. . . And. . . I'm Baaack! Watching the listless and lethargic lugs who are taking the ice this season in Kings jerseys (and isn't it somehow appropriate that the new third jerseys are gray?) has been difficult, not only because its been mostly boring and downright awful hockey but primarily because its a grim reminder of what I and many, many other old-timers suffered through for years and years at the House that Jack Built over on Manchester and Prairie. (At least you could use the pass gate there during the period breaks to go out to the car and tank up to make it bearable.)
Unfortunately, every longtime King Fan and poster on this board (Hello KING17, Ziggy, Reaper, BigKing, Telos, Herby, johnjm and whoever else I forgot) knew that the deficient duo of Luuuc and Mr. Cha-Ching was a disaster just waiting to unfold and a reversion to the "Old-Boys" type mentality that handcuffed this organ-eye-zation for far too many years. And this has nothing to do with the like-ability of Luc. If he can handle the business side of this enterprise, great. I have my doubts but thats really not the issue here.
The organization has a malaise about it now. You can feel the DL inspired culture melting away and you can see the lethargy set in. Talk to those around the organ-eye-zation, those who cover it and read between the lines. The play on the ice is reflective of something more than a changing game, a lack of speed and an aging lineup. The poor effort isn't a result of injuries or poor chemistry. although lack of conditioning is starting to show(isn't it Anze?)
Putting Blake in charge as a GM was a mistake, but we could all see it was being written on the wall when he became an assistant to DL.
You can second guess on player moves, or the lack thereof, from now til the cries of TANK FOR HUGHES are being shouted even by the newby fans when this season ultimately draws to a close. But just as Cha-Ching as GM was a bad move the choice of Willie Desjardins was far far worse. There was clear indication that the Kings need a strong hand that can light a fire under their collective and individual butts. Frankly, both our vaunted 1A and 1B centers need some pressbox time to remind them that this is a game of continuous not occasional effort. I don't think we lack the necessary speed, but we certainly are not conditioned to play at that fast speedy rate that many other teams do for 60 or 40 or even 30 minutes a night. (I think it is telling. after Cal Peterson won his first game, against Chicago, and was interviewed afterwards, that in the background, the only player riding the bike in the hallway . . . was none other than Ilya Kovolchuk, and he was pedaling hard.)
I'm not suggesting we go back to Andy Murray style hard practices all the time, to the point of setting records for man-games lost, but this team could use a few (okay more than a few) bag skates. And when that is what's required to energize a team it generally comes not from the players friend type coach (Stevens) or the intelligent system and tweaks coach (Desjardins), it comes from a fire and brimstone Hard as Iron style coach, who will grab this team by the scruff of its neck and whip them into shape. We know that Daryl Sutter isnt going to do the trick any longer because our players tuned him out about halfway through 2015, and coaches of that style have a effectiveness diminishes date that they come with that rarely much longer than 2 years, if that. But I'm o.k. with that. Personally I would have given the job to Iron Mike Keenan, (if he'd take it) and next choice would have been either Hitchcock or Dave Tippett. The idea of anyone as an interim coach leands further support to the conclusion that current management is unsure of what to do and lacks conviction of its own abilities. While questioning ones own decision making is a good thing once in a while, if the heads of this team, or any team, dont know which direction to go. how the hell is the team supposed to know.
At this point, the team and certain players are rudderless. I hand it to Brown and Clifford for their professionalism and continued efforts. It is immensely difficult to give it your all if players around you aren't serious or just dont care, and judging from what we all can see on the ice, it is either that or a silent rebellion. Whatever it is, core players particularly Kopitar, Carter, Tofolli and even Doughty need to be called out: and it is not too drastic to rip the "C" off Kopitar's jersey and give it to Clifford, to whom there is no question as to his effort or willingness to battle night in and night out. But of course that would require a GM who had a firm grasp of this team and a understanding of what needs to be done, combined with the conviction and confidence in his own abilities and decision making to follow through on his decisions. Yet what is clear, crystal clear to many, even if due to their proximity to management and the team itself, they cant say it, is that we don't have management that knows what the hell they are doing. They are currently faced with something they were never taught how to handle, and lacking the innate natural abilities necessary to lead a professional hockey organ-eye-zation, they cant figure it out for themselves either.
We are stuck with leaders who cant lead, and before too long it will be an entire team of players who wont follow. It would be easy to say that under those circumstances, why should they? But these are professional athletes whose maximum effort is required night in and night out. It is what they are paid for, results notwithstanding. Where results can be attained without maximum effort, the withheld effort will not be seen as a problem, if it is even seen at all. Where a previously championship caliber team is playing in the basement with no urgency to get out, where the lack of effort is obvious, every half stride, or unfinished or unmade check, every missed pass or shanked shot on an open net, every turn away from crashing the net and every half-hearted backcheck will be viewed under a microscope. A strong willed dictator of a coach may ruffle some feathers, and those feathers damn well need to be ruffled. But such a coach will also have an instant effect on this team, just as Sutter once did. But that decision wasnt made before and it may be too late now. But from a person whose often late himself, I'm fine with better late than never or as I prefer to say: Not too late and certainly never early, I arrive just when I'm needed most.
Already, watching a third of a season of hockey through a microscope lens has becomes tiring and quickly irritating as well. So much so that it brought me back here. (i know you are all pleased to see me! Ha!) But, Far worse for any longtime King fan, it conjures memories, bad bad memories of a hapless hockey franchise where the initial owner's goal was to fill seats, not win championships. His unsuccessful strategy to achieve that result was to bring in aging marquee named players at the twilight of their careers in hopes that transplants from colder more hockey inclined regions would flock to see names they recalled from those player's glory days. It resulted in some of the worst hockey deals ever and the trading away of draft picks and players who would have legendary careers, winning championships and ending up in the HHOF. The players who came here came for the weather and to sample southern California living at the end of their hockey careers. In doing so they quietly let their dreams of winning a championship die forever. We were rudderless and had clueless "old boy" leaders back then (Mcguire and McMaster), and it took a visionary, (a shill no more) to start from the ground up building not just a team but an entire hockey organ-eye-zation, and instilled in the players something unheard of here: a winning culture. He brought us not one but two championships, and but for a vicious Dave Boland cross-check to the head of one of our best players in 2013 and a few personal mis-steps from certain players , not the least of which was the victim of that crosscheck, and we would have likely had even more.
But that builder was cut loose and castaway along with the coach he hired, whom he was too loyal to fire when that coach had ceased to be effective as all iron willed coaches do after a point in this era of soft hearts and touchy feelings. He was replaced by a person he trained but who had none of the abilities he had. What was left was a duo of good ole team boys, (one of whom is the nicest guy around, the other one whose middle name is "Bowlby" ) Yet, being ex players and being nice and/or well liked are not necessary prerequisites for heading a professional sports franchise whereas vision, intelligence, insight and a tried and true plan to build a championship team absolutely are. I'm reasonably certain that I'm not going too far out on a limb to say that the deficient duo currently in charge lack all of those essential qualities.
If real change is to be had, change that makes a difference in the on ice results, it will have to start at the very top.
I will paraphrase what someone once said about the L.A. Raiders, "Unless they can trade for a new ownership group, this team is done."
