A welcome return

Much of the credit given for the Kings' strong start on the penalty kill -- they're perfect entering tonight's game against Colorado -- has gone to assistant coach Mark Hardy, who handles the unit directly. Hardy spent six seasons with the Kings as an assistant under Andy Murray, then, after two seasons as an assistant in Chicago, returned to L.A. this summer under Terry Murray. Hardy is well-known but being a hard-nosed but fair and personable coach, and for anyone who watches practice, he's still one of the strongest skaters on the ice at age 49. Here's what Terry Murray said today about hiring Mark Hardy...

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Question: What went into the decision to hire Mark Hardy?

MURRAY: ``Actually, the game came up in a meeting we had upstairs with Dean and Hexy. I knew that he was working in Chicago. It never even crossed my mind that maybe that would be a coach I could talk to. He was under contract. Then when we spoke upstairs, what came out was that he was going to be asked to go to the American League and run their team down there. The reason they wanted to do that is because he did such a good job with the young defensemen in Chicago and helped that team make a big step last year, so (they wanted to) continue with the development process of the young guys in the AHL. I've always liked the fact that someone, an assistant coach, has played in the organization. I think that's a great bonus to have. Mark is a longtime player here, and when that name came up as a possibility even, I said, `Wow, that would be great to have the opportunity to at least talk to him.' I didn't think that (Chicago GM) Dale Tallon would oblige. Dean called and talked to Dale and it went from there.''

Question: Did you know him very well before this?

MURRAY: ``No. No, I didn't know him very well. But I was certainly aware of what happened in his time here with Andy Murray. They had a great thing going and then of course last year in Chicago they made a wonderful step with a young team and a young blue-line core, and they all looked like they have great awareness of how to play the game. That's a reflection on the person who was working with them directly. So I was excited to have a chance to talk to Mark and see what his interests were. His priority was to stay in the NHL, and the opportunity to come back here, he was excited about it.''