DOUGHTY DOESN’T WANT KINGS TO USE REBUILD AS AN EXCUSE
The Ottawa Senators and Los Angeles Kings are in a similar place as they prepare to face off Thursday night at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Both teams have decided the best bet is to go the rebuild route to return to having long-term success.
And, as a result, they’re both going through growing pains with new coaches behind their respective benches — D.J. Smith in Ottawa and Todd McLellan in Los Angeles — who’ve been brought in to make sure the team is competitive and developing the young players to lead the both organizations back to respectability.
The Kings have a 5-10-0 record in 15 games while the Senators are 4-10-1.
Perhaps, the approach has been easier for Smith than for McLellan because there are still holdovers on the Los Angeles roster that won Stanley Cup championships in 2012 and 2014. The likes of Dustin Brown, Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Trevor Lewis, Tyler Toffoli, Alec Martinez and goaltender Jonathan Quick are still around.
The trip from Stanley Cup champ to also-ran hasn’t been easy for a dressing room that’s been used to having success.
“That’s probably the most difficult part for us older guys,” Doughty said after the club’s skate at the Canadian Tire
Centre Wednesday afternoon. “We were on top of the world for three or four years there and now we’ve got the other end of it. It’s really hard, and mentally I struggle with it every day.
“We’re just going out there trying to be a good L.A. Kings team, representing the organization well and the good thing about us is we’re always going to play our butts off. We’re going to play as hard as we possibly can until the final whistle. Whether’s it’s 7-1 for the other team or we’re winning 3-2. You’re going to see the same game plan. That’s one thing we can be really proud of with the L.A. Kings.”
And Doughty said he doesn’t want anybody using the decision by the organization to reshape the roster as an excuse.
“I don’t like being patient,” Doughty said. “You guys can talk about rebuilding and anyone in the organization can talk about rebuilding but we’re not looking at it that way. We’re looking at it that we’re trying to make a playoff spot. There’s no point playing for nothing.
“I mean, who wants to play out there expecting to not make the playoffs? We’re going out there trying to make the playoffs and I know we’re quite a ways out right now but it’s still a long season, we’ve still got (67) games or whatever it is left. We’ve got some time but we need to start rolling here really soon.”
The issue is that’s easier said than done with the route the Kings are taking.
Fans here have witnessed it first-hand because there’s no question the Senators have competed hard in pretty much every game they’ve played this season, but mistakes get magnified and they turn out to be costly when you don’t have much of a margin for error and, like Ottawa, the Kings are searching for consistency.
“None of us in here are kind of like, ‘Oh, we’re rebuilding, let’s let the season be a writeoff,’ and all those types of things,” said Doughty. “It’s definitely part of the process when you have younger players on your team — and even the older guys have done things wrong and we’ve got down on ourselves.
“I can be the first one that gets too hard on myself and down on myself but that makes for a dip in my play and the team’s play. It’s everyone collectively that’s contributing, but we’re not treating this as a rebuild, we’re trying to make the playoffs like we are every single year.”
McLellan noted it’s imperative everybody is on the same page when an organization determines this is the best path to get back on track.
“If guys start to stray and go their own way then you’ve got division in your locker-room,” he said. “That can happen by position, by age and creating cliques. We have to find ways to keep the games fun for the players and we have to find ways to move the needle forward as we go through this.
“But, when it’s all said and done, we have each other and that’s it, and we’re a team. I’m sure D.J. is approaching it the same way and maybe has the same thoughts, but it’s about the group as a whole, it’s never about individuals, and we have to look at it that way from night to night.”
The bottom line is there’s going to be more pain before there’s gain in this situation.
“Some guys have been here for awhile and they’re used to maybe winning Cups or they have won them,” McLellan said. “But reality is what reality is and if you accept where you’re at on the line of evolution you have a good chance of improving and moving forward.” bgarrioch@postmedia.com
It’s everyone collectively that’s contributing but we’re not treating this as a rebuild, we’re trying to make the playoffs like we are every single year.