Resting Uneasy on King Future

There was little sleep in Buffalo, and there isn’t much else to do in Buffalo in January.

There was little sleep in Dallas.

And Calgary.

And Vancouver.

And St. Louis.

And, actually, Larry Robinson has tossed and turned in many beds since a brave October with predictions of postseason success, and a lack of satisfaction with anything less.

He has spent nights asking himself difficult questions, questions with perhaps impossible answers.

Can he play anyone differently? What can he do to stave off losses that have happened so often this season? Where can he find another win and get two more points closer to a playoff spot? When will he get Glen Murray or (insert name of just about any King in this space; most have been injured) back in the lineup? Why did the Kings lose again . . . and again?

But never, how did I get myself into this?

“Hockey is all I’ve ever done,” he says. “I still like being around with the guys.”

All the guys, even those whose play is contributing to an unease that has people asking if he will be back next season?

For all of his stern, sometimes forbidding visage, Robinson is a kind and gentle man who wears his heart on his sleeve, and a newspaper story before the all-star break brought out his insecurity about his job performance in the wake of another King losing streak. It also called into question whether he wanted to extend his career with the team.

It was a misunderstanding.

“Everybody took the article the wrong way, as if I didn’t want to be here,” Robinson says. “Maybe I came across the wrong way. Basically what I was saying was that in my job--and most people won’t admit it--you’re not in this job unless you’re, not second-guessing yourself, but looking for ways and ideas and things you can do to make yourself a better coach and, in doing so, make us a better team. That’s what I was trying to get across in the article.

“Yes, I want to be back.”

That would require a new contract. His current deal (four years at about $750,000 a season) is up after this season, and he did not sign an extension that was offered in September. That extension, covering a number of years to be determined--the Kings suggested three--lay on the table until a few weeks ago, when it was shoved to the back burner.

That was about the time the Kings were shoved to the back burner of the Western Conference.

He does not talk about it now, nor does Dave Taylor, the King vice president and general manager who will decide Robinson’s fate. And who would like to have it decided with a winning streak that would take the Kings into the playoffs.

Taylor does not want to fire anybody.

“Larry’s not comfortable talking about his situation and neither am I,” he says. “It’s something we will talk about after the season.”

As it stands now, the Kings’ season ends April 18, the last day of the regular season.

They are four points behind San Jose for the final playoff spot in the conference, with a game tonight against Philadelphia. They have lost five of six.

The Kings have gotten that way because of injuries that have kept them from putting their full lineup on the ice all season, and because of a lack of performance by those who have been doing the skating.

It’s the coach’s job to coax that performance.

Isn’t it?

“Coaches can do all they want, Xs and O’s, prepare us for the game, and these coaches do all that stuff,” defenseman Rob Blake says. “But if the guys don’t bring it on the ice, there’s nothing the coaches can do.

“A coach can show a player every play, every situation for a whole game, and if the player doesn’t want to do it, there’s nothing the coach can do.”

It has been the problem most of the season, adds Blake, who wants Robinson to continue as coach.

“We’ve got too many guys going through the motions,” Blake says. “The only one of us who is always going is Luc [Robitaille], game in and game out. Him and maybe [Sean] O’Donnell and Matty Norstrom and a couple of other guys.

“To win in our situation, we can’t afford to have two or three guys [not putting forth a maximum effort] a night. We don’t have enough depth. We don’t have a good enough team for that.”

It’s something Robinson has complained about, with particular emphasis in a loss at Montreal in December, after which he said he would not quit the job and he would not be a scapegoat for the Kings’ lack of performance.

But that’s often the lot of a coach.

“Every player knows that there’s somebody that everybody puts the blame on and that’s the coach,” says Robitaille, also a Robinson supporter. “It’s the history of sports. It’s the way it goes.

“We all like Larry. We all want to play for him. We want to win for him. We want to go to the playoffs with him.”

It’s what Robitaille, Blake and Garry Galley told Robinson in a meeting in Dallas on Tuesday, and they added he might want to take a firmer hand on the reins.

Robinson is no screamer. He is a reasonable man who motivated himself during a Hall of Fame career and would like to see his players do the same. “Players respect what he’s done,” Blake says. “He’s played 20 years in the league. He’s won Norris trophies and Stanley Cups. You play for him and you fear losing his respect. That goes a longer way than a person yelling and screaming at somebody.”

But apparently it doesn’t go all the way with everybody.

“I think some of the players take advantage of him,” Robitaille says. “Larry gives some guys too many chances. . . . But as a player, maybe he felt that some people didn’t get enough chances.

“We’re not here to be friends with Larry. Our main goal is to win hockey games. Some guys are going to be sat out, but maybe if you win and they sit out one shift or sit out one period, maybe they learn and become better players and you want them on your team. And if they pout, you don’t want them on your team.”

Robinson disagrees.

“I don’t want somebody to take advantage of the fact that I’m an easygoing guy,” he says. “I try not to let that happen. If I feel it is, I [will] address it.”

But there are pouters, and there have been underachievers. They have tried Robinson’s patience, which he has in abundance. He has talked of benchings and of calling players from the minor leagues, but there isn’t enough quality depth for either.

There is occasional wistful thinking of a time when those tactics worked, when he played for the Montreal Canadiens and job security was day to day, rather than season to season.

That too keeps him up nights, for the game has changed and he has had to change with it.

But one thing never changes.

“I’m no different as a coach than I was as a player,” he says. “I’m never satisfied. Even if you played well or the team plays well, I’m never satisfied. You can’t be. You’re satisfied when you’re standing there holding the [Stanley] Cup up. That’s when you’re satisfied.

“Then you’re satisfied for that summer until training camp starts again.”

It’s a mind-set that can drive a man . . . or drive him crazy.

“Who says I’m not crazy?” Robinson says, chuckling.

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Staying Power

Coaches with the longest tenure with their current teams, including the season they started:

Scotty Bowman Detroit, 1993-94

Ron Low Edmonton, 1994-95

Larry Robinson Kings, 1995-96

Jacques Martin Ottawa, 1995-96