To Wear NHL Crown, Kings Must Rule With Discipline

General Manager Dave Taylor and Coach Larry Robinson did not try to hide their disappointment Thursday morning when they met with reporters 12 hours after the Kings were swept out of the playoffs in four games by the St. Louis Blues.

Instead of sugar-coating a season that had a 20-point improvement from the season before, Taylor and Robinson expressed their dissatisfaction with the way it ended as the Kings struggled with discipline and mental breakdowns.

“Not that the guys didn’t try or work at it, but [we’re disappointed] with the things that we talked about; staying out of the penalty box [and] not retaliating,” Robinson said of the Kings, who had 43 penalties for 108 minutes in four playoff games.

“We proved time and time again [during the regular season] that we can win with the group that we have. But the problem is that you are not going to win very often in the playoffs [taking penalties]. One night we [played] at least half the game in the penalty box.”

The Kings’ lack of discipline was not limited to the playoffs. The team ranked among the league leaders in penalty minutes throughout the season but often was able to succeed with steady defense and goaltending.

But the Blues did not have much difficulty enticing the Kings into bad penalties.

“The biggest difference between our team and theirs is that they showed tremendous discipline and we showed virtually none,” said King center Ray Ferraro, who stepped up his play in the postseason despite suffering from a season-long knee problem. “We took way too many unnecessary penalties and they didn’t take any. Let’s face it, that was the series in the nutshell.

“If the guys don’t learn from this, including myself, then we’re stupid. How many times do you need to be kicked in the teeth to figure it out? If we get into a series again next year, it will be a shame if nothing is learned from this.”

As the Kings clean out their lockers instead of playing Game 5 tonight in St. Louis, it’s clear that complaining about key calls that went against them did nothing to extend their season.

It didn’t in Game 3, when Geoff Courtnall ran goaltender Jamie Storr and then was pummeled by Sean O’Donnell, whose major fighting penalty set the stage for the Blues’ back-breaking four-goal power play, or in Game 4 when Glen Murray’s apparent tying goal was disallowed midway through the third period.

“When things aren’t going your way, you just don’t get the bounces; you get quick whistles and calls going against you,” said Robinson, who wants the Kings to create their own breaks by playing more intelligently next season. “When you’re playing hard, generally . . . you start getting those bounces.”

Taylor and Robinson agreed that the Kings need to make changes to take the next step. They say they will be active on the free-agent market and will look for trades to fit their needs.

They like the team’s size, but they know the Kings need a quarterback for the power play, which was one for 29 in the playoffs, and a scorer with size and speed up front.

“The ultimate goal here is to win the Stanley Cup, and we didn’t achieve that,” Taylor said. “If you look at our team from a year ago, we’ve made some good strides for this year. Do we need to makes some more strides? Absolutely. . . . We have to improve our team in a number of areas.”

Taylor said the team wants to re-sign speedy veteran Russ Courtnall, their only unrestricted free agent, before the league deadline of July 1. Then the Kings will have to decide how to work out deals on restricted free agents Rob Blake, Aki Berg, Philippe Boucher, Matt Johnson, Craig Johnson, Nathan LaFayette, Steve McKenna, O’Donnell and Storr.

Taylor and Robinson say they believe the Kings have closed the gap between themselves and the top teams in the league.

“We feel that we have some young guys that were with us this year who will only continue to get better,” Taylor said, “and some younger guys in the system who have the ability to come in and help us even as soon as next year.”

King Notes

The Kings will have at least five players in this month’s world championships in Switzerland. They are Rob Blake and Glen Murray for Canada, Jozef Stumpel for Slovakia, Mattias Norstrom for Sweden and Olli Jokinen for Finland.

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Chill Factors

Where the Kings ranked in the regular season among the 26 teams in key categories:

POWER PLAY: 18th (13.8%)

OVERTIME RECORD: 9th (3-2-11)

SHORT-HANDED GOALS ALLOWED: 16th (12)

PENALTIES: 7th (21.5 minutes per game)

PENALTY-KILLING: 19th (84.2% of penalties killed)