was gonna be possible but I think for me it was a combination [of when] they asked me to come back and retired my number so that was pretty cool. We had our ups and downs over the years but there’s no doubt one game in particular, playing against the Edmonton Oilers in the playoffs, losing 5-0 going into the third and with not much time left and then tying that team and beating Wayne Gretzky and the crew and I tell you they could’ve won the Stanley Cup that year.
The Miracle on Manchester!
That’s right! That was a highlight I’ll tell ya. That was pretty cool because they were good. They [had] Mark Messier, Jari Kurri and Paul Coffey. We went ahead of them and played against the Vancouver Canucks after that and they beat us [in] a couple of overtimes and those [games] were a 3 out of 5 [game series]. That was tough.
Vancouver ended up going to the final that year?
Yes, yes they did, you’re right. Good Memory!
Thank you sir. What was your most cherished memory of living in California?
A combination of things. There’s different climates back there and sometimes a lot of guys that [when] the season was over they go back home and so on, I had a chance to visit and I bought a lot of real estate over the years there. It’s an incredible place to live. We weren’t too far from the ocean, about a 10 to 15 minute drive. I lived in a place called “Empty Saddle Club” with a lot of horses. It was just at the bottom of the hill of Rolling Hills Estate in the Palos Verdes area and it always [had] a different climate. If you go over the hill it gets very cool in the winter because of the ocean. If you are at the bottom [of the hill] you get more of the sun. Eventually you get the low desert, high desert, you go to San Diego and you go to Palm Springs or Las Vegas. You go to Big Bear Mountain, we had a cabin there. You could go swimming by the beach [where] it’s 70 [degrees], then you go up in the mountains and it’s 32 [degrees], so it’s pretty cool.
Do you go back to California often?
A couple of times a year. I like to stay there a week or two.
Do you keep in touch with the Los Angeles Kings’ organization.
I’ve gone back [to the organization] a few times. Luc Robitaille asked me [to be] with the team, especially with the Cups they won so we raised the banner a couple of times with Rogie Vachon. It’s well appreciated. You know there’s a generation that obviously did not see me play but it’s a part of the game. It is what it is.
What are your thoughts and feelings about the Los Angeles Kings winning the Stanley Cup twice in recent years?
Well I always felt that, until Anaheim won their Cup that I always felt they could win the Stanley Cup in the west coast. In those days you had the hot Montreal Canadiens when they played and the “original six” [teams] were all good and everybody thought that [winning the Cup] was never gonna happen. Well until LA won and Anaheim and Tampa Bay won and Carolina, everybody realized it had nothing to do with having 2 feet of snow you know? The first [Cup], I mean there’s a tremendous group of fans that follow [the Kings]. It’s a very competitive market with the Lakers, the Dodgers, the Angels, USC, UCLA so it was exciting. They are really good fans and that 2014 team was just something totally different. No doubt coming back and beating San Jose after being down 3-0, wow. It was absolutely incredible! Very proud of them and now there are a lot more LA fans in the east coast then there used to be!
How do you think the Kings will do next season after missing the playoffs this season?
Well it’s not so much missing the playoffs. You need 96, 97 points, it’s absolutely ridiculous. You could see that they were beat up, probably tired. They are gonna have to make some adjustments. You can’t go down the stretch losing games, you gotta win those 3 point games. They just got knocked out with a couple of points to go. Maybe [some] slow starts here and there but it’s very, very difficult to make it. Probably some of those players, like you see with Chicago right now, just needed to have a break and get a full summer off and then come back. Like these 2 teams [in the final] right now are gonna have 3 weeks off and then [be] right back at it, it’s ridiculous. “Original six” hockey was done by April 1st!
Right, everyone had a long summer to recuperate back then
Absolutely!
….
Special thanks to Hockey Hall of Famer and Los Angeles Kings legend Marcel Dionne for granting me this interview! Check out Marcel’s store, Marcel Dionne Inc. at MarcelDionne.com or if you’re in Niagara Falls, Canada at;
4424 Montrose Road, Niagara Falls, ON, L2H 1K2
E-mail mdeltd@aol.com
Also special thanks to A.J. Sports World for hosting the interview. A.J.’s is Canada’s top resource for signed sports memorabilia, especially for hockey and are Connor McDavid’s official representatives.
Check out A.J.’s at AJAuthentic.com E-mail – info@ajsportsworld.com
2720 Steeles Ave W #1, Vaughan, ON Canada
L4K 4N5
Twitter – @AJSportsworld
Also a special shout out and stick tap to my good friend Brian Consolazio.
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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