Murray, on his coaches
Terry Murray talks here about his new coaches, assistants Mark Hardy, Jamie Kompon and Nelson Emerson and goaltending coach Bill Ranford, why he picked them and how they might work together...
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Question: You have your coaching staff together now? What was the theory behind putting that particular staff together, and how do you think those guys will complement each other?
MURRAY: Well, starting with Billy (Ranford), the goaltender coach, he's a hell of a goaltender with a lot of experience in the game. I'm real happy with what I'm hearing whenever I talk to him. With Nelly (Nelson Emerson), with him doing his thing on the video side of things and the development side of things. It's tremendous. He has great experience and ability in the game. Jamie (Kompon), when I met him and got the opportunity to sit down and talk to him, the passion that he shows and the work ethic he shows just came jumping out at you. He just talks the right way, and I know he has the experience because he has been around the game. He has experience in other organizations and he has been around the game and he brings that love and that passion to the rink every day. That was really important. He's at that time, I thought, and after talking with Dean and Hexy, he's at the time that he deserves an opportunity to be pushed up to an assistant coach.
With Mark (Hardy), I really thought that was a no-brainer. The conversation was upstairs, and we were talking about a lot of different people. Obviously there was a list of names that were out there, but when Mark's name was brought up, that really was a no-brainer to me, to at least try to make contact and talk and see if there was some interest on his side of it. when he came in for his interview, I got an opportunity to sit down and talk to him for about an hour, and it just came pouring out. I mean, he's an L.A. King. He's got that love in his heart. It was so clear. He loved it as a player. He's got a great reputation as a player around the league, and certainly as a L.A. King. His passion as a coach, and for this organization, it's there. And if it could happen, that he could come back, in my conversation with Dean it was clear that that would be the right thing to do. We've got to thank Chicago for that too, because they gave us the opportunity to talk to him. Dale Tallon was tremendous in his cooperation with it, and let us bring him back this late in the summer. He very easily could have said, `No, I've got my plans and I need him to stay around and do the things that I need for my organization to be successful.' Dale was great about it, very unselfish.
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Question: Have you thought about how those guys might work together or what their responsibilities might be?
MURRAY: Well, we need to get together as a staff. Everybody is kind of all over. Mark is just moving in, he's coming in on Saturday. Now Jamie is away for a break and Nelly is busy, so we need to get together and go through that. I have a plan in my mind that I want, but I just need the opportunity to discuss it with them.
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Rich Hammond has covered the Kings, on a full-time or part-time basis, since the 2000-01 season. He was the beat writer for the entire John Torchetti era and has witnessed Bob Miller singing country music in a Nashville honky-tonk bar. A native of Los Angeles, Rich has worked at the Daily News since 1999 and also serves as the paper's deputy sports editor. E-mail Rich at rich.hammond@dailynews.com.
Jill Painter joined the Daily News in 2000 and during the last eight years she's covered the Dodgers, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Kings, golf and everything in between. Even though she's from Colorado, she still freezes in the Staples Center press box but always manages to thaw her fingers in time to make deadline. E-mail Jill at jill.painter@dailynews.com.
Thanks Rich! You asked him my question in a fsir, non-attacking way that proved my suspicions correct. I don't think I would last in your line of work. Thanks again.
I still have difficulty understanding why Johnston was excused fronm coaching. DL saw him fit as a potential head coach.
How do you go from potential head coach to "you're outa here.
He did indicate both that he had some say in the assistant coaches, but also indicated, perhaps moreso, that he just agreed with and liked Dean and Ron's choice. Either way, I'm happy with the assistant coaching staff. Nelly was a character player and always respected and good with youngsters. Kompon has impressed from what I've read and seen of the prospects camp. Hardy I've always liked and didn't like losing, so whoever made that call, I'm glad it was made.