Darryl Sutter

San Jose winger Raffi Torres' jarring hit of Kings center Jarret Stoll on Tuesday triggered a sizable ripple effect that could alter the tone and course of the teams' Western Conference semifinal playoff series. The ripples could spread far enough for the Kings to lose a valued penalty killer for a while and for the NHL to severely punish Torres, a multiple repeat offender under the league's often murky code of justice. Torres was suspended Wednesday pending an in-person hearing scheduled Thursday in New York with the NHL's Department of Player Safety.

There is more than just a little bit of Ron Hextall living in the body of Kings goalie Jonathan Quick. That is, the once-hot-tempered goalie Ron Hextall, not the current calm corporate Ron Hextall, the Kings' assistant general manager, destined to run an NHL team someday. Quick waved his stick and verbally went after both referees after the Kings lost, 2-1, in overtime to the Sharks in Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal series at San Jose on Saturday night. He received a game misconduct for his actions but escaped supplementary discipline from the NHL. The league said Sunday that Quick would not be fined or suspended.

With his team's record among the worst in the Western Conference, Darryl Sutter resigned as general manager of the Calgary Flames on Tuesday. Assistant GM Jay Feaster was promoted to acting general manager and will be responsible for day-to-day hockey operations. The decision could resonate within the organization. Darryl hired his brother Brent in 2009 to coach the team. Another brother, Duane , is the team's director of player personnel. Flames President Ken King lauded Darryl Sutter's eight years in the organization.

No one had to tell the Kings they were struggling on the power play. With only two goals through the early part of the playoffs, production had slipped from the regular season and the team was searching for answers. Mike Richards figured that he and his teammates got too fancy, trying to pass too much. Rookie Tyler Toffoli said: "We just weren't getting a lot of luck. " All of that changed Thursday night when special teams came to the rescue, accounting for three goals - including two in the last 1:43 - for the Kings' improbable 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks.

Newly appointed Kings Coach Darryl Sutter is said to be a man of few words. How about … no words? Joking aside, that's the way it has been, at least publicly, for almost a year after Sutter stepped down as the Calgary Flames general manager three days after Christmas in 2010. The end of the silent days, and nights, comes a few days before this Christmas. Sutter, who is replacing the recently fired Terry Murray , will conduct his first practice as the Kings' head coach Wednesday morning, followed by a news conference in the afternoon in El Segundo.

NEWARK, N.J. - Even Darryl Sutter 's extended family seems to be getting a kick out of his televised media briefings during the Stanley Cup Final between the Kings and New Jersey Devils. Nephew Brody Sutter tweeted about the Kings coach the other day: "My uncle Darryl's interviews never cease to amaze me. What a guy. #ShortAndSweet #BeautyAlert" Brody, who was drafted last year by the Carolina Hurricanes, happens to be the son of Duane Sutter , who won four Stanley Cups playing for the New York Islanders.

Jacques Demers returned to his hometown Thursday as coach of the Montreal Canadiens, and Darryl Sutter was named to the same position with the Chicago Blackhawks. Sutter's brother, Brian, 36, had been named coach of the Boston Bruins on Tuesday and Darryl, at 33, becomes the NHL's youngest coach. He succeeds Mike Keenan, who will remain with the team as general manager, part of the dual post he held for two years. Darryl Sutter was regarded as a candidate for the Kings' coaching job.

Darryl Sutter didn't yell during his first practice as Kings coach, but fear not. He hasn't gone soft. After a week as the coach-in-waiting, Sutter scraped the manure off his work boots, left Canada on Tuesday and was on the ice Wednesday at the Toyota Sports Center. He led drills, talked a lot with interim Coach John Stevens and put names to faces while checking them against the impressions he gained while scrutinizing their recent games on TV. "I'm not a person that sat and waited for another job, or one of those guys who hoped there'd be change somewhere," he said.

+ Darryl Sutter has wisely chosen to be upbeat as the Kings' coach, not the hard-edged grumbler he had become in Calgary. His quick, aggressive game has been embraced by players, who want to avoid awakening his nasty side. The Kings were 4-0-2 in their first six games under Sutter, but fixing their power play has to be his next priority. + New York Rangers defenseman Marc Staal, recovered from a concussion, made his season debut Monday in the Winter Classic at Philadelphia. Staal's brother Jordan, of the Pittsburgh Penguins, did something similar last season.

The Kings were five points out of a playoff spot and stood a wobbly 11th in the Western Conference on Dec. 22, the day Darryl Sutter made his debut as their coach. The team he took over was flailing. General Manager Dean Lombardi thought he had acquired the final pieces for a contender six months earlier when he traded for center Mike Richards and signed free-agent winger Simon Gagne, but the offense was sputtering. Coach Terry Murray's defense-oriented foundation had become the team's ceiling, leaving no room for skill or creativity.

San Jose winger Raffi Torres' jarring hit of Kings center Jarret Stoll on Tuesday triggered a sizable ripple effect that could alter the tone and course of the teams' Western Conference semifinal playoff series. The ripples could spread far enough for the Kings to lose a valued penalty killer for a while and for the NHL to severely punish Torres, a multiple repeat offender under the league's often murky code of justice. Torres was suspended Wednesday pending an in-person hearing scheduled Thursday in New York with the NHL's Department of Player Safety.

A shutout victory might look dominant on the scoreboard, but the Kings' players and coaches saw room for improvement after Tuesday night's 2-0 win over the San Jose Sharks. Mike Richards, who scored midway through the second period, did not like the way his team started out, with San Jose forcing most of the action in the first 10 minutes. "They had a lot of time to make plays," Richards said. "At the beginning of a series, it sometimes feels like you're trying to feel out people, but luckily it didn't cost us. " The Kings not only managed to score at the end of the first period, they also found a rhythm in the second and shut down a Sharks power play that has been very effective in this postseason.

In these tense times, with the Kings having scored one goal in each of their first three playoff games against the St. Louis Blues and needing a win Monday at Staples Center to tie the series, it somehow made perfect sense that defenseman Alec Martinez wore a huge sombrero onto the ice for practice Sunday along with one white sock, one red sock and a green jersey. As much sense, maybe, as a low-scoring team deploying seven defensemen Saturday. But that worked out pretty well: Martinez, playing for the first time since April 2, used his mobility to jump into the craziness around the net and earn an assist on the Slava Voynov goal that lifted the Kings to a 1-0 victory.

Are the Kings panicking after losing the first two games of their opening-round playoff series to the St. Louis Blues? Are they shocked to be in such a precarious spot? Coach Darryl Sutter listened to reporters' inquiries Friday and smiled. "You guys are asking questions that are sort of like end-of-the-world questions," he said. "It's really not that. " No, but if they lose Saturday, when the series shifts to Staples Center, they might be able to see the end of their reign as Stanley Cup champions.

ST. LOUIS - From being overwhelmed by the Blues' frenzied forechecking at the start to losing on a stunning misplay by Jonathan Quick at the end, the Kings know they must improve in several areas to leave Scottrade Center on Thursday with a split of the first two games of their opening-round playoff series. Speaking after an optional practice Wednesday, the morning after the team's 2-1 overtime loss at St. Louis, Coach Darryl Sutter was clear about who must step up. Asked how the Kings can counter the Blues' energetic fourth line of Chris Porter, Ryan Reaves and Adam Cracknell, Sutter was blunt: "Some of the boys that play on our fourth line have to play like big boys.

Introspection and navel-gazing are not Darryl Sutter's favorite activities. The Kings' coach is blunt, more likely to look ahead than to over-analyze the past in search of great cosmic meaning. So, when asked about the peaks and valleys his team experienced during this lockout-shortened season, Sutter was typically direct. “There's no highs and lows,” he said. “Highs and lows right now are for them guys that are 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. They have highs, they have lows.” BOX SCORE: Kings 3, San Jose 2 The Kings earned the No. 5 playoff seeding by beating the San Jose Sharks, 3-2, Saturday at Staples Center on second-period goals by Kyle Clifford and Slava Voynov and a third-period goal by Justin Williams, earning a standing ovation from the announced sellout crowd.

In these tense times, with the Kings having scored one goal in each of their first three playoff games against the St. Louis Blues and needing a win Monday at Staples Center to tie the series, it somehow made perfect sense that defenseman Alec Martinez wore a huge sombrero onto the ice for practice Sunday along with one white sock, one red sock and a green jersey. As much sense, maybe, as a low-scoring team deploying seven defensemen Saturday. But that worked out pretty well: Martinez, playing for the first time since April 2, used his mobility to jump into the craziness around the net and earn an assist on the Slava Voynov goal that lifted the Kings to a 1-0 victory.

There were signs as early as the fourth week of the season that the Kings were curiously flat, strangely "out of sync," according to their annoyed General Manager Dean Lombardi. Those subtle signals morphed into a full-scale distress siren by the end of a stretch of four straight losses, three of which came at Staples Center, forcing Lombardi's hand. He boarded a plane Monday morning in Los Angeles, flew to Boston and fired his old friend Terry Murray, who stood one win away from 500 in his coaching career.

With one regular-season game left, the Kings' playoff possibilities outnumber even Coach Darryl Sutter 's new line combinations. This much is sure: The Kings can finish fourth in the West and have home-ice advantage in the first round if the St. Louis Blues lose in any fashion to the Chicago Blackhawks and the Kings beat the San Jose Sharks in any fashion Saturday. A win by the Blues would leave the Kings and Sharks fighting for fifth place. The winner would face St. Louis and the loser would play No. 3 Vancouver.

Kings Coach Darryl Sutter has tried tough love (criticism in the media), no love (banishment from the lineup) and more love (playing on a line with Jeff Carter and Mike Richards.) So now how should he handle Dustin Penner? Penner has two goals in 29 games this season. If you examine a wider sample, he has 9 goals in 94 games since the start of last season. But those aren't the numbers that offer hope, promise and a coach and impatient fan base reason for optimism. Remember, Penner also had 11 points - including three goals - in 20 playoff games during the Kings' run to the Stanley Cup. Sutter seems inclined to use his playbook from last season.