Dean Lombardi loves the Yankees or at least he loves to talk about the Yankees.

How many times have we read or heard his quotes equating something hockey related to baseball and the Yankees. I got to thinking about that tonight. I got to thinking about the Yank of all Yankees, George Steinbrenner. George once said:

Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing. Breathing first, winning next.

Does Dean Lombardi agree with this? My initial answer was…I don’t know. You’ve probably seen our Quotable Lombardi page. It’s under Surly & Scribe features at the top of this site. It’s a collection of his quotes from April 2006 through the present day. We think we got most of them. He said this in December 2011:

You never see exactly what your coach sees, but for the most part, I think it’s safe to say that with the expectations this year, it becomes more result-orientated. I guess, again, this goes back to (a previous) question. Every situation is different, and the challenge for a coach, as well as players, when you have expectations it’s driven more to results. It’s harder, at times, to look for those victories within losses. That’s just the state of the franchise right now. You could look for more of those things three years ago, but we’re trying to push to the next level. And it isn’t easy. It’s a lot easier playing with the house’s money. So I think, to answer your question, you’re never going to see things exactly (the same) but I do think we’re at the stage of the franchise where you’re going to be judged on wins and losses and playoff rounds. And that’s where you strive to be. It’s a lot easier when there’s no expectations, and with every win you can get a parade. We’re not there right now, so it comes down to wins and losses. Continue reading →