Darryl Sutter working magic with Kings in Los Angeles –NHL Playoffs Special
It looks like Darryl Sutter is winning the match between who would be the more dominant coach, a question that was on everyone’s minds coming into the St. Louis Blues-Los Angeles Kings 2012 National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup Western Conference Playoff
Semi-Final series.
While St. Louis Blues look for answers to their mysterious problems that will not allow them to win a game and be put on the brink of elimination with three straight losses, Darryl Sutter of the Kings continues to work his magic on the team and lead them
to some amazing victories.
Even his players do not know exactly what Sutter is doing but they know that whatever it is, it is taking them in the right direction as far as playing is concerned.
"He pushes the right buttons," Los Angeles’ captain, Dustin Brown, said. "I think one problem we had as a team was, before he got here, was getting emotionally attached to games. He brought that emotional level up. You can do all the X's and O's right, but
if you're not emotionally attached, it's really hard to win in the League. And he's brought attention to that. Again, that comes with pushing guys and patting guys on the back at the right time."
What people believe makes Sutter so successful as a coach instead of being a general manager, a stint at which he did not flourish as much in being the head of the Calgary Flames, is because he still thinks like a player and imagines the situations as being
one.
Being a coach has proven to be far more better for Sutter as he took over the stage from Terry Murray who was relieved from his duties earlier in the 2011-2012 NHL regular season.
Developing lasting relations not only between himself and the players, but rather focusing on what each player is able and wants to do has been what’s been working for this team.
"It's a big part of the game is the emotional part," Sutter added. "They're not machines. There's a way to draw that and it comes from the leadership group more than anything.”
Sutter was part of the 2004 Calgary Flames team that nearly hoisted the cup but fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, showing that he has the ability to take a team to that point, but ending it in their favour is something
they will have to work towards by themselves.
Seeing Darryl Sutter’s Los Angeles Kings win the Stanley Cup this time around would definitely not be surprising as they knocked out 2011 Stanley Cup finalists, the Vancouver Canucks, in round-one in just five games and are now on the verge of achieving
another major upset by whitewashing the West’s second seed, St. Louis Blues.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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