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There's a Lot of Terry Murray Influence in John Stevens |
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There are usually mixed feelings whenever there is a coaching change in the NHL. On the one hand, it's hard not to feel some sympathy for the guy who just lost his job. On the other, it's easy to be excited for the opportunity received by the new guy.
Never has that been more true on a personal level than with the Los Angeles Kings' replacement of Terry Murray with his assistant, John Stevens, who was named interim coach. While the Kings obtained permission to speak to Darryl Sutter, Stevens will have the chance to remove the "interim" from his title in the same way he did in Philadelphia.
It would not be true to call Stevens a carbon copy of Murray, but there are a lot of similarities between the two. Both gentlemen -- and I mean that in every sense of the term -- are two of the classiest people you will ever find in the hockey (or any other) business. When either man tells you something, you know they are being sincere.
Both Murray and Stevens are former defensemen who prefer a disciplined and structured system to run-and-gun hockey. What's more, the greatest strength of both men as coaches is arguably their ability to work with younger players.
I have little doubt that the person who is most thrilled for Stevens is Kings' center Mike Richards (who is currently sidelined by a concussion but seeing some signs of progress). Richards and Stevens won a Calder Cup together with the Philadelphia Phantoms and have a tight-knit relationship.
As a matter of fact, part of the reason why Richards, as team captain, never really gelled with Peter Laviolette after Lavy took over behind the Philadelphia bench is because Richards had been so close with Stevens.
"Richie was John's captain, not Peter's," a Flyers player told me this summer. "I think maybe that came into play in the way they related to each other."
Whatever the case, Stevens' shares Murray's penchant for emphasizing the process of winning games as much as the outcome of a game. While Murray shoots from the hip more often in his comments to the media -- he has tried for years to live down his "choking situation" assessment of his Flyers team's play in the 1997 Stanley Cup Final -- Stevens is considerably more cautious and guarded in what he says but every bit as honest.
Stevens has some interesting ways of motivating players. When he took over in Philadelphia, he frequently talked about what a tremendous two-way player Jeff Carter was. The only problem was that Carter really was NOT that good of a defensive player at that stage of his career. I was puzzled by it, and asked an NHL pro scout his thoughts.
"I think Carter's getting better defensively, but he has a long way to go," said the scout. "But what Stevens is doing, I think, is that he's getting Carter to pay attention to his defensive responsibilities, take pride in it and feel like he's letting John down if he slacks off on the defensive end. It's good, positive coaching."
Over the next couple years, Carter really did improve by leaps and bounds defensively and especially in the faceoff circle. Those are the types of things that Stevens accomplished in Philadelphia that he never really got credit for doing.
Stevens was far from perfect as head coach of the Flyers, but he truly deserved another crack at being an NHL head coach. I think LA is a good situation for him. He knows the players, and is much younger than Murray.
Although John is a couple years older than me, he was the first NHL coach whom I ever perceived as being younger. He has a youthful face and keeps himself in tip-top physical condition; better, in fact, than some of his players.
As for "Murph," I fear that age 61, he has had last opportunity as an NHL head coach. Perhaps he'd want to try coaching Team Canada overseas at some point or else there will certainly be a role advising L.A. or another club in a front office capacity until he retires. But Murray never won a Stanley Cup, despite having some very good clubs, and that's a shame. He's a fine coach who makes his players better for having learned from him.
I'll be back later this afternoon with a rumor blog.
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