Kings fire Crawford as coach

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Kings have fired Marc Crawford as head coach, the National Hockey League team said on Tuesday.

Crawford, who had one season left on his contract, posted a 59-84-21 in two seasons in charge.

"I think it's fair to say we did not expect the team to be out of the playoffs in January this year," general manager Dean Lombardi said in a conference call on Tuesday.

"I don't think we were kidding ourselves into thinking we were world beaters, we set realistic expectations."

Crawford formerly was the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks and Colorado Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques. He steered the Avalanche to a Stanley Cup victory in 1996.

In 1999 he was hired to coach the Canucks with whom he played for nine seasons. Crawford compiled a 246-213-70 record over seven seasons in Vancouver.

"Marc's record speaks for itself in terms of his winning record but I guess it just comes down to a matter of fit," Lombardi said.

(Writing by Larry Fine; Editing by Ed Osmond)