It took Darryl Sutter less than six months to achieve something he couldnt do in San Jose in parts of six seasons as the head coach here.
Sutters Los Angeles Kings defeated the New Jersey Devils in six games in the Stanley Cup Final, culminating with a convincing 6-1 victory on Monday night at Staples Center. Its Los Angeles first-ever championship after it joined the NHL in 1967 in the first round of expansion.
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The Kings hired Sutter, who was the head coach of the Sharks from 1997-2002, on December 20 after they fired Terry Murray.
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Jonathan Quick, the Conn Smythe winner as playoff MVP, sensed an immediate change in the team once Sutter took over.
You know, I felt like everybody felt a little more accountable for their own actions, their day-to-day play, practice, everything, said Quick, who posted a 1.41 goals-against average and .946 save percentage in 20 games. But obviously, at the end of the day, you know, no matter what, it's got to come from the room and guys have to make a decision to work. I think we did that.
The 53-year-old Sutter, who has a decidedly unique style with the media, let it be known earlier in the playoffs that he was in his barn in Alberta when he got the call from former Sharks GM Dean Lombardi. Lombardi wanted to lure him back into coaching after he spent parts of three seasons behind the bench of the Calgary Flames, the last being 2005-06, and after which he moved upstairs into the front office as general manager until 2010.
Seems like a long time ago, middle of December, whenever it was, Sutter said. But you know what, you look at the big picture now, and I was right on how I thought about what type of players these guys were.
San Jose Sharks
The Kings jumped out to a 3-0 first period in Game 6 lead thanks to a boarding major on former Shark Steve Bernier. They never looked back, and led comfortably as the minutes ticked down in the third period.
It's pretty awesome. Obviously, when you have a three or four-goal lead with five minutes left, you know what these guys are capable of doing, Sutter said. Then you start seeing it on the bench. It's the feeling of seeing them so happy, the work that you go through.
Sutter, of course, comes from one of hockeys royal families (no pun intended). Hell be the third Sutter brother to get his name engraved on the Cup, joining brothers Duane and Brent, who won as players with the New York Islanders.
Dog (Duane) and Brent got their name on it six times, Sutter said. I wish each one of my brothers could have been on there.
Take a run at it again. That's the next thing.
The Kings may be able to do just that. A young core group led by Quick, defenseman Drew Doughty and captain Dustin Brown, combined with several other talented players under 30 like Jeff Carter, Mike Richards and Slava Voynov, and Los Angeles may have reached the starting line of what could be a long run of success.
Multiple championships arent out of the question for the Kings, who had trouble scoring goals before Sutter arrived, but went an incredible 16-4 in the postseason.
These guys, you know what, since March 1st, they've lost about six games. They've taken a lot of public negativity towards them. Look what they've just done, Sutter said. Pretty awesome. Tells you what type of players they are.
Quick said: You can't say enough about this group and how hard they worked.