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Terry Murray’s situation in L.A. seems awfully familiar

terrymurraypoints

James O’Brien

With the speculation looming that Kings coach Terry Murray could soon be out of a job, looking at what’s going on in L.A. seems very familiar.

A team loaded with superstars that looks sapped of their will to compete and struggle mightily at putting the puck in the net. Wait, are we talking about Terry Murray with the Kings or what Bruce Boudreau had to deal with in Washington? Or Davis Payne in St. Louis? What about Randy Carlyle in Anaheim? The situations are curiously similar and in Murray’s case, it’s one where the competitiveness in the West has a hand in speeding things up.

While the Kings are in a division that’s playing poorly all around, falling back into a tie with Calgary for 11th in the conference is about as big of a sign that things are wrong that a team expected to compete for the Stanley Cup needs to see that something is very wrong. Whether you’re critical of Murray’s “defense at all costs” ways or you think the Kings’ offensive weapons just aren’t trying hard enough, the truth is it’s a situation where a new voice is needed there.

Murray’s gotten the Kings to where they play as strong as any team defensively and Jonathan Quick is as good as it gets in goal, but they’ve lost their way in other facets of the game and the moves Murray makes to try and spark the offense just aren’t working. When the team stops listening and responding, that’s a sign that things have to change. It’s happened in Washington, St. Louis, and Anaheim for the same reasons and now it should be L.A.'s time as well.