Kings Article: LA Kings’ New Head Coach Gets Analytical About His Team’s Offensive Woes

[FrozenRoyalty]

The Los Angeles Kings continued to talk about their offensive woes when they introduced new head coach John Stevens to the local media on April 24 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Stevens got a bit analytical about his team's problems in the offensive zone and talked about their need to get pucks and bodies into the middle of the ice and the front of the net.

Interesting stuff! Check it out at...

LA Kings’ New Head Coach Gets Analytical About His Team’s Offensive Woes

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[Bandit]

The Los Angeles Kings continued to talk about their offensive woes when they introduced new head coach John Stevens to the local media on April 24 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Stevens got a bit analytical about his team's problems in the offensive zone and talked about their need to get pucks and bodies into the middle of the ice and the front of the net.

Interesting stuff! Check it out at...

LA Kings’ New Head Coach Gets Analytical About His Team’s Offensive Woes

That requires hard work, something this team has seemingly become allergic to.

 

[KINGS17]

That requires hard work, something this team has seemingly become allergic to.

No, no, no. Sutter's system requires players to do laps along the boards in the offensive zone then throw it back to the point. Once back at the point only a slap shot will do.

 

[lumbergh]

Very interesting quotes from Stevens and Blake. That these two are taking analytics seriously is important. It's not the be-all and end-all, but it confirms what we are all seeing on the ice, which is that the Kings have evolved into a perimeter team. The goals off controlled entry part is huge. Teams that cross the blue line with control and speed score more goals than the Kings because they can attack the net before the entire 5 man unit can settle into a defensive shell. The Kings have been content to pass back and forth between defensemen so they can get to the red line and dump the puck in. Retrieve, grind along wall, take a low percentage shot, repeat. Every other team knows this by now.

We'll see what Blake and Stevens do to improve the attack. At least they've identified the problems. That's a positive sign. It'll take personnel changes and coaching to solve them.

 

[Fishhead]

Sutter told them to do this very thing, it's what they were doing when they were successful. Hopefully they listen when a different coach tells them.

 

[KINGS17]

Very interesting quotes from Stevens and Blake. That these two are taking analytics seriously is important. It's not the be-all and end-all, but it confirms what we are all seeing on the ice, which is that the Kings have evolved into a perimeter team. The goals off controlled entry part is huge. Teams that cross the blue line with control and speed score more goals than the Kings because they can attack the net before the entire 5 man unit can settle into a defensive shell. The Kings have been content to pass back and forth between defensemen so they can get to the red line and dump the puck in. Retrieve, grind along wall, take a low percentage shot, repeat. Every other team knows this by now.

We'll see what Blake and Stevens do to improve the attack. At least they've identified the problems. That's a positive sign. It'll take personnel changes and coaching to solve them.

You mean like this:





I wonder who was coaching the Kings then? Sutter wanted quick transitions. He wanted the Kings to carry the puck into the zone. What he didn't like were the "hope for" homerun passes which get intercepted most of the time. The Kings offense was base on the quick sure 10-12 foot passes other teams just couldn't stop. Sutter never told any of the players to quit going to the net.

 

[Bandit]

That Kopitar goal was one of the best rush goals I've ever seen from the Kings. Absolute perfection.

 

[damacles1156]

Sutter told them to do this very thing, it's what they were doing when they were successful. Hopefully they listen when a different coach tells them.

Yup.

Once again, The players have ZERO excuses now, ZERO.

 

[damacles1156]

That requires hard work, something this team has seemingly become allergic to.

Kings haven't played (Kings Hockey, or Sutter Hockey) since 2014.

 

[BigKing]

You also have to have the horses to do it correctly. The break-out pass from the defense has deteriorated significantly since 2014. Mitchell and Voynov have essentially been replaced by McNabb and a slew of who-the-****-cares or rookies.

Hard to enter with speed or control when you struggle to get to center ice.

Doesn't excuse the play of the forwards being glued to the boards and then, on top of that, being much weaker in board battles. Of course, they've lost grit in the forward ranks as well.

They play offense like they did when Terry Murray was coaching. Dick around with it, work it back to the blue line for a shot and hopefully a deflection or rebound. Difference is that the Terry Murray teams still had guys that would play at the front of the net unlike this past season.

 

[TonySCV]

I don't care what they use, if it generates a GPG more, I'll be thrilled.

 

[lumbergh]

You mean like this:





I wonder who was coaching the Kings then? Sutter wanted quick transitions. He wanted the Kings to carry the puck into the zone. What he didn't like were the "hope for" homerun passes which get intercepted most of the time. The Kings offense was base on the quick sure 10-12 foot passes other teams just couldn't stop. Sutter never told any of the players to quit going to the net.

Sutter may have wanted quick transitions and entries with control, but he wasn't able to get enough of them over the past season. For that matter, the past couple of seasons. That's the message from the advanced stats. Not enough goals from controlled entry.

I think the clear message from the past season is that other teams have figured out how to stop the Kings. Whatever the distance of the passes, opposing defenses kept the Kings from scoring. The Kings were unable to adapt as a whole, leading to the ineptitude we witnessed. That's where coaching failed.

Carter, Pearson, and, on some occasions, Lewis were able to score goals using speed and control on entry. All three had very good seasons offensively. Really the few bright spots for the Kings this season.

 

[KINGS17]

Sutter may have wanted quick transitions and entries with control, but he wasn't able to get enough of them over the past season. For that matter, the past couple of seasons. That's the message from the advanced stats. Not enough goals from controlled entry.

I think the clear message from the past season is that other teams have figured out how to stop the Kings. Whatever the distance of the passes, opposing defenses kept the Kings from scoring. The Kings were unable to adapt as a whole, leading to the ineptitude we witnessed. That's where coaching failed.

Carter, Pearson, and, on some occasions, Lewis were able to score goals using speed and control on entry. All three had very good seasons offensively. Really the few bright spots for the Kings this season.

Sutter wasn't able to do it? How about the players failed to do it.

Guarantee you next season if this team tries more controlled entries, there will be more turnovers at the opponent's blue line, leading to more odd man rushes against the Kings.

Hockey systems are not new.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Sutter wasn't able to do it? How about the players failed to do it.

Guarantee you next season if this team tries more controlled entries, there will be more turnovers at the opponent's blue line, leading to more odd man rushes against the Kings.

Hockey systems are not new.

Maybe so but teams also started playing the Kings differently. How many times did we slow down the play allowing teams to set up their traps perfectly?

I agree with you to an extent that the players weren't executing, but credit opponents for that, as well; they started sitting on all the breakout routes or stacking the neutral zone to force dumpins depending on how aggressive they wanted to be. Notice we mostly had success when playing more aggressive teams because the puck is faster than the player; when we had to skate the puck TO the other team, we started to get into trouble.

I wouldn't be surprised if the players lost faith and started second guessing themselves because their automatic/instinct plays kept getting cut off and their only options were to dump the puck. The benefit and drawback of predictability in one go.

 

[damacles1156]

Unless the Kings start hitting people for real again, Speed is going to continue, to KILL this roster.

The only way to counter speed, take away the ice.

The Kings don't do that anymore.

Go back and watch games, look at how much ICE the Kings give teams like EDM. It's appalling.

The 2012-14 Kings would take (ALL Ice) away from speed/skill teams, or at least make them earn it.

 

[lumbergh]

Sutter wasn't able to do it? How about the players failed to do it.

Guarantee you next season if this team tries more controlled entries, there will be more turnovers at the opponent's blue line, leading to more odd man rushes against the Kings.

Hockey systems are not new.

That's a risk you have to take. Or the Kings can continue to do the same thing that has failed them for the last three seasons.

At the very least, Kings games will be more entertaining to watch than last year.

 

[King'sPawn]

Unless the Kings start hitting people for real again, Speed is going to continue, to KILL this roster.

The only way to counter speed, take away the ice.

The Kings don't do that anymore.

Go back and watch games, look at how much ICE the Kings give teams like EDM. It's appalling.

The 2012-14 Kings would take (ALL Ice) away from speed/skill teams, or at least make them earn it.

Right now the Kings are having a war of attrition versus 30 teams over 82 games. For five years.

It's starting to hurt the Kings more than the opposition.

You can also counter speed with speed of your own.

 

[damacles1156]

Right now the Kings are having a war of attrition versus 30 teams over 82 games. For five years.

It's starting to hurt the Kings more than the opposition.

You can also counter speed with speed of your own.

Then welcome to a rebuild.

Cause you have to draft speed/skill.

It doesn't materialize in UFA or appear on your roster out of nowhere.

The current players are not going to out skill, foot race anyone(consistently). The Kings lose when they play pond hockey.

The Kings haven't played a heavy style for about three years now, I have no idea why you guys keep saying they do.


The Kings are kind of stuck in the middle, the no longer play a (Heavy game) so they can't stop speed/skill. They also can't play pond hockey and out skill/speed teams. It's pretty much why, they are, what they are, a non-playoff team.

 

[damacles1156]

That's a risk you have to take. Or the Kings can continue to do the same thing that has failed them for the last three seasons.

At the very least, Kings games will be more entertaining to watch than last year.

A loss, is a loss

You people will be right back on the boards, complaining about losing.

 

[damacles1156]

When it's all said and done, it doesn't matter who the coach is, what style the Kings play.

All that matters is: Kopitar/Doughty/Quick/Carter/Toffoli/Pearson having good seasons.

If anyone of them, or a number of them falls off, the team is doomed.

 

[triplcrown]

I dunno.

maybe it's just me, but It seems kind of like just beating the
same horse harder to make it go faster.

IMO, some facets of our STRUCTURE must actually change, so
other teams aren't just dealing with the same expected patterns of attack.

Is innovation possible?

Otherwise, it seems like it's just doing the same thing, but
harder and better.

Color me skeptical.

 

[damacles1156]

I dunno.

maybe it's just me, but It seems kind of like just beating the
same horse harder to make it go faster.

IMO, some facets of our STRUCTURE must actually change, so
other teams aren't just dealing with the same expected patterns of attack.

Is innovation possible?

Otherwise, it seems like it's just doing the same thing, but
harder and better.

Color me skeptical.

Like I said, nothing really matters if Kopitar has another season like he did last season.

 

[KINGS17]

I think next year I am just going to go to as many Edmonton games as possible, and the Pittsburgh and Toronto games.

Need to catch the Drai, McJesus, Crosby, and Maple Leaf kids shows.

 

[lumbergh]

I dunno.

maybe it's just me, but It seems kind of like just beating the
same horse harder to make it go faster.

IMO, some facets of our STRUCTURE must actually change, so
other teams aren't just dealing with the same expected patterns of attack.

Is innovation possible?

Otherwise, it seems like it's just doing the same thing, but
harder and better.

Color me skeptical.

Innovation is possible and happens all the time. Goalies have gotten better over time. I would say Jonathan Quick has made the Kings better by innovations in his play (lateral movement, splits while sliding, aggressive leans towards shooters 5-10 feet away to cut angles, etc). Shooters have figured out slight weaknesses in goalie play over the past five years. How many times have you heard Fox say, "over the pads, under the blocker, that's where you score nowadays"? The game is faster and the players are bigger than 10 years ago. You adapt and you innovate, or you go extinct like the dinosaurs that the Kings became.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Jonathan Quick literally renovated the goaltending position with the reverse V-H. sometimes these things are subtle but they definitely happen. And 5 years is an eternity in sports.