Confirmed with Link: The koala has been fired!! Todd McLellan fired, Jim Hiller named Interim Head Coach

[Lt Dan]

Blake inherited a team capable of black holing or maybe winning one playoff round. Pipeline was pretty barren so his initial mandate was to get that back on track while still contending.

The 2018 team had a Top 4 of Doughty/Muzzin/Martinez/Forbort. Behind that, you're getting 65 games out of Frolin, 34 from Big Mac, 26 from The Dion, 27 from Fantenberg. Rough. They had a roster capable of winning games but it couldn't handle an injury to anyone important, like, a #4 defenseman going down meant they were screwed. We already saw this with a better roster in 2016: Martinez is hurt so we've got four games of Jamie McBain in the playoffs coupled with five Corpse of Scuderi games.

Point being is that *everything* had to go right. Losing Carter isn't everything going right, but that got covered up by Kopitar's huge season, Carter scoring a bunch of goals on one leg upon his return and the Kings back-up goalies going a combined 12-1-5, kind of like Copley's record last season. Well, Muzzin gets banged up and we're right back to having four games of Folin and Fantenberg. Two games of Ladue. One of Gravel. This is not a roster close to contending but, no, all it needs is more scoring even though Quick had to put up a .947% to make a sweep seem "close".

Do you believe the outlier season of 92 points for Kopitar or do you think he will probably settle back to normalcy? Carter was never the same player after the ankle cut and was saying he wasn't 100% at the start of camp, meaning he wasn't 100% when Blake tried to trade a 1st for Pacioretty and then signed an old guy that chose to play here only because of the extra year on the deal. Once again betting on nothing going wrong in a season that features a defense depending on Fantenberg, because he supposedly was good in one playoff game, and scrap heap Dion Phaneuf. Poof.

All this to say that he did inherit a team capable of winning games. It was a better NHL team than Taylor or Lombardi inherited but the latter inherited a much better pipeline: Taylor inherited jack shit. Blake either completely miscalculated how good that roster really was, or he just didn't want to make tough decisions so he mostly did nothing. Neither is acceptable.

Then he was given the chance to blow it all up and do what he wanted. Once again, he doesn't read the roster correctly and here we are with PLD except, this time, there can't be an argument of "it didn't cost the Kings anything" or "they won the Jennings last season and just need more scoring": he traded for a center when he used half of his draft picks on them, re-signed Kopitar for two more years after this one and already has Danault and a former 2OA on the active roster.

You keep these great posts up and you will soon be promoted to GinormousKing!

Rob Blake, Nelson Emerson, Marc Bergeron, Luc Robitaille, Glenn Murray, Matt Greene, Jared Stoll, Sean O'Donnell.

No problem with a few of those guys, but back in the Lombardi days the Kings had a mix of former executives, lawyers, and players.

Soloman and Futa left.

Now it's just all Blake's friends and ex players.

Indeed

The nepotism is killing our organeyezation

 

[johnjm22]

Rob Blake, Nelson Emerson, Marc Bergeron, Luc Robitaille, Glenn Murray, Matt Greene, Jared Stoll, Sean O'Donnell.

Now it's just all Blake's friends and ex players.

Hiller is also a former Kings player.

 

[kilowatt]

Hiller is also a former Kings player.

In all fairness, Jim Hiller played about the same number of games with LA as Trent Hunter and Simon Gagne.

 

[ru4reals]

The worst part of the dominoes is Bergevin chomping at the bit. If Luc does ultimatley get to choose a new GM, how f***ed are we if he chooses his failure of a buddy

This is exactly what I'm afraid of. He may be worst than BLUC.

 

[KINGS17]

The worst part of the dominoes is Bergevin chomping at the bit. If Luc does ultimatley get to choose a new GM, how f***ed are we if he chooses his failure of a buddy

Luc Robitaille should not be allowed to hire a new GM.

 

[jgs]

Luc Robitaille should not be allowed to hire a new GM.

Luc should be shown the door

 

[ZJames]

Luc should be shown the door

Luc should be thrown through the door

 

[mysterman2]

AEG won't let him trade the 1st rounder. He might trick them into a Kaliyev depending on the return but he's on a tight leash, like the one on his surfboard.

i pray this is true....blake going scorched earth doesnt seem out of character

 

[jgs]

I think moving forward that Hillar should call up the young prospects and see what they can do at the NHL level. This team isn't a threat to win even if it made the playoffs. One of the issues I had with Todd hearing all this talk about how good the prospects in Ontario are and never given a chance to show their worth with the KIngs. Turcotte had a good first game with the Kings, hopefully he will continue to progress and be an asset to the Kings. They need to get a good understanding of which prospect can thrive with the Kings aand which will not so they can draft and trade accordingly.

 

[KINGS17]

I think moving forward that Hillar should call up the young prospects and see what they can do at the NHL level. This team isn't a threat to win even if it made the playoffs. One of the issues I had with Todd hearing all this talk about how good the prospects in Ontario are and never given a chance to show their worth with the KIngs. Turcotte had a good first game with the Kings, hopefully he will continue to progress and be an asset to the Kings. They need to get a good understanding of which prospect can thrive with the Kings aand which will not so they can draft and trade accordingly.

Hiller only gets to play the guys Blake gives him.

 

[AbsentMojo]

Hiller's first task is to decide what to do with PLD. Of course all of us on this board would waive him (and by miracle he gets claimed great!) and buy a ilttle cap to make it easier to move guys onto the roster from Ontario.. and mainly to get his lazy ass out of the room so the work ethic value system can be restored. But that wont happen, so how do you minimize his multi-dimensional awfulness? I would make him 4C and tell him to hit everything he sees and if he does that well, he can move up. If he just continues to mail it in, its the press box. You have to restore order and cant have his situation dominating the locker room.

 

[Choralone]

Luc should be thrown through the door

 

[AbsentMojo]

Luc should be shown the door

His nickname should be Fluc - how a 9th round pick can make it to the HOF.. and the even bigger long shot.. how did someone who didnt finish high school become president of a hockey club.

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

For all of you that were clamoring for TMac to get the axe...well you got it but 1 thing that's still a problem the coach doesn't play the games and when you have a lame ass nitwit like "Lucien Dublois" in the dressing room and ice you have a Major League problem and won't go away for another 7-8 years f***...you can't fix stupid and I wondered whether it was the BlueJackets and Jets players that were the Problem...no I've been a Los Angeles Kings fan for over 53 years and I have never loathed a player and seen such a Lazy Asshole in my Life...he should f***ing retire he's not doing anyone on the Kings any good...The firing of TMac is on Dumbass "Dublois"him and only him...8.5 Million for what a 3rd liner with practically no chemistry with anyone and a ego and head the Size of Crypto Centre and lets don't forget a Cancer who the f*** does he think he is anyways

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

View attachment 814650

Luc better have a f***ing talk with "DuBlois" with a stern message shape up or we'll send you to Siberia and you can play for Vladivostok or Khabarovsk no ones going to take this idiot in North America after this cluster f***

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

I'm not saying Blake is good, is bad, or anything, I'm arguing that out of the 9 GMs, LA has had, we have had one stellar, and the rest shit in their own various ways and for various reasons. I don't know where Blake will end up if you wanna do the work and rank 2-9.....



Kinda of what I wanna see, really interested to see if he does anything different with Kaliyev, to me that's a big tell if it's the player, or the coach.....everyone wants to put it on the coach, but if Hiller does the exact same thing...then what?

TMac was the first shoe to fall others will go...

Blake was allowed to blow up a team and rebuild it the way he wanted to. Not many GMs arrive with a mandate to win and then are allowed to preside over a tank job rebuild.

He was given a mulligan for his initial mistakes. He did the easy part which was lose and acquire assets. He has since built a max-cap roster that forced a mid-season firing. When this happened to DL, he wasn't capped out and had the assets and cap space to try and fix things. Blake can only hope that the coaching change, which might be more of the same, and Arvidsson can flip the script.

DL also had Voynov/Nolan/King enter the picture in more prominent roles (Voynov) and altogether (Nolan/King). Will be interesting to see if Hiller leans into Clarke, Turcotte etc...to try and change the makeup of the team a bit.

Clarke is no Voynov never will be either

Luc Robitaille should not be allowed to hire a new GM.

I don't expect Luc and Blake to finish the year and if they do its the last of it

 

[AbsentMojo]

For all of you that were clamoring for TMac to get the axe...well you got it but 1 thing that's still a problem the coach doesn't play the games and when you have a lame ass nitwit like "Lucien Dublois" in the dressing room and ice you have a Major League problem and won't go away for another 7-8 years f***...you can't fix stupid and I wondered whether it was the BlueJackets and Jets players that were the Problem...no I've been a Los Angeles Kings fan for over 53 years and I have never loathed a player and seen such a Lazy Asshole in my Life...he should f***ing retire he's not doing anyone on the Kings any good...The firing of TMac is on Dumbass "Dublois"him and only him...8.5 Million for what a 3rd liner with practically no chemistry with anyone and a ego and head the Size of Crypto Centre and lets don't forget a Cancer who the f*** does he think he is anyways

Good rant. But im filing this under "both can be true"... For sure Koala was a gigantic problem with this team.. he had plenty of time to show what he could do and it was not enough.

 

[Statto]

It’ll be interesting to see what Hiller does. He will be a different voice as the context of ‘Assistant’ vs ‘Head’ is very different.

He’s also bound to have his own ideas on how to do things differently. TMac will have had an approath/style/system and Hiller will have supported him in doing that. Now he has a chance to do it his way. I don’t expect a radical change instantly but there will be some I’m sure. If he’s planning on playing the exact same way there would be no point appointing him.

He‘s obviously going to have his own ideas on lines and icetime. I’m hoping there at least he reduces the minutes for Kopi and DD. Kaliyev at least needs a proper look in a scoring role, whilst Turcotte and Clarke both need longer looks.

I’m hoping for:

1. A more consistent aggressive forecheck.
2. More crashing the net - get dirty.
3. The C position to not be as passively defensively which will affect wing positional play. We need more C lane drives.
4. Change up pp lines. Clarke on pp1??
5. Change of OT usage… Byfield!!!
6. Byfield and Kopitar at 1/2C not necessarily in that order. Danault 3C. PLD to wing. Turcotte 4C or Wing in top 9.
7. Sit/waive JAD.
8. Give Clarke a run of games with Gavrikov. Pair Spence with Roy (Roy left side).

Obviously trades might happen but that what I’d look at/try with the pieces we have. These are just my random thoughts on where Hiller can potentially get a new look/feel fairly easily. That’s not to say it’ll work.

 

[dabeechman]

For all of you that were clamoring for TMac to get the axe...well you got it but 1 thing that's still a problem the coach doesn't play the games and when you have a lame ass nitwit like "Lucien Dublois" in the dressing room and ice you have a Major League problem and won't go away for another 7-8 years f***...you can't fix stupid and I wondered whether it was the BlueJackets and Jets players that were the Problem...no I've been a Los Angeles Kings fan for over 53 years and I have never loathed a player and seen such a Lazy Asshole in my Life...he should f***ing retire he's not doing anyone on the Kings any good...The firing of TMac is on Dumbass "Dublois"him and only him...8.5 Million for what a 3rd liner with practically no chemistry with anyone and a ego and head the Size of Crypto Centre and lets don't forget a Cancer who the f*** does he think he is anyways

Due to a lack of punctuation, I tried reading all of this in one breath. But I failed...

To your point, it isn't the fault of PLD that Blake signed him to that contract. It's...in fact Blake's fault. It's also not the fault of Dubois that Vilardi and Faber were traded. Blake should have been shit canned along with TMac.

 

[jgs]

Due to a lack of punctuation, I tried reading all of this in one breath. But I failed...

To your point, it isn't the fault of PLD that Blake signed him to that contract. It's...in fact Blake's fault. It's also not the fault of Dubois that Vilardi and Faber were traded. Blake should have been shit canned along with TMac.

Blake shouldn't have been allowed to make those trades. They are team breaker trades. I just don't get it they invested alot in Vilardi and when he finally looks like he is getting at what they expected he would be, they trade him and now the Jets are reaping the reward and Kings stuck with a bust.

 

[KINGS17]

Luc should be shown the door

Basically, FLR! Are fans going to scream Luuuuuc, anymore. It's time to fire the mascot and move on.

 

[bland]

It’ll be interesting to see what Hiller does. He will be a different voice as the context of ‘Assistant’ vs ‘Head’ is very different.

He’s also bound to have his own ideas on how to do things differently. TMac will have had an approath/style/system and Hiller will have supported him in doing that. Now he has a chance to do it his way. I don’t expect a radical change instantly but there will be some I’m sure. If he’s planning on playing the exact same way there would be no point appointing him.

He‘s obviously going to have his own ideas on lines and icetime. I’m hoping there at least he reduces the minutes for Kopi and DD. Kaliyev at least needs a proper look in a scoring role, whilst Turcotte and Clarke both need longer looks.

I’m hoping for:

1. A more consistent aggressive forecheck.
2. More crashing the net - get dirty.
3. The C position to not be as passively defensively which will affect wing positional play. We need more C lane drives.
4. Change up pp lines. Clarke on pp1??
5. Change of OT usage… Byfield!!!
6. Byfield and Kopitar at 1/2C not necessarily in that order. Danault 3C. PLD to wing. Turcotte 4C or Wing in top 9.
7. Sit/waive JAD.
8. Give Clarke a run of games with Gavrikov. Pair Spence with Roy (Roy left side).

Obviously trades might happen but that what I’d look at/try with the pieces we have. These are just my random thoughts on where Hiller can potentially get a new look/feel fairly easily. That’s not to say it’ll work.

No RHDs on the left ever.

EVER.

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

Due to a lack of punctuation, I tried reading all of this in one breath. But I failed...

To your point, it isn't the fault of PLD that Blake signed him to that contract. It's...in fact Blake's fault. It's also not the fault of Dubois that Vilardi and Faber were traded. Blake should have been shit canned along with TMac.

Its not Blake's fault he signed"Lucien" to outrageous money when he had done zero to earn that...Its Blake's fault and Luc's both have shit for brains and this is it in a nutshell! Being traded once,then being traded again should have set off the Red flags and sirens wailing

 

[dabeechman]

Its not Blake's fault he signed"Lucien" to outrageous money when he had done zero to earn that...Its Blake's fault and Luc's both have shit for brains and this is it in a nutshell! Being traded once,then being traded again should have set off the Red flags and sirens wailing

Not sure if trolling now.

That is exactly part of Blakes job...

 

[Statto]

No RHDs on the left ever.

EVER.

I’m not as against it as most. I’ve seen some great left side RHD. I’m not saying it’s ideal but it’s probably better than Englund is delivering at the moment.

Lots of LHD can play the right effectively although I get that is because they need more often so in general the are more likely to be familiar with it. However it’s not that different, So I’m not against the D playing the wrong side as a default position. I suggested Roy as I understand he is comfortable there but if that’s not the case I’d definitely change my view. I certainly wouldn’t advocate putting someone there that hasn’t/can’t play the position.

If you have strong stick on your backhand then it helps position for being physical on the boards and keeps a strong stick for the middle lane making it less likely to expose the C lane when to hold the blue line physically (Stepping up). Sure it makes breakout’s and clearances a bit tougher but Roy struggles there at times anyway.

My brother was a RD that could play the left… the UK has too many RHS as they don’t know how to coach properly but that’s another debate. He was the right type of player to play off the ‘wrong’ side as it played to his strength… granted it was just semi-pro… where he’d play very physically. He often ended up right side but definitely better on the left for me (he didn’t agree though - so he was wrong ). I’ve certainly see other, much better fully pro players do it well also. So I’ve seen it a lot and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.