Tue Jun 10 17:22:57 2008

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Crawford will not be behind Kings' bench next year

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Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - The Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday fired Marc Crawford after only two seasons as head coach.

Crawford was the 21st head coach in Kings history, hired by Los Angeles in 2006. He posted two subpar seasons at the helm, going 59-84-21 over 164 regular-season games during which the team never finished higher than fourth in the Pacific Division.

"We appreciate Marc's commitment the two seasons he has been here," said Kings president and general manager Dean Lombardi. "However, we believe that in evaluating where we are, and more importantly, where we are going as an organization, we feel this coaching change was the right decision to make. We wish Marc the best in his future endeavors."

Crawford, 47, led the Colorado Avalanche to the Stanley Cup title in the spring of 1996 and served as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks for parts of seven seasons.

The Canucks fired Crawford after missing the playoffs in 2005-2006 despite a record of 42-32-8. The one-time Vancouver forward compiled a club-record 246 victories with four playoff appearances during his tenure.

He began his coaching career with the Quebec Nordiques in the lockout- shortened 1994-95 campaign and after his first season, became the youngest head coach to win the Jack Adams award for coach of the year.

Over 987 games in 13 seasons with Quebec/Colorado, Vancouver and LA, Crawford holds a career mark of 470-413-100.