Kings to introduce new coach Monday

[Vegas]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/5622608

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) - Marc Crawford will reportedly be introduced as the new coach of the Los Angeles Kings (http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/team/66307) on Monday.
The Kings (http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/team/66307) scheduled a morning news conference and said on Friday that the new coach would be revealed.Quoting sources, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Kings (http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/team/66307) are expected to hire former Vancouver and Colorado coach Marc Crawford as the replacement for John Torchetti, who was behind the bench for the final 12 games last season after Andy Murray was fired.
Team spokesman Mike Altieri declined comment.
The move will be the first made by Dean Lombardi, hired last month to succeed Dave Taylor as general manager.
The 46-year-old Crawford spent the last seven seasons as coach of the Canucks (http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/team/66321), who made the playoffs four times in a row before finishing ninth in the Western Conference this season.
Crawford, who led the Colorado Avalanche (http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/team/66316) to a Stanley Cup championship in 1996, was 246-197-70 with Vancouver, but only won one postseason series. The Canucks (http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/team/66321) twice lost a Game 7 on home ice under his leadership.
Vancouver finished 42-32-8 this season, losing six of its last eight games to fall three points behind Edmonton for the final playoff spot in the West. Crawford, who has 411 wins as an NHL head coach, was fired after the season ended.
The Kings (http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/team/66307) got off to a good start last season, but a late collapse led to the firing of Murray in March and Taylor in April. The Kings (http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/team/66307) were 37-28-5 and tied for seventh in the Western Conference when Murray was dismissed, and finished 42-35-5 to miss the playoffs for a third consecutive season.

[Vegas]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/hockey/nhl/kings/la-sp-kings19may19,1,665974.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-nhl-kings&ctrack=1&cset=true

Former Vancouver Canucks head coach Marc Crawford is expected to be hired as the Kings' coach, two league sources said, with the deal anticipated to be in place by Monday.

Crawford brings a history of success as a head coach. He won a Stanley Cup championship with the Colorado Avalanche in 1995-96 and spent the last seven seasons with the Canucks, reaching the playoffs four times in a row. But they finished ninth in the Western Conference this season and he was fired in April. Crawford would replace John Torchetti, who coached the last 12 games after Andy Murray was fired.

The hiring would be the first major move by Dean Lombardi since he became the Kings' general manager in April. In Crawford, Lombardi is going after a no-nonsense coach with a successful resume, both seemingly essential for a team of veterans and youngsters that unraveled this season. The Kings were second in the West in early January but finished 10th.

Kings defenseman Aaron Miller, who started his career under Crawford, was excited to hear that he could be playing for him again. "He definitely demands and gets the most out of guys," said Miller, who played two seasons for Crawford.

Crawford guided the Avalanche through the 1996 Stanley Cup playoffs, beating the Florida Panthers in the finals. The next season, Colorado reached the Western Conference finals, where it lost to the Detroit Red Wings.

Those Avalanche teams included Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy.

"He's a great bench coach," Miller said. "He understands who was playing well and gets them on the ice. I mean, he's won a Stanley Cup, what else do you have to say?"

Crawford led the Canucks to the Northwest Division title in 2003-04. The team reached the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs the previous season.

"He adds great intensity on the bench," said Mighty Ducks General Manager Brian Burke, who hired Crawford in Vancouver. "He handles players well, and prepares extremely well."

Lombardi was also expected to fill key front-office spots — assistant general manager and director of hockey operations — within the next few weeks. He has already reworked lower levels of the organization, including the team's medical training staff and equipment staff. John Wolf, assistant to the general manager, was also let go.

Crawford, 46, was hired by the Quebec Nordiques in 1994-95 and won the Jack Adams trophy as the NHL's coach of the year that season. The team relocated to Colorado the next season and he became the third youngest coach to win the Stanley Cup.

Crawford would bring with him more NHL career victories (411) than any King coach at the time of his hiring. He inherits a team that collapsed at the end of this season, leading to the firing of Murray in March and general manager Dave Taylor in April.

[Vegas]

It's officially Crawford:

Crawford named new coach of Kings

http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/5629892

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) - Marc Crawford brings a demanding style and a winning resume to his new job as coach of the Los Angeles Kings (http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/team/66307).
Crawford was introduced Monday as the replacement for John Torchetti, who coached the season's final 12 games after Andy Murray was fired.Crawford signed a multiyear deal. Terms weren't disclosed.
"We're going to continue to build on the strengths that they've had in here," he said. "It is a talented group. I look forward to hopefully helping some of the players make strong improvements in their game."
And make the playoffs, which the Kings (http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/team/66307) missed for a third consecutive season after finishing 42-35-5.
Bringing Crawford aboard was the first major move by Kings (http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/team/66307) general manager Dean Lombardi, hired last month to succeed Dave Taylor.
"This is not only a guy who knows how to win, but also knows how to get the best out of his players," said Lombardi, who spent 36 hours with Crawford last week.
"What impressed me the most was his willingness to admit he made mistakes and his willingness to admit he didn't have the answers yet, but he was going to find them," Lombardi said.
Crawford himself is fresh off being fired by the Vancouver Canucks (http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/team/66321) in April after seven years that included four consecutive playoff appearances before missing this season.
He has a regular-season record of 411-285-127 in 12 seasons in the NHL, and a 43-40 playoff mark.
The 46-year-old Crawford guided Colorado to the 1996 Stanley Cup championship, when Peter Forsberg (http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/player/109755), Joe Sakic (http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/player/66715) and Patrick Roy played for him. Crawford becomes the first coach in Kings (http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/team/66307)' history to have a Stanley Cup on his resume.
"I'm a different coach from Andy Murray. I say that with all respect," he said. "I'm very passionate about what I do, I'm very inclusive in how I perform my duties as a head coach, and most of all, I want players and people around me who work hard, who are creative.
"I expect a lot from my players, I'm very demanding."
Crawford promised the Kings (http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/team/66307) will pressure both ends of the ice.
Center Craig Conroy (http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/player/66384) described himself as "very impressed" with Crawford's resume.
"I saw what he did in Vancouver, how he kind of resurrected that whole team and the way the team responded, it's so positive," Conroy said. "It seems like he makes everybody on the team accountable, too, and that's what we really need here."
Crawford said the deciding factor in taking the job was the shared philosophy between him, Lombardi, team owner Phillip Anshutz and Tim Leiweke, who gave up his title as chief executive officer so Lombardi could have freer rein in running the team.
"I have a strong sense of commitment from Mr. Anshutz and Tim Leiweke and most of all from Dean that he was going to do things the right way," Crawford said. "We weren't going to put Band-Aids on problems."
Lombardi has met with the entire team in his first month on the job.
Asked his assessment of what went wrong last season, he said, "It was a series of molehills that were allowed to continue to brew and then finally it just collapsed."
Injuries contributed to the Kings (http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/team/66307)' demise after they started the season strongly, then the infighting began.
"When things started to go south, there were arguments here, arguments there. Everyone is kind of pointing the finger," Conroy said. "That's what we (have) got to get away from. We just let it snowball and it got worse and we couldn't get out of it."
Crawford emphasizes building strong relationships with his players. While spending time last week with Lombardi, Crawford's phone rang with a call from Vancouver forward Todd Bertuzzi (http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/player/342443).
"I found that really impressive that he would take the time to call his coach," Lombardi said.
Bertuzzi is being sued in a Canadian civil court by former Colorado player Steve Moore, who was seriously injured after being punched by Bertuzzi in a 2004 game. Bertuzzi pleaded guilty to assaulting Moore.
Crawford had dealt with the fallout from Bertuzzi's actions.
"You don't lose a job because of one thing that happened," he said. "Todd was very, very uncharacteristically saddled with that responsibility. It's not true."
The Kings (http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/team/66307) have 11 players who are free agents, and Conroy said he feels a mix of optimism and nervousness about who will be around next season.
"You hope they don't overhaul the team completely," he said. "If you add a few players to our team, we're going to be right in the thick of things next year."