Obstruction Calls Irk Robinson

After Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues, in which the teams combined for 24 penalties and 62 minutes, King Coach Larry Robinson had some choice words for the NHL’s obstruction crackdown--which came into effect after the Olympic break.

Although he said the Kings did not lose the game because of the high number of penalties, Robinson expressed his displeasure with the league trying to increase scoring during the regular season.

“All [the games] have turned into is a steady stream of going to the penalty box,” Robinson said. “I don’t know what to expect any more. . . . I’m going to instruct my guys to do exactly this, ‘If somebody puts a stick on you, just fall, because that’s what it has really turned into.’

“All because a bunch of the prima donnas in this freakin’ league don’t want to get touched. They’re whining [because] they can’t get their 60 goals. . . . We have a few whining little babies in this league who don’t want to get touched. That’s why they have to resort to this. I’m all in agreement that hooking and holding shouldn’t be there, but not to the point that you can’t touch anyone any more.”