Tracking the Improbable...

[BringBackZezel]

I'm optimistic about their chances as well, as there's no question that Andy Murray is better than Mike Kitchen, but it's pretty obvious now that this was never really the team that was awful under Kitchen, and never really the team that was great for the 28 game stretch (or whatever it was) once Murray took over. This is an average team at best. They have to keep getting better.

The only thing that is clear is that they got worse after they traded their two best forwards. That's not exactly shocking either.

They could be even worse right now if they had kept Tkachuk and Guerin.

They could be worse if they traded a 4th and 5th round picks Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin too.

yes, they could.

[Blueline29]

I can't believe that you guys are so down on Kitch. He managed to get us into the playoffs when he took over for Q, what had Andy done?

Yet another example of how a coaching change can make a team play better, even if the new guy is not necessarily better as a coach.

For the record, I do think Murray is a better coach than Kitchen, but Murray's coaching record doesn't exactly scream success.

He's never made it past the 2nd round, he's only made the playoffs 50% of the full seasons he coached, and he's never had a team finish with more than 95 points, which wouldn't even make the playoffs this season.

He was the best guy for the job when he was hired, but that doesn't mean he's the guy to lead this franchise to the Cup.

Yeah, but LA didn't have a powerhouse roster as any point during his tenure. He was going up against teams with twice the payroll.

...and in 2 of the seasons in which the Kings missed the playoffs, they also lost 536 and 629 man-games to injury. You could have Jesus Christ coaching your team and still be hard-pressed to overcome that.

[Winning Unlimited]

A thread that defined the season...

HALL OF FAME!!!

[illownyou]

A thread that defined the season...

HALL OF FAME!!!

I'll be taking credit for that, thank you.

[WaukeeBlues]

A thread that defined the season...

HALL OF FAME!!!

of course it would've been better had we actually MADE the playoffs but I'll keep quiet