KINGS ANNOUNCE COACHING CHANGE

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“We appreciate Marc’s commitment the two seasons he has been here,” said Lombardi. “However, we believe that in evaluating where we are at and, more importantly, where we are going as an organization, we feel this coaching change was the right decision to make. We wish Marc the best in his future endeavors.”

The Kings hired Marc Crawford as the 21st head coach in Kings history on May 22, 2006. Crawford formerly was the Head Coach of the Vancouver Canucks and Colorado Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques.

"Marc's record speaks for itself in terms of his winning record but I guess it just comes down to a matter of fit," Lombardi said during a conference call Tuesday.

"I think it's fair to say we did not expect the team to be out of the playoffs in January this year," Lombardi added. "I don't think we were kidding ourselves into thinking we were world beaters, we set realistic expectations."

Crawford began his NHL coaching career with Quebec in 1994 and in his first season he became the youngest coach to win the Jack Adams Trophy. After the Nordiques relocated to Denver he won the Stanley Cup in 1996 and with the win became the third-youngest coach in NHL history to raise Lord Stanley. Colorado went 16-6 that post-season and swept Florida in the Finals.

Crawford coached the Avalanche for two seasons after winning the Cup before leaving following the 1997-98 season. He then spent time providing analysis for CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada before being hired as the 15th head coach of the Canucks in January of 1999, the club he played every game of his nine-year professional career with.

Crawford compiled a 246-213-70 record in 529 regular season games over seven seasons in Vancouver and the Canucks made the playoffs four of the last five seasons he was there. In 2003-04, the Canucks won the Northwest Division title (the franchise’s first division title since 1992-93) and in 2003 the Canucks advanced to the Western Conference Semifinals.

Overall, in 12 seasons and 905 games behind the bench as an NHL head coach, Crawford, has compiled a regular season record of 438-342-125 and a playoff mark of 43-40. He is also the first head coach in Kings history to have a Stanley Cup on his resume.