Fire Hiller

Dr. Tran said:
I was thinking about Hiller’s issue with ice time. And how he rode the top guys while not playing the bottom ones. And to me, we don’t have the team to do that. I like our guys, but there’s no McDavid, Draisaitl, MacKinnon, & so on. Those teams can ride those guys, double shift them if they have to. We don’t have that kind of elite talent. So there’s 2 choices. Either get elite talent or play the full roster of everyone you’ve got. And this is why I’m now thinking Blake & Hiller weren’t on the same page. Because either Hiller thought his bottom guys were untrustworthy & couldn’t play them, which is Blake’s fault. Or he had good enough guys that he could've played them but didn’t, in which case it’s Hiller’s fault. Our roster isn’t perfect by any means but I’m leaning to the latter. They say a coach can only play the team he’s given. But Hiller didn’t do that. He played 3/4 of the team. So if they’re going to work together, if either are coming back, they need to get on the same page as far as the roster.
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It’s the latter. This thread is truly jumping the shark when Fire Hiller becomes Fire Blake.

Blake owes it to the team and to himself to fire Hiller.
 
Okay, one final post before I retire this season.

Trying to be a voice of reason here...as emotional as this all is for everyone...if one of those empty net shots was on target, I think we'd all be singing a different tune right now.

Because at that point we probably beat the Oilers back in LA in Game 5, and take the series 4-1. It's a game of inches, and we missed by a few inches.

Just sayin.........
 
Rog or Reg? said:
Trying to be a voice of reason here...as emotional as this all is for everyone...if one of those empty net shots was on target, I think we'd all be singing a different tune right now
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Few points. There were a few times where we won clean draws in our zone but decided to ice, looking at you Drew. Also looking at you Hiller for our coaching decision to sit on our heels in the third.

If that tripping call gets called late in the third during game 4, would have went home up 3-1

If Byfield chipped it, same thing.

If we didn't challenge, maybe we would have won in OT for game 3.

To your point, game of inches and what ifs. But at least we could have set ourselves up better without bone headed coaching decisions. Hence this thread.

At the same time though, a lot of this hinges on our players abilities to have mental fortitude. Something we haven't exhibited in all four series vs the Oil.
 
SirJW said:
I agree to a point about the bad advice but we all had plenty of time watching the replays for the goal itself, coach included. There was no reason to gamble at that point of the game or the series.
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Coaches have access to an iPad which is why they rely on the video guys. That system worked pretty well during the season, to the point where the coaches had faith in that process.
 
FoxDie said:
Few points. There were a few times where we won clean draws in our zone but decided to ice, looking at you Drew. Also looking at you Hiller for our coaching decision to sit on our heels in the third.

If that tripping call gets called late in the third during game 4, would have went home up 3-1

If Byfield chipped it, same thing.

If we didn't challenge, maybe we would have won in OT for game 3.

To your point, game of inches and what ifs. But at least we could have set ourselves up better without bone headed coaching decisions. Hence this thread.

At the same time though, a lot of this hinges on our players abilities to have mental fortitude. Something we haven't exhibited in all four series vs the Oil.
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The “sit on our heels” frame has been clearly debunked by the coach and particularly by the players by now. It was not the strategy and we can all move on from it.
 
Clear house. Dare I ask (because I love the guy), do we need to have a new captain that will kick some you-know-what in the locker room more? Don’t know who that would be, but someone other than the coach needs to be chirping in some ears at the end of those games. (Or having an impact like McDavid, sorry to say.)

I can’t do another season of this, and yet I will for the 38th time. My first love (hockey) is slowly killing me. The booze because of it is killing me faster.

We had better do something in the offseason that makes the pain hopeful (because it sure in the hell isn’t bearable).
 
LMAO
Kings confirm that both Coach Jim Hiller and GM Rob Blake will return
Los Angeles insiders at the Mayor NHL are reporting that both figureheads will return next year despite significant frustration from the fan base.
From everything we've been able to gather over the past 24 hours, it appears Blake and Hiller will remain in place for the 2025-26 season.
 
Rog or Reg? said:
Okay, one final post before I retire this season.

Trying to be a voice of reason here...as emotional as this all is for everyone...if one of those empty net shots was on target, I think we'd all be singing a different tune right now.

Because at that point we probably beat the Oilers back in LA in Game 5, and take the series 4-1. It's a game of inches, and we missed by a few inches.

Just sayin.........
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Or the Kings would be preparing for game 7 tonight. As exhausted as the Kings were, it’s certainly possible the Oilers could have won games 5 and 6 even if the Kings had held on in game 4. Last year, the Panthers held on for dear life in game 3, and then the Oilers roared back to tie the series.
 
Rog or Reg? said:
Okay, one final post before I retire this season.

Trying to be a voice of reason here...as emotional as this all is for everyone...if one of those empty net shots was on target, I think we'd all be singing a different tune right now.

Because at that point we probably beat the Oilers back in LA in Game 5, and take the series 4-1. It's a game of inches, and we missed by a few inches.

Just sayin.........
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I agree, we were inches away from winning that series. Best thing to do now is see if Blake is able to pick up a key FA or two in the off season and focus on having a good draft. This team is nearly there.

A few keys (not in order)

1) Hiller hopefully has learned to play all 4 lines through a playoff series
2) Doughty is still an impact player but should be kept under 18 minutes per game in the playoffs going forward
3) Byfield needs to be built around and take over as legit L1 center next season
4) Danault also needs to be built around to create a true shutdown line (He was fantastic this playoff series)
5) Gavrikov needs to be resigned (this is top priority)
6) Resign Kuz to a short term contract
6) Kings need to figure out who will be the replacement for Riitich next season and commit to making the change
7) Team still needs an elite goal scorer
 
I don't think what the Mayor is saying is gospel. There is nothing to back that up. (At least I hope not)

Detroit, St Louis, Vancouver, NYR, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, Anaheim, Pittsburgh all let their coaches go during or after the season. The leash to win is short. Looking at this from the 5,000 feet view (without emotion), how could any business rationally ask their fan base (paying customers) to slap down their hard earned money with the same people in charge?

My guess is we won't hear anything until Monday. But goes without saying major changes are needed.

I can't stomach another post season press conference with those 2 idiots saying we were "right there."
 
DryKing said:
I agree, we were inches away from winning that series. Best thing to do now is see if Blake is able to pick up a key FA or two in the off season and focus on having a good draft. This team is nearly there.

A few keys (not in order)

1) Hiller hopefully has learned to play all 4 lines through a playoff series
2) Doughty is still an impact player but should be kept under 18 minutes per game in the playoffs going forward
3) Byfield needs to be built around and take over as legit L1 center next season
4) Danault also needs to be built around to create a true shutdown line (He was fantastic this playoff series)
5) Gavrikov needs to be resigned (this is top priority)
6) Resign Kuz to a short term contract
6) Kings need to figure out who will be the replacement for Riitich next season and commit to making the change
7) Team still needs an elite goal scorer
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You’re right on this take. This series was “that” close to going in the Kings favor.

Re your keys:

1. Hilier was obviously concerned about the inexperienced youth in the fourth line and unwisely chose to roll three lines. A healthy Jeannot could have changed that mindset.
I was actually impressed with that line in Game 6 tho. I think that another year with Helenius and Malott getting experience could make that line effective. (More on Turcotte later).

2. It’s hard to know about Doughty beyond this year. He’s aging, played lots of minutes in his career, and looked like he was playing on one leg. The off-season should help his recovery from the injury but we don’t know what his next few seasons look like. I think it is correct to decrease his minutes going forward.

3. Yes on Byfield! He had a very good season, is still young as heck, and is still scratching the surface.

4. Danault had a really strong series. May have been the Kings best player. Build the line and think about extending him. I don’t think the Kings can lose both he and Kopi a year from now.

5. Gavrikov was real good this year. Deserves a contract. Very important to the Kings moving forward.

6. Rittich definitely should be shown the door. Whether it’s Portillo or a current NHL backup it should be a reasonably easy upgrade.

7. Another big scorer to compliment Kempe and Fiala would be helpful. Kings appear to have enough depth scoring but another 25-35 or 40 scorer would change things greatly. Byfield will probably get to that level as soon as next year.

Re Turcotte I think it’s time to move on from him. I like him. He competes. He has pretty good skills. But he’s just too injury prone. He’s a bit too small, puts himself in bad situations regularly, and teams know his history. He’s unable to stay in the lineup consistently. I don’t think he has a long career ahead of him. A fourth line of Jeannot, Helenius and Malott would be very physical and tough to play against. (Or a youngster like Lee instead of Malott I suppose also works.).

I think an important move this off-season is to also move away from Spence. The Kings could really use a big righty d-man.
I’d see what a trade of Turc and Spence could bring.
With Doughty still here for awhile and Clarke playing as well as he did the Kings could really use one more solid D on the right side. Mikey, Gavy and Eddie seem like that side is set.

The only other thing I can see missing is the guys who know how to win. That seems missing from this group.
 
I wonder if Blake outlasts Lombardi after his six seasons of not winning anything after 2014.
 
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