Catching up with the LA Kings Assistant Coaches

The LA Kings held a video call on Friday with Trent Yawney, Marco Sturm and Bill Ranford to catch up with the assistant coaches during their time in quarantine.

Hosted by Kings TV analyst Jim Fox, the coaches were asked about how they've been keeping busy and their thoughts on the season.
With all three coaches being in different areas during the quarantine, their daily routines appear to be pretty similar, with each of them fitting in workouts, video calling friends and family, and lots of time for Netflix.

Each coach was asked to discuss the team's improvement as the season went on. Ranford spoke on the performances of Jonathan Quick and Cal Petersen this year.

"Jonathan had the slow start but finished really, really strong in the last two thirds of the season," Ranford said. "And then having the opportunity to get Cal Petersen in was huge for us, from the standpoint of giving him a little more NHL experience and then the trickle down effect with Matty Villalta getting to play more with Ontario."

Sturm and Yawney discussed the team's offense and defense, including the Kings on special teams.

"We improved a lot and our power play became a lot better," Sturm said. "It became a threat. That's what we wanted. That's something I think we will build on."

Yawney also credited the entire coaching staff for the drastic improvement of the penalty kill as the year went on.

"We kept it the same and kept working with guys and adjusting some things. As they got more proficient at it and felt more comfortable with it, you could see (improvement) in the last part of the season," he said.

The three coaches also shared their admiration for the team's video coaches, Samson Lee and Derik Johnson.

"It's pretty incredible how much work they do for us, for the team and for the head coach," Sturm said. "You don't hear those names too much and you should. We appreciate everything they do for us and we know how important these guys are. "

Yawney, having the most experience working with head coach Todd McLellan, also noticed personal development from the Kings' Head Coach.

"He spends a lot more time talking about our team and teaching through his pregame prep and through certain clips more than he did in the past," he said. "Much more patient than he was, but I think that's just experience... He still has the same passion and drive as a young coach. Very smart, very good at making in game adjustments. That has never changed."

You can watch the entire exchange here: