Good bye Johnny Cakes

[Samifan]

 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Not shocking, I suppose.

Awufl, awful season thus far by the LA Kings, and I wonder if there is ANY cure for this team in sight.
Was it all on Stevens? Are the players simply underperforming? Maybe the players simply aren't that good once you get past Anze Kopitar's top line and Drew Doughty's top pairing of defensemen.

The vaunted defensive structure of the LA Kings seems almost non existent, as is the stout goaltending that this team is known for.

Jonathan Quick is injured and the Kings need him you say?
Perhaps.... but they showed some crazy stat the other day on TV where the Kings this season and last, had a BETTER record with someone OTHER than Quick in net.
Yes, that sounds insane, but I think it speaks to the overall team work ethic.

Does the team play harder when a back up is in because "Quick isn't there to make all the crazy stops?" and conversely, play a bit more lax when he IS in there?
Who is responsible for this unacceptable team attitude? The captain, the vets on the team as a whole? The head coach?

Looks like John Stevens, for better or worse, will be taking the blame here.
Like they say...easier to fire one guy than 15 or 20.

I wonder who LA will point fingers to next if the Kings do NOT improve themselves even after Stevens' departure?

[FD19372]

1 minute ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

Not shocking, I suppose.

Awufl, awful season thus far by the LA Kings, and I wonder if there is ANY cure for this team in sight.
Was it all on Stevens? Are the players simply underperforming? Maybe the players simply aren't that good once you get past Anze Kopitar's top line and Drew Doughty's top pairing of defensemen.

The vaunted defensive structure of the LA Kings seems almost non existent, as is the stout goaltending that this team is known for.

Jonathan Quick is injured and the Kings need him you say?
Perhaps.... but they showed some crazy stat the other day on TV where the Kings this season and last, had a BETTER record with someone OTHER than Quick in net.
Yes, that sounds insane, but I think it speaks to the overall team work ethic.

Does the team play harder when a back up is in because "Quick isn't there to make all the crazy stops?" and conversely, play a bit more lax when he IS in there?
Who is responsible for this unacceptable team attitude? The captain, the vets on the team as a whole? The head coach?

Looks like John Stevens, for better or worse, will be taking the blame here.
Like they say...easier to fire one guy than 15 or 20.

I wonder who LA will point fingers to next if the Kings do NOT improve themselves even after Stevens' departure?

Not shocking, but not all on Stevens by any stretch either...although I stand by my contention that I had at the time of his hiring that he was the wrong choice. The core of players is aging, they are too slow, and their top 4 D aren't what they used to be. They have a horrible offense right now. Kovalchuk is warming up a bit, but he alone will not solve their lack of offensive production. I would say that this is more on Rob Blake than on John Stevens. They have to get faster, and get better skilled forwards than what they currently possess. Their defense isn't close to what it used to be either, by any means.

[ruxpin]

17 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

Awufl, awful season thus far by the LA Kings, and I wonder if there is ANY cure for this team in sight.
Was it all on Stevens?

 

Almost all on Stevens.   Utterly horrible choice for coach.  

 

I'm sorry, but the Kings organization deserves what it gets.  You look at Stevens' experience in Philly.  There was absolutely nothing positive about it.  I mean, he was completely and astoundingly ridiculous.

 

So, he seemingly does well as an assistant in LA.   Guess what?  THE DUDE IS AN ASSISTANT COACH.  He is entirely incapable of running his own show.  He needs someone else's authority to accomplish anything.   And so, you see the result of hiring an incompetent twatwaffle for President...er...head coach. 

 

Some other idiotic organization (I'm looking at you, Ron Hextall) will hire this guy as their HC because history apparently cannot be used as a predictive tool.   No, we walk around piously "how do you know it won't be different?"    BECAUSE WE KNOW!!!

[ruxpin]

14 minutes ago, FD19372 said:

Kovalchuk is warming up a bit, but he alone will not solve their lack of offensive production. I would say that this is more on Rob Blake than on John Stevens.

 

Because Blake put Stevens behind the bench.

 

Yeah, Kovalchuk is warming up, a lot because Brown is back, who has come out of the gate pretty well.

 

Their offense will likely be okay.    Their defense has not played well and Campbell is not an NHL goalie (which is not Stevens' fault).  They need to bring someone--I don't know who--in that will get them to play team defense.    I had no expectation of their sniffing the playoffs, but they should be better than this.   

 

I agree Blake hasn't done a great job.   Including hiring Johnny Cakes.

[FD19372]

3 minutes ago, ruxpin said:

 

Because Blake put Stevens behind the bench.

 

Yeah, Kovalchuk is warming up, a lot because Brown is back, who has come out of the gate pretty well.

 

Their offense will likely be okay.    Their defense has not played well and Campbell is not an NHL goalie (which is not Stevens' fault).  They need to bring someone--I don't know who--in that will get them to play team defense.    I had no expectation of their sniffing the playoffs, but they should be better than this.   

 

I agree Blake hasn't done a great job.   Including hiring Johnny Cakes.

Breaking news: Darryl Sutter is available.

[Hockey-78]

Willie Desjardins. Really an upgrade?

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

3 minutes ago, Hockey-78 said:

Willie Desjardins. Really an upgrade?

 

At this point, why not?

He dealt with a waning team in Vancouver before he was replaced there, but I mean, the Kings are just about at rock bottom...can't hurt.
And it is being said he is "interim", so not like LA has committed anything long term to him.... they just need someone in there NOW.

[ruxpin]

30 minutes ago, FD19372 said:

Breaking news: Darryl Sutter is available.

Lol. Yeah. I've actually come around on that a bit.  Still wouldn't be my first choice, but I wouldn't be as ardently opposed. 

[yave1964]

So a veteran team turns on their tough guy coach who they are always in the running for the cup with, runs him out and then quits on his replacement. Sounds like the Wings. I thought Sutter got a raw deal at the time as Doughty especially was vocal about getting tired of him and I am not a fan of players running their coaches out, Stevens was probably doomed from the start.

 

  My choice, IMHO the most ridiculously qualified coach who has yet to get his break is Sheldon Keefe who might be able to spark this aging pampered team though if I were him I might want to wait around for a younger team to come calling as this one is clearly past its expiration date.

[yave1964]

Jeezums, I saw the comments about Desjardins and thought they were a joke. I cannot believe he was really chosen after failing so miserably the first time around.

[hf101]

4 hours ago, FD19372 said:

Not shocking, but not all on Stevens by any stretch either...although I stand by my contention that I had at the time of his hiring that he was the wrong choice. The core of players is aging, they are too slow, and their top 4 D aren't what they used to be. They have a horrible offense right now. Kovalchuk is warming up a bit, but he alone will not solve their lack of offensive production. I would say that this is more on Rob Blake than on John Stevens. They have to get faster, and get better skilled forwards than what they currently possess. Their defense isn't close to what it used to be either, by any means.

 

 

Yep Agree.  Stevens is the scapegoat here.   I still don't necessarily think he is a bad coach.  The team is just not built to compete with today's format with skill and speed. It is still set with the Sutter physical line up that was to outlast the opponent.   Problem is that cup lineup has been replaced with smaller players playing the same game without being more skilled.  Quick was their savior and without him the flaws are exposed. Thus imo the real blame lies in the management and in the GM.

[ruxpin]

55 minutes ago, hf101 said:

Thus imo the real blame lies in the management and in the GM.

 

...for hiring a ridiculous head coach.

 

(And what you said).

 

John Stevens was not, is not, and will never be constitutionally capable of being a successful head coach.  Some are great lieutenants but lousy captains.   He's that type.

[AJgoal]

40 minutes ago, ruxpin said:

 

...for hiring a ridiculous head coach.

 

(And what you said).

 

John Stevens was not, is not, and will never be constitutionally capable of being a successful head coach.  Some are great lieutenants but lousy captains.   He's that type.

 

Think he could fix the Flyers' PK?

[ruxpin]

1 minute ago, AJgoal said:

 

Think he could fix the Flyers' PK?

 

You know what?  That's actually not a terrible thought.  

 

I don't dislike Stevens.  I just don't think he's remotely head coach material.  But as an assistant and a specific thing to focus on, he's better than average.

[AJgoal]

Just now, ruxpin said:

 

You know what?  That's actually not a terrible thought.  

 

I don't dislike Stevens.  I just don't think he's remotely head coach material.  But as an assistant and a specific thing to focus on, he's better than average.

 

I can't take credit for it, heard it proposed on the radio prior to the firing. But the PK under him was always very good. He did have Richards and Carter and Gagne, but it's not like the Flyers don't have some quality defensive forwards currently. 

[OccamsRazor]

7 hours ago, Samifan said:

 

 

I guess the Flyers were so bad Blake could deal with losing to them...1 for 5 against one of the PKs in the NHL will do it.

 

 

[JR Ewing]

Point-form thoughts.

 

-Ordinarily, I would call this a case of the GM saving his own job, but Blake is a Kings legend and very unlikely to be fired himself. He already threw Stevens under the bus the moment he went into the locker room when he excoriated the team a few games into the season.

-The Kings are still a pretty decent defensive team; about 9% better than league average. That's something.

-To that same extent, they've been poor on the offensive game. Look at this heat map:

 

-Overall, they're almost 10% worse than league average offensively, but real take-away is that they generate NOTHING at home plate; not a thing. Their shots all generated from the left point or RW boards. Not exactly prime scoring area. I don't know what can be done to remedy that, because they're just too damned old and slow to really get the puck to those areas. Speed is the new size, and they just don't have much of it.

-The PP is much the same story, but worse. They generate almost 20% fewer chances than average, and nothing from in the front of the net.

-This is part of a trend which has been building for a few years now, and now the hens are coming home to roost... Each year, they've created less than the year before. It's tough to see how a new coach just comes in and remedies this.

 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

@JR Ewing

 

That is pretty interesting.

Just from watching some Kings games, I already knew the team was woeful on offense, but after studying this map, I can really see why.
I've often lamented the Minnesota Wild's offense at times and their PP and why they were so ineffective at times, and usually came away thinking "No one is going to the front of the net" or "No shots are being taken from good scoring areas...everything is from the perimeter"

Well, this thing pretty much shows that's precisely the reason WHY the Kings are having so much trouble scoring consistently.
Sure, their size serves them well along those same boards, but once they win the puck...then what? 
They either have to take poor shots, or try to work towards prime real estate, which, as you pointed out, they are kinda too slow to really do given that most competent NHL defenses are quick to seal off any routes to those areas.

Good post.

Nice to have something concrete confirm things I sorta suspected.  

[Hockey-78]

11 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

At this point, why not?

He dealt with a waning team in Vancouver before he was replaced there, but I mean, the Kings are just about at rock bottom...can't hurt.
And it is being said he is "interim", so not like LA has committed anything long term to him.... they just need someone in there NOW.

At 60 years of age his major achievements have been in the junior leagues. Only three seasons with the big boys with only below average results. I really don't see him as a coach who can turn the heads of veteran NHL players and could get an underachieving team going again. I wouldn't underline the word "interim" since the object is to get the team going now.

 

Remains to be seen but I don't see this move doing much of anything. I think Blake picked the wrong man.

[Hockey-78]

Willie won his debut, since then 3 losses out of 3 games, 2 goals scored in those games. Not exactly the start he and Blake hoped for...

[hf101]

3 hours ago, Hockey-78 said:

Willie won his debut, since then 3 losses out of 3 games, 2 goals scored in those games. Not exactly the start he and Blake hoped for...

 

The Kings depend heavily on great goaltending to win games, without Quick and Campbell for several more weeks I doubt there will be many wins for the new coach.  Kovalchuk won't be winning any championships with this team.