Kings to Seek New Line of Ascension

By JIM HODGES

April 20, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

The line to replace Larry Robinson as coach of the Kings forms behind Ted Nolan, and the candidates are warned:

* Nice guys get fired.

* Most of the Kings next season will be the age of princes.

* And if a contract extension is offered, grab it.

Nolan, himself fired in a conflict with Buffalo management after coaching the Sabres to the Eastern Conference finals two seasons ago, said Monday he had sent a resume to Dave Taylor, the Kings general manager and senior vice president.

“I’m definitely interested,” Nolan said after learning that Robinson’s contract with the Kings, and those of assistants Jay Leach, Rick Green and Don Edwards, would not be renewed after four seasons.

“I want to coach in the NHL,” said Nolan, a motivational speaker these days. “There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of that.”

Nolan, who won the Adams trophy as NHL coach of the year in 1997, is expected to be on a list that will probably include Detroit associate coach and former King Dave Lewis; Ice Dog Coach John Van Boxmeer, and Salt Lake City Coach Butch Goring, also a former King.

All but Lewis would tend to fit Taylor’s loose criterion of having head-coaching ability. Lewis headed Red Wing efforts when Coach Scotty Bowman was sidelined early in the season.

Interviews will determine whether the candidates have communication skills and the ability to work with kids, because the Kings are in a youth movement that will become increasingly apparent.

Background checks will focus on the ability to motivate.

That, along with some untimely candor, proved Robinson’s undoing during a 32-45-5 season and a four-season aggregate of 122-161-45 that included only one playoff appearance.

“I believe you have to have discipline in your organization,” Taylor said. “I talked with Larry about that at midseason. . . . Larry is a nice person. I don’t think he has to be a jerk, but certainly he has to be the boss and has to give the players direction.

“Our team this year lacked consistency and, at times, lacked a work ethic and that’s unacceptable. The bottom line is that we have to win hockey games, and our performance this year was less than we expected.”

Robinson had talked about an uncertain future and acknowledged the job was beating him down.

Two weeks ago, he questioned whether he wanted to continue as coach of the Kings. Earlier, he spoke of second-guessing himself.

“One of the factors that contributed to this is that Larry has been quoted at times as saying he wasn’t sure of himself, and I think that gave the wrong image,” Taylor said. “Certainly Larry had a proud career as a player, with a lot of success, and he has had a difficult time in four years at Los Angeles. It really took a toll on him.”

Robinson said Monday he wanted to coach again.

He actually was given the word Sunday and asked for an announcement to be delayed so he could talk with the players. But a ceremony after the Kings had lost to St. Louis, 3-2, prevented that, and he met with Taylor on Monday morning to iron out the details.

“Larry made it easier,” Taylor said. “I think he understands, and I think he agrees with the decision. When I talked with him this morning, I think he was relieved.”

Robinson said he understood and even agreed that something had to be done.

“I thought I would be relieved, but I’m not,” he said. “You want to go out on top. This is not what I envisioned. I hate to leave a place with a job unfinished. I’ve never not finished a job.”

There is a sense that this is a job that couldn’t be finished with the raw material at hand. There were 335 man-games lost to injuries, and many of the available players had subpar seasons, struggling to play Robinson’s physical system.

“We looked for answers, but how do you instill heart and drive and intestinal fortitude into people who don’t have it or don’t want it?” he said. “The biggest thing about the modern-day athlete is the things that we were born with or brought up with, such as heart and desire and the want to win and to do well and achieve, are sometimes missing in some of these athletes because they’ve been given so much.

“The key to being a successful coach in this day and age is not the Xs and O’s. It’s trying to be a motivator and baby-sitter and psychologist all rolled into one, trying to get into their head.”

The question that probably never will be answered is whether any of this would have happened had Robinson agreed to a contract extension offered in September.

“I guess I’m at fault, because looking back I could have signed a two-year contract earlier in the year,” he said. “But I wanted to be here because they wanted me to be here, and now they have made another choice.

” . . . Hopefully someone will come in here and find the right buttons to push. God knows, we tried to find them, but they’re still hidden in there someplace.”

Winning Percentage

Where Larry Robinson ranks among King coaches (at least 50 games):

1. TOM WEBSTER

115-94-31: .544

2. BOB PULFORD

178-150-68: .535

3. ROBBIE FTOREK

65-56-11: .534

4. BOB BERRY

107-94-39: .527

5. RON STEWART

31-34-15: .481