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The Los Angeles Kings have relieved John Stevens of his position as head coach, and Willie Desjardins has been named interim head coach, announced today Kings' vice president and general manager Rob Blake.
"This is a critical moment of our season and our results to date are well below our expectations.In this light, it was a difficult decision, but we feel it was necessary" Blake said. "We have a lot of respect and appreciation for John's time in our organization, he has been a key part of our past success and we are grateful for his many contributions."
In addition, Don Nachbaur, who joined the Kings as an badistant coach before last season, was dismissed.
Former Kings player Marco Sturm will be the head coach and general manager of the German national team.
"We appreciate all that Don has done as a member of the Kings coaching staff and we wish him every success," said Blake.
Desjardins has more than 20 years of experience in coaching. In the NHL, he was head coach of the Vancouver Canucks for three seasons (2014 to 17). He was also Associate Head Coach of the Dallas Stars for two seasons (2010-12).
A native of Climax, Saskatoon, Desjardins is 61 years old. He is officially the 25th coach different from the Kings history.
Sturm is from Germany. He has played 938 games in the NHL over his 14-year career. He scored 487 points in career (242-245 = 487), career rankings over 59 and 446 penalty minutes.
The Kings continue their seven-game family match on Tuesday as the club hosts the Ducks. The match will air on FOX Sports West, the FOX Sports app and the LA Kings audio network.
Kings had a day off today.
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