L.A. Kings Fire Coach Darryl Sutter; Canucks Can Willie Desjardins

The Stanley Cup playoffs start this week, and while the teams involved get ready for the post season, those who failed to make the playoffs are beginning their purges and retooling for next season.

In Los Angeles, it’s not what have you done, it’s what have you done lately? The Los Angeles Kings fired head coach Darryl Sutter; general manager Dean Lombardi was also shown the door. The two led the Kings to Stanley Cup titles in 2012 and 2014, but have only made one appearance in the playoffs since, and that was an opening round loss to San Jose last season. Here’s the team in happier times when they won the Cup in 2014:

In Vancouver, the Canucks fired coach Willie Desjardins after three seasons. The woeful Canucks were 30-43-9 on the year, and their 69 points was second only to the abysmal Colorado Avalanche (48) for the lowest in the league. Whoever takes over will have a big rebuilding job on their hands, and Vancouver management obviously felt that Desjardins was not the man for that job, as the team was worse this year than last year by six points and was near the bottom in most statistical categories.

Another hockey coaching change of note isn’t a firing but rather a retirement. Former NHL star Red Berenson, who coached at the University of Michigan for 33 years, announced his retirement. The 77 year old Berenson coached the Wolverines to two NCAA titles in 1996 and 1998, and eleven total Frozen Four appearances. Berenson, who also played college hockey at Michigan, had a record of 846-426-92. Berenson had an excellent NHL career before taking over the Wolverines’ coaching duties. He played for the Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, and two stints with the St. Louis Blues. His best season was with the Blues in 1968-69, when he had 35 goals and 47 assists. He played in the NHL from 1961 to 1978.