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With the Los Angeles Kings’ season over, reports have been surfacing of dysfunction between members of the organization, especially the players and head coach Darryl Sutter. Rumors that Sutter was locked out of the dressing room in February following a road loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning might make for nice headlines, but surely don’t tell the whole truth.
For starters, players hold “players only meetings” in all sports when teams are going through patches, so the Kings are hardly the first to do so. Secondly, on that note, seeing veteran players like Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar take charge during times of adversity should be a good sign for the team as that’s why both highly respected veterans wear letters on their jerseys. Sutter had a long NHL career as a player, so I’m sure he appreciated seeing his players take charge of the room and try — albeit unsuccessfully — to right the ship that was this season. Professional players don’t need “rah rah” speeches from a coach after a tough loss like a high school team would get. So, again, given the overall context, the Kings players were in the right.
It’s worth noting that Sutter can be a real hardline coach who, at times, is tough to play for, especially through bad stretches. As much as Sutter’s spiel gets old, he’s a guy that gets the job done, as evidenced by his two Stanley Cups in four years in L.A. That winning seems to be a cure all. As I’ve already said, the Kings will be back with a vengeance next season as they look to put this debacle of a season behind them. If and when the Kings win another Stanley Cup, I’m sure Sutter will be locked out of the celebrations.
