Why Terry Murray must be fired.

I guess it's no secret that most LAKings fans are frustrated by this year's team. The stat being thrown around the most right now is, 30th in the League for 5-on-5 scoring. There is 2/3rds of the season left, but this is a bad spot to be in right now. Bright side? At least the powerplay isn't at the bottom, too. The excuses are many: hangover from the trip to Europe, defensive "system", Drew Doughty missing training camp. I will counter with the argument that the Stanley Cup winners of the last few seasons, all started with games in Europe. The Minnesota Wild play a fairly defensive system and are leading the Western Conference. Doughty shouldn't be that much of a key to the team's offense.

What's with the forwards? Several of the verteran forwards have been injured or slumping. Williams and Stoll are slumping. Richards was carrying the load, but got injured. Kopitar and Gagne started fast, but haven't been scoring. Brown has elevated his game the last 5-6 contests, but isn't expected to be a pure goal scorer. Penner has finally shown flashes of offense, but he's a last resort as far as expectations, in my mind. Lewis and Richardson are young players that bring speed and grit, but have been scratched in favor of slower more defensive Hunter, Moreau, & Westgarth.

So you are left with the adage that you can't fire the players. I like Terry Murray for what be brings. He's a great coach for building a team. He brings structure. Murray has built one of the best defensive teams in the league. But I think the Kings are at the point where Murray has done what he was supposed to do, and the next step may or may not include him. Murray is also one of the oldest coaches in the league. He's an old dog and there are some new tricks in today's NHL. I would argue that some of the younger coaches, Glen Gulutzan comes to mind, have been successful. I point to a recent game against the Stars, where Dallas was clearly looking to make an aggressive forward faceoff draw after a timeout, with 40 seconds left. The Kings blew the coverage, and Dallas tied the game and won in OT. Out coached on that one? I was pretty sure Bruce Boudreau came to mind, when the Capitals fired him. He was even in the Kings organization at one point, coaching the Monarchs. But the Ducks swept him up in a matter of days/hours and that's history.

Maybe it shouldn't happen this season, but if there are strong signs now that the team is not responding to the coach, why not now? I honestly can't name any ideal replacements. But a have a strong feeling that a new voice behind the bench is needed, sooner than later.