NHL Kings GM Dean Lombardi has "made a handshake agreement with the organization on a four-year contract extension" through the '16-17 season, according to Helene Elliott of the L.A. TIMES. AEG President & CEO Tim Leiweke said that "uncertainty" over AEG Chair Philip Anschutz' sale of the company and Leiweke's busy role in the process "contributed to delaying Lombardi's extension." Leiweke said the extension of Lombardi's contract and a forthcoming extension for Kings President of Business Operations Luc Robitaille "has created great predictability and certainty no matter who the owners are." He added that Anschutz "might not sell AEG if the right buyers aren't found." However, Leiweke said the process is down to a final group that is "very bullish about sports." Meanwhile, Leiweke, Lombardi and Robitaille "will join Anschutz's wife, Nancy, as she distributes" Stanley Cup rings to Kings players prior to Saturday's season-opener against the Blackhawks. The team's banner-raising ceremony is "scheduled to include members of a hockey-loving family that lost a child in the Newtown, Conn., elementary school shootings." Leiweke said, "It's our effort to do something good for the game and use this moment to heal the rift that was created for them and for us" (L.A. TIMES, 1/14). Leiweke said that a visit to the White House "has been tentatively scheduled" and that the Kings and MLS Galaxy "will go on the same day" to celebrate their respective '12 championships with President Barack Obama (LATIMES.com, 1/11).
