Kings coach Murray not a fan of Moreau slashing ‘his buddy’

LA’s coach Murray (photo: D. Sheehan)

Last hour, we posted comments from Ethan Moreau regarding the penalty he took late in the game on Wednesday vs. the Dallas Stars.

Terry Murray was still a little hot under the under collar when asked about it today, more than 36 hours later.

“He took a horseshit penalty, that’s ridiculous,” began the Kings coach. “You can’t take a slashing penalty with two minutes left in the game, a veteran player. Just come out and run over that guy. You don’t slash. I don’t like those penalties.”

He wasn’t done though. Murray was just getting warmed up.

“Ones in the crease, the scrums, where you’re grabbing a hold of a guy, giving him a facewash once and a while or cross checking a guy, whatever – I don’t mind those, we’ll kill those off. Those are hard penalties. It’s a part of the game and it’s a part of our team that we want to (continue with). But, penalties have to be timed, you have to have awareness, you have to know how the flow of the game is going. When you get into the latter part of the game, you have to move your feet and keep your sticks in – no slashing, no hooking. Don’t bring the referee into the game. Unfortunately, we’ve had some situations this year where we’ve brought the referee in a little bit too often.”

Moreau has played in all 22 of the Kings games this season. Will his ‘mistake’ cost him a spot in the line-up tomorrow vs. Chicago?

“No. He’s trying, he’s competing. There’s nothing – it’s not from a lack of caring and a lack of trying. It’s just one of those penalties that you have to have better awareness to. That’s his buddy (Stars defenseman Sheldon Souray), he didn’t want to run into him, I guess. I don’t know. But, again, you can’t put (things) into the hands of the referee and force him to make a call like that, at that time. It’s too critical. And that’s why I have him on that line – because he’s a veteran guy, he’s been through all these checking roles and that’s one of his strengths. He has to be better at it.”

If you missed Moreau’s comments on the penalty and on how he’s fitting in with the Kings, click here to read that article now.

Yesterday, several of the Kings stopped by MayorsManor to share which of their teammates they’re most thankful for this year. Click here to see what Drew Doughty, Jarret Stoll and several others had to say.

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