Fansided

Every current NHL franchise’s most beloved head coach

By Griffin Youngs

(Original Caption) Detroit Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman with the Stanley Cup on day of Red Wings celebratory parade in Detroit. (Photo by © Ralf-Finn Hestoft/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
(Original Caption) Detroit Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman with the Stanley Cup on day of Red Wings celebratory parade in Detroit. (Photo by © Ralf-Finn Hestoft/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – MARCH 09: Head Coach Darryl Sutter of the Los Angeles Kings looks on from the bench during a game against the Nashville Predators at STAPLES Center on March 09, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NHLI via Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
LOS ANGELES, CA – MARCH 09: Head Coach Darryl Sutter of the Los Angeles Kings looks on from the bench during a game against the Nashville Predators at STAPLES Center on March 09, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NHLI via Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /

Los Angeles Kings: Darryl Sutter

The Los Angeles Kings waited a long time to break out of their streak of futility and win a Stanley Cup championship. Ever since their inception in 1967, the Kings history was filled with disappointments and coming up short. Their fan base was tired of the failure and waited for a savior, and that’s exactly what they got in Darryl Sutter.

After a second consecutive first round exit and a slow start to the 2011-12 season, the Kings fired Terry Murray and hired Sutter as the head coach. Sutter coached 49 games during the season and snuck the Kings into the second wildcard, expected to be crushed by the Presidents’ Trophy winning Vancouver Canucks in the first round.

The Kings crushed the Canucks and took the series in five games, putting the league on notice. The Kings then swept the Blues in the next round to face the Phoenix Coyotes in the Conference Finals. The Kings crushed them as well in five games to face the New Jersey Devils in their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance since 1993. Finally, the Kings broke through, beating the Deivls in six games for the first Stanley Cup in their history.

Taking a success devoid franchise to its first Stanley Cup as an eighth seed would have been plenty for Sutter to top this list, but he didn’t stop there.

The Los Angeles Kings rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the first round against the San Jose Sharks in 2014, and went on to win yet another Stanley Cup — this time over the New York Rangers in five games after Alec Martinez’s double overtime Cup-clinching goal.

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