The Los Angeles Kings and John Stevens have agreed to contract terms for Stevens to serve as the club's new Head Coach, it was announced today by Kings Vice President and General Manager Rob Blake.
Stevens has most recently served as the club's Associate Head Coach. He has been part of the Kings coaching staff the past seven seasons.
The Kings are scheduled to host a news conference on Monday beginning at 1:30 p.m. in the Chick Hearn Press Room at STAPLES Center to formally introduce Stevens. It will be streamed live at LAKings.com. Kings season credentials will allow access into STAPLES Center for tomorrow's press event. Lunch will be provided to the media beginning at 12:45 p.m.
"John and I had very productive dialogue this last week in relation to his head coaching philosophy and specifically how he would implement a strategy to activate our players offensively while maintaining the defensive philosophies we have come to be known for," said Blake. "I am confident that we are both in agreement on how that can be executed. With that said, we believe John has the ideal qualities to lead our hockey club. His wide array of coaching experience, including success as an NHL head coach and his inherent knowledge of our players and those in our development system, is very appealing to us. We are confident he is the best person to lead our hockey club forward."
Blake and Stevens will announce the rest of the Kings coaching staff - which also includes Goaltending Coach Bill Ranford - at a later date.
Probably a relief to Kings fans after Kypreos reported last night that Blake was considering Patrick Roy.
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John Stevens named head coach of the Kings
