What if you miss playoffs?
 

Stars fan here. Love the Penner acquisition. What happens if you guys don't make playoffs? Currently Kings fans have been assuming playoffs would be a reality since day one from my lurking around the forums. If the Kings struggle until april what will the consequences be? Penner was added to help with a cup run. Similarly Richards was retained for a cup run although both our teams are maybe's for sure spots. What would the future hold for the Kings assuming they somehow missed playoffs?

Hopefully the coaching staff would be gone. The Kings have the players to win, just a horrible offensive system holding them back.

I believe the kings will come in 6th--look for Phoenix or Calgary to stumble

If they miss the playoffs, Murray must go!!!

Coaching, I would assume. But, I don't see them missing the playoffs which means Murray sticks around. Kind of a lose lose situation :sarcasm:

If playoffs are missed, I expect AEG to rear their head and ditch Murray and DL. Big if. We have a lot of games coming up against teams who our style theoretically should match up with.

Dallas
@Detroit
@Columbus
@Dallas
@Nashville
St. Louis
Anaheim
Calgary
San Jose
Colorado
@Edmonton

Our schedule through this stretch is anything but difficult, if we aren't close to clinching our spot by the end of that, then I really don't know what to say honestly. I can't even think of the Kings not snatching a bunch of points in those games.

I don't think DL is in any danger. He will be allowed another coach.

Dean has signed some very nice contacts with the core players.

Ditto.

But if this team misses the playoffs, considering how few games they play against teams that are above their level, Murray is as good as gone.

ditto also. i think DL is safe. the trade for Penner i believe improves his position further. TMu on the other hand and his staff would be out the door. personally i think he has brought this team as far as he can. he is a good coach and teacher. good at developing young players into professionals. at the same time i don't think he is the person to take them the next step. LA needs a coach that now will challenge 'not so young' players to achieve more than they have. Murray obviously can't do this on a consistent basis which is evident with the Kings up and down season. imo he is getting tuned out by the players to some degree already.

the bigger question then is who does Lombardi get to replace him and take the team the rest of the way?

Tippett after the new Phoenix owner fires him. ;)

Lombardi will still be the GM if the team makes or misses the playoffs.

This team's best players lack the maturity to put together much of a run in the playoffs, but I don't see the Kings missing the playoffs. Two young goalies that are both playing well right now, a defensive system that keeps them in every game even when they are getting outplayed, and a not so tough schedule the rest of the way probably means they get in.

Murray is gone and AEG will force Lombardi to thrown the kitchen sink at Richards.

Hope it doesn't hit him in the head.

Watching other teams play just makes me wish that the Kings could make the playoffs and still fire Murray.

Having to rely on your goalie to win games is too much. They need more goal support. What is the Kings goals for since the new year? Has go be one of the worst in the west.

Yes bacause Murray is the one that's on the ice and can't find the back of net. It's all his fault :facepalm:

This this this^

Oh and THIS THIS THIS^

I am hoping that TM makes me eat my words and I am hoping that he does so for the next several years but I am not too worried about it happening.

Other than that it is part of what it takes to build a championship level team. If you think that in todays NHL that you can slack off or phone it in your wrong and this is what happens when you do. I also think that this season has done a good job at forcing our core to have to count on each other as well as pointing out where some of our team may not be a perfect fit at their current job.

Every player on our team either plays Murrays system or they don't play. How can it not be at least partly his fault if not mostly? If your instincts that you have honed and have carried you to the NHL tell you that what your coach is telling you to do is contradictory to everything you know to be true but, you also know that unless you follow his instruction to the letter that you will see your minutes cut or benched which would you do? You do what your told to the best of your ability because all you ever have or will want is to play in the NHL and you figure that coaches come and go so the best that you can do is try your best.

Even if it means that you aren't going to be able to play to the level that you know you are capable of due to the fact that your coach has told you to do something that keeps you out of position at times.

Murph has yet to do anything to adapt his system since he has been here. He is the same coach that i watched in Fla and in Phil. I put him up there with the kind of coach where teams sometimes in spite of their coaches find a way to win the cup.

How about allowing your team to skate through the center of the ice? You know, where most scoring chances are created? Murray has such a defense first system, the Kings defense and F3 forward are almost never available for offense and rarely keep the puck in the zone to force the other team back.

You must not read Murray's post game comments where he talks about point shots and hoping for something good? He coaches for 2-1 grind it out wins and that relies on too much "luck" for my liking. Right now the Kings are about 58% and need to be above 60% to make the playoffs. Scoring 1 goal per game won't get them there.

How about the PP umbrella setup with zero movement? Loktionov was one of the few players skating through the middle and he was sent back to Manchester. Murray called him out for not playing "heavy" enough. How "heavy" is Kopitar and Doughty playing? I'm afraid that Schenn won't play heavy enough next season for Murray. How many more skilled players do we have to watch on other teams before we look at the coach for why they struggled in LA? I'm looking forward to the post about how Penner is lazy and doesn't hit enough. :rolleyes: Someone already blamed him for the 2nd goal against. :facepalm:

How about the daily line changes? I expect Brown to be out on the top line for Monday. This is how Murray "coaches" after a loss.

Some were saying the same thing in NJ before the coaching change. How is that working out? The Islanders are playing better with a new coach too.

Meh. :rant: over. I feel better again. I need to fire up NHL 11 with the new Kings lineup and play an up tempo possession style offense. :D

#winning

A coaching change would make the most sense IMO, there's a lot of talent and grit in that locker room.

Why would he do that? He already has a concussion.

.....sorry. I couldn't resist.

Anyway,

I don't see the Kings missing the playoffs. They have way too much talent.

Now that was funny!

Unfortunately, the better coaches are coaching.

We had a thread a while back that asked for coaching suggestions. It was bleak. There's a very good chance that the next coach will be worse than the one the Kings have today. Hopefully it won't be, but I wouldn't bet on it. The odds are poor.

The defensive system the Kings employ is the best I've ever seen from a Kings team. I don't know if there's ever been a stronger system used in Kings history. It's the offense that is rough to watch - the PP in particular.

People think a coaching change will solve every problem. Of course it never does. It solves some problems and creates new ones.

In any case, Murray is a scapegoat. The issues the team has had this season lay at Lombardi's feet, not at Murray's. It wasn't until a few days ago when all of the holes on this team were finally filled (one could argue there's still a depth problem at center). Kopitar's on his 10th winger now. Waiting an entire year to address a top 6 hole isn't Murray's fault. It's Dean's. He waited too long to fill it and we may very well be out of the playoffs as a result.

I do agree that the pickins were pretty slim and I even think that making a mid season coaching change when should only be done as a last resort or if your perfect fit coach comes up without warning (Tipps).

However, there are a couple of execs/coaches who have made it clear that they will always consider coaching if the right position comes up. The question to me is are we the right situation to lure one of these guys to come coach our team.

This doesn't make sense. The Kings were in a playoff position when Penner was acquired. If the Kings don't make the playoffs, it is on Murray, not Dean. The Kings have been one of the healthiest teams in the NHL, yet their offense and PP are below playoff caliber. Goals will be even harder to score in the playoffs and they can only get 1 or 2 now.

The Kings have 2 goals in 2 games with Penner and he has one of them. The Kings are 1-1.


Is Murray the worst coach in the Pacific? Even Crawford has the Stars playing better and Richards has been out.

If we miss the playoffs, I would love to see TM get the boot. However I just don't see the happening unless we go on another crazy losing streak. If we just miss it by a few points, I think he'll stick around because it will be chalked up to how tight the West is this year. As for DL, I think that he'll be around no matter what happens.