Any Sullivan Defenders Left?

[Buddy Bizarre]

No changing votes.
State your case for or against.

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[Josey Wales]

No changing votes.
State your case for or against.

Well If he can't make Sid, Geno & Letang 25 Again I think he should be fired

 

[Empoleon8771]

This place is so cringe

I’m not “on” the Sullivan train but I’m a hell of a lot less “off” it than this place.

 

[Sideline]

Is he the worst coach this team has had in the Crosby era? Not even close. Michel Therrien is probably the closest competition he has for best coach. But like MT at the end, I think he's past his best before date.

 

[Gurglesons]

Is he the worst coach this team has had in the Crosby era? Not even close. Michel Therrien is probably the closest competition he has for best coach. But like MT at the end, I think he's past his best before date.

I think he’s just as bad as Bylsma.

 

[Sideline]

I think he’s just as bad as Bylsma.

Damn dude that is harsh.

 

[bathroomSTAAL]

Haven't been following what happened? Did he not give Alex Nylander enough ice time in a pre-season game?

 

[Gurglesons]

Damn dude that is harsh.

Why?

Bylsma got bad goaltending, had a worse roster and still managed to not lose five playoff series in a row and then miss the playoffs.

 

[xlm34]

Mike Sullivan poisoned our water supply, burned our crops, and delivered a plague unto our houses.

 

[Turin]

Yawn

 

[Allie Kitsune]

I mostly don't care anymore.

I think he's long past his "sell by" date, but I'm also not going to bother going into a rage over it because I have zero power to make FSG get rid of him.

 

[Andy99]

He’s not single handedly THE problem but he’s one of the reasons this team hasn’t reached its full potential over the last six seasons, and won’t this season either…

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Sullivan's very good at a lot of things.

Unfortunately I have a sneaking suspicion that his old stubborn habits of forcing square pegs into round holes will again fail to maximize the roster. Wouldnt be surprised if decisions like GCRust and keeping Letang on the #1PP are recurring, season-long problems that hamper our offense. With how the bottom 6 is constructed, we can't afford for either to sputter.

Hope I'm wrong.

 

[WickedWrister]

This place is so cringe

I’m not “on” the Sullivan train but I’m a hell of a lot less “off” it than this place.

You don't understand... if you don't gift our shitty prospects important roles, you're a simpleton ageist boomer!

 

[Turin]

I think Reirden is a bigger issue if we’re talking coaches

 

[EVGENIMERLIN]

I know the players love him, but I think he needs a Tocchet type behind the bench. He is far from terrible, and I blame JR's last years and Hextall way more than I blame Sully.

 

[pistolpete11]

Sullivan and Bylsma's trajectories are almost identical. Come in as a breath of fresh air, have immediate and ultimate success, and then slowly slip into sheer stubbornness with diminishing results.

Sullivan has the extra good year at the beginning and my gut is he is a better coach, so I would still rank him ahead of Bylsma, but I don't think there is some vast gap between them. At least not until Sullivan has some success again, here or elsewhere.

The flip side is also true, though. If he goes somewhere else and faceplants like Bylsma, a lot more people will look back critically on the Sullivan era and how they wasted the last viable years of Crosby-Malkin.

 

[Coastal Kev]

He helped them win two cups and then subsequently contributed mightily with preventing this core from every competing to challenge for a cup ever again.

Whether he's a good coach isn't the debate, the real question is, was he the right coach moving forward after 18 to current; and that answer is a resounding NO.

 

[Sideline]

Why?

Bylsma got bad goaltending, had a worse roster and still managed to not lose five playoff series in a row and then miss the playoffs.

Byslma ran MTs system to a cup and then just ran stretch passes for like 5 years with no adjustments. I will grant you the goaltending was not reliable, but never forget Glass and Adams were superstars in the eyes of Disco Dan. They made Penguins Jeff Carter look like Kings Jeff Carter.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Very good coach, maybe the best in the league but imo all NHL coaches get stale and he’s just been here too long. I don’t think we’d get a better coach in terms of ability but I do think if this team is mid a Sully firing would be the easiest jolt.

Not losing my mind over him but he’s been frustrating the last couple years. Most of the failure is on the players however.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

Haven't been following what happened? Did he not give Alex Nylander enough ice time in a pre-season game?

For me it the purpose behind the post has nothing to do about the pre season. Very curious to see who thinks Sully is the right coach for this team

 

[WickedWrister]

The Gen-Z term would be "Sully Simps", thank you very much.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Why?

Bylsma got bad goaltending, had a worse roster and still managed to not lose five playoff series in a row and then miss the playoffs.

Bylsma had three future Hall of Famers in their prime who could carry the team, not three guys doing their best to fend off Father Time in the final seasons of their careers.

Oh, and if Bylsma got bad goaltending, what do we call Tristan Jarry against the Islanders and Louis Domingue against the Rangers?

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I started to question whether he was actually as good as the back to backs made him seem when he just kinda shrugged and let the team get slaughtered by the Isles forecheck in 2019, but I also knew JR assembled the least mobile, dogshit blueline so there was still some wiggle room re: Sully. I kinda knew he was no longer the guy this team needed when he kept throwing JJ and Schultz--two of the worst individual blueliners the Crosby era's had at that point in their careers--out against Montreal over and over in important situations, and as a pairing no less. That was some high comedy coaching.

Do I think he's an absolute dunce? No. Do I think he's Bylsma? No. Does that matter if his spiteful stubbornness can and will undo all of his smarts and continually lead to the same end result; disappointing results and lackluster hockey? Also no.

He's a problem, but he's also pretty much revered as a legend in the sport everywhere but this board, and this organization swoons over the guy to the point where it's no longer worth it to give a single f*** about what Sully does or says. He's here and tbh I'm not sure he can do anything to get fired--he'd have to decide he no longer wants to coach this team. They handed him an extension two years before his current deal was even up following his fourth straight 1st round exit (then his team missed the playoffs). That's how much they couldn't help themselves and how awful the mere thought of "losing" Sullivan was.

Although, I don't know how some of you have the brain power to constantly shit your pants over the most obvious and predictable behavior from a guy who has shown his whole ass for years at this point. Sully's the epitome of what sucks about NHL coaches, he's the poster boy for it, but still some people act like he's some anomaly and not part of the 99% of guys who do and say all the same shit. For every Marty St. Louis who will try to let guys flourish creatively and isn't afraid to invest in a younger guy's game if he thinks there's something there, there's about 100 other NHL coaches just like Mike Sullivan. /shrug

 

[Ryder71]

I don't agree with everything Sully does, however I just don't believe his coaching makes that big of a difference in the scheme of things. He's not an obvious bad coach like the Ubricao's or Angottis of the world.