Here’s what alternate captain Matt Greene said about Darryl Sutter’s hiring, and the first day of practice under Sutter…
GREENE: “There’s no looking back. You can’t have a room divided, with guys who supported Terry and guys who are sour that Darryl is here. You have to get behind Darryl now because he’s the guy who is leading us, he’s the guy who is here. If you’re not, then it’s not just going to be Terry who is gone, it’s going to be other guys going out the door as well. Nobody wants that. Everybody wants to see if we can win with this group. Guys want to win with this group. And I want to stay here. I think everybody does. So we’ve got to get behind Darryl right away, and if that’s what you guys are calling it, a new voice that’s going to give us a push, then yeah, I definitely hope that’s what it’s going to take.’’
Question: What were you able to take away from today?
GREENE: “Just knowing what to expect from him. He wants you to work hard. He wants you to play hard. That’s what you’ve got to give him.’’
Question: Did it kind of have a “first day of school” vibe?
GREENE: “I think so. It’s a tryout. You want to prove that you can help this team. You want to prove that you can be part of something good here, and not be part of the problem. That’s not a bad thing.’’
Were was this attitude a few weeks ago?
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Sutter will love Greener
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There won’t be any change for awhile. It’s going to be several days before Sutter has a chance to work with the guys and make any of his changes, just not enough days off. Unfortunately the All Star break is some weeks away.
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BringBackButchGoring Reply:
December 21st, 2011 at 7:20 pm
@Donald_S, I think the change will be immediate in that everyone on the team will want to make a great first impression, especially the guys that moved up to the 1st and 2nd line and the sort of bubble players on the team that aren’t guaranteed 18 minutes. It’s human nature to slack off a little and get comfortable under the same coach and same system. It’s a whole new dynamic tomorrow and I think you are going to see it on the ice.
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Donald_S Reply:
December 21st, 2011 at 9:56 pm
@BringBackButchGoring,
I meant a change to the system. Of *course* we hope there is a change to the outcomes.
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Bonvivant1 Reply:
December 21st, 2011 at 10:53 pm
@BringBackButchGoring, I disagree. Take a look at some of the long tenured coaches in the league. They have their teams compete every game. It may be human nature to slack but great coaches find ways to motivate players and keep their jobs. The lack of hockey culture in LA might have something to do with the lulls the Kings have had this year and years past. Simmonds does have a valid point.
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purplereign Reply:
December 22nd, 2011 at 9:14 am
@Bonvivant1, lack of hockey culture in LA? I would guess that the hockey culture in LA is far more developed than say in Orange County, CA. But that didn’t keep the Quacks from winning a Cup. That has nothing to do with it. With Simmonds, he is still in “impress the Flyers mode,” his game(amount of points) will tail off, just like it did when he was with the Kings after a few seasons.
I think we’re going to consistently see the kind of energy we saw last game, and any shift anyone takes off will get him a kick in the pants. I can’t knock that. I think it’s what this obviously-talented team needs, instead of blank stares.
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Yellow Pants Reply:
December 21st, 2011 at 7:47 pm
@What’s the frequency, Kenneth?, I hope you’re right on this.. you’re definitely right about what they need.
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Weird interview answers. Team Murray? Team Sutter? How dramatic. I appreciate the honesty, but wow. What did Murray buy them lunch when they lost or something?
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Paul G Reply:
December 21st, 2011 at 7:55 pm
@jonsey, I don’t know but I do know that Greene has the “A” for reasons I’m still trying to figure out and Murray never calls him out on his dumb penalties
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I’m a little confused with this one – “You can’t have a room divided, with guys who supported Terry and guys who are sour that Darryl is here.”
Does this imply that the room was divided when TM was let go? Was the group that supported TM (IMO DB was a TM supporter and that was A-OK with me) also the group that might be sour with DS being here? Or was there a group that supported TM, another group that soured at the thought of DS being here and then some players who were whatever about it all? Seems to me that DD was glad to see TM go, maybe JW too (only because of the comments he made about change in practices being good, etc *IIRC it was JW that made those comments if not don’t tar&feather me*). If the room is fragmented then it WILL be more than a coaching change before this ship gets righted. A divided room will not go far at all.
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Michael J. Reply:
December 21st, 2011 at 7:44 pm
@Stuart,
No. No division exists. He’s saying that you can’t have it. I had to read it twice myself.
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BringBackButchGoring Reply:
December 21st, 2011 at 7:48 pm
@Stuart, Sutter will probably win them over with his charm and good nature….anyway, perhaps Sutter has mellowed a bit and I think winning will get everyone on the same page. It’s natural to have some apprehension and doubts given Sutter’s reputation but I think Sutter has a reputation for being fair and players probably appreciate that.
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PP Anybody? Reply:
December 21st, 2011 at 10:49 pm
@Stuart, Semantics wise, I think they would be the same side. I don’t think that came out quite right. Basically, he’s just saying that there’s mixed feelings in the room I guess as to Murray getting fired, and as for Sutter being their new coach. What’s done is done, so they all need to get behind this or people will be shown the door.
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Helvetica Reply:
December 22nd, 2011 at 10:17 am
@Stuart, Yeah it definitely sounds like there was/are some guys in the locker room who were less than happy with Murray. On the other hand, Greene doesn’t make it any easier to understand by convoluting things with a pro TM side and anti Sutter side. They are, in fact, one group.
I think were all looking for answers right now and many of us are reading to far into these quotes in most cases. I’ve read a number of quotes lately that could be interpreted any number of ways, but I think that’s just me trying to make something out of nothing. Not being there in person to see the players reaction (tone, body language, etc…) leaves a lot of the context out of these quotes.
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He used that word ‘hope’ again, but it seems as though this may be the shake up the Kings needed…just the thing to get their heads out of their collective you-know-whats and start playing hard and fast…Good luck Daryl and GKG!
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I think the Kings got off course when the big contracts and star players came aboard they somehow got the notion they were gonna cruise right thru the season with little effort. What they didn’t realize is that all the other teams in the league got better too. I don’t think Murray was able to harness that attitude and get the guys to compete at a high level again. If Sutter can get the players to play to their full potential, then yes I would agree we can be a cup contender.
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Gustavo Reply:
December 21st, 2011 at 7:51 pm
@408kingsfan,
Please!!!!…no ‘compete’ comments, lol
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Osaka Reply:
December 21st, 2011 at 8:19 pm
@408kingsfan, Great post.
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
December 21st, 2011 at 8:21 pm
@408kingsfan, There may have been a lot of that, but what I saw the last 20 games seemed a lot like what we saw during the slumps the last couple seasons. It think it was a mixture.
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vplaza Reply:
December 22nd, 2011 at 9:55 am
@408kingsfan,
There was probably some of that “reading their own press” stuff going on. They were getting some early love from NHL on the Fly after a good start, they got on that shutout streak with JQ, and maybe started thinking it was going to be easy.
Early success lead to complacency, which led to laziness, then MR and Mitchell get hurt, and then we saw piss-poor play, leading to TM’s firing. Not saying TM was blameless because he should have seen it and done something to turn things around.
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