15 Things About Crawford to LA...

[dizzyd]

Well assuming that Crawford is the next coach of our Los Angeles Kings...

1. Order your #11 Owen Nolan jerseys now. Crawford coached him in Cornwall in the OHL and later in Quebec for a season. Lombardi has a relationship with Nolan going back to Juniors as well and had him in San Jose for a while.

2. Todd Bertuzzi will NOT be traded to the Kings. Markus Naslund will NOT be traded to the Kings.

3. Ed Jovanovski is a possibility as a UFA.

4. So is Trevor Linden if he doesn't re-sign in Vancouver. He's the type of veteran that Lombardi brought in early on in San Jose.

5. Sean Avery MAY be brought back but it's unlikely. Crawford does love his pests (Lemieux, Cooke, etc) but he can be pretty high strung and doesn't have the patience for Avery's antics. A guy like Ville Nieminen could be a potential replacement.

6. Goaltending will be a TOP priority. Crawford went through enough years where goaltending let down the team in the playoffs (Cloutier/Essensa/Skoudra/Hedberg/Auld). Some of the first moves that Lombardi made were bringing in veteran goalies like Belfour, Vernon and Hrudey. He also drafted Kiprusoff, Nabokov and Toskala to address the team's future in goal.

7. The Kings WILL improve. It's been well documented that Lombardi's Sharks improved from 47 to 62, 78, 80, 87, 95 and 99 points. Crawford took over a Nordiques team that had 76 points and put up winning percentages of .677, .634 and .652 and won a Cup. He took over a Canucks team in disarray in the midst of a 58-point season. Over the next 5 years they put up 83, 90, 94, 104 and 101 points.

8. Both Craword and Lombardi have something to prove. Lombardi built a team that was on the cusp of taking it to the next level but was fired after the team took a step back largely due to holdouts by Nabokov and Stuart. Crawford has won a Cup but wasn't able to get Vancouver to the next level largely because of goaltending, key injuries, and of course the "Bertuzzi incident" in what was probably their best chance to make a Cup run.

9. Crawford will know how to get the most out of Miller and Sopel. Sopel had great success playing under Crawford, improving his point totals from 14 to 25, 37 and then 42. Yes he was traded but it was most likely due to his contract status and the upcoming cap then it was his play, since he was coming up his best year. Miller broke into the NHL and played a couple seasons under Crawford developing into a strong defensive defenseman. Yes, one of the two may be moved for cap reasons (depending on who else is brought in) but it's very possible that both could stay due to their history of success under Crawford. I'm quite sure that Crawford loved having Ohlund so I bet he will enjoy coaching Norstrom who is a tougher and seems like a "Crawford-type" player.

10. The Kings will have a world-class General Manager and Coach. They will have guys who have a history of success and were probably the best available GM and Coach available. Crawford has won a Cup and was hand-picked to coach Team Canada in Nagano. Yes it's true that, as Canadians we don't like to talk about that tournament and some even blame Crawford for his picks in the shootout but let's face it we lost because of one player only - Dominik Hasek. I'm one of the biggest Andy Murray fans out there but Crawford has experiences to draw on that players should respond to (including an 11-year playing career - 176 games at the NHL level).

11. We will likely see some veteran "foot soldiers" on the 3rd and/or 4th lines. Crawford had success with guys like Ricci, Keane and Yelle. Lombardi always brought in guys like Graves, Matteau, Harvey, Ricci, Thornton, etc.

Scanning the UFA list there are names like Grier, Donovan, Simon, Cullen, Dowd, Hinote, Harvey, Peca, Pandolfo, Varada, Ricci, McCauley, Nieminen, Thornton and Ruutu available and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see one or two on the 4th line instead of a guy like Pushkarev.

12. We MAY have an enforcer. Clearly Crawford likes having guys like Simon and Brashear but it's still to be determined whether they will have a place in the "new" NHL.

13. Brown should benefit from playing under Crawford. Bertuzzi and Deadmarsh certainly did. Crawford definitely brought the best out of guys like Bertuzzi, Naslund and Morrison, something that New York, Pittsburgh and New Jersey were unable to do. Maybe we'll trade for or sign a guy who had a ton of potential and for whatever reason has not lived up to it. Perhaps when we get that player everyone will say that Lombardi is "dumpster diving" and Crawford will develop said player into an NHL star.

14. Crawford will be patient with the kids but if they follow the path of the Sedins they will improve each year and will be given more responsibility each year. By year four they were 40-50 point players and by year five they formed the team's most effective and consistent line with Anson Carter (who MAY also be a possibility but I bet he'll stay in Vancouver). Frolov is going into Year 4 and is coming off a 54 point season in 69 games. While many have already written him off I think that his creative side and talent will finally come out under Crawford.

15. People complain that Crawford only won one Cup with Colorado but he was only there for four years. As I said when he took over they were coming off a year where they missed the playoffs and he led them to a 30-13-5 season. They were knocked out in the 1st round with Fiset and Thibault in goal. In Year Two they had 104 points, won the Division and the Stanley Cup. In Year Three they had 107 points, finished first in the league and lost in the Conference finals to Detroit. Year Four was the only disappointing year - 95 points and a first round loss to Edmonton. But don't forget that Crawford wasn't fired from Colorado. He resigned because Lacroix only offered a one year extension and ended up in Vancouver about 8 months later. Crawford will be very eager to prove that the failures in Vancouver were not his fault and although he certainly has to take some of the blame, I'd say that goaltending and Bertuzzi's suspension handcuffed him in the two years where they actually had a chance to do something. This year there were too many injuries, weak goaltending and chemistry problems (mostly caused by Bertuzzi/Naslund from what I hear).

[ASUcruz]

Great breakdown Dizzy

[WhoThePuck]

R. Blake to LA

[GoldJet]

Originally Posted by dizzyd

10. The Kings will have a world-class General Manager and Coach. They will have guys who have a history of success and were probably the best available GM and Coach available. Crawford has won a Cup and was hand-picked to coach Team Canada in Nagano. Yes it's true that, as Canadians we don't like to talk about that tournament and some even blame Crawford for his picks in the shootout but let's face it we lost because of one player only - Dominik Hasek. I'm one of the biggest Andy Murray fans out there but Crawford has experiences to draw on that players should respond to.

This is an excellent point and I was about to post it in the other thread about Crawford.

To me, the Kings are a much more attractive option for UFA's than they were when the lockout ended. They hired arguably the most sought after GM that was on the market and brought in a veteran coach that has a Stanley Cup ring.

To me this is a message to the entire league that the Kings are serious about winning.

[Zstardust]

Thanks for the BIO. I trust your enthusiam! I'm not sure but I think Miller didn't actually get his name on the CUP....I think he came on the next year.

[KFC]

That was a great post.

Besides Owen Nolan!

[JJ289]

I think Deano can realizes that Nolan is a shell of his former self. Crawford too. There are other veterans available that can help this team. We don't need Nolan, and if Deano doesn't realize that, then shame on him.

[dizzyd]

Originally Posted by Zstardust

Thanks for the BIO. I trust your enthusiam! I'm not sure but I think Miller didn't actually get his name on the CUP....I think he came on the next year.

You are absolutely right. Miller didn't become a regular until the next year although he did play 5 games that season and may have been with the team during the playoff run.

I've followed Crawford's career since 92 when he coached Felix Potvin (future King), Yanic Perreault (future King) and the rest of the St. John's Maple Leafs to within one game of the Calder Cup before they fell to former Leaf Allan Bester along with Keith Primeau, Lonnie Loach (future King), Gary Shuchuk (future King), Marc Potvin (future King), Mike Sillinger and the Adirondack Red Wings.

He was always primed to be the next coach of the Maple Leafs and had he stuck around another half a year he would certainly have been the replacement to Pat Burns instead of Nick Beverley (a former King). Beverley lasted just long enough to lose in the first round to Wayne Gretzky (former King) and a Blues team with Jon Casey replacing an injured Grant Fuhr (also a former King) before Mike Murphy was hired (also a former King). Instead Crawford ended up going to the Nordiques and after orchestrating his departure from Vancouver he was once again a prime candidate for the Leafs job until they hired Pat Quinn (yes he's also a former Kings coach). Ironically he was fired from Vancouver within days of Quinn and again was interviewed for the Toronto job. This time around everyone knew that Maurice was hired last season as the successor to Quinn by Ferguson (who by the way is a total idiot).

As with all coaches there is good and bad to Crawford but aside from Brent Sutter (which I'm pretty sure that Lombardi did explore) I believe that Crawford was the best candidate out there.

[CarriedBySix]

Originally Posted by GoldJet

To me this is a message to the entire league that the Kings are serious about winning.

Even though I was hoping for someone different behind the bench, I totally agree with this statement.

For once it looks like the Kings are serious about taking the next step.

[drivelikejoewho]

Mark Crawford has much better hair than Andy Murray.

[dizzyd]

Originally Posted by JJ289

I think Deano can realizes that Nolan is a shell of his former self. Crawford too. There are other veterans available that can help this team. We don't need Nolan, and if Deano doesn't realize that, then shame on him.

As much as I dislike Nolan, I think he will be a King.

With his injuries it will be a very low-risk move (ie 1 year, $750,000 maybe with some bonuses - since he missed a whole year he will be eligible for a contract with incentives) with some upside and there is too much history there with Lombardi and Crawford to think that this isn't a strong possibility. Nolan put up 34 goals in 54 games playing under Crawford and clearly is a favorite of Lombardi.

[Blikian29]

If our offseason moves include Owen Nolan and Trevor Linden we're going nowhere fast.

[Kosherhamm]

Don't know if i agree with everythign you said but great post and i apprecaite the information..

[TonySCV]

I just want to say that the original post in this thread is one of the best I've seen around here in a long time.

[dizzyd]

Originally Posted by Blikian29

If our offseason moves include Owen Nolan and Trevor Linden we're going nowhere fast.

It's probably too soon to say that right now. So far I think there are only five forwards who will definitely be back:

Demitra
Conroy
Frolov
Cammalleri
Brown

IF Nolan is signed I don't think they would rely on him for much. I don't think you could expect more than 50 games out of him but he will be cheap and could produce.

IF Linden was signed it would be as a 4th liner who could bring experience and leadership and help out with the kids.

I doubt Linden leaves Vancouver but I would expect at least one vet like him to be acquired. I expect Nolan to maybe be an 8-9th forward who could help the PP if healthy.

[jt]

You're a damn fine and knowledgeable poster dizzyd!!

Since you've followed Crawford so long and mention pros and cons to each coach, what do YOU see as Crawford's pros and cons in LA?

GoldJet, do you really believe the Kings weren't serious about winning? Or that players didn't think they were? I don't see how anyone could think they weren't serious...they just got snakebit year after year by injuries.

I do think it's funny to see some folks around here who hated AM for the way he treated players get so happy about hiring Crawford who was pretty well hated by his players at every job by the time he left. Quite a few Avs players openly talked badly about him and it was clear this season in Vancouver that many didn't like him and they quit on him just like Kings players quit on AM.

I'm just fine with this hire (and DL) and I'm excited about next season already, but it's amusing to see the same critics of "unproven" DT and "bad-with-players" AM heap praise on "unproven" DL and "bad-with-players" MC.