Ex-Hawk Sutter has Kings seeking crown
It’s probably overstating it to say this is a kinder, gentler Darryl Sutter.
Maybe the sour face isn’t quite as sour, the daily news conference a bit less grouchy, the defensive rules slightly relaxed.
He doesn’t seem to be the same guy who drove Steve Larmer to declare that he’d never again play for the Blackhawks.
But there’s no doubting the presence behind the bench or the reason the Los Angeles Kings are in the Stanley Cup Finals, which begin Wednesday night in New Jersey.
They would not be there without head coach Darryl Sutter.
“I think he was the right person at the right time,” defenseman Willie Mitchell said. “You see the intensity in him, his passion for game day. It rubs off on everyone.
“Like a leader in any company, if they have that passion it’s going to filter throughout the company. Your coach is your leader. He has to be that guy for us.”
Under Terry Murray, the Kings had racked up 199 points the previous two seasons but lost in the first round both years, and after three-plus seasons under Murray, the players had tuned out a coach known for taking every ounce of fun out of the game.
Sutter brought back the joy of winning — and the responsibility.
“He came in keeping guys honest,” said Kings captain Dustin Brown. “There’s games where I thought I didn’t play my best, and he brought attention to it pretty quickly.
“That goes a long way, whether you’re a young player or an older player. When you have a guy that’s pushing you to be better, makes you look in the mirror, it goes a long way.”
As unintentionally funny as Sutter’s postgame news conferences may be, he’s no John Tortorella. The players hardly think of him as a comedian, but compared to Murray he’s the life of the party, and the players responded quickly.
“He pushes the right buttons,” Brown said. “One problem we had as a team before he got here was getting emotionally attached to games. He brought that emotional level up.
“You can do all the X’s and O’s right, but if you’re not emotionally attached, it’s real hard to win in this league.”
It’s also difficult to win when you can’t understand the coach, and interpreting Sutter’s mumbling style also takes some work.
“I couldn’t understand anything he was saying when he first came,” Drew Doughty said. “I always made sure when drills were happening to be at the back of the line.”
But the Kings caught on and rallied under Sutter.
Los Angeles was in 11th place in the West and 5 points out of a postseason spot on Dec. 22 when Sutter took over, having lost six of eight.
Sutter’s fourth game with L.A. was against the Hawks at the UC, with the Hawks leading the NHL in points, and it was classic Darryl Sutter hockey.
The Kings withstood an early Hawks barrage, goaltender Jonathan Quick was brilliant, and then they just waited for the Hawks to make some mistakes.
They outhit the home team, cleared rebounds in front of their own net, threw pucks at Corey Crawford, and scored twice on scrums in front in a 2-0 victory.
They kept it simple.
And they’ve kept on keeping it simple all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals as a No. 8 seed.
“He knows exactly what he wants out of his players,” forward Brad Richardson said. “Once you get in here, you respect him a lot. He’s a great coach and he’s a great guy, too.”
And so now the Kings find themselves up against the New Jersey Devils as a nearly 2-to-1 favorite on the road, facing one of the greatest goaltenders in history, three-time Cup winner Marty Brodeur.
The Kings are bigger, have more offense and a red-hot goalie in Quick, and it’s easy to see why Sutter is expected to win his first Stanley Cup.
“The best part is seeing young guys go through the playoff experience for the first time,” Sutter said. “Gives me shivers to see the guys enjoy it the way they do.”
Of course, Sutter twisted his face into a pretzel when told his team was picked to win it, and mumbled something about how the teams hadn’t played a minute of the series yet.
That much is true, but also certain is that when it starts the Kings will play it precisely how Sutter wants them to play it.
That’s one thing about Darryl Sutter in all these years that hasn’t changed at all.
brozner@dailyherald.com
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