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Kings fire Terry Murray, promote Stevens

Headlines

Written by HPT Staff

Tuesday, December 13, 2011 02:15

Stevens returns to the bench, but speculation centers on Darryl Sutter on the Kings' short list for permanent replacements.

The NHL coaching carousel claimed its latest victim Monday, when the Kings fired Terry Murray and promoted assistant John Stevens to interim head coach.

Murray, 61, had the highest regular-season winning percentage of any coach in franchise history. This season, with the Kings spending near the salary-cap ceiling and a deep playoff run expected for the first time in decades, the team entered Tuesday's game against the Boston Bruins with a 13-12-4 record and the lowest scoring average in the league (2.21 goals per game).

"With the expectations this year, it becomes more results-oriented,” general manager Dean Lombardi said on a conference call with reporters. “We’re at the stage of the franchise where you’re going to be judged on wins and losses and playoff rounds.”

Lombardi didn't say whether Stevens was in the team's long-term plans for the position, only that he had a "very short" list of candidates.

Speculation has centered around former Chicago Blackhawks, San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames coach Darryl Sutter, whom Lombardi hired to coach the Sharks in 1996. Randy Carlyle, recently fired by the rival Anaheim Ducks, could also be on the list along with former Kings forward Tony Granato, currently an assistant coach in Pittsburgh.

Stevens coached the Flyers to a 120-109-34 record from 2006-09, before he was fired 25 games into the 2009-10 season. In Stevens’ only trip to the playoffs in 2008, the Flyers upset the higher-seeded Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens before losing in five games to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference championship series.