King for a lifetime, fool for a... lifetime...

The LA Kings fired coach Andy Murray yesterday. Can't say I'm surprised. That'll happen when your team looks lifeless and routinely gets drubbed 5-0 (as they did against Colorado on Monday). Even though I've always been a fan of Murray's, I'm actually kind of relieved that he's gone. Not so much because of his actual departure, but because it singals that GM Dave Taylor (who is definitely doing his part to make this team competitive, being active in free agency and trading for players like Mark Parrish and Brent Sopel to help the porous special teams) recognizes what a mess his club is at the moment. Shockingly, the Kings are still in the playoff race as of today, but this is a sinking ship and Murray's axing might be the only thing that can save it. Consider the blistering start they had to the season and have they've practically jumped off a cliff since the start of the new year. It turns your stomach as a fan when your team demonstrates that they have the talent and capability to beat anyone and then, just as the season begins to intensify and the playoffs approach, they pull an about face, forgetting how to score, play defense, string together two consecutive passes, play with any sort of intensity, and the goalie play is just horrendous. Wha' happen? No less than 4 goals surrendered in each of their seven losses during this current 2-7 slide. What the hell happened to Mathieu Garon? As a goalie, he's playing his way right out of the league at this rate. Let's hope that the late coaching change has the same effect on this year's Kings as it did on the 2000 New Jersey Devils.*

*Read: Jersey won the Cup that year. They were a superior team, sure, but they still won.