The Kings had a fast-paced, 45-minute practice today, no different than most other between-games practices. There was no “bag skate,” no on-ice screaming by the coaching staff. The only nod to any type of recent struggle was a longer-than-usual post-practice huddle with Terry Murray and the players. Anything else would have been out of character for Murray, who has spent the past two-plus seasons practicing a calm, patient, consistent style. Murray’s predecessor, often-volatile Marc Crawford, was known for his blistering oratory, full of colorful language, but if anything, Murray will go in the complete opposite direction. That’s why Murray said he didn’t give thought to any type of “bag skate” or anything drastic after two losses.
MURRAY: “Those only make me feel better. They don’t make the players feel better. No, I didn’t consider that. I don’t believe in that, but I do believe in getting back to fundamental work and executing the basics of the game on a consistent basis. To me, that’s a part of the problem. I think we’ve gone a long time without any quality practice time, to get into that part of it. The other part, I think also, is just the mental approach to the game, the 60 minutes of total concentration. We got casual at times, and you do that against good hockey players, good teams, and they’re going to take advantage of it.”
Kings captain Dustin Brown, who, amazingly, is one of only a handful of players still around who played under Crawford, said he didn’t expect any type of paint-peeling locker-room blast from Murray, nor did he think it was necessary.
BROWN: “I think everyone was upset last night, but after playing for Terry for the past couple years, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him get to the point where he’s screaming and yelling. That’s not his coaching style. Some coaches handle it in different ways. We all know that we can do better in here. It’s one of those things where, whether he’s screaming and yelling, we all know what needs to be done.”
The question is- when do you get angry or show emotion or whatever motivating style its called? after 5-6 losses? more? less?
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KC23 Reply:
December 31st, 2010 at 2:41 pm
@tornado12, Not after having to play 4 game in 5 nights with lots of travel. Saturday’s game is one the King’s should win IMHO. Not concerned with these last 2 loses.
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poe Reply:
December 31st, 2010 at 4:56 pm
, If you were at the game last night, you could finally see some emotion emanating fro TM. In the 3rd, it looked like he was actually yelling, contrary to his usual stone face demeanor.
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Dominick Reply:
January 1st, 2011 at 10:16 am
@tornado12, We lost 7 out of 8 a little while ago and he didn’t blow a gasket. So maybe 14 out of 15. I’m guessing that it doesn’t matter. Showing emotion has nothing to do with yelling and screaming. I’m sure the team knows he’s displeased when they don’t execute. I think what your looking for is Fear, which didn’t workout to well for Crawford.
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
January 1st, 2011 at 11:05 am
@Dominick, Took the words right out of my mouth…and KC23 too…if it continues, though, he probably still won’t be screaming.
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wavesinair Reply:
January 1st, 2011 at 12:14 pm
@Dominick,
Yeah, I remember talking about this a few months ago when everyone was debating TM’s style. Every coach has one and they all work for a certain amount of time. Coaches are, of course, hired to be fired. Their style works until it doesn’t. If it was easy to predict, then every hire would be the right one.
This leads to the complexity of a team dynamic. It’s a delicate balance and can change on a dime via trade or demotion, etc. The bottom line is, each player has a preferred coaching style. I would personally hate being yelled at all the time, whereas I’ve heard some players say that it helps motivate them.
Bottom line: No single style will work for every player on a team. That’s why the system is the most important thing.
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Dominick Reply:
January 1st, 2011 at 12:31 pm
@wavesinair, I always think back to early Chris Pronger when he was with St.Louis. He had never reached his potential till he got a coach that yelled and screamed at him. Lit a fire under him and made him a superstar. Subseqently the yelling and screaming also got that coach fired when he lost control of the team.
“No on-ice screaming by the coaching staff.”
Actually, call it good cop/bad cop or whatever, but to me Stevens and Kompon were way more vocal than usual. Vocal and physical too. So much so that Stevens made me flinch in the stands after whacking his stick hard against the boards and yelling a number of times. This isn’t the norm that I have seen. He was pushing them really hard at one point. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that at a practice with TM as coach.
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wavesinair Reply:
December 31st, 2010 at 2:06 pm
As a side note, I know Rich isn’t there every minute of every practice so he may not have noticed it. Definitely not a typical practice though in my eyes.
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BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy Reply:
December 31st, 2010 at 2:41 pm
@wavesinair,
The more I read of your practice observations, I can’t help but see “24/7 Penguins and Capitols” in my mind’s eye. I can imagine Boudreau’s reaction to two games like the last ones…
I hunger for the Kings to be involved in a series like that one, one of these seasons. It would be intense to see this young, growing team going through the pains of inconsistency, early success and failure. Seeing the reactions of players like Brown, Quick, Kopitar, Greene, Smyth, Handzus et al would be illuminating and really help grow the Kings’ fan base.
–Are you LISTENING, NHL?????
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If the Kings continue to play like they have the last two nights, I would expect some trades to happen SOON. Like the rumor I heard just yesterday, Oscar Moller & Alec Martinez to Toronto for Francois Beauchemin. Kings NEED to play D.
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AZ King Reply:
December 31st, 2010 at 2:17 pm
@Bryan,
Wow, I hope not. That would be a horrible trade.
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Carey Reply:
December 31st, 2010 at 2:17 pm
@Bryan, Beauchemin wouldn’t help with that.
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KC23 Reply:
December 31st, 2010 at 2:43 pm
@Bryan, If our organization did trades based on a group of loses that every team goes through we would be one sad organization.
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Mike in Oregon Reply:
December 31st, 2010 at 2:46 pm
@KC23, I pray that trade doesn’t happen. Leafs win big in that one. Moller will be superstar and Martinez is very strong. I hope if we trade Moller we get a BIG difference maker. Happy New Year
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Dominick Reply:
January 1st, 2011 at 10:22 am
@Bryan, All bogus trade rumors always start with Toronto. Didn’t you know that we signed Kaberle over the summer, for Kopitar, and Schenn.
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
January 1st, 2011 at 11:07 am
@Bryan, I’d rather not dwell on bad things that haven’t happened yet.
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Does anyone know, who are the coaches that TM played under back in the day?
This discussion reminded me of seeing Mike Keenan coaching the Flames against the ‘Hawks 3 years ago in the play-offs (I can’t believe so much time has gone by already). He had a pre-game practice with no sticks or pucks, just hard skating. I remeber thinking “who would ever want to play for a coach stuck in the 1930′s?” I believe one of the reasons why the Flames are so screwed up right now is because of the legacy of Keenan.
The funny thing is, I remember the hard skating working for them at first, until they got tired and lost the game at the end.
Educators know that the style of the coach does not determine the psychology of the team. The players must be read by the coach. In other words, some students or players need and want a tough leader and they read a weak coach as a non-caring coach.
I’m not sure this applies to millionaires.
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You know what needs to be done?………so why aren’t you doing it?….Mental issues.
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
January 1st, 2011 at 11:09 am
@SplattDaddy, Mental fatigue. They responded so well to the Sharks last time that they got onto autopilot, I think, then they fell and couldn’t get up. Hopefully, yesterday was the breathing space they needed.
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Off Topic, but Schenn is looking very HOT. He just scored what could be the GWG!
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I think a lot of you are being overly harsh or unrealistic.
This is after all still one of the youngest teams in the league. Sure, it’s frustrating to see them play an awesome game against San Jose then to chase the puck around the next game, but as coach Murray says it’s that consistency that is still lacking ion the team. This is a question of time, patience and reinforcement. And considering this “inconsistency,” this is a team that is one of the top teams in the west and the league. They know what they are capable of and they know when they’re not living up to that high level of play, but they have made huge strides in the past year and I would rather they learn these lessons now during the season so that come post-season, they know how to fix it not for the next game, but for the next period or the next shift.
They will learn to deal with fatigue, they will learn how to dig deep and get to that mental place they need to be to compete. It’s all good.
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Marc Nathan Reply:
December 31st, 2010 at 3:16 pm
@dMan, Overly harsh or unrealistic = stupid. LOL.
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Cristobal Reply:
December 31st, 2010 at 3:47 pm
@Marc Nathan,
Is it unrealistic for people to want more after 5 years of rebuilding and in a league built for parity? To call people stupid for being upset seems to imply they shouldn’t be fan(atic)s. That’s not exactly what the NHL is looking for.
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Marc Nathan Reply:
December 31st, 2010 at 4:15 pm
@Cristobal, I admit I was being a bit flip, but it’s like listening to Kings Talk after a home game. Unlistenable nonsense. People call in taking themselves far too seriously with far too little knowledge of the sport, the team, the personalities, the nuances and their limited capacity for conversation. It’s painful.
What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
January 1st, 2011 at 11:11 am
@Cristobal, If they were playing like crap every game, you’d have a point, but they’re not. It is totally unrealistic to fly off the handle after the team that played so well a week before dropped a couple games for which they obviously were not prepared.
The Western Conference is very tough. If the Kings continue to play like they did the last two games, it’s going to be very tough to make the playoffs. 11 pts seperate 1st through 10th. What does that tell you?
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I’d really like to hear that TM is addressing our defensemen’s tendency to try and play 2nd and 3rd goalie while leaving the opposing forwards free to shoot or pass.
We already have goaltenders, let them worry about stopping the shot.
Also, no criticism or hindsight here, but maybe a guy like Zus could do with a view from the press box in the 4th game in 5 nights.
Zus is a favorite of mine now, but he’s no spring chicken.
Our power-play has been good lately, but isn’t effecting the outcome of games. Philly’s PP did effect the outcome. We need our PP to be a difference maker, not posting meaningless percentages.
Finally, NHL officiating is horrible. Carcillo’s “high sticking” call? I didn’t see it. Stoll’s “slashing” call? I saw that going on all night long. As we’re trying to cut the lead to 1 in the 3rd Williams was checked into Smyth, knocking both down deep in Philly’s zone when Willy didn’t even have the puck. No call.
Watch the 24/7 HBO program and you see these guys have no control over the players and are clueless and pandering to the name players.
The Kings played poorly, but I’m so tired of horrible officiating.
I almost believe there are biases going on, highlighted by the Cacillo call and that phantom “kneeing” penalty called on Simmonds last weekend.
Simply horrible that 4 zebras can’t see what’s going on in front of them.
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Marc Nathan Reply:
December 31st, 2010 at 4:16 pm
@Cristobal, Simply horrible that 4 zebras can’t see what’s going on in front of them. Two of the four have no bearing on penalty calls…
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Cristobal Reply:
December 31st, 2010 at 5:00 pm
@Marc Nathan,
Am I mistaken that all 4 can give their view on things?
Like Simmonds butt ending penalty, or on 24/7 when all 4 get together to confer on a puck over the glass from the defensive end?
There’s no doubt they speak and communicate, especially between periods.
And it’s not only penalties, but offsides calls like last night.
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Player-X Reply:
January 1st, 2011 at 9:45 am
@Cristobal,
Yeah, Linesmen definitely have input on many calls when asked, but have the authority to call their own, i.e. on too many men and majors. I agree about that kneeing call, it was disturbing. Thought we had lost the Avery and Brewster karma. There are many calls that mystify lately and might fuel a conspiracy theory, but the ref in the Philly game was Stephane Auger, one of the lowest rated refs. Just wrong, doubtful if intentionally so because a plan like that that would imply intelligence.
Dominick Reply:
January 1st, 2011 at 10:38 am
@Cristobal, I didn’t like that 2nd consecutive game misconduct on Westy. He got called for a swing and a miss. During Ducks losses I see some down right nasty behavior before they end up in the box, and the Kings aren’t exactly known for being a dirty team.
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I think we can blame it on officiating all we like, the fact is, this is the NHL, our team simply hasn’t showed up in the past two games. I look at guys like Dustin Brown, who wears a C on his jersey and seems to be completely ineffective when they are not scoring. Would it kill him to throw a hit, or jeez, dare I say it, drop the gloves? Guys like Drew Doughty, who thought they can come into camp this year, and not have to work for it, everytime he’s on the ice for a goal against, he’s sliding across the ice on his chest; that’s not how you play defense Drew, and just because Terry Murray lacks common sense and puts you right back out there, it doesn’t mean you should do it again.
Alot of guys are not only making mistakes, they’re repeating them. And I blame that on Terry Murray. He rewards the guys with ice time, after bad play. Doughty has been a mess this year. I’m not gonna be convinced it’s a skill thing. It’s that he’s a young guy, he’s making a lot of mistakes this year, and there’s never any repercussions for him personally. Coaching staff does an outstanding job selecting who they can or cannot punish. I guess your only eligible to face punishment if your last name is Frolov.
Their play has been inexcusable in the last two. There’s been absolutely no pride. Time to maybe show some emotion Terry. Your guys aren’t making it to the rink.
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Cristobal Reply:
December 31st, 2010 at 4:11 pm
@Nyck,
Brown was hitting last night and we were only 2 goals down in the third. Not a time to get 5 for fighting.
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Dominick Reply:
January 1st, 2011 at 10:40 am
@Cristobal, Seemed like the more we were losing, the more Brownie was hitting the last 2 games.
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“Those only make me feel better. They don’t make the players feel better.”
this is why terry is a good coach for this team. he doesn’t put on a show to prove a point.
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seems like tm only punishes the russians…… i know poni isn’t, but you know what i mean
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
January 1st, 2011 at 11:16 am
@lvkingaholic, Please, inform us as to who these Russians are. I can imagine you’re referring to ONE named Frolov. In specific regard to him, he was much criticized in ’09-’10 (by fans, at least, tho not by me), and is not exactly a positive in current news:
http://www.google.com/search?q=los%20angeles%20kings%20transactions#q=alexander+frolov&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=ivnso&source=lnms&tbs=nws:1&ei=I30fTaKUOcKqlAf6wLS_Cw&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&ved=0CA8Q_AU&fp=4f47765c364753ee
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
January 1st, 2011 at 11:17 am
Oops…wrong link:
http://www.google.com/search?q=alexander+frolov&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbo=u&tbs=nws:1&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wn
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Rich,
The tag cloud thing is cool.
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wavesinair Reply:
January 1st, 2011 at 12:50 pm
@Dominick, …but the ‘recent comments’ section needs to be moved as close to the top as possible.
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