The Kings’ Marc Crawford did the best thing he could to keep the media on his side after an embarrassing 7-0 loss against the Nashville Predators Tuesday night. He simply smiled and answered questions.

“Wait,” you’re thinking, “That’s what he’s supposed to do after the game.” Sure, but how many coaches take the opposite approach, acting surly and aloof, as if their team had done them a personal disservice by not playing up to the opposition. Crawford could have done that.

In fact, that’s probably what the gathering of reporters expected, and that might have been the reason nobody asked anything when the coach stepped through the circle and into his position. In the absence of any voice, Crawford just smiled. Finally, he said, “So you’re waiting for me to start it?”

He then went on to say, “Well, let me first say that it was a total collapse by our group tonight, and if you’re looking for an explanation, I don’t really have an explanation.”

And what struck me, at least, was that he didn’t seem stressed. I had expected a wrinkled brow, lines on the face deepening with worry, a scowl. In fact, he looked almost youthful, his eyes bright. And no, it didn’t seem to be an act. He really seemed able to put this loss behind him and go on.

“I do know that when you’re as fragile as our group is, the worst thing that can happen is to get scored on early,” he said. That’s exactly what happened, with Nashville potting three goals between 5:25 and 6:40 of the first period to put starter Jason LaBarbera on the bench in favor of J-S Aubin.

“We’re going to commit to work our way through it. It’s not a pleasant situation for anybody; not our organization, not the fans, and least of all, not our players. We have to commit to work our way through it to right this thing.”

The message of his words: “Relax; it’s just one game.” And to a degree, it is. The team hasn’t played like a minor-league club of late. They’ve scored nine, three, and four goals in the three games prior to the Nashville debacle (a win and two losses), and their power play was fourth in the league coming into Tuesday (where it was 0-3 and actually, quite disorganized).

So before anyone panics, maybe we should put it down to an off night, which Crawford eventually did: “It was one of those nights, and there wasn’t anything we could do that would save us from ourselves tonight.” That after citing his team’s propensity to give the puck away, which they did all night. (On the stat sheet, the official giveaway number is 17, to Nashville’s nine.)

Of course, die-hard Kings’ fans don’t see this as just one game, but as a trend, and a tragedy, at least if the post-game call-in show is any indication. Fans on the radio want changes in goaltending, the defense, and behind the bench.

That not to mention the reaction of the crowd at the game, which went from booing the team off the ice after the second, to chanting, “Fire Crawford,” to cheering ironically when Nashville scored its seventh goal. By the end, there weren’t enough of them left to do much, but the few still standing at their seats booed again as the Kings left the ice.

Sure, you can point to the usual suspects: poor defense and mediocre goaltending, and if they lose again Thursday night, that’s probably going to be exactly what I’ll do, but those are not things that are going to be fixed anytime soon, and L.A. fans just have to accept that.

Think about it: what is a good goalie worth come the playoffs? A lot, and the Kings aren’t going to pay that price given that their season is not going past early April.
In addition, the defense is what it is, and it’s only going to get worse with Rob Blake reportedly saying recently that he’d accept a trade late in the year if it meant that he could go to a contender. This, to anyone paying attention, puts the lie to the “Blake is here to mentor youngster Johnson” line that was sold to fans at the beginning of the year.

Blake’s statement, my friends, is the sound of your captain saying, “Thanks for the big paycheck, suckers. Now bugger off.”

What the faithful want to ask is, “Why?” Blake has his Cup; he came back to be “home,” and he’s got all the money he could ever want. Here’s your answer: Blake is here to make money; Blake is like anyone else in that he’d rather be part of a winner than a loser.

And fans should do with that what they do if they’re smart when the car starts to act up and show its age — cut loose of the emotional ties and ask whether staying with the old buggy is just throwing good money after bad. In this case, they need to decide whether their loyalty is being adequately repaid, and act accordingly.

As for the team, what’s to be done? Let’s think long-term. This team has to learn to win. But they’re not likely to do that this year, with these players. That is, unless some veterans start to contribute the scoring they were brought here for.

So forget the players. Forget the coach. It’s up to the fans, and here’s the truth: if they want their team to remain here, the die-hard Kings’ fans need to stay on board. Don’t laugh, that arena needs to be filled with something, and if nobody’s attending games in Los Angeles, well, remind yourself who owns that arena (AEG).

If there’s no football in L.A., there can be no hockey either, and Bettman would rather put a team in a market where nobody cares (e.g., Nashville, Atlanta, Carolina, Florida) than in a place where every ticket to every game would be sold in September, like Hamilton or Winnipeg.

So the message is clear. The L.A. fans can’t give ownership or the league an excuse to say that nobody in town supports the team. Hard as it may be, fans need to continue to pony up for seats, and to show up when they’ve bought tickets.

Of course, short of winning, there are some things the team could do to help. For one thing, they could make it more fun to go to the games. The problem is that NHL hockey is just not that much fun to watch in L.A. right now. Aside from Kopitar and Brown, nobody on the Kings’ squad is creating any memorable moments. The arena is empty (They announced 14,751, but there’s no way there were over 10,000 people there), and that makes for a dull atmosphere.

And the in-game presentation, aside from the times when the organist is allowed to take over, has gotten almost intolerable. The music just before the start of periods is so loud it’s uncomfortable, the games between periods are inane, and the promos in the breaks are just awful (do you really want to see three people who can’t dance, dance for the chance to win dinner at a sausage place?)

I’m the last one to advocate the giant-shark’s-head, cheerleaders-in-the-aisles method of game presentation. But something has got to change, and it’s a lot easier to go back to old-time hockey than it is to trade for a first-line center. Playing the music louder will not make the game more exciting, but presenting the game with a sense of history and respect for the fact that the audience is not comprised exclusively of teenagers would go a long way toward getting people back to the arena.

There is hope; the schedule shows some interesting teams coming in, starting with Toronto on Thursday night. Fans need to get on board, keep buying tickets, and come out to support the team, not for who’s in the uniform (or behind the bench) today, but for all the greats from before and, hopefully, all those to come.

Brian Kennedy is reading from his book, Growing Up Hockey, at Vroman’s in Pasadena on January 28th at 7pm. Email him at growinguphockey@gmail.com for more information.