As a player and executive, Taylor has spent the last 30 years as a member of the Kings organization.

Taylor reign with Kings hits 30
By John McGourty | NHL.com
Sept. 28, 2004

Dave Taylor lives and breathes the Los Angeles Kings. A small-town boy from the Western Ontario town of Levack, Taylor has thrived in the big city as a player and executive with the Kings for the past 30 seasons. This is his eighth season as the team's vice president and general manager.

Taylor got off to a fast start as GM. The Kings had missed the playoffs for four-consecutive seasons after going to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993. Taylor had them back in the postseason in his first year and in four of his first five seasons. Then disaster struck in the form of injuries. The Kings were a well-assembled team that looked capable of beating anyone, particularly in two 2001 Stanley Cup series against Detroit, a six-game victory that featured two overtime games, and Colorado, a seven-game loss that also included two overtime games against the eventual Stanley Cup champions. They played Colorado in a rugged seven-game series the following season.

But the Kings set an unofficial record for most man-games lost to injury in 2002-03 and topped it last season. Taylor is rebuilding this season and is enthusiastic about the young talent he's assembled.

Taylor feels very fortunate to have this opportunity. He'll tell you he was a hard-working grinder who was lucky to play with skilled linemates but, in truth, "Stitch" had 431 goals and 638 assists for 1,069 points in 1,111 NHL games. Only the elite put up those kinds of numbers. Taylor played in four NHL All-Star Games and won the 1991 Bill Masterton and King Clancy Memorial Trophies.

When did you decide you wanted to stay in hockey after your playing career?

"It was always a dream of mine to play in the NHL," Taylor said. "It became more of a reality after the Kings drafted me following my sophomore season at Clarkson University in 1975. I had always hoped to stay in the game after my playing days were over and I looked at the various possibilities, from coaching to scouting to something on the management side.

"To be honest, I had 11 different coaches in the 17 years I played in the NHL, and I felt that there has been more stability on the management side. I was fortunate that when I retired, Bruce McNall gave me an opportunity to learn under Sam McMaster on the management side.

"I would say that all of my experiences while playing hockey, with the Kings for 17 seasons helped me prepare for my current job. I, like most players, probably underestimated the amount of work that goes on in the front office. When I had the opportunity to work with Sam, particularly on the business side, coordinating with scouts and maintaining a book on players all over the world, I learned quite a bit from him."

Times have changed in pro sports since Taylor broke into the NHL in 1977. It's very rare for a player to end his career with his first team and just about unheard of to spend 30 years with one club, especially through numerous ownership changes. But that's the thing about Taylor. You don't have to talk with him for very long before noticing his direct, honest manner. He works long hours smartly and doesn't alibi.

"There's no question that I have been fortunate to be with one team for my entire career, as both a player and an executive," he said. "The Kings have been absolutely tremendous to my family and me. The Kings drafted me in 1975 and counting from then on, I am going into my 30th year with the team. I've had the opportunity to play and work under five different ownership groups from Jack Kent Cooke, who was the original owner of the team, to Mr. Anschutz and Mr. Roski, who are the current owners of the team. Each and every ownership group has always treated me tremendously and in a first-class manner."

Taylor played right wing on the Triple Crown with Marcel Dionne and Charlie Simmer for nine seasons, beginning in 1978. They were one of the best lines in NHL history. Dionne lauds Taylor's contributions.

"Dave Taylor was the winger that you dream about, a great two-way player" Dionne said. "He had great dedication. He came in as a longshot to make the team and he made the best of his opportunity. He was a very intelligent player and there wasn't much you had to tell him. He was the kind of player that you didn't realize how committed he was until you had the chance to play with him. When I played against him, I just knew he was hard to beat, hard to get anything accomplished against him. He played a lot like Jari Kurri. You had to fight him for every inch.

"The Triple Crown Line was something very special in hockey," Dionne said. "Over the years, there have been a lot of situations where you had two guys who combined with a variety of forwards as great combinations but for three guys to play together as long and as well as we did, that is rare."

"It's always nice to play with great players and I was fortunate through my career to play with so many," Taylor said. "I played with Marcel Dionne, who I still say to this day, was very, very underrated, most likely because he played in Los Angeles for so many years. I don't think we had the coverage out here back then as we do today, with the Internet and satellite games beamed out to so many homes.

"Very few of our games were actually televised, but Marcel was a tremendous player. To play with him and Charlie Simmer was a great time in my career. We scored a lot of goals and it's always fun to be able to do that. Later on in my career I had the opportunity to play with Wayne Gretzky, Bernie Nicholls and Luc Robitaille. I played with five or six different 50-goal scorers over the course of my career. I was very fortunate in that regard.

"In that year that we qualified for the playoffs, I think the team was already building in that direction," Taylor said. "When Sam was the GM, it was a very low period for the Kings. We had gone through a bankruptcy when Sam took over. The team had gone to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993 and had mortgaged a lot of our future for a 'win now' mentality. That took a few years to begin to get a good number of young players back into our system.

"We think we are in very good shape now despite missing the playoffs the last couple of years. We have had a lot of injuries, but I certainly like the depth of our organization and I think we have a very bright outlook on the future."

What are the strengths of your organization?

"Of our recent draft picks and young players I would say that Alexander Frolov really stands out," Taylor said. "He has the ability to be a truly dominant player in the National Hockey League. He had a pretty good breakout season last year in only his second year, putting up over 40 points and 20 goals. We expect him to improve on that.

"Tim Gleason was probably one of the better stories for us last year. As a first-year player, especially on defense, it's difficult to make an impact. He played 45 games for us last season and at no time did he look out of place. He's got NHL size and strength, as well as being an excellent skater. As he gets a better grasp of the NHL game I think he will become a little more dominant for us.

"We will have a young team and a hungry team," he said. "We've been disappointed the last couple of years not getting into the playoffs and I know that the players, and certainly the rest of the team, take that personally. We will be on a mission to get back into the playoffs. That is the most enjoyable period of the season and we have been on the outside looking in lately so we are looking forward to jumping back in there."