To tell the truth, like a lot of Southern California hockey fans, I'm not really sure why the Los Angeles Kings suddenly fired head coach Marc Crawford this week. Sure, the Kings have been suffering through miserable results the last couple of years, compiling a cumlative 76-105-24 record since January 2006, but General Manager Dean Lombardi could have fired Crawford for that two months ago when the regular season ended.
Inside the Kings' Rich Hammond also was surprised by the timing of the firing:
I really thought that once Crawford survived January, he would be around at the start of next season. I figured that he would be fired if the Kings got off to a rocky start next season, but never did I imagine he would be fired two months after the season. Lombardi also gave no indication that it was coming, and he was asked on a semi-regular basis. To hear him explain it, it's a decision he reached only in the last week or so.So really the question becomes: what in the last week changed Lombardi's mind? As a cartoonist with no insider information, I can only speculate, of course. Who knows? Perhaps it was a case of Crawford using the Kings' zambonis to gel up his hair. I'm usually wrong on these things, but in the face of imperfect information, I usually go with what I know.
If anyone has any better theories on why Crawford was let go this week, let me know in the comments.
