Kings lose fourth consecutive game: Changes coming?

We posed this question when the Ducks slid into a freefall, and now it seems more than appropriate with the punchless Kings doing the same thing.

Who stays and who goes?

A night of nostalgia ended in boos by the Staples Center fans on Saturday night as Dallas beat the Kings, 2-1. The frustration and anger was visible in the dressing room, which not a surprise if you consider the Kings have lost four in a row, scoring an underwhelming six goals in that stretch.

A major player trade was expected from the Ducks and they ended up switching coaches, firing Randy Carlyle and replacing him with Bruce Boudreau. Do the Kings run the same play with Terry Murray?  Or do they end up making a rare major mid-season trade?

King captain Dustin Brown was asked if he thought individuals were anticipating a shakeup, in terms of a player move.

“It’s hard to say. I’ve never been on a team that’s good, that’s gone through this,” Brown said. “That’s probably the biggest difference for me. We have a good team in here. We’re capable of doing everything we need to with the people we have in here.

"I don’t think guys consciously think about that. Maybe it’s in the back of some guys' heads.”

His school of thought was that there was not enough desperation, using that word several times.

"Right now, we don't have enough guys having that desperation that we need," Brown said.

He addressed the absence of injured center Mike Richards.

“He’s a big part of our team," Brown said. "At the same time, I think we’re a good enough team. We did it last year without Kopi (Anze Kopitar). He’s our best player. We did it for 12 games and playoffs and we played pretty well. Right now, we’ve got to be more desperate. We’re not desperate enough right now."

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Photo: Kings defenseman Jack Johnson pursues Stars right wing Radek Dvorak in the first period Saturday night at Staples Center. Credit: Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press

Clippers guard Eric Bledsoe recovering from knee surgery

Clippers second-year guard Eric Bledsoe had surgery on a torn ligament in his right knee Oct. 7, the Clippers said in a news release Friday night after the team’s first practice.

At the time of the surgery, Bledsoe was scheduled to be out six to eight weeks. That timetable, which already is exceeded, puts him in line to return to practice pretty soon.

The Clippers were unable to announce Bledsoe’s injury sooner because the NBA prohibited teams from talking about players during the lockout.

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Kings update: Mike Richards progressing; Ethan Moreau waived

There was a small measure of progress regarding Kings center Mike Richards, who has been out with a head injury since Dec. 1. He skated after the team’s practice on Friday for about eight minutes.

Richards met with a team doctor Thursday, and was permitted to move forward with his recovery program, according to Kings Coach Terry Murray. He is out with a suspected concussion even though the Kings have not used that terminology.  

 “The only thing I can say about him is that he's been given the green light to do more,” Murray said, following practice in El Segundo. “He’s on the ice today. He rode the bike harder today ... the off-ice workouts.

 “Once you get through that part, the positive was seeing him going out on the ice. That’s a positive to me. Clearly, now the indication is that everything was good on the off-ice workout. So that’s the next step.”

Teammate and defenseman Willie Mitchell is all too familiar with the issues Richards has been facing, having been sidelined for a significant period because of post-concussion symptoms when he was with the Canucks. Richards has missed three games.

“I don’t talk to him [Richards] too much about it,” Mitchell said. “If everyone is asking him, ‘How are you doing? How are you doing? How are you doing?’ He’s going to be in a stressful state. He’s not going to get healthy.

“I kind of leave him be. I talked to him once about my experience and just said, ‘Be smart. Take your time. Don’t sit there and push it, right?’ Because you are seeing it with guys all around the league, guys that push it, there are recurrences to it.

“And first and foremost is his health. If he doesn’t have his health, he’s not going to be good to me, as a teammate or to the L.A. Kings. I don’t want to see any of my peers going through what he’s doing. I don’t wish that upon anyone. I’ve been there; it’s not fun. You worry about your life, your quality of life going on forward.”

With Mitchell coming off injured reserve, the Kings waived forward Ethan Moreau. Moreau, who was signed as a free agent in August, had four points in 28 games.

 “We have to create an opening for [Mitchell] and had to make a hard decision,” Murray said.

“I needed a little bit more from him. He’s a great veteran guy. Look, he’s been a captain. ... He’s a high character guy. I think his leadership in the locker room, in a quiet way, was very effective. And he gave us everything he could.”

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Photo: Kings center Mike Richards takes a shot against against Florida last week. Credit: Jeff Gross / Getty Images

Kings after deadline: Terry Murray talks about 'dangerous play'

There was more than a flash of concern when the Kings' Anze Kopitar went down for a couple of minutes, via a nasty hit delivered from Minnesota's Kyle Brodziak in the second period on Thursday night.

Brodziak received a five-minute major for boarding and automatic game misconduct. Kopitar finally left the ice under his own power, hunched over, and would return fairly quickly, on the subsequent power play.

Kings Coach Terry Murray had some blunt observations on the play after the Wild beat the Kings, 4-2.

"I was worried about that one," he said. "That's a very dangerous play. You get cross-checked into the boards like that, I've seen too many players blow their knees, break their legs in those situations. I was very concerned about that one."

In fact, King defenseman Alec Martinez was injured when he was taken hard into the boards (by Warren Peters) in the last game against Minnesota at Staples Center on Nov. 12. Although Martinez later returned in that game and scored, he has been out of the lineup since then because of an upper-body injury.

Murray termed the intent behind those type of hits a lack of "respect," speaking in a broader sense.

"You know what, I watch games around the league, and it's a concern that it happens as often as it does. I don't get it. I don't get the attitude, the mentality of the players today. The lack of respect and the jeopardy they're putting their fellow [players] in. In my generation, that never happened."

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Photo: Kings center Anze Kopitar warms up prior to the Kings' 4-2 loss Thursday to the Minnesota Wild. Credit: Kirby Lee / U.S. Presswire

Duck update: Revamped ticket pricing system

The Ducks announced a handful of changes to their pricing procedures in relation to individual-game tickets. Many other NHL teams are rolling out similar initiatives. 

"Launching a dynamic pricing system will allow us to mirror current market conditions," said Ducks Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Tim Ryan in a statement Thursday. "With our 'Dynamic Deal' each week and our 'No Surprise Fees' ticket policy, fans will find great offers and flexible prices for games that work best for them."

For instance, the initial "Dynamic Deal' is in effect starting today for next week's Duck-Coyote game at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday at Honda Center, impacting Plaza Goal Upper East tickets and Terrace Value East tickets.  Savings will range from $9 to $15 per ticket.

For additional information, go to www.anaheimducks.com/dynamic. That site will also let fans register to receive emails about future "Dynamic Deals," and other ticket offers on a weekly basis.

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Photo: Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf (15) celebrates a goal with winger Corey Perry during a game against the Minnesota Wild last week at the Honda Center. Credit: Harry How / Getty Images

Ex-Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle: Experience was positive, firing wasn't

Randy Carlyle, who coached the Ducks to the Stanley Cup in 2007 but was fired Wednesday because of the team's prolonged struggles, said Saturday he has been traveling "an emotional road" since his dismissal and will take a brief fishing trip to Northern California before considering his hockey future.

"We'll see," he said when asked if he expects to coach in the NHL again. "I'm working on putting one foot in front of another for the next couple of days."

Carlyle's last game was a 4-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday, which ended the Ducks' seven-game losing streak. However, General Manager Bob Murray had decided that no matter the outcome, he would dismiss Carlyle and replace him with Bruce Boudreau, the former Washington Capitals coach.

Boudreau lost his Ducks debut when the team squandered a three-goal lead and lost, 4-3, in overtime Friday. It was much like many of the games Carlyle coached this season, in fact, with a team that lacks depth and discipline.

Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau ready for more 'firsts'

Newly hired Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau will experience a series of "firsts" while he settles in, and Friday brought the chance to check two more firsts off his list.

Boudreau, who conducted his first Ducks practice on Thursday, led players Friday through their first morning skate with him in charge. He will make his Ducks coaching debut Friday night at Honda Center against the Philadelphia Flyers, alongside new assistants Brad Lauer and Bob Woods.

His players enjoyed a first on Friday too: They were smiling and laughing in the locker room for the first time in a long time.

"Bruce has brought some good energy to the team. He's really an uplifting guy," defenseman Cam Fowler said. "He's positive, and he's made it fun to come to the rink every day."

Enforcer George Parros, who played for Boudreau in the American Hockey League when both were in the Kings' minor-league system, said he remembered Boudreau's positive attitude and honesty.

"What you see is what you get with him. We all watched him on the 24/7 shows," Parros said, referring to the HBO series last winter that featured an unfiltered Boudreau preparing the Washington Capitals to play in the Winter Classic. "We all got a good look at him. He's that person. There's no hiding how he is emotionally. He's a positive, upbeat guy, and he coaches to win. He's a good coach.”

Boudreau was often heard yelling “Move it!” during drills to remind players to maintain a fast pace.

"Look at all the good teams. They play an up-tempo game," he said. "You've got to be able to move the puck. Not just necessarily your legs but moving the puck quick can make slow teams look fast, and if we can get that in our repertoire, I think we’ll be better."

Ducks update: Coaching change puts trade talk on hold


There may not have been a reprieve for Anaheim Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle, who was dismissed late Wednesday night, but his firing meant at least a temporary halt to trade talk.

The larger meaning: Forward Bobby Ryan can resume exhaling and playing hockey and stop worrying about a possible relocation. He called the recent trade speculation "a nightmare."

Ryan said his girlfriend was the one who told him about the coaching change, calling him in his car when he was driving home from Wednesday's game.

"To be honest, right off the bat, I was thinking it might be a yard sale or a fire sale, a lot of things might be changing," Ryan said on Thursday after the first practice under new coach Bruce Boudreau. "I immediately kind of looked around to see if I had any other texts or missed calls.

"It's almost like there's a little relief on my part. Hopefully, this isn't meaning that I'm going to be moved too in the future. You almost feel like you let Coach down, you let all three coaches down."

Ryan said Ducks General Manager Bob Murray let him know that the organization would let things settle down after the coaching change.

"A lot of times players are left in the dark and it is tough," Ryan said. "I appreciate Murph being honest with me and letting me know ahead of time, so I could focus on one thing and that's wins for the Ducks."

Ryan had one of the better lines about the transition from Carlyle to Boudreau.

"There's a little nervousness, what kind of impression you are going to make on your first day," he said. "It's almost like a first date. But I think it went well."

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Photo: Bobby Ryan shoots past New York Rangers' Michael Del Zotto on Nov. 3. Credit: Frank Franklin II / Associated Press

Ducks had tuned out Randy Carlyle as coach

Randy Carlyle didn’t know it, but when he told reporters the Ducks’ 4-1 victory over Montreal Wednesday might be "a steppingstone for us in the right direction," he was already their former coach, no longer a part of "us" or the direction they’ll take.

Carlyle was fired and replaced by former Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau about 40 minutes after the Ducks ended a seven-game losing streak and won for only the third time in 19 games. Carlyle’s voice had become too familiar, his barked threats empty and his motivational tactics flat. Boudreau was fired by the Capitals on Monday for similar reasons, to a degree an occupational hazard.

Carlyle, hired in 2005, guided a powerful team to the Stanley Cup in 2007 but the Ducks’ talent level has plummeted and they haven’t gotten past the second round of the playoffs since. It’s worth noting that of the last 10 Cup-winning coaches, only one — a guy by the name of Scotty Bowman — was with that team more than four seasons when he won.

Players tune coaches out after a while. Carlyle, gruff and old-school and able to get a lot out of not much raw material for a while, ultimately was tuned out too.

General Manager Bob Murray resisted firing Carlyle for as long as possible — maybe too long, though the timing enabled Murray to hire the sometimes profane but never boring Boudreau, who is scheduled to run his first practice Thursdays at Anaheim Ice.

Murray and Carlyle are close, and Murray last summer gave him an extension through 2013-14, but Murray had to be feeling pressure to dismiss Carlyle or lose his own job. Club owners Henry and Susan Samueli aren’t meddlesome but they aren’t stupid. The team was going nowhere with Carlyle behind the bench.

The Ducks are 10 points behind the eighth-seeded Kings, a huge gap even for a team known for second-half surges. They’re too thin to be a Stanley Cup contender but they were fourth in the West last season with much the same group and should be better than 29th.

Other general managers have been calling Murray and offering to “help” by taking underachieving forwards Ryan Getzlaf and Bobby Ryan off his hands. Murray has listened, as he should, while hoping teams force each other to up the ante.

In the meantime, Getzlaf has shown signs of life — he scored a goal Wednesday for the first time in 14 games and has points in seven straight games — so Murray might decide the coaching change was enough of a jolt. For now, anyway.

The transition from Carlyle to Boudreau can be summed up as going from Grumpy to Gabby, from the crotchety Carlyle to the personable Boudreau, the rumpled breakout star of last season’s HBO 24/7 series.

Formerly a coach in the Kings’ minor-league system, Boudreau earned a cult following for his bit part in the iconic movie "Slap Shot." He’s No. 7 on the Hyannisport Presidents in a couple of scenes, and the apartment he lived in while playing for the Johnstown Jets — the model for the movie’s Charlestown Chiefs — was used as Coach Reggie Dunlop’s apartment.

He coached in the minor leagues for 15 seasons before he arrived in Washington and had immediate success, winning the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year in 2007-08. He won four straight Southeast division titles and the Presidents’ Trophy for the best overall record in 2009-10. He also won 200 games faster than any other modern NHL coach.

But there’s also that matter of not getting past the second round of the playoffs four times with a high-payroll team and his rocky relationship with superstar Alexander Ovechkin, whose production declined as Boudreau boomeranged from a run-and-gun style to defensive diligence. Ovechkin won that battle, not surprisingly. Boudreau shouldn’t have to fight that battle in Anaheim with low-key stars Getzlaf, Teemu Selanne and Corey Perry.

Carlyle exited with a win, appropriate for the coach who won California’s first — and only — Stanley Cup title. It might be the steppingstone he hoped for, but it’s up to Boudreau to guide them toward the success that Carlyle could no longer achieve.

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Photo: Randy Carlyle. Credit: Chris Carlson / Associated Press

Ducks fire Randy Carlyle, hire ex-Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau

The Ducks fired Randy Carlyle as their coach Wednesday and announced the hiring of former Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau.

The Ducks made the announcement after their 4-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday. The victory snapped the Ducks' seven-game losing streak.

Boudreau, 56, who was fired Monday by the Capitals and replaced by Dale Hunter, led Washington to the best record in the NHL in 2009-10. He compiled a record of 201-88-40 with the Capitals and was the 2007-08 NHL coach of the year.

Carlyle, 55, led the Ducks to a Stanley Cup victory in 2007. He compiled a 273-182-61 record in six-plus seasons behind the bench, guiding the Ducks to five playoff appearances.

"This was an extremely difficult decision,” said Bob Murray, the Ducks' executive vice president/general manager, in a written statement. "Randy is a terrific head coach and did a tremendous job for us for six-plus seasons. We thank him greatly for his hard work and dedication to our franchise, not the least of which was a Stanley Cup championship. At this time, we simply felt a new voice was needed. Bruce is a proven winner with a great track record, and we are optimistic we can turn this season around under his leadership."

We'll have more on Carlyle's firing and Boudreau's hiring soon at latimes.com/sports.

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Top photo: Former Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle. Right photo: Former Capitals coach and newly named Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau. Credit: Christian Petersen / Getty Images

Terry Murray welcomes Dale Hunter to NHL coaching ranks

Kings Coach Terry Murray has fond memories of Dale Hunter, who was hired Monday to succeed Bruce Boudreau as coach of the Washington Capitals.

Hunter, as sneaky-dirty a player as ever laced up skates — but talented enough to score more than 1,000 points — played for the Capitals when Murray was an assistant coach and, later, the team’s coach. Murray recalled the 1987 draft-day deal Washington made with Quebec to get Hunter.

“The draft was in Detroit, and we made a trade at the draft table,” Murray said before the Kings faced the San Jose Sharks at Staples Center. “He came out of the stands and he could hardly walk. He’s limping so bad, and we’re kind of ‘What’s going on here?’

“He had broken his leg near the end of the year and came back and played in the playoffs for the Nordiques. And basically everybody felt he was done because his play was so poor but he had a broken leg still. He came to our table and we welcomed him and we were very happy to have him. It was a good deal for the Washington Capitals.”

Murray recalled Hunter’s skills as clearly as his toughness.

“He was a really good player,” Murray said. “You look back at his stats in Quebec: Michel Goulet was a 50-goal scorer, and that was his left winger. For me he played a skill game but with that edge, that grit, that hard play and actually outright mean sometimes.”

Just ask Pierre Turgeon how mean Hunter was. Hunter viciously checked Turgeon, then with the New York Islanders, after Turgeon scored a goal in the 1993 playoffs and left Turgeon with a separated shoulder. Hunter was suspended for the first 21 games of the 1993-94 season.

“There’s a lot of players you can ask,” Murray said. “He played hard. He played the same on the road and at home. He was a great player, great teammate and he played a long time because of that.”

Murray expects Hunter to bring the same fire to coaching the Capitals.

“He’ll demand stuff be done the right way,” Murray said. “You’ve got to play hard. You’ve got to compete. That’s Dale’s MO. He always did that every day. His reputation, his emotion, he’s got a lot of history in coaching right now. Been at the job for a long time. He’s a good fit for them.”

Boudreau joined Carolina’s Paul Maurice on the unemployment line Monday when the Hurricanes replaced Maurice with former NHL forward Kirk Muller. Murray said the lack of security in his chosen profession hit him as he entered Staples Center Monday and encountered Sharks Coach Todd McLellan as they went through security.

“He said, ‘To get 1,000 games in this game today, man, we just had two more guys go down today,’” Murray said. “It’s a tough business. But it is the business and sometimes that’s what needs to be done in the GM’s eyes.”

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Photo: Capitals Coach Dale Hunter runs practice on Monday at the team's training facility in Arlington, Va. Credit: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images