When it comes to the Kings blueline, there’s Rob Blake at 805 games played, followed by Mattias Norstrom at 780.
Next on that list is Mark Hardy with 616.
He also has the second most assists, third most points and fifth most penalty minutes by a defenseman in franchise history.
His career saw him go from being drafted by the Kings, shipped to New York after eight seasons in LA, then back to the Kings for their run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993 and eventually behind the bench in a coaching role that lasted more than 10 seasons.
Along the way he was twice named the Kings best defenseman (1984-85 and 1986-87) and his coaching led to the second best penalty killing percentage in team history (86.6 success rate in 2001-02, third in the NHL that season).
For the last year though he’s been on the sidelines, having resigned his position after being arrested in Washington, D.C. and subsequently entering an alcohol treatment program.
He first appeared on MayorsManor over the weekend, talking about the Kings power play struggles this season and the play of Jack Johnson and Drew Doughty.
He returns today for an extended conversation about life since the arrest, who has reached out to him, his earliest memories as a King, playing for the Rangers, the toughest guys in the NHL, the development of Kyle Clifford, the day Rob Blake resigned the captaincy, how that situation was handled, we break down the 1993 playoffs by round, plus he shares one of the best pranks he was ever part of and much more.
Oh yeah, and we play word association using names like Barry Melrose, Bob Berry, Andy Murray, Terry Murray and Dave Taylor.
Take a listen:
note: the sound quality was not as good as normal,it was cleaned up as best as could be during editing afdasdf
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Hardy podcast follow-up – Drew Doughty speaks out about his former coach
Interview with Marcel Dionne – memories and perspective from a Hall of Famer
Interview with Luc Robitaille – 20 questions with #20 right before going into the Hall of Fame
Interview with Rob Blake – opening up about his time in LA and the aftermath of the trade
Video of Hardy’s hit on Mike Keane from the ’93 playoffs (discussed in the interview)
NHL RADIO REPLAY: Hoven on Kings Coaching, Lines, and Rookies
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Enjoy a free replay of John Hoven on NHL Network Radio, where he joined hosts Dennis Bernstein and Dave Pagnotta to talk all things LA Kings – including hot rookie Jaret Anderson-Dolan, young Austin Wager, suggestions for line combinations, John Stevens’ powerplay, Ilya Kovalchuk, Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Dustin Brown, and more.
Today’s radio […]