Terry Murray

All Philly, all the time. The Kings aren't quite a branch office of the Flyers, but evidence is mounting as they will introduce Terry Murray today as their 22nd head coach at a news conference at the team's practice facility in El Segundo. He succeeds Marc Crawford, who was fired June 10. The Crawford era lasted two losing seasons. The road to Murray wound through Philadelphia.

Scotty Bowman not having a brother available for hire, the Kings on Thursday introduced Terry Murray -- younger brother of Ottawa General Manager Bryan Murray -- as their new coach. Murray, who will be 58 on Sunday, has several virtues. Chief among them is that he is known as a good teacher, which will be useful as the Kings become young enough to double as a day-care center.

It's a good sign that new Kings Coach Terry Murray didn't run off screaming and dive off the nearest pier after he watched tapes of the team's efforts last season. It could be considered a bad sign that he didn't make it through all 82 games the Kings played under Marc Crawford, who was fired after the team compiled the second-worst record in the NHL. "I got through quite a few games," said Murray, who has now seen enough horror films to last him a lifetime.

It's too early in the season to dream too big and these are the Kings, after all, masters of selling hope, if nothing else. But it's impossible not to be impressed that they are leading the Pacific Division and that center Anze Kopitar is leading the NHL in scoring, and neither of those feats would be possible without the other. Kopitar, in his fourth season and still awaiting his first playoff experience, has 10 goals and 21 points in 12 games. Drawn away from the fringes and into the action by linemate Ryan Smyth, who has made a living creating and potting rebounds in the trenches around the net, Kopitar has produced grand results.