Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Dustin Brown: “It’s time for guys to wake up”

Montreal Canadiens v Los Angeles Kings

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 03: Dustin Brown #23 of the Los Angeles Kings and Jack Johnson #3 skate off the ice after a 2-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens at Staples Center on December 3, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Getty Images

What does rock bottom look like? There’s no surefire way to figure out when a team reaches the low point in their season, but the Kings’ 8-2 defeat in Detroit on Saturday night certainly looked like the worst performance of their underwhelming season. They can only hope that it doesn’t get any worse.

It was yet another slow start for a team that has made it a habit to fall behind early and try to play catch up over the final two periods. Saturday night the Kings took it to a new level. They were outscored 4-1 in the first period in Detroit, and then they were outscored 4-1 over the final forty minutes. It’s not the first time a team has lost in Detroit – it’s the tenth straight win at home for the Red Wings – but it may have been the ugliest.

Here’s a newsflash: lame duck coaches may not be the greatest idea for a team that desperately needs to collect every point they can.

Kings have now lost six out of their last seven games and haven’t scored more than two goals since they scored three goals against St. Louis on November 22. That would be 11 games in a row for those who like keeping track of that kind of thing. Finally, after weeks of struggling, someone besides GM Dean Lombardi said something.

After the game, Kings captain Dustin Brown had some choice words for his teammates. “We got our (butts) kicked,” the usually quiet captain said. “It’s time for guys to wake up. That’s pretty much it, really. Guys have to wake up and take responsibility.’’

After the loss in Detroit, the Kings are sitting in 11th place in the Western Conference. Even more concerning, the team with lofty preseason expectations is the lowest scoring team in the entire league. People pointed towards Terry Murray’s system, but it may be more about the lack of effort from the guys on the Kings roster.

“We’ve got to find ways to be a lot better than we were tonight,” Brown told the media after the game. “With everything that’s gone on, guys have got to take responsibility in here because it doesn’t matter whether Stevens is our coach or whoever they’re bringing in. It doesn’t make a difference who the coach is. It’s going to be the players that play the games, and it’s going to be the players that need to take responsibility.”

So much for being the strong, silent type.

The Kings still have one more game to play under John Stevens (Monday in Toronto) before Darryl Sutter takes over the reins next week. Of course, fans in southern California will hope that they can turn around the scoring woes. But more importantly, they should hope that Sutter can turn things around in the motivation department.

If the team continues to sleepwalk through the year, Terry Murray won’t be the only one that loses his job this season.