Does Sullivan still have his job?

[Shockmaster]

Phil Borque made a pretty good point on the radio yesterday. He questioned the accountability of the team and couldn't remember the last time a player missed a few shifts for poor play.

 

[Shady Machine]

I wouldn't have been bothered if Bonino re-signed, but Daley is 35 and Hainsey is 38.

That's not the point. It wasn't either re-sign these guys or sign/trade for worse contracts.

 

[BladeRunner66]

Phil Borque made a pretty good point on the radio yesterday. He questioned the accountability of the team and couldn't remember the last time a player missed a few shifts for poor play.

Either that player sucked or didn't want to play for Sully anymore, depending on his status.

 

[Shockmaster]

Either that player sucked or didn't want to play for Sully anymore, depending on his status.

In some cases it may have been Sullivan having too much faith in certain players to "get it right" so to speak without putting them through any unpleasant moments. Simon is the obvious one, but I think to a lesser extent the same could be said for Rust before December and after February.

 

[BladeRunner66]

In some cases it may have been Sullivan having too much faith in certain players to "get it right" so to speak without putting them through any unpleasant moments. Simon is the obvious one, but I think to a lesser extent the same could be said for Rust before December and after February.

Yeah Simon but do you have any explaination for Rust in that period, i feel like i missed something.

 

[Shockmaster]

Yeah Simon but do you have any explaination for Rust in that period, i feel like i missed something.

He was absolutely awful the first 2 months of the season, like should've been healthy scratched a few times bad. But during that stretch there were times Sullivan promoted him to the top 6, and I don't believe he ever played any lower than the 3rd line. He did eventually have a really good stretch from December to February. He missed a bit of time with injury and was mostly invisible when he came back, with much of that time being on the top line.

 

[BladeRunner66]

He was absolutely awful the first 2 months of the season, like should've been healthy scratched a few times bad. But during that stretch there were times Sullivan promoted him to the top 6, and I don't believe he ever played any lower than the 3rd line. He did eventually have a really good stretch from December to February. He missed a bit of time with injury and was mostly invisible when he came back, with much of that time being on the top line.

Dunno but it smells like hidden/down played injuries to me unless Rust had some sort of predicaments going on. Just weird how he devolved for some periods of time. This did happen after he got his big contract yes? This might also be related.

?

 

[Shockmaster]

Dunno but it smells like hidden/down played injuries to me unless Rust had some sort of predicaments going on. Just weird how he devolved for some periods of time. This did happen after he got his big contract yes? This might also be related.

?

Could be a combination of the contract and in the back of his mind knowing he has the coach's full trust and won't see his playing time dramatically reduced.

 

[Andy99]

Could be a combination of the contract and in the back of his mind knowing he has the coach's full trust and won't see his playing time dramatically reduced.

He outright admitted it was the contract and he felt pressure to score to justify it, and so he wasn’t playing the speed/defensive game that earned him that contract ...

 

[BladeRunner66]

He outright admitted it was the contract and he felt pressure to score to justify it, and so he wasn’t playing the speed/defensive game that earned him that contract ...

Weird as it's usually the opposite, i mean, X player plays hard to get big contract then X player slows down once he has said contract. Oh well...

 

[BigEezyE22]

He was actually fired last year, but it was so low key he didn't even know it. And his wife is so traumatized by the screams of "just f***ing play" that she never told him the checks stopped coming in.

 

[Anya6687]

Just a thought after the leaf game....

Would you want babs over Sullivan next year?

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Just a thought after the leaf game....

Would you want babs over Sullivan next year?

Neither?

Let's go hire Todd Nelson and assemble an insane group with Ulf and Keefe as his assistants.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

He was actually fired last year, but it was so low key he didn't even know it. And his wife is so traumatized by the screams of "just ****ing play" that she never told him the checks stopped coming in.

And to this day, she's been Day to Day, with an UBI.

 

[Kristopher Letang]

Just a thought after the leaf game....

Would you want babs over Sullivan next year?

Hell nah.

 

[Son Goku]

And to this day, she's been Day to Day, with an UBI.

quality post

 

[Beauner]

Phil Borque made a pretty good point on the radio yesterday. He questioned the accountability of the team and couldn't remember the last time a player missed a few shifts for poor play.

I remember Guentzel getting benched for a bad turnover in the regular season. Think the same happened to Rust as well.

Regardless I don't see what that kind of coaching is useful for anyway (unless a guy is having a brutal game and hurting the team on every single shift). If a guy f***s up, he knows he f***ed up. Stapling him to the bench isn't going to make him play any better later on.

 

[BladeRunner66]

I remember Guentzel getting benched for a bad turnover in the regular season. Think the same happened to Rust as well.

Regardless I don't see what that kind of coaching is useful for anyway (unless a guy is having a brutal game and hurting the team on every single shift). If a guy ****s up, he knows he ****ed up. Stapling him to the bench isn't going to make him play any better later on.

Neither will the team for that matter, especially in Guentzel's case. Dunno what happened with Rust though but he seemed to deserve it for whatever reasons his game devolved for periods.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Stapling a guy like Jake to the bench for a few shifts or the majority of a period also just makes you have to play worse players in big minute roles, since we're not exactly a supremely well put together roster.

 

[UnderratedBrooks44]

Stapling a guy like Jake to the bench for a few shifts or the majority of a period also just makes you have to play worse players in big minute roles, since we're not exactly a supremely well put together roster.

Benching guys isn't nearly as common as it was back in the day either, or at least when it does happen, the duration is minuscule compared to in the past.. Athletes are just less loyal now, right or wrong. Often times all it does is create a mental note in the player's head when contract time comes. The people that suggest benchings when they think they know better than the coach are usually the same people that wish for "bag skates" any time the team plays poorly.

 

[Clatartar]

Sitting Sheary back in the day always worked.

 

[Kristopher Letang]

HockeyBuzz.com - Ryan Wilson - Mike Babcock is a fraud



Yikes!

 

[Turin]

Looks like Martin won’t, not here anyway. I could definitely see his voice getting a bit old for the defense as he’s been in Pittsburgh since 2014 (!) but he did a good job and deserves a shot.

 

[ronduguayshair]

Blame the players not the coach.

 

[TooManyHumans]

Just a thought after the leaf game....

Would you want babs over Sullivan next year?

No way in hell. Babcock is vastly overrated and is a stubborn asshole who won't adjust the way he coaches.