Speculation: Dan Bylsma Hot Seat Pt. II

[Darth Vitale]

Entirely possible: Bylsa fired Tuesday, no replacement named for a few weeks, as things shake out around the league, interviews are done.

 

[IcedCapp]

Entirely possible: Bylsa fired Tuesday, no replacement named for a few weeks, as things shake out around the league, interviews are done.

it's possible, but I think Shero will take his time firing Bylsma just so the position isn't left open long and it looks like he didn't get his 1st choice, etc...

They are going to fire someone who is very popular in the media,I think they'd like to limit the negative optics to 'omg i can't believe you fired Bylsma" and not "omg you fired Bylsma and you can't find anyone to replace him lozlzlzolz'

 

[Speaking Moistly]

actually, probably yes. Rossi is a dunce.

Yeah. I wasn't being sarcastic.

Entirely possible: Bylsa fired Tuesday, no replacement named for a few weeks, as things shake out around the league, interviews are done.

I'd be okay with that; not ecstatic, but okay.

 

[domaug*]

Scary, but more likely than Tippett IMO.

Maurice is starting to intrigue me more as I think about this and the liklihood that certain other candidates just wouldn't fit or won't leave (Torts and Tippett, respectively).

Leaves Ruff, Maurice, a few others. Pretty sure we don't want Ruff. Guy is notorious for his line juggling. Definitely harder on players when the F up though and that's a good thing.

yep. Tippett is just a dream at this point.

 

[DegenX]

Scary, but more likely than Tippett IMO.

Maurice is starting to intrigue me more as I think about this and the liklihood that certain other candidates just wouldn't fit or won't leave (Torts and Tippett, respectively).

Leaves Ruff, Maurice, a few others. Pretty sure we don't want Ruff. Guy is notorious for his line juggling. Definitely harder on players when the F up though and that's a good thing.

IIRC one of the complaints about Maurice was how he handles young players. I remember reading an an interview he did after he came back from Russia, and he talked about how coaching there changed his perspective about some things. I wonder if being forced by KHL rules to play at least one rookie changed his perspective on that, too.

At least we know he's not afraid to hold his players accountable, and that he's not afraid to change up lines if they're not working.

 

[#66]

I understand your point... but maybe as Penguins fans we're a bit too used to moody superstars who have no desire or want for instruction. I hate to speak ill of idols... but there it is.

I don't think Crosby and Malkin are like that. I think they will do what it takes for the team to be successful. I don't think they would view it as being jerked around. I think they would view it as, well... insight. Malkin never chaffed under rigid coaching in the past. Nor did Crosby.

Obviously I could be totally off base. But I don't think so.

Fully agree and that's what I mean when I say that the Pens like that loosy goosy slob hockey. I always wonder just how much a Penguins coach can actually coach?

I don't think Sid and Malkin are like that either. They've grown up and thrived under strict systems since they were young. They're used to it and the league is 20 years past that type of hockey. Its time the Pens caught up. IMO a huge culture change is needed. Bring back the preseason boot camps, Sid needs to rally the players to show up at the preseason camps early and figure out what to do when teams take away the wall, stretch pass.

Is it me or does anyone else hate everything that Pens had to say at their close out meetings? Bad puck luck and a bunch of other BS excuses.

 

[bradshaw06]

Question: i keep reading that the rangers and other teams had to get permission to speak to Ruff and others. If they were fired, why do those teams need permission, and wouldnt the same apply to Bylsma if canned?

 

[Woodrow]

Question: i keep reading that the rangers and other teams had to get permission to speak to Ruff and others. If they were fired, why do those teams need permission, and wouldnt the same apply to Bylsma if canned?

Even though those coaches are fired from being head coach if they have time remaining on their contract they are still technically employed by that team. I can't remember any situation where permission was not granted.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

to be fair, KIRK and I would guide the Pens to an undefeated record until we killed each other.

Well it would be a hell of a period.

 

[Jules Winnfield]

If I'm Shero, I'm holding onto Bylsma unless there is a better candidate out there to coach the Pens. That said, the only candidate better than Bylsma at this point would be Tippett.

If you fire Bylsma now, you run the risk of settling for someone if you don't get your guy. Tippett won't be available until at least June 30th. Ruff and AV will probably be gone by then. I don't really want Ruff here.

I'm a guy who has criticized Bylsma a lot and I truly believe his stubborness, belief that his strategy > adjustments to the other team, and terrible decisions regarding personnel such as Iginla led to the downfall of the Pens this year.

There is one circumstance where I'd be fine with Bylsma staying. Shero tells Bylsma there has to be accountability for what happened and the poor decisions that led to the outcome this year. Shero tells Bylsma he has to fire Granato and Rierdan. They are replaced with a bad cop that won't be afraid to tell Bylsma off and say what he thinks: Rick Tocchet and also have a guy on the bench that is a strategy wizard and has the respect of Malkin: Dave King.

If Bylsma still doesn't get it and the Pens are in disarray, you have two guys more than qualified to take over the team.

 

[gordie]

At this point, I bet there's a guy coaching 8 year old girls in Northern Ontario who could do a better job with the Pens.

 

[sexyllama]

If I'm Shero, I'm holding onto Bylsma unless there is a better candidate out there to coach the Pens. That said, the only candidate better than Bylsma at this point would be Tippett.

If you fire Bylsma now, you run the risk of settling for someone if you don't get your guy. Tippett won't be available until at least June 30th. Ruff and AV will probably be gone by then. I don't really want Ruff here.

I'm a guy who has criticized Bylsma a lot and I truly believe his stubborness, belief that his strategy > adjustments to the other team, and terrible decisions regarding personnel such as Iginla led to the downfall of the Pens this year.

There is one circumstance where I'd be fine with Bylsma staying. Shero tells Bylsma there has to be accountability for what happened and the poor decisions that led to the outcome this year. Shero tells Bylsma he has to fire Granato and Rierdan. They are replaced with a bad cop that won't be afraid to tell Bylsma off and say what he thinks: Rick Tocchet and also have a guy on the bench that is a strategy wizard and has the respect of Malkin: Dave King.

If Bylsma still doesn't get it and the Pens are in disarray, you have two guys more than qualified to take over the team.

Bylsma won't get it done.

Beyond that, I totally forgot he only had one year left, so they have to either extend or get rid of him. Tough call... I don't think Mario keeps him, and there is not a sane person who would give him an extension unless they just have some extra cash to burn.

We'll probably have to eat Fleury too...

 

[DegenX]

Bylsma won't get it done.

Beyond that, I totally forgot he only had one year left, so they have to either extend or get rid of him. Tough call... I don't think Mario keeps him, and there is not a sane person who would give him an extension unless they just have some extra cash to burn.

We'll probably have to eat Fleury too...

(Yes, that was a real product)

 

[Uemoda]

The most positive thing:

Shero hasn't said anything since last week. Complete silence.


That suggests to me that he is seriously contemplating firing Bylsma. If he was hell-bent on keeping him, he would've said so already.

 

[BrandonL]

As a Canucks fan, this situation reminds me a lot of what we went through after the 2011-2012 season. The complaints in this thread are eerily similar to a lot of what Vancouver fans were saying about Vigneault.

It was obvious that changes needed to be made, but Vancouver management delayed for a few days and before you knew it our coach had a contract extension. This season was torture in Vancouver, watching a flawed team repeat the cycle and just completely bomb in the post season.

For your guys sake, I hope Shero pulls the trigger and spares the Pens a similar fate next season.

 

[Milliardo]

Alright,his team in 2010 had Montreal by the throat and let up in Game 6 and fell apart in Pittsburgh in another no-show in Game 7 and this with him depending heavily on Alex Goligoski as a top defenseman. When he got capable goaltending from Fleury in 2011 that got him a 3 games to 1 edge, he felt it necessary to play the Mark Letestu and the Chris Conner's of the world as if he found some diamonds in the rough instead of increasing the ice time's of Jordan Staal's & Alex Kovalev's who could have made the difference in game 4 decider and consequently they choked the lead away and another loss on home ice in game 7.

So everytime a team fails, it's on the coach, gotcha.

MAF letting in the 1st shot of the game in like 4 games against Montreal and Crosby taking an absolutely stupid penalty 10 seconds into game 7 (of course, Montreal scored seconds after with again their first shot of the game) had nothing to do with it. And I'm not even going to start talking about 11, we were without our superstars and Fleury again had 3 bad games in a 7 game series.

 

[Milliardo]

It's not as if I'm the only one... this team has serious issues with it's Defense and Offensive system, down to the players.

As I said last year, WE ARE NOT BUILT TO WIN IN THE PLAYOFFS.

Not delusional, just truthful. The stats don't add up, the objective data doesn't add, the performances on the ice don't add. ****, DB couldn't even do an exit interview right, someone on here has to be a Communications person (my wife has a Masters and she literally said "what the **** are you watching and why hasn't that guy been to a media briefing" )

You probably want to extend DB after this huh? He's such an awesome coach. Hey, I hope DB does well in life but he should not be the coach.

It's not about what I want or not, frankly I don't care if Bylsma stays or not. But stating your opinion as fact automtically disqualifies you from being taken seriously.

 

[Ogrezilla]

If I'm Shero, I'm holding onto Bylsma unless there is a better candidate out there to coach the Pens. That said, the only candidate better than Bylsma at this point would be Tippett.

If you fire Bylsma now, you run the risk of settling for someone if you don't get your guy. Tippett won't be available until at least June 30th. Ruff and AV will probably be gone by then. I don't really want Ruff here.

I'm a guy who has criticized Bylsma a lot and I truly believe his stubborness, belief that his strategy > adjustments to the other team, and terrible decisions regarding personnel such as Iginla led to the downfall of the Pens this year.

There is one circumstance where I'd be fine with Bylsma staying. Shero tells Bylsma there has to be accountability for what happened and the poor decisions that led to the outcome this year. Shero tells Bylsma he has to fire Granato and Rierdan. They are replaced with a bad cop that won't be afraid to tell Bylsma off and say what he thinks: Rick Tocchet and also have a guy on the bench that is a strategy wizard and has the respect of Malkin: Dave King.

If Bylsma still doesn't get it and the Pens are in disarray, you have two guys more than qualified to take over the team.

My issue with this is that I don't know that Disco CAN bring accountability to this team. He's been the good guy players coach for too long with these guys. If he comes in next year trying to act like a tough coach, will the guys listen or will they just roll their eyes at him? I think we need a change even if its purely a sidegrade.

 

[Milliardo]

I'm not surprised that the coaches and players are sticking up for MAF. They know that he's a superior goaltender to TV in almost every single way. They know that better than any of us do. They've see it during games, and practice for years. They all know what he's capable of, and it probably befuddles them as much as it does us, when MAF has meltdowns during big games. I'm not giving support to MAF one way or another, and I hope it doesn't seem that way. I just think that it's a much more difficult decision for Shero to make than some are making it out to be. The last thing Shero wants to start doing is alienating his players when so many contracts are coming up.

What? Like...where?

 

[Marns]

What? Like...where?

Goalscoring?

 

[Ugene Magic]

Entirely possible: Bylsa fired Tuesday, no replacement named for a few weeks, as things shake out around the league, interviews are done.

Draft is coming up, doubt it would take very long if they did fire him with a shorter off season.

 

[Fordy]

Can someone explain the pros and cons of Maurice? My only frame of reference is how he handled Malkin during the lockout, which to me, is extremely positive and would have me jumping at the chance to get that guy.

 

[canadianguy77]

What? Like...where?

I played hockey at various levels for about 15 years. When I was playing, we always knew who our best goalie was... and not just the forwards; the defencemen knew better than anyone. Even when we were really young, (7-8 years old) it's automatic that you know who your best goalie is. Coaches know it, and the players on the team know it.

Like I said, I'm not arguing for MAF one way or another. The guy has big-time meltdowns, in big-time games. The skaters on the team don't know why this happens to him. All they do know, is that he is a better goaltender than TV. They see and experience it almost everyday for 8 months of the year. Everyday fans only watch the games. They see the meltdowns that Fleury has, and say he's a s**tty goaltender. They're not seeing what the players and coaches see day in and day out.

I guess I'm just trying to give an inside perspective to people who have never played the game, if they're wondering why everyone on the team is still standing up for MAF.

 

[Ugene Magic]

I played hockey at various levels for about 15 years. When I was playing, we always knew who our best goalie was... and not just the forwards; the defencemen knew better than anyone. Even when we were really young, (7-8 years old) it's automatic that you know who your best goalie is. Coaches know it, and the players on the team know it.

Like I said, I'm not arguing for MAF one way or another. The guy has big-time meltdowns, in big-time games. The skaters on the team don't know why this happens to him. All they do know, is that he is a better goaltender than TV. They see and experience it almost everyday for 8 months of the year. Everyday fans only watch the games. They see the meltdowns that Fleury has, and say he's a s**tty goaltender. They're not seeing what the players and coaches see day in and day out.

I guess I'm just trying to give an inside perspective to people who have never played the game, if they're wondering why everyone on the team is still standing up for MAF.

The players also have meltdowns in front of him and they also know that, too.

This is why the General needs changed to get a guy in there and rein in these guys. The General also had a melt down. It's their best option because, going with status quo is not the answer either even if there's not a permanent fix available.

 

[Shady Machine]

I'm not surprised that the coaches and players are sticking up for MAF. They know that he's a superior goaltender to TV in almost every single way. They know that better than any of us do. They've see it during games, and practice for years. They all know what he's capable of, and it probably befuddles them as much as it does us, when MAF has meltdowns during big games. I'm not giving support to MAF one way or another, and I hope it doesn't seem that way. I just think that it's a much more difficult decision for Shero to make than some are making it out to be. The last thing Shero wants to start doing is alienating his players when so many contracts are coming up.

They've seen it during games? Really? Please tell me how MAF is a superior goalie to TV in every way. As far as I can see, TV is better than Fleury at stopping the puck and playing the puck. Fleury might look cooler when he makes saves, but that's about it.

I think the supporting of Fleury is twofold. 1.) They genuinely like the guy and he has been with this team longer than everyone other than Orpik and 2.) Saying he sucks to the media doesn't help anybody.