Good Coach, Better Man
Former Kings head coach Andy Murray finally gets visited by the coaching turk. 

"We usually call players at that time to tell them we're sending them down to the minors. So the first thing I asked Dave was, 'Am I going down to Manchester (the Kings' AHL affiliate)?' all the time knowing what was about to go down," Murray said.

Although the Los Angeles Kings were nine games over .500 and in the thick of the playoff race, Taylor chose to make a controversial move with 13 games remaining in the season. Taylor cited the team's poor play since the Olympic break as the linchpin to make a move so late in the season. 

It's a move that has precedence when in 2000, Devils' GM Lou Lamoriello replaced taskmaster Robbie Ftorek with the more player-friendly Larry Robinson and won a championship. While some said it was a move of genius with New Jersey players rebelling against Ftorek, it's always great to come in and have Martin Brodeur in the net for a playoff run. I'd look good behind the bench with the Vezina winner between the pipes, too.

The case is the polar opposite in Los Angeles, where a large part of the Kings' dilemma stems from poor goaltending as well as deficient special teams. 

Unknown John Torchetti (whose last role was a interim coach with the Florida Panthers in 2003-04, so he should be used to the pressure) has been handed the unenviable task of changing the Kings backward direction for the final month of the regular season. 

The early precincts yielded mixed results as the Kings split Torchetti's first two games. While the powerplay seems to be invigorated, the defense and goaltending were still as porous under the new regime. 

Was Murray a tough coach? Yes, tough but fair. Did the team tune out his inspirational talks and passionate locker room speeches? If Murray's last game, a heartless effort against Colorado was indicative, then the answer is a robust yes. 

The expectations for the team this year was high (division title) because in other seasons Taylor would have stayed the course and kept Murray. People forget that the Kings had an eleven game losing streak at the end of the 2003-04 season and that usually means curtains behind for the man behind the bench. Taylor is a loyal man (notice that assistant John van Boxmeer got whacked, but his former teammate Mark Hardy retained his job even though Hardy's management of the penalty is as poor as van Boxmeer's stewardship of the powerplay), so he stuck with Murray and the strategy seemed to payoff until the beginning of January. 

Taylor's culpable too, and this may have been a way to bring accountability to the organization and save his job in the process. Although assistants Ray Bennett and Hardy were spared in the purge, they should dust off their resumes too, as Taylor told us that they were kept on primarily for continuity. 

With a year remaining on his contract, Taylor could be on the outs with a non-playoff season. Perhaps if Murray had been proactive and rid himself of van Boxmeer's it might have saved his job, but that is not the nature of this man. 

"I don't think it was fair that John was held accountable," was Murray's loyal response to van Boxmeer's departure. 

Insiders say that the Murray's controlling nature and exacting detail took a toll on the team, especially veterans like Luc Robitaille and Jeremy Roenick. 

"Andy scripted out everything and that might work for 50-60 games but to have a player's every movement on and off the ice planned, it leaves no room for creativity. I think that wears on the veterans in the group as the season progresses," said a source close to the team. 

Mattias Norstrom and Craig Conroy, in attendance at the press conference, expressed mild surprise at best, citing the nature of the coaching business that let to Murray's demise. Doubtful anyone in the locker room will be shedding a tear for the man.

Andy Murray, the human being, is a good and decent man. Family always comes first, as evidenced by the fact that his life was in danger during an All Star break a few years ago, skidding off an icy Wisconsin road to attend one of his kid's hockey matches. Murray did not move his family from Minnesota despite his substantial tenure in Southern California. His preference was not to uproot his children from their home and chose to live in a hotel instead. 

When I came to Los Angeles in 1998, I had spent significant time covering the Islanders when Mike Milbury was the GM-Coach. Murray was the antithesis of the loquacious, bombastic and entertaining Milbury. 

Often criticized for giving non-descript quotes and clichés by the media, Murray is a hard working coach who feels there is no need to entertain with controversy. He was always guarded to call players out in the media, right or wrong, and would look at that strategy as an avenue of last resort. He has a wry sense of humor and on more than one occasion I was the good-natured subject of some teasing. But this man loves hockey with a passion, the biggest smiles you got from him was when he was on the ice instructing players during practices. He was also very generous with his knowledge of the game. 

"I'm convinced that listening to Andy for the last seven years, I could apply for an assistant coaching role in the NHL," complimented FSN's Jim Fox, the Kings' fine color TV analyst. 

But as much as he loves the game, he cherishes his family more. During school semester breaks, you'd see his kids on the ice with the team during practices. In the post game interview area, most nights there would be close family or friends in the background waiting to chat with him when the interviews were done. While he was not the most verbose subject to chat with, he never refused an interview and when criticized by the Los Angeles media, he never forgot, citing comments from two LA Times columnists made upon his arrival seven years past during his final comments. 

"I would have liked the opportunity to finish the last 12 games, but I have no regrets as I leave. I would say I'm far more disappointed than regretful," were his parting words for me. 

Andy Murray is brighter than most NHL coaches I've chatted with and should get another shot in the Big Show down the line. We'll miss him and down the line the Kings may as well. 

DEADER ALIVE!

It was Adam Deadmarsh Night last week in Los Angeles, an unusual event considering that the rugged right winger spent only two and a half season in a LA Kings' uniform. 

In a word, the aura around the event was characterized as bittersweet, from our pre-game chat with him to the on-ice ceremony. Adam's balls-to-the wall style that endeared him to the Kings' faithful was also the cause of his far-too-early retirement due to post-concussion syndrome. After two years away from the game, he's finally rid himself of the symptoms of his condition. 

Deadmarsh, who is definitely not in hockey shape and probably tips the scales about 25 pounds more than his playing weight, held court in the Staples Center press room and addressed his life after hockey. 

He was at low ebb emotionally after retiring and stayed away from the game but as his health improved, it raised the cloud that had enveloped him. Every once and a while he contemplates what might have been. 

"Over the past year I've turned the corner (being symptom-free) and everyone once in a while I wonder why this might have happened to me but overall I feel pretty good," he said. "It's a page in my life that I may never really turn, having to retire when I did. At this point, it's something you accept and you go on with your life. 

"To be honest, although I spend a lot of time with my kids, I'm pretty bored. I'd love to stay involved in the game. Hockey is really all I know and it's what I love. I'm going to attempt to stay in the game (mentioning that scouting may be the first avenue he would pursue.)" 

To this day, a good number of Los Angelinos wearing his #28 jersey to the matches and Deadmarsh put that in perspective. 

"Those jerseys must have been on sale," he joked. "I had a lot of fun and truly loved playing here. Some great memories happened in this building." 

His biggest memory, the series winning goal against the Detroit Red Wings in 2001, was presented to in an artist rendering by the Kings are part of a gift package. 

Adam was never one to gravitate to the spotlight and it's still evident that's the case. He's moved Idaho but when asked what town he lives in, he responded half jokingly that his family's residence was top secret and deferred from disclosing what town they reside in. 

"It's tough being in limbo, but I finally made to decision to retire in August," he said. "At first, I didn't watch any hockey, I just couldn't. Then one day I said to myself, 'This is silly, this is the game I love,' and started watching again. I watched all of the Olympic Games and most of the games on OLN. I have a tough time turning it off but I still love the game." 

Deadmarsh was gracious but clearly uncomfortable during the on ice ceremony but ended his speech with a zinger for his old opponents and teammates that drew laughs, "for any of my former teammates who I cheap shoted in the past, too bad, it's too late to get me back."

LAPPING IT UP

The second largest ovation on Adam Deadmarsh Night was reserved for a Colorado Avalanche player. While it might surprise an outsider that a hated rival would get such adulation, followers of the Kings knew that Ian Laperriere would get a huge cheer as he still resonates in many of the Los Angeles' faithful hearts. Lappy, as he's known to everyone, was always generous with the media during his tenure at Casa del Staples and though he's exchanged a Crown for a Mountain, he's still the engaging and funny man he was in Southern California.

Laperriere is in the midst of a career season, a benefactor of the NHL rule changes and playing with a high-octane offense. He's bearing down on 20 goals. 

"If you had told me in September I would have had 20, I would have said you were crazy. With the new rules, I didn't know, I had a new team and it was a new fit. It was scary at first (since he had been in LA so long) but I took it one day at a time and it’s been great," he explained. 

On this Colorado team, he plays a key role on the offensive side of the ice. 

"It's not that the Kings' don't have great offensive players to play with, but I was never asked to take that role in LA. My role was a defensive one and if I didn't make the right play defensively, I'd be sitting out. Here, they want me to be more creative with the puck and I welcome it," he remarked. 

It doesn't hurt to get passes from future Hall of Famer Joe Sakic, either. 

"He's unbelievable, you hear stories about how great he as a guy and as a teammate. He's everything and more! His work ethic off the ice is incredible too, he's 36 years old and he's in the gym everyday, works out like crazy. That's why he's on the top of his game. As great a player as Joe is, he's a better person. What a great leader in the locker room."

Reflecting on his connection to the LA fans, you can see that the love goes both ways. 

"I was in Los Angeles a long time," he said. "The first time I came back, earlier in the season, the ovation was great and this time too. It means the world to me because the fans know how emotional I am. 

"When I get an ovation like that, of course I hear them; it goes right to my heart. It's great to be cheered like that because it means they appreciate the work I do." 

Colorado's unsettled goaltending situation makes them an afterthought for Stanley Cup contention, but you couldn't convince Lappy of that. 

"When we play our 'A' game, for sure we have a shot," he said. "When Jose Theodore (injured and newly acquired Montreal goaltender) comes back, it makes us even better. We have a great team here, we can win the Cup."
 

Dennis Bernstein, the man behind SCORE! Media, is a columnist for TheFourthPeriod.com and the Los Angeles Correspondent for The Fourth Period Magazine.