From 'dabbling in real estate' to Hawks' throne: King's road to Blackhawks

When news of Jeremy Colliton's firing blazed around the NHL last Saturday, Anaheim Ducks coach Dallas Eakins was at the rink preparing for his team's next game.

Knowing how painful it is to be fired, Eakins immediately sympathized with Colliton.

Moments later, Eakins realized Derek King, one of his best friends, was about to take over as interim coach of the Blackhawks.

Eakins, who launched King's pro coaching career with the Toronto Marlies in 2009, immediately texted: "I know you're going to be busy, but you know I'm here for you if you need anything."

Five minutes later, Eakins' phone lit up.

"When you get that first job, there is that instant of 'Oh my God. I'm an NHL head coach,'" Eakins said. "So I didn't want him to dwell on that too long. I just reaffirmed to him how long he played the game, how long he had coached now and how he'd done an excellent job all the way along.

"He's ready for this."

How it all began:

King and Eakins first bumped into each other in the late 1980s while playing in juniors in the OHL. The games were tough and nasty at times.

"Back then there was always brawls and what have you," King said. "All the fun hockey."

King began the 1986-87 season with the New York Islanders, then was sent back to Oshawa where he scored 53 goals and doled out 53 assists in 57 games as he helped the Generals to a 49-14-3 campaign. Oshawa went on to play in and host the Memorial Cup, awarded annually to the major junior champion. After losing the championship, King found himself in a bar with Eakins, who was at the game.

"After we got beat in the finals I remember just having a beer with him," King said. "We just talked. Then we ended up playing against each other in the NHL."

King, while under the tutelage of legendary coach Al Arbour, racked up 211 goals in 636 games for the Islanders from 1987-97. His most prolific stretch came from 1991-94 when he scored 40, 38 and 30 times.

Life came full circle in 1998-99 when King and Eakins ended up as teammates on the Toronto Maple Leafs. They truly cemented their bond as roommates on the road.

"We just hit it off and we've been real good buddies ever since," King said.

The phone call:

King and Eakins finished their careers in the AHL - King with Grand Rapids and Eakins with the Chicago Wolves (1999-2003) and Manitoba (2003-04).

Five years later, Eakins was hired to coach the Toronto Marlies, the AHL affiliate of the Maple Leafs. The first person on his list of prospective assistants was King.

Now, King had no pro coaching experience. To the contrary, he was giving tips to 6- and 7-year olds in Scottsdale, Arizona while - as Eakins put it - "dabbling in real estate."

Still, Eakins went to management and made an ironclad case for his friend:

• No. 1, King played for Hall of Fame coaches in Arbour (782 career victories) and Pat Quinn (684). "Even though you're not cognizant at the time, you are learning great lessons on coaching when you are coached by very good coaches," Eakins said. "Those two men I have just an unbelievable amount of respect for."

• Second, King was a prolific goal-scorer in the NHL for an awfully long time. "I just thought he would have an unbelievable effect with our forwards," Eakins said.

• Then there is King's personality and value system. A fantastic listener, King would see and understand the tribulations through the players' eyes.

So Eakins made the call. King was helping coach his young son's team in Calgary when the offer was made.

"Talk it over with the wife," Eakins said.

To which King responded: "No, it's OK. I won't have to talk to her. She'll say, 'Do it. Don't be an idiot. Take the job."

So he did. And the two worked side-by-side for the next four years.

"Knowing that Kinger was a 10 out of 10 person and he had these other qualities, it wasn't a risky hire to me - it was a slam dunk," Eakins said. "And it was. Not only did he help me become a better coach, but he did a helluva job for that organization and every forward that came through our dressing room."

Funny man:

We're less than a week into King's tenure as interim coach and already reporters' computers are chock-full of witty one-liners.

• After the Blackhawks defeated Nashville last Sunday to give King his first NHL head-coaching victory, the 54-year-old sat down in the United Center's press room and remarked: "I'm not going to take my mask off because I'm smiling too much under this thing. I have to be humble here."

• The next day he walked into the media room at Fifth Third Arena, realized he'd be standing for this interview and quipped: "One win and I'm running for president."

• Asked how he celebrated the win over Nashville, King said: "I passed out. I had a nice cold drink then passed out."

This is nothing new to Eakins, who called King one of the funniest people he knows.

Yet, it's not Will Ferrell or Chris Farley type of humor. It's dry and understated - so much so that you might not get something for five minutes.

"You're just finishing up your conversation with him, he'll say something to you, you'll get down halfway around the block and start dying laughing," Eakins said.

That kind of levity is clearly what the stressed-out Hawks needed after a 1-9-2 start. They've now won three straight under King.

"Him coming in and helping us take a deep breath and relax has helped," forward Ryan Carpenter said.

Now, don't think it's going to be one big party inside the Hawks' dressing room all of a sudden.

King will certainly keep things light, but remember that he played for two of the most demanding coaches in the game in Arbour and Quinn.

"I never thought I would say good things about (Arbour) until he retired," King said. "Because he used to ride me. But then when you retire and you start coaching kids, you understand why he was riding me: To make me a better player, better person."

Which is what King has been doing that for more than a decade, but it was halfway through his first season with the Marlies when the light bulb really went off.

Eakins remembers King coming to the rink one day and saying: "I must have drove Al Arbour absolutely crazy. I drove (him) nuts. I know it. I owe that man an apology."

Eakins, while chuckling inside, then looked down and thought: "This guy's going to have a great coaching career. He's got it now."

What's next?

Assistant coach Marc Crawford has run most of the drills at Hawks' practices and morning skates, prompting some to wonder if King may be second in charge. Not at all, he says. That's simply King delegating and trusting an experienced coach who has 556 victories in the NHL.

So Crawford is prescouting opponents as well as making suggestions on forward lines and 'D' pairings. In time, King said he'll get more involved.

"There's no reason for me to jump in right now and say, 'You're not doing (prescouts) anymore,' " said King, who was hired as an assistant for the Rockford IceHogs in July 2016 then promoted to head coach on November 6, 2018. "It'd be foolish of me to do that. ... It frees me up to get to know the guys, get to know the systems better and just talk with him."

Interim GM Kyle Davidson made it clear last Sunday that this is King's job for the rest of the season. When it's over, the Hawks will do an exhaustive search to find their next coach.

But maybe that man is already behind the bench. What if this underachieving squad surges under King and qualifies - or at least competes for - a playoff spot?

Wouldn't he be a leading candidate?

Perhaps. But Eakins knows that thought is not at all on his friend's mind.

"Kinger's not even going to think twice about that," Eakins said. "He's going to come in today and try to make a bunch of players better. He's going to do it again tomorrow and he's going to do it the next day and the next day. ...

"Anybody else is going to have four or five hours to lay down their claim and why they're going to be great. He's got the best interview process ever. It started a few days ago and it's going to go right through the end of the year."

Derek King bio

Born: February 11, 1967 in Hamilton, Ontario

Drafted: 13th overall by New York Islanders in 1985

Career: 261 goals and 351 assists (612 points) in 830 games for Islanders, Maple Leafs, Whalers, Blues

<b>Coaching career: </b>• Hired by Dallas Eakins to be an assistant on the AHL's Toronto Marlies on Aug. 21, 2009

• Named assistant coach for OHL's Owen Sound on July 28, 2015

• Named assistant coach for AHL's Rockford IceHogs on July 7, 2016

• Promoted to head coach in Rockford on Nov. 6, 2018 when Jeremy Colliton succeeded Joel Quenneville in Chicago

• Named interim head coach of the Blackhawks on Nov. 6 after Colliton was fired

<b>Family</b>• Married to Susanne for 27 years.

• Son D.J. plays for AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins. Derek played for the Griffins from 1999-2001 and 2002-2004.

• Sons MacGregor and Owens are 14-year-old twins.