Newly hired Los Angeles Kings coach Larry Robinson believes the team must improve its defense significantly to return to the NHL playoffs after a two-year absence.
He would seem to be the ideal person to institute such a change.Robinson, one of the league's finest defensemen during a 20-year playing career, was introduced Wednesday as the 18th head coach in the 28-year history of the Kings.
Robinson, 44, signed a four-year contract with the Kings worth a reported $3 million. He succeeds Barry Melrose, fired April 21 after nearly three seasons on the job.
Melrose's record as the Kings' coach was 79-101-29. Team president Rogie Vachon coached the team for the final seven games of the strike-shortened 1994-95 season.
"It's great to be back home," said Robinson, who played the final three seasons of his career with the Kings before retiring at the end of the 1991-92 season. "My biggest concern before we even started talks was I heard that things were going on that I wasn't too sure about. That is a big concern when you're stepping into a new career."
Robinson referred to the team's financial situation, which has been unclear since former owner Bruce McNall went bankrupt and experienced legal difficulties in 1994.
But Robinson said team chairman Joe Cohen, general manager Sam McMaster and Vachon convinced him "that things weren't as bad as they were made out to be. I think the Kings are going in the right direction after being sidetracked for a while."
The year after Robinson retired, the Kings, in their first season under Melrose, advanced to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in franchise history. But the last two seasons have been dreadful, leading to Melrose's dismissal.
"They went to the Stanley Cup finals because they played both ends of the ice," Robinson said. "That would be the first thing I'd like to work on, that the Los Angeles Kings are as good in their own end as they are in the other end.
"We have one goal in mind, and that is to win hockey games. In order for you to do your best, you've got to have fun. I want the guys to come to the rink every day with a smile on their face. We're going to go out there and have fun and win a lot of hockey games."
Robinson was a member of six Stanley Cup championship teams during his 17 years as a player for the Montreal Canadiens and was an assistant coach for the champion New Jersey Devils this past season.
New Jersey general manager Lou Lamoriello had said that any team that came after Robinson would have to compensate the Devils, but in the end, Lamoriello relented, releasing Robinson from his contract without asking for anything in return.
"We thank the New Jersey Devils for that," McMaster said.
Robinson spent a year away from hockey before becoming an assistant coach under former Montreal teammate Jacques Lemaire in New Jersey before the 1993-94 season.
Robinson's influence on the Devils' defense was apparent in his two years as an assistant with the team, as it allowed the second-fewest goals in the NHL in 1993-94 and the fifth-fewest last season.
Robinson smiled when asked about the "trap," a defensive scheme the Devils used.
"I've heard trap for the last 31/2 or four months," he said. "A trap is what I used to catch muskrats with. We played good defensive hockey. In New Jersey, the team worked with the group they had and played with a certain style. The group we have here, we'll work with and play with a style that suits their abilities."
Vachon said he thought Robinson was the perfect coach to work with the mixture of veterans and youngsters on the Kings' roster.
As far as expectations are concerned, Vachon said, "We didn't hire Larry and tell him, `You have to win the Stanley Cup.' We've missed the playoffs the last two years. If we can stay healthy, we hope to make the playoffs."