Was John Stevens let go to soon?

[LAKings88]

I thought it was needed at the time. Looking at player stats the last season and beginning of this season, the players seemed to produce more under him.

The downward progression the second half of 17-18, the playoffs, and pre-season all combined for his eventual exit I know. His comments about lack of effort and not knowing what was going on have stuck in my crawl. Did he lose the room? Is it just an example of this core giving up on another coach. Could Stevens have been worse than Desjardins?

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[Axl Rhoadz]

I thought it was needed at the time. Looking at player stats the last season and beginning of this season, the players seemed to produce more under him.

The downward progression the second half of 17-18. The playoffs. Pre-season all combined for his eventual exit I know.
His comments about lack of effort and not knowing what was going on have stuck in my crawl. Did he lose the room? Is it just an example of this core giving up on another coach. Could Stevens have been worse than Desjardins?

It's possible, but SOMETHING had to be done. Kings were headed in the wrong direction, fast. The better question might be, was Stevens the right hire from the beginning? Answer = no. Blake is 0 for 2 on the coaching hires.

 

[LAKings88]

It's possible, but SOMETHING had to be done. Kings were headed in the wrong direction, fast. The better question might be, was Stevens the right hire from the beginning? Answer = no. Blake is 0 for 2 on the coaching hires.

It might have been a lazy hire honestly. Can’t remember what other candidates were available. I think Blake liked the familiarity. Probably a bit of a thank you for your previous service and not taking jobs elsewhere when offered.

Stevens looked pretty beat up in interviews toward the end. Maybe he knew it was inevitable. All coaches have shelf lives I guess. I just wonder what exactly happened. Desjardins always seemed like a bad mistake.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I liked Stevens, but no, he was not let go too soon.

He had the team poorly prepared for this year after fizzling out hard down at the end of the season last year, and his "I don't know" responses towards the end when he figured he was getting canned left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[LAKings88]

I liked Stevens, but no, he was not let go too soon.

He had the team poorly prepared for this year after fizzling out hard down at the end of the season last year, and his "I don't know" responses towards the end when he figured he was getting canned left a bad taste in my mouth.

The “I don’t know” response is puzzling.

Did he know and just not say? Seems like this group hasn’t been motivated all year. I’m hoping a new coach can turn them around and squeeze a bit more out of an aging core but I am concerned.

 

[King'sPawn]

I think the problem is WD was hired to early.

And by that, I mean he was hired in my lifetime and thus am a Kings fan.

 

[Telos]

He was a necessary casualty. Sure, things would have likely been better off with him at the helm than WD, but something had to be done and, along with jettisoning a solid name from the room, it was. Stevens would not have been a good fit for the rebuild, so it really doesn't matter. We just need to see if they can find someone who can give the team a good kick in the ass this offseason. Blake's new GM career depends on this hire, I expect him to make a well-calculated choice.

 

[DoktorJeep]

I think it was a hasty decision and done in response to external pressure from the fans. But with the interim tag put on the replacement, I take it as the first sign that management was making a realistic assessment of the roster.

 

[Herby]

No.

Stevens was not going to be the answer as coach for this team. The mistake was not in firing him, but hiring him. It was a lazy and embarrassing hire by Blake and he better do way better with the next one. And also WD might go down as the most toxic/damaging interim coach I've ever seen. These guys are supposed to just be placeholders and WD found a way to mess things up even worse.

 

[KingsFan7824]

No, it's pretty clear this team was out of it before training camp even started. Couldn't even manage to be .500 without Brown for 10 games, despite doing just that without Carter for 55 games last year. Letting Stevens go was doing him a favor. Especially if he still gets paid when he's behind the bench of not.

When you have a Cup winning veteran core, those guys should be the ones leading the team. That's what DL was banking on, and those guys have roundly failed at it. Plus all the poor drafting, from 2006, but especially from 2010 on. That helped nothing and nobody. You don't find yourself where the Kings are today, without failure across the board, for many years. Even when they were winning, they gave up a ton of future before they ever got out of the 1st round. 2014 should've ended, many times, before they raised the Cup. Stevens was the last gasp. He was the last in a long string of missteps.

Nonetheless, the 17-18 Kings averaged the most goals per game of any Kings teams since they started making the playoffs again in 09-10. Kopitar had his best season under him. Doughty had one of, if not his best season. Not Quick's best, but it was up there. Brown became a solid player again. In addition to that, the Flyers team Stevens had for a couple years were in the top 5 in GF. He did find a way to increase the offense, which is what he was asked to do. I think Stevens gets too much heat, although he was far from perfect. But this team was dead all year, and nobody was going to squeeze any juice from this turnip.

 

[kingsholygrail]

No. He never should have been the coach in the first place. They should have done a full clean sweep when they let go of Darryl and Dean. I think they realized that when the team came to the regular season completely unmotivated and completely unprepared. A lot of that rests on the vets for this team, but Stevens didn't exactly help the situation being a coach that tends to be more hands off with his players. WD was only better for the tank.

 

[King'sPawn]

No.

Stevens was not going to be the answer as coach for this team. The mistake was not in firing him, but hiring him. It was a lazy and embarrassing hire by Blake and he better do way better with the next one. And also WD might go down as the most toxic/damaging interim coach I've ever seen. These guys are supposed to just be placeholders and WD found a way to mess things up even worse.

I agree with this 100%.

Stevens is a great assistant coach. If he focused on the defense, he would have been great.

Promoting him was not in the organization's best interest long term.

 

[Herby]

The only possible out I could give to Blake was that DL had promised the job to Stevens when Sutter decided to retire and Blake felt that it was in the best interest of the team to honor it.

But I believe Blake has said that was not the case and they did an "exhaustive search", he could be lying but who knows.

 

[johnjm22]

I said at the time he should not have been fired. There was no point in getting rid of him now.

Should have just held on to him, let the team tank, then make a coaching change in the off season.

But it really doesn't matter that much IMO.

 

[KINGS17]

I don't think it was too soon to let Stevens go, but with it should have come the trading of some vets who were not and have not got the job done for the last five seasons.

The selection of groundskeeper Willie likely came with a hidden agenda, but I can't say that for a fact. It shouldn't have been hard for Blake to predict how players like Quick and Doughty would respond a coach like Willie. The next coach has to be someone who can earn the respect of the players, but how do you find a coach that fits the bill when the players don't even respect themselves or the effort they put forth for their teammates?

It's time for some addition by subtraction, even if the return on the asset being cut doesn't seem to make sense.

 

[BallPointHammer]

Why did the team (mainly the veterans) come into the season so unmotivated and unprepared?

I think having a decent season last year and then getting skunked by VGK kind of planted a seed in the collective mindset that said - we're done here, we're old, we'er dead tired, gonna get paid regardless, four underwhelming years after a long grind to two cups and we're burnt out. And the future be damned.

 

[Kingsfan1]

It might have been a lazy hire honestly. Can’t remember what other candidates were available. I think Blake liked the familiarity. Probably a bit of a thank you for your previous service and not taking jobs elsewhere when offered.

Stevens looked pretty beat up in interviews toward the end. Maybe he knew it was inevitable. All coaches have shelf lives I guess. I just wonder what exactly happened. Desjardins always seemed like a bad mistake.

Trotz was available unfortunately

 

[LAKings88]

Trotz was available unfortunately

This year he took over NYI. Last year he won with the Caps. He wasn’t available the year Stevens got the gig.

 

[King'sPawn]

This year he took over NYI. Last year he won with the Caps. He wasn’t available the year Stevens got the gig.

Yeah. Gerard Gallant was available though.

 

[LAKings88]

Why did the team (mainly the veterans) come into the season so unmotivated and unprepared?

I think having a decent season last year and then getting skunked by VGK kind of planted a seed in the collective mindset that said - we're done here, we're old, we'er dead tired, gonna get paid regardless, four underwhelming years after a long grind to two cups and we're burnt out. And the future be damned.

I also think that yardstick game against the Lightning where they were completely dominated was a devastating wake up call. They seemed broke after that.

 

[LAKings88]

Yeah. Gerard Gallant was available though.

I think he already committed to Vegas, could be wrong tho.

 

[AlphaBravo]

I can't say hiring Stevens in the first instance was a mistake. I think Blake was trying to keep an element of the cup winning squad and hope it carried over with coaching and the vets. It obviously did not work, but I don't blame Blake for trying to give it one more shot.

I blame 99.99% of this team's problems on the roster, instead of coaching. I don't think any coach could make this team a playoff squad. However, I agree with terminating Stevens because he clearly did not do a good job preparing this team for the season. There were glaring signs that this team was a disaster in preseason, even though preseason games generally don't mean much.

The WD hire is a nothing burger. Blake brought him in on an interim basis to just ride out the season. I think Blake already knew this roster needs an overhaul, which cannot be addressed in the season. I also don't think it would have been wise for Blake to do a serious coaching search for the future of this team in the middle of the season, and on the fly.

Now is the most critical season for Blake where he will leave his fingerprints on this team. I gave him all excuses before, but if we are trending in the wrong direction in the next three years, it is fully Blake's fault.

 

[Sol]

Nope, he was let go too late. In fact, removing him was great, hiring f***ing WD was f***ing stupid.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I can't say hiring Stevens in the first instance was a mistake. I think Blake was trying to keep an element of the cup winning squad and hope it carried over with coaching and the vets. It obviously did not work, but I don't blame Blake for trying to give it one more shot.

I blame 99.99% of this team's problems on the roster, instead of coaching. I don't think any coach could make this team a playoff squad. However, I agree with terminating Stevens because he clearly did not do a good job preparing this team for the season. There were glaring signs that this team was a disaster in preseason, even though preseason games generally don't mean much.

The WD hire is a nothing burger. Blake brought him in on an interim basis to just ride out the season. I think Blake already knew this roster needs an overhaul, which cannot be addressed in the season. I also don't think it would have been wise for Blake to do a serious coaching search for the future of this team in the middle of the season, and on the fly.

Now is the most critical season for Blake where he will leave his fingerprints on this team. I gave him all excuses before, but if we are trending in the wrong direction in the next three years, it is fully Blake's fault.

I agree that I don't think any coach 'saves' this year's team; but it begs the question why did they come in so flat, unprepared, and sloppy? THAT I have to lay at Stevens' feet to a large degree. And if not Stevens then definitely the coaching staff. Sure it's also on the players to have a good summer fitness wise too, so I'd blame the conditioning coach for that (as I did elsewhere) unless a bunch of players showed up out of shape, which wasn't reported.

 

[AlphaBravo]

I agree that I don't think any coach 'saves' this year's team; but it begs the question why did they come in so flat, unprepared, and sloppy? THAT I have to lay at Stevens' feet to a large degree. And if not Stevens then definitely the coaching staff. Sure it's also on the players to have a good summer fitness wise too, so I'd blame the conditioning coach for that (as I did elsewhere) unless a bunch of players showed up out of shape, which wasn't reported.

Yup. I blame Stevens for that as well. Plus, Stevens didn't strike me as a head coach type. He seemed to timid and not very confident. He seems like a perfect players-side assistant coach, but not a great coach. I would have loved to keep him around as an assistant coach if he likes living in LA.