He's back

Nice. I can't wait to play the Stars. They'll be the new "escort service" defense of the league.

All jokes aside, I just can't see MC doing anything greater than Tippett was doing.

I'm no fan of MC, but I do hope he smacks around that pre-Madonna called Mike Modano. Otherwise, it will be business as usual for MC: Line shuffling, nervous/angry/emotional/lame behavior behind the bench...

Well I guess we will now see if we are just a bunch of whiny fans looking to always throw someone under the bus for the teams crappy play (Murray is the newest coach elected to blame), or if our players just haven't played hard enough or had enough talent in the past 5 years to compete.

Some people (and you know who you are) think it was ALL Crawford, Murray and Lombardi's fault that we never made the playoffs the past few years, and the players had nothing to do with it. So if Dallas makes it this year, I think you should all come forward once and for all and admit you know nothing about coaching hockey, nothing about running an NHL team, and nothing about hockey period.

This makes me so happy. Tippett was the man and now the Stars have to suffer under Crawford. Our division just got that much weaker. YAY!

Question:

-How can Mark Crawford make Dallas a younger team?

-Oh... He can't?

-When do the Kings next play Dallas?

:)

Heya Rich, I have a question for ya...

I remember when we wers striking out on free agents when Crawford was around and ended up overpaying for some character guys.

Have you ever heard that a free agent maybe didn't sign here because he didn't want to play for Crawford? Maybe this is part of the reason he was let go?

I don't know the actual number, but aren't like 90% of all NHL coaches fired within three years?

Just surfing the web I see an article from 2008 by Frei of the Denver Post saying the median tenure at that time was 2 years.

Come on Rich, people love to hate, and you barely give them the option here with the worst case you present probably being, in reality, about the average life of an NHL coaching job.

Modano a premadonna?! wow. thats a new one for a guy who has been noted as a very modest and classy leader. He's been one of my heroes as an American hockey player since I was a little kid.

So did the kings receive any compensation a la the 2nd they gave up for Lombardi? Or did the kings just save some $$$ because the will only pay the difference between his old contract and what Dallas will pay?

Captain Material:

Can you see Crawford fired in, say, 16 games? Think Dallas'll go all Melrose on him? I think everyone here (save for the Trifecta) will go 'oops upside his head' on old Markie C.

Is it bad that I'm happy, solely because now I won't have to listen to his terrible, terrible commentary on Hockey Night in Canada?

Hopefully we get Tippett back as assistant coach (and potential head coach if TM gets fired).

This is awesome.

I can't stop laughing.

The Stars were already in the habit of giving up late 3rd period leads to the Kings. Now that no one will be allowed to play defense under Crawford, the Kings are all but guaranteed to win the season series!

Also, no one has mentioned that the Leafs stole Fracnois Allaire, the Ducks goaltending coach. THIS IS AWESOME NEWS FOR KINGS FANS!

Allaire was ENORMOUSLY important to the Ducks. Giguere, Bryzgalov and Hiller are not guys with huge talent or upside, and its no coincidence that they all thrived under Allaire.

I can't wait to see what the Ducks goaltending looks like without him, because I can only imagine it being worse. Another win for the Kings!

Another thing about old Markie C.--

His teams don't really get better as the season progresses, so I don't think he's much of a teacher. Good thing his players are so old, they won't need coaching.

I think we won't need anymore third period miracles next year to beat Dallas. Considering the passing of the torch in the West... Dallas, Anaheim, Calgary and Vancouver are in a World of Hurt next year. Look out, Trifecta! This season, Crown Rising!

This is awesome news for the west!!!!
-What a huge downgrade.

TB - "Modano a premadonna?!"

Well, one thing I think fans tend to forget is people are human. Even hockey players, and they have both good and bad in their character.

Modano is pretty much everything you see him as, and he's also a bit of a premadonna. The whole thing with the C in Dallas showed a bit of it there (even though there was plenty to fault the org for also in the way it went down), and the bigger thing I think people will point to is the team USA stuff, where he was complaining he had to make plane and hotel reservations, and pay himself, for his family to travel with him and that wasn't all handled by team USA, etc.

With the first selection in the 2010 draft, the Dallas Stars select from the Windsor Spitfires, center Taylor Hall...

With Crawford as their new coach I'll be curious to see what kind of season Marty Turco has with all of the outnumbered breakaways he'll have to endure under Crow's system.

Tippett is a fantastic coach and any team that gets him as either a head coach or an assistant is very fortunate.

Modano is no primadonna. He's a class act and USA hockey couldn't have had a better person representing them for the last two decades.

BankofAmericaGuy-

I actually think he'll do just fine in Dallas. I think with a new GM coming in and Tippet having been there for six years, you can't really say a change is a bad thing.

Coaches are hired to be fired. Them being shown the door is not really a comment of how they did their job most of the time, because some times you just need to change the messanger regardless of how good or bad the message is.

Also, I think you kind of have to let a GM pick his own guys. Was it a mistake for Burke to replace Babcock with Carlyle? I pick my example to fit my arguement, but the point is whether or not Tippet is a good coach doesn't much matter if he's not Nieuwendyk's choice.

I think Crawford will do fine in DAL...and that may very well mean he gets fired in two or three years anyway.

hahaha...

i don't have too much against marky mark and the funky bunch...good for him...

...but this is better for us...(!)

hey fellow friends...

i'm not one to preach or flag wave (unless it's a kings flag) but...

CHILDRENS HOSPITAL LOS ANGELES DESPERATELY NEEDS BLOOD & PLATELETS...IF YOU CAN DONATE, PLEASE DON'T HESITATE...HELP THE KIDS AND PEEPS WHO NEED IT THE MOST...!!!!!

as you know, the kings care foundation, team and organization are huge CHLA supporters...so please...if you can, c'mon down and make a big difference in someone's life...one donation helps apprx. 6 who are in need...i'm there this afternoon...

ok...ok...

the megaphone is off...

thanks for listening...!

and somewhere, Dan Cloutier is planning his comeback...

You forgot John Torchetti assistant for Chicago.

Love your comments Irish/Bako/Variable...they balance out some of the idiocy and "pre-madonna" carry on!

I think MC's success actually hinges upon his coaching staff, good assistants will make a world of difference not to mention the front office doing their part too...

I understand wanting your own guy. If my rear is on the line, I would want my guys also. Tippett was 11-14-4 with avery, and 25-21-7 after avery even with the injuries. There is some talent for Marc to work with.

Brenden Morrow would look wonderful in a King jersey...

"I am really happy for Dallas, I love Texas. I just want to comment on how it's become like a common thing in Dallas for ownership to fall in love with our sloppy seconds. I don't know what that's about. Enjoy the season."

BankOfAmericaGuy...

Sometimes I love it when I get unintentional promotions. Although, considering what Kenneth Lewis is going through today can't say I want his job, despite the perks. Where's my chopper?/when's the Lear going to get here?

Captain Material:
I actually think Markie C. might do well, too (although I'd hate him for it). The Stars are veterans, for the most part, and Markie C's tendency to let his players just play like a fast-break basketball team might be what the defensively-minded Stars need. They, at least, have an instinct for playing good defense. The Kings, however, did not, and since they didn't have a goalie either the team suffered for his style. Perhaps DL hired Markie C. just for the purpose of having a terrible bottom five record, I don't know. I DO KNOW that Markie C. better win, and I mean NOW, and NOW means the playoffs plus a second or third round run. A GM has the right to bring in whomever suits him. Certainly Tippett was well-suited to be Stars' coach until the Hull/Avery fiasco tore apart the room. It's just that Markie C. was so impotent as Kings' coach it was pathetic. The young Kings needed a teacher, and they did not get one. Tale of the tape was this season and the painful transition from undisciplined play to conscientious defensive play forced upon Brown, Kopitar, JMFJ et al.

I just can't forgive Markie C. for two totally lost seasons. Perhaps that leaves me in agreement with the Terrible Troika about DL on that one.

-On a side note, a former Kings 2000 draft choice was killed in a traffic accident, goalie Nathan Marsters...

http://www.theahl.com/headlines/index.html?article_id=10222

-V, can't go to L.A. Children's Hospital, but I will give blood at Houchin Blood Bank in Bakersfield/good luck with your Drive!

Tony Granado was a Kings player

Wasn't Crawford coaching the Royal Rebound game? I guess he made an impact in Dallas that night.

Crawford couldn't coach a sick dog in from a rain storm with a pork chop. Good news for the entire Western conference in picking up the worst coach in NHL history.

That Cup he won has major flaws. A retarded chimpanzee could have coached that team to a Cup because that Avs team was so good that they probably didn't even NEED a coach to guide them.

Larry Robinson is still with the Devils organization. He might actually contend Tippett for that job.

Last but not least... OK, strike that... But was not Cloutier moonlighting as an assistant coach for his brother somewhere in the middle of Texas. As big as Texas is, Big D and Marc Crawford cannot be THAT far from wherever he is!