Sutter `can’t whip them or bury them’

Is there now a philosophy change, in terms of the way the Kings handle practices? Darryl Sutter has yet to hold an optional morning skate — something Terry Murray regularly did — but Sutter said that’s not part of any strict philosophy. In fact, in Winnipeg last week, in a back-to-back situation, Sutter didn’t take the team to the arena at all on the morning of the game, as he opted for only a meeting at the hotel. Every coach has a different outlook on the importance of morning skates and practice time in general. Sutter said he would manage the practice schedule based on timing between games and factors such as that. Going forward, the Kings will practice tomorrow, play Saturday afternoon, practice Sunday, play Monday and then have Tuesday off before returning to practice Wednesday in advance of next Thursday’s game.

SUTTER: “It puts pressure on your team, to be able to handle the mental part of it. As coaches, we have to give them every physical advantage that we can, with schedule. That’s a fact. You can’t whip them or bury them or any of that. That’s sort of the old way of doing it. You can’t do that. So then you have to put trust in them, in terms of the preparation. I believe we can help them with that.’’