Dean Lombardi

Lore & Background

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 top talent developer Gary Dineen. Lombardi then played two more seasons for Dineen.

During his college freshman year, he played hockey at Division 2 power Elmira College before transferring 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 later attended law school at Tulane University, graduating with honors in 1984 with a focus on labor law. He initially became a player's agent under the tutelage of famed agent Art Kaminsky, building a stable of players, including some members of the 1988 United States men's Olympic hockey team.

Eventually, Lombardi crossed over into management as assistant general manager to Jack Ferreira with the Minnesota North Stars from 1988 to 1990, then joined the expansion San Jose Sharks as assistant GM in 1991. Lombardi was appointed general manager of the Sharks in 1996. He is the son-in-law of Hockey Hall of Fame winger Bob Pulford, also a longtime NHL general manager and Coach of the Year in 1974–75 (for one of teams Lombardi was general manager of, the Los Angeles Kings).

Reader's Guide

Upon taking over the San Jose Sharks, Lombardi was widely criticized for signing veterans. However, this proved beneficial while stockpiling the team's prospect pool 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 later rounds. Lombardi 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 total for six straight seasons during his guidance, becoming only the second general manager in NHL history to accomplish the feat. Only Hall of Fame general manager Bill Torrey accomplished more consecutive seasons of increased point totals, seven (1972–1979), in his overseeing the dynasty of the New York Islanders into the early 1980s. Lombardi was dismissed on March 18, 2003; he would be replaced by Doug Wilson that May.

Lombardi's employment was terminated 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 was mainly attributed to the lengthy contract holdout of star goaltender 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.

He brought along Ferreira as a special advisor. As with the Sharks, Lombardi was a shrewd drafter and developer of talent, drafting the likes of Jonathan Bernier, Trevor Lewis, Alec Martinez, Slava Voynov, and his most notable draft pick, Drew Doughty, the second overall pick in the 2008 NHL entry draft. Lombardi complemented the draft picks with solid veteran signings and trades for Dustin Penner, Mike Richards, and Jeff Carter, among others. As with the Sharks, Lombardi's Kings saw gradual improvement yearly, culminating with a 101-point season in 2009–10. However, the Kings were eliminated in the first round of the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs by the Vancouver Canucks.

Did You Know?

• Lombardi's Kings won the 2012 Stanley Cup Final with a 6–1 victory over the Devils in game six.
• The Kings were defeated in the first round of the 2011 playoffs by the San Jose Sharks.