Anaheim, Calif. – One of the things the Avalanche did on its California road trip was help get a coach fired.
About 23 hours after the Avs routed Los Angeles 5-0 on Monday at the Staples Center – punctuated by some booing of the home team – the Kings fired longtime coach Andy Murray.
The move was designed to give the Kings the little bump that sometimes comes after a coaching change and keep slumping Los Angeles from missing the playoffs. Los Angeles and Edmonton have 79 points, but the Oilers have played one fewer game than L.A.
The Kings got off to a surprising 27-14-2 start, but have gone 10-14-3 since and lost five of their past seven. Kings assistant John Van Boxmeer, a former Colorado Rockies defenseman, also was fired.
“The way they were playing after Christmas, you know that sometimes somebody has to pay the price,” Avalanche winger Ian Laperriere, who played eight seasons for the Kings before signing with Colorado last summer, said Wednesday morning as Colorado prepared to face the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. “You just can’t trade or get rid of 23 players. Sometimes the coach has to take the bump.”
Laperriere said Murray “has great qualities. He’s well prepared. He was good for me when I was there for five years under him.”
Kings general manager Dave Taylor made the decision. Tim Leiweke, the Kings’ chief executive officer, told the Los Angeles Times that he had apologized to the team’s owner, Phil Anschutz of Denver, for the team’s showing and lack of progress.
Anschutz bought the team a decade ago as the cornerstone of a bigger-picture real-estate picture tied to downtown Los Angeles development. The franchise has suffered a reported $250 million in losses under his ownership. The only playoff series it has won in that time came in the first round in 2001, when Adam Deadmarsh’s Game 6 overtime goal knocked Detroit out of the postseason.
The Kings are fighting the Avalanche and the Mighty Ducks for a playoff spot. Ducks coach Randy Carlyle became friends with Murray when both were working in the Winnipeg Jets organization.
“Our kids played minor hockey together in Winnipeg,” Carlyle said Wednesday morning. “We spent three or four years of driving and interaction as parents. Our relationship goes back a long way. … I know he’ll bounce back. He will coach again, I’d be willing to bet on that.”
Footnote
Goalie Jose Theodore’s girlfriend, Stephanie Cloutier, gave birth to a daughter in Montreal. The Avalanche is expecting him to arrive in Denver soon – probably early next week – to continue rehabilitation on his fractured heel and work toward stepping into the crease before the end of the regular season.
