John Stevens’ postgame thoughts…
(on the win…)
STEVENS: “It is very satisfying, not just the fact that we won, but we felt like we played very well in doing so. We had some really good things going on in the offensive zone. We had some long stretches where we held onto the puck and had some really sustained offensive-zone time and created a lot of good looks at the net. We just felt that in this game, we really had to try to spend some time in the offensive zone, because they’re such a good offensive team. I really felt it wasn’t just Kopi and Stolly’s line. We had all the lines getting the puck in deep and hanging onto it, making plays. So to get two points out of this game at the end of the trip, and go home 2-2, it’s an important two points. If you give up a point to an Eastern Conference team, so be it. It’s the two points that we needed, so it was a big two points.’’
(on what he will tell his coaching successor…)
STEVENS: “You know what, I’m not sure. I’m sure he will have a lot of questions about personnel, what’s gone on here, all kinds of things. I’m a pretty open and honest guy, so anything he wants to know, I’ll be willing to tell him and give my opinion on it. He certainly knows Dean well enough, but I’m sure he’s going to want to know an awful lot about the team, and I’m sure he has watched the team, especially lately here. The one thing he can rest assured is that we have some quality people here to build around. We’ve got a lot of good soldiers in the (locker) room there who are going to help us get out of this.’’
(on trying to get a third goal…)
STEVENS: “I really liked the power play tonight. I liked the way we moved the puck. We got the puck to the net on the power play tonight. We want to start scoring more than two goals, but to be honest with you, the two games that we won with two goals, it’s pretty gratifying, but I think, at the end of the day, we need to score more than two goals. Mike Richards coming back is going to help. I think Penner is really coming around. I thought Justin Williams was a good player. So you add Mike Richards to our lineup, I think he makes everyone better. Certainly I like what we saw tonight, but we need to build on it.’’
(on whether he will stay on the coaching staff if asked…)
STEVENS: “I sure hope so. I love this team. I love the organization. I have a good relationship with the players, and it’s absolutely my intention to stay on and help this team win.’’
All in all I think Stevens did a great job. The det game was bad but he called a timeout, pulled the goalie. I think the style of play hurts us more against great teams. An interim coach isent expected to change the system. I think Sutter should think about keeping him.
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safaribear1218 Reply:
December 19th, 2011 at 10:46 pm
@pesus, we beat DET 5 straigh before saturday, its not the system. i think the players just werent all together
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Steens sounds like a good balance for Sutter and the team.Best defense is a good offense..This team will start to score with the scorers that we have and the new attitude.Penner is back to being Penner…the player who scored more then 20 goals every season..would love to see him stay esp with a new coach…
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anybody know if the kings are practicing tommorow under sutter or do they have the day off?
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Stevens was a good soldier in an extremely trying situation. I’m grateful for him.
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Excellent job, Stevens. The team was very fun to watch tonight. Energy, passion, drive, loved it. Excellent to go .500 on the coach firing road trip.
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He handled an extremely sensitive situation with absolute class. I have very high regard for Stevens and hope that he can stay in the Kings organization.
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CB14 Reply:
December 19th, 2011 at 9:21 pm
@Hanging on since ’73, Agreed. Plus he’s done a very good job with the Penalty kill. He should stay on IMO. Kompon, not so much.
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40YearKingsFan Reply:
December 20th, 2011 at 6:30 am
@CB14, I wouldn’t mind Kompon staying on in the organization but somewhere that better suits whatever his talents are. Maybe he could stay on as a Parking Lot Attendent Trainee and work his way back up. Just sayin’.
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
December 20th, 2011 at 5:21 am
@Hanging on since ’73, I’m officially a Stevens fan now. If not as a coach, as a great human being.
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Its kind of funny how many of you on here wanna overlook what hasnt changed because they won tonite, 5 on 5 scoring. Are they playing more of an open game? Yes. But they have been doing that since the Vancouver game at Staples earlier in the season. They are starting to put more shots on goal, but they still cant score more then 2 goals a game.
Mark my words, changes are coming, and I am not talking just about the arrival of Sutter. There will and should be player personel moves made because of the fact that they still cant put the bisquit in the basket.
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CB14 Reply:
December 19th, 2011 at 9:33 pm
@puck73, Hey mike, hope the vacations going well. Have fun at the game on Friday.
Regarding the non scoring, I completly agree it’s still a major problem. It just kind of gets glossed over because we need wins anyway we can get them.
I think Dean will wait a month or so before making any trades. I think he probably wants to see which players can play for Sutter, and which one’s can’t. But if they continue on their slide, he won’t wait very long. Thankfully no one in the Pacific is really pulling away at the moment so there’s still a small chance at winning the division.
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Sammuch Reply:
December 19th, 2011 at 10:49 pm
@puck73, I hope the group we have now, workout!
But if we keep on sliding and the ducks too, we might have a Ryan trade in place. They need defense the kings need offense? NYI & NYR have made major trades as rivals, it’s time for the Kings & ducks to do a major trade & grab Ryan?
May the best trade win! AM JB & JP for Ryan w/ 2nd round pick
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
December 20th, 2011 at 5:23 am
@puck73, I think we all have to give Sutter a few weeks (and I think Sutter will give it plenty of time before he starts asking for moves) before we jump to that conclusion. Pro sports is highly psychological, and I’m willing to believe the scoring problems are not personnel, until proven otherwise.
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
December 20th, 2011 at 5:25 am
More to the point, I know it would have been nice, but did anyone seriously believe they were going to start scoring more than two goals a game just because TM was fired? I think it actually takes changes for that to happen.
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I can’t say I liked the PP all that much except for the goal sequence and that was three quick passes, which is totally unlike the usual Kings PP. They really need a PP coach badly. I wish Kopi would drive towards the middle and then dish off cross-ice to a D after he draws attention and defenders to him a little. You can see he’s looking cross ice to the point man sneaking in but the pass is too far with him near the wall. Make the D adjust!
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brian spain Reply:
December 20th, 2011 at 8:05 am
@bbb7, The pass from Kopi to Doughty was off sides, the puck clearly went out of the zone. So that goal shouldn’t even count. The Kings were givin two HUGE breaks last night. One by the glass and one by the linesman. Nice to finally catch a break. Maybe this will start something…like a winning streak. Lets hope so.
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The energy and determination were exceptional tonight, SO obviously better than usual Kings’ so
-so effort. I hpe they will finally understand that to be successful in the NHL, you must play that way every game, not only when you’re desperate.
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Am I the only one that sees the Kings make a concerted effort to get the puck BACK to the blue line when they are in the slot? Then they shot from the blue line (50% by our own forwards!) This is seen by the opposing goalie every time. If there is a rebound, it is boxed out by their defense, while our forwards are skating to the net from the boards. A giant umbrella system is unworkable in the new NHL. Dot to dot stick to stick, shot, or stick to stick to stick shot, is what wins games now.
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Class act.
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Wondering if the fight after the first goal was to prevent the counter attack goal that usually comes a minute or so after we score… Cause it worked. No goal immediately after ours.
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Great job John! splitting the road trip under this atmosphere is a class act. I hope you stay but Kompnon still needs to go – another position maybe? Don’t know, don’t care. Get him off of the PPP squad.
How many times did I see a King with the puck on the halfboard looking for a king coming down the slot and no one was there – not even a leaf which makes it that more frustrating!!!! kopi played a hard game. Really hard. unsung hero that game. But actually everyone played well except…….wait for it…..it seems Gagne loves to hang around in the neutral zone and doesn’t play much defense at all. If he isn’t going to play at least some defense (he got caught and beat on the coverage costing a goal) bench him. He’s got to be more responsible.
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Oh and nice offensive game Brownie. Nice to see you step up and lead by example at this very timely juncture. Precision shootout goal indeed. I think you earned some big time points with the boys last night.
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The past ten days has been rough. Stevens deserves alot of credit for the way he handled the situation and the team. Class act from him. Hope DL lets him stay beyond this year, He deserves it.
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The one thing I saw a lot of last night was players diving through the slot. More so than I’ve seen the boys do in a while. The only problem was that the passes never went to them, instead the “safe” play was made to the point. I guess the drive through the middle is a start, with some confidence in their passing, those goals will come.
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