next Kings COACH...
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Herby
How could Blake have known?
Blake should have known the team was beyond repair when he took over. Instead he kept doing what the previous guy was doing and somehow made a horrendous situation even worse.
- May 9, 2014
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Or perhaps he was asked to see if it was possible to do a retool before more of a rebuild was sanctioned. Its entirely possible and reasonable to think Uncle Phil signed off on getting WD to take the reigns as Intrim coach until a suitable coach was available. Yes it costs money but in terms of Phil’s tax returns he can probably find a way of offsetting the cost, either way as long as it fits within Blake’s budget he can easily live with it.
It’s really isn’t all that much of an stretch to think that Luc and Blake were asked to first try and drag any remaining upside out of the cup winners left on the roster. Then after the the start they made last year the green light was given for a rebuild. There is so much assume going on with regards to the parameters Blake is working to. Which of course has nothing to do with peoples personal views on Blake.
I’m not saying I have any idea either, let’s face it he could very well be sh!tting the bed. However I do think he seems much more comfortable talking about how they move forward now as opposed to being asked if he could turn the team back into a contender when he first took the job. As long as a clear direction is set out and adhered to, I’ll be satisfied. I’m certainly happy to give it a chance.
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KingPuckChoo
Go kinGs Go !
- Jun 24, 2007
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let's dissect
1) Willie Desjardins was hired as a coach, regardless of length, to literally coach the kings...it really doesn't need to be more complex than that - FACT
2) It really isn't hard to understand the fact above - FACT
3) Willie Desjardins is not Phil Housley - FACT
4) All coaches hired prior seasons, current pre-season, beginning season, or mid-season are expected to finish the season - FACT
5) This is true for coaches with an expiring contract by season's end, untrue for coaches that their contracts extends beyond 2019 - FACT
6) It's really not hard to grasp all this - FACT
Conclusion: WILIE DESJARDINS WAS A TERRIBLE HIRE BY ROB BLAKE - FACT
AlphaBravo
Registered User
Blake brought in WD to simply finish off the year. The season was over a month in. I think they decided to give WD a shot (instead of finishing the year with Stevens) just to see if ANY coach change could spark life into the team. I doubt any real coaching candidate was available mid-season. A legit coach would not risk looking like a bad coach as a mid season hire.
Thus, I wouldn’t look into Blake hiring WD as a sign of incompetence at getting a bad coach.
Blake is smarter than most give him credit for. I think management has wanted him to squeeze as much as he can from the cup winning team to drive revenues. If he honestly believe the team was a contender he wouldn’t have kept all his draft picks since getting hired.
Thus, I wouldn’t look into Blake hiring WD as a sign of incompetence at getting a bad coach.
Blake is smarter than most give him credit for. I think management has wanted him to squeeze as much as he can from the cup winning team to drive revenues. If he honestly believe the team was a contender he wouldn’t have kept all his draft picks since getting hired.
King'sPawn
Enjoy the chaos
- Jul 1, 2003
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FWIW, I don't see Blake hiring WD as a sign of incompetence. WD certainly had signs of incompetence, but I'm sure Blake didn't plan to keep WD long term unless WD did a good job turning things around.
However, if I'm Luc/Blake's boss, I'm going to say that he has had Stevens and WD as chances to turn the organization around. I would start questioning my employees' judgment if he has gone through two opportunities in two years, and will now be making a third hire for a position where the expected tenure is at least a couple years.
Blake is hanging his hat on someone he knows. Considering this time it will be for five years, I'd say this is Blake's last chance to start delivering on whatever plan he's selling.
KingPuckChoo
Go kinGs Go !
- Jun 24, 2007
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the last time i saw a blatant case of nepotism was in Edmonton during the Lowe Mactavish era
and now Blake hires his buddy McLellan
hiring people you know over people that will do a better job is not always a successful move
time will judge the Blake doubters to be correct
but until then, us fans will fire back and forth at each other with stupidities over something that everyone will agree on in two years time
whatever
and now Blake hires his buddy McLellan
hiring people you know over people that will do a better job is not always a successful move
time will judge the Blake doubters to be correct
but until then, us fans will fire back and forth at each other with stupidities over something that everyone will agree on in two years time
whatever
yankeeking
Registered User
My ticket rep said there were many STH that were not renewing I wonder if simple dollars got them to go for the rebuild now
The hire is nepotistic, but it just so happens that McLellan is one of the most notable names out in the field. Luc and Blake are clearly working on a naive and nepotistic level, but this hire may not be terrible. Though most coaches in the league are considered failures for one reason or another if they aren't in contention for the cup that year.
The other names that were put out there were far worse and way more nepotistic than McLellan's. Sure, there is likely a better candidate, and I hate recycling the same 40 coaches endlessly throughout the league, but he is the lesser of many evils and there is nothing we can do about it. The pick could have been much worse than McLellan.
I am sure it is definitely a factor.
Dude, Lombardi did the same exact f***ing thing and that seemed to work out just fine.
DoktorJeep
Luc and Rob are a waste of time and money.
I don’t view McLellan as nepotism. More a case of another half measure move at a time when only a full measure will do.
One, I think it’s a mistake to expect a coach to turn this franchise around. On ice talent has the most to do with wins, so realistically, even the greatest coaching performance would at best be an average to mediocre season any time soon.
I think Blake’s recent comments that one of his key criteria for the new coach is telling as to his mindset about the team. LAKI has Blake saying that a coach with credibility from the players is among the most important criteria. I read into this that he continues to coddle the vets with his decision making.
The Kings have highly paid, cup winning veterans littered throughout the lineup. Their biggest problem is a lack of multiple high end talents in their primes. There only hope to establish respectability is to play a defensive, uptempo system.
The highly paid vets can only be expected to perform under this system with reduced minutes. And by default the minutes need to shift to unproven youth. If you had one or two legacy vets, it’s ok to bring in a care taker coach who is a safe pick. But Blake is late to realize the true state of the franchise and needs to start making up lost ground.
One way to do that is bring in a coach closer to 30 years old than 40 years old. I think a younger, emotional leader is what this team is missing. I think we need a coach who can get the best out our 26 yo and younger players and is given permission to turn legacy vets into role players and bench any who aren’t with the program.
When I read Blake’s comments, he seems like a guy frightened by his payroll and hitting his quarterly numbers.
One, I think it’s a mistake to expect a coach to turn this franchise around. On ice talent has the most to do with wins, so realistically, even the greatest coaching performance would at best be an average to mediocre season any time soon.
I think Blake’s recent comments that one of his key criteria for the new coach is telling as to his mindset about the team. LAKI has Blake saying that a coach with credibility from the players is among the most important criteria. I read into this that he continues to coddle the vets with his decision making.
The Kings have highly paid, cup winning veterans littered throughout the lineup. Their biggest problem is a lack of multiple high end talents in their primes. There only hope to establish respectability is to play a defensive, uptempo system.
The highly paid vets can only be expected to perform under this system with reduced minutes. And by default the minutes need to shift to unproven youth. If you had one or two legacy vets, it’s ok to bring in a care taker coach who is a safe pick. But Blake is late to realize the true state of the franchise and needs to start making up lost ground.
One way to do that is bring in a coach closer to 30 years old than 40 years old. I think a younger, emotional leader is what this team is missing. I think we need a coach who can get the best out our 26 yo and younger players and is given permission to turn legacy vets into role players and bench any who aren’t with the program.
When I read Blake’s comments, he seems like a guy frightened by his payroll and hitting his quarterly numbers.
KINGS17
Smartest in the Room
- Apr 6, 2006
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I wholeheartedly agree with your point about this roster of players. No coach is going to take this core to the top of the mountain again. The core players simply were not willing to pay the price after 2014, and now they are too old and their skills too diminished to get it done. There is no passion demonstrated for the game, and they don't play for each other.
You see some of the younger guys who will play for their teammates in Wagner, MacDermid, Kempe (at times), and Grundstrom. Among the vets Clifford is still a warrior, but the rest of them don't seem to give a S*** about their teammates, and that's a sign of a room where guys may like each other, but they don't respect each other enough to stand up for one another.
Blake needs to identify the vets with character who will teach the young guys how to prepare for and play an entire NHL season and on into the playoffs some day. I would start by keeping Clifford and Brown, then looking for some steady leadership in the UFA market. It won't be easy though because there are too many boat-anchor contracts around Blake's neck, one of them his fault, one of them not.
I think next season we are going to see much of the same type of performance with the only spark being the young guys who make the roster. I don't expect Kupari, or anyone the Kings take in the upcoming draft to make the club. Help in the form of young talent isn't going to arrive for 2-3 years.
I don't know if other posters who say the Kings 2012 style is completely obsolete, and there are differences between the teams, but this edition of the Columbus Bluejackets seems to have stolen at least a couple of chapter from the Kings book.
I agree. Even the Caps last year played heavy. Guys like Wilson Oshie and Smith Pelley. A major factor on those Penguins cup teams was how fast they moved the puck rather than how fast they skate. Skating speed is important but as you see with a guy like Toby Reider or sometimes Trevor Lewis you can skate fast and go nowhere
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KingPuckChoo
Go kinGs Go !
- Jun 24, 2007
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yea some kind of ISM
didn't research the exact word for it, but i know guys like you exist and will correct it even though you fully understood the essence of the post
they are buddies
best hire available as per experience would have been Quenneville and he WAS available after the INTERIM job given to WD - i mean isn't that the f***ing purpose of an INTERIM... if he truly was an INTERIM to begin with, that's debatable
but that's definately the angle he sold to the fans, therefore an INTERIM can last a week or a year
now, you're going to say: Joel Quenneville needed time to reassess and would never join a team mid-season, that's speculative, the thing i need to know (that none of us know unless one of us sleeps with Rob Blake), HAS HE EVER PICKED UP THE PHONE AND SAY "HEY! JOEL WHAT'S UP?!
you don't know
i don't know
but he never mentioned it, which probably means more likely NO than YES!
further... Alain Vigneault is available and has had way more success than McLellan can fake on his CV
in closing, this is a pure NEPOTISM move at its best
(now correct me)
King'sPawn
Enjoy the chaos
- Jul 1, 2003
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I'm not sure how AV is better than TMac.
I've never liked his teams.
I've never liked his teams.
look at his records in both Vancouver and New York, he's markedly better as a coach
kingsboy11
Champions Again
Jesus Christ Blake played under McClellan for 2 years how can it possibly be Nepotism or cronynism or whatever? It can't possibly be that we have had first hand look at McLellan's teams since he's been in the league because he has only coached in the pacific division. No it can't be that.
KingPuckChoo
Go kinGs Go !
- Jun 24, 2007
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Patrick Roy would be a really interesting option, coaching emotional guys like Drew Doughty & Jonathan Quick
i'd like to see that for entertainment value
i'd like to see that for entertainment value
KingPuckChoo
Go kinGs Go !
- Jun 24, 2007
- 10,129
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Old news but still...
8. This may be irrelevant quickly, but if Todd McLellan goes elsewhere, the assumption is the Kings’ next targets will include three others with ties to Blake: Tony Granato (played with him in Los Angeles); Bob Hartley (played for him in Colorado); and Patrick Roy (played with him in Colorado). Outside possibility: Doug Weight. In the past, they’ve eyed offensively minded coaches. (After this was initially published, a couple sources reached out to say I was missing the possibility of Dave Tippett in Los Angeles and Philadelphia.)
8. This may be irrelevant quickly, but if Todd McLellan goes elsewhere, the assumption is the Kings’ next targets will include three others with ties to Blake: Tony Granato (played with him in Los Angeles); Bob Hartley (played for him in Colorado); and Patrick Roy (played with him in Colorado). Outside possibility: Doug Weight. In the past, they’ve eyed offensively minded coaches. (After this was initially published, a couple sources reached out to say I was missing the possibility of Dave Tippett in Los Angeles and Philadelphia.)
Heh, I agree that it would be interesting and entertaining, though it would probably be a disaster overall. A hilarious disaster though.
That's the list I was referring to the other day. That list is horrific. I want McLellan for the sole reason to stay away from that list. He is by far the lesser of all the available evils.
DoktorJeep
Luc and Rob are a waste of time and money.
The only logical choice is Blake name himself coach and GM. I’d actually be ok with that. Save some money too.
King'sPawn
Enjoy the chaos
- Jul 1, 2003
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Okay. I looked at their records per your request.
Coaching career
Vigneault's 1429 points in 1216 games (.588) is better than McLellan's 958 points in 806 games (.594)?
Even if you want to throw out Vigneault's earlier teams and look at just Vancouver and New York (1114 points in 950 games/.586), it's not markedly better. It's actually worse.
How is he markedly better?
Raccoon Jesus
We were right there
Yeah, I'm on board with this if only because it's sure fireworks.
Roy would LOVE Quick. And he certainly wouldn't leave him in for too many goals
KingPuckChoo
Go kinGs Go !
- Jun 24, 2007
- 10,129
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Yeah, I'm on board with this if only because it's sure fireworks.
Roy would LOVE Quick. And he certainly wouldn't leave him in for too many goals
yes!! and we're pretty much guaranteed to be shit for the next few years anyway so having Roy would be awesome! he'd teach them to stand up for each other at least
imagine LA vs CGY w/ Tkachuk playing like the p***y that he is and w/ Roy as our bench boss?
FOGITABOUT IT!!
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