It was April 23, 2017. The abrasiveness of two-time Stanley Cup-winning coach Darryl Sutter had become toxic and he was fired after the Kings missed the playoffs, to the regret of none of his players. General manager Rob Blake replaced Sutter with associate coach John Stevens, the only person who was extensively interviewed for the job.
Stevens was a guru of defense strategy but club President Luc Robitaille said the soft-spoken Stevens had proposed “innovative and creative ideas” on how he’d squeeze more goals out of a tediously low-scoring team. The shackles on their skilled players would be lifted.