News Article: Eddie Olczyk article

[Gallatin]

Recchi re-signed with the Pens after that season so it can't have been that bad. Palffy retired for 1.5 years because of his ruined shoulder. If it had been about Sid he'd simply have asked for a trade.

Maybe it was Leclair?

Or maybe they had a different much stronger coach the next year that didn't take any crap from his players like Eddie obviously did.

 

[JTG]

My initial thought was it was Recchi. I don't necessarily think Recchi was wrong if he was hard on Sid. Sid these days will even admit how hard he was on refs when he first broke into the league. Then again, Sid was getting his teeth shot down his throat by Hatcher with no penalties called, so there's that too. Palffy was actually doing well here before he mysteriously retired.

Eddie was a bad coach. He facilitated the old country club mentality that was here for a decade because he was once part of the country club.

 

[zhenyas most fly rep]

Recchi re-signed with the Pens after that season so it can't have been that bad. Palffy retired for 1.5 years because of his ruined shoulder. If it had been about Sid he'd simply have asked for a trade.

I don't think it was that bad either.
Although I remember back when he was traded to Carolina (for quite the return I must say), I thought it was a given he would re-sign with the Pens as soon as the FA period would begin.
But then, he was only signed late in july (the 25th).
Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I always thought something was off. Maybe the Pens organization were having second thoughts?

Anyway, he had a pretty good following season playing most of the time with Crosby and Malone.
07-08? not so much..

 

[zhenyas most fly rep]

Or maybe they had a different much stronger coach the next year that didn't take any crap from his players like Eddie obviously did.

Olczyk was fired in 2005 (on december the 15th).
Therrien was the Pens HC for most of the 05-06 season.

 

[zhenyas most fly rep]

My initial thought was it was Recchi. I don't necessarily think Recchi was wrong if he was hard on Sid. Sid these days will even admit how hard he was on refs when he first broke into the league. Then again, Sid was getting his teeth shot down his throat by Hatcher with no penalties called, so there's that too. Palffy was actually doing well here before he mysteriously retired.

Eddie was a bad coach. He facilitated the old country club mentality that was here for a decade because he was once part of the country club.

You mean he would be a welcome addition to the coaching staff nowadays?

 

[JTG]

I don't believe there is a country club mentality with this current team. That's just something that certain fans have needed to create to justify what they believe they are seeing. Especially not in comparison to what occurred when Lemieux was leading the team.

 

[Gallatin]

Olczyk was fired in 2005 (on december the 15th).
Therrien was the Pens HC for most of the 05-06 season.

Sure of course. And after the whole Sid thing went down.

 

[#66]

I don't see the big deal. Sid needed a kick in the ass back then. Most great players do at the start of their careers.

 

[SidGenoMario]

Sid really has matured a lot, you forget how he used to be as a teenager. Serious question: when was the last time Sid dove?

 

[Captain Hook]

I don't believe there is a country club mentality with this current team. That's just something that certain fans have needed to create to justify what they believe they are seeing. Especially not in comparison to what occurred when Lemieux was leading the team.

Agreed.

 

[frozenrubber]

I don't see the big deal. Sid needed a kick in the ass back then. Most great players do at the start of their careers.

Mark Recchi most certainly did not practice what he potentially 'preached' w/ the Penguins that season. He was lazy, took careless penalties, and shortcuts galore.

I remember watching Recchi that year and thinking he was an example of what not to learn from a veteran.

 

[Don'tcry4mejanhrdina]

Mark Recchi most certainly did not practice what he potentially 'preached' w/ the Penguins that season. He was lazy, took careless penalties, and shortcuts galore.

I remember watching Recchi that year and thinking he was an example of what not to learn from a veteran.

Sounds exactly like Brooks Orpik.

 

[mrzeigler]

He had a worse attitude than Jagr IMO.

It's almost certainly Recchi. Shawna Richer's behind-the-scenes book about that season, "The Rookie," made it very apparent that Recchi was an ******* to Sid.

I see the article gives a specific date — had I not loaned the book out to a coworker a couple of weeks ago, I'm sure I'd be able to tell who it was ... the book gave game-by-game accounts of on- and off-ice events.

 

[Jacob]

I don't really care. As whiny and bratty as Sid could have been at 18 he was still a better leader than most of the vets on that particular team.

 

[member 51464]

All I know about that time in Sid's career is that I was given the book Taking the Game By Storm by Gare Joyce and it sucked. There were like 40 pages re-printed rather than the end of the book. Sad times. I never knew what happened ;-(

 

[Zen Arcade]

I got the impression then, and I feel the same way now, that the vets on the team felt like they could just show up at the arena and win. There was definitely some resentment there.

Sid needed to be reigned in a bit for sure, in regards to how he dealt with the refs. But it's hilarious that it was Recchi leading the charge, even at the end of his career, he was bratty and petulant when arguing calls. He's one of the whiniest players I've ever seen.

 

[zhenyas most fly rep]

I don't believe there is a country club mentality with this current team. That's just something that certain fans have needed to create to justify what they believe they are seeing. Especially not in comparison to what occurred when Lemieux was leading the team.

Okay, I may have misunderstood what "country club mentality" meant from the start then.
I thought it was about a lack of competition within the locker room where a select few 'buddies' were kind of calling the shots and didn't have to earn anything anymore while some of those who weren't part of their circle were ostracized regardless of their performances. Isn't that what happened to Zubov (couldn't follow the Pens back then so I may be wrong)

Now back to nowadays..

Bench celebrating as Despres notches his first goal of the season.

Ah ah, unfortunately for my little theory, it's only a case of a coach playing favorites..

 

[JTG]

Okay, I may have misunderstood what "country club mentality" meant from the start then.
I thought it was about a lack of competition within the locker room where a select few 'buddies' were kind of calling the shots and didn't have to earn anything anymore while some of those who weren't part of their circle were ostracized regardless of their performances. Isn't that what happened to Zubov (couldn't follow the Pens back then so I may be wrong)

Zubov was just a case of Lemieux not liking him, IIRC. Zubov wanted to play one way, Lemieux wanted to play the other.

The country club mentality is one of which there is no work being put in. The boys don't practice well, they pretty much run a team and a coach is there for show. And back to the Zubov thing...yeah, that was a Lemieux decision, and yeah, Lemieux facilitated the culture here. Lemieux has never been a big workout/practice guy. He set the precedent, and others followed. Had Lemieux been a workout guy, he may not have had some of the back issues he experienced his entire career.

These boys today practice, and they practice hard. They all come to camp in shape, and there is structure. They most certainly hold each other accountable. Do Sid and Geno have a say? I'm sure they do, and it'd be silly not to give them one. Do they control every facet of the game? No. Not like Lemieux used to.

Now back to nowadays..

Bench celebrating as Despres notches his first goal of the season.

Ah ah, unfortunately for my little theory, it's only a case of a coach playing favorites..

Haha. Yeah, that's about right.

 

[Burgs]

Zubov was just a case of Lemieux not liking him, IIRC. Zubov wanted to play one way, Lemieux wanted to play the other.

Problem as I recall it was them interfering with each other on the power play. As usual Mario directed the PP from the left boards, and he wanted Zubov to shoot from the outside. But Zubov wanted to run the PP himself as he was used to, and almost never shot the puck. It just didn't work out.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Had Lemieux been a workout guy, he may not have had some of the back issues he experienced his entire career.

I always roll my eyes when people say "if Lemieux had better luck and stayed healthy..."

The guy was a chain smoker and the only thing he lifted in the off season was cheeseburgers.

I will always believe it wasn't bad luck, but laziness and not taking care of himself, that brought on most of his health problems.

If Lemieux had combined his rare gifts with a great work ethic, I can only imagine the numbers he would of put up.

Unfortunately, the game came way too easy for him.

 

[Penguins23]

Recchi hated Crosby and Leclair hated Malkin.

Remember Malkin's first game in North America? Leclair injured him.

 

[zhenyas most fly rep]

Zubov was just a case of Lemieux not liking him, IIRC. Zubov wanted to play one way, Lemieux wanted to play the other.

The country club mentality is one of which there is no work being put in. The boys don't practice well, they pretty much run a team and a coach is there for show. And back to the Zubov thing...yeah, that was a Lemieux decision, and yeah, Lemieux facilitated the culture here. Lemieux has never been a big workout/practice guy. He set the precedent, and others followed. Had Lemieux been a workout guy, he may not have had some of the back issues he experienced his entire career.

Thanks for the clarification.
Speaking of coach for show, wasn't Hlinka more or less appointed by Jagr himself. Those were the days..

These boys today practice, and they practice hard. They all come to camp in shape, and there is structure. They most certainly hold each other accountable. Do Sid and Geno have a say? I'm sure they do, and it'd be silly not to give them one. Do they control every facet of the game? No. Not like Lemieux used to.

Sure, sometimes I even wish they would moan a little more, maybe Crosby would have had both his wingers by now and Malkin well, aside from the linemates issues, they've used him in some silly fashion over the years, I mean left point on the PP? winger on a Staal centered line?
Oh well, I'll take these kind of superstars over divas any days.

 

[Darth Vitale]

Recchi hated Crosby and Leclair hated Malkin.

Remember Malkin's first game in North America? Leclair injured him.

Leclaire used a stick with two curves. That's all you need to know about that guy.

 

[madinsomniac]

Edzo got a bad rap here. Like Bylsma, he was a little too close to his playing days and the Vets just didn't listen to him. He was trying to install the same system Therrien ran, in fact that why he asked the team to bring MT into the AHL, so the minor leaguers would have the same fundamentals... There was a rumor of a legendary meeting called by Edzo that no one showed up for because recchi and Leclair told them all it was cancelled cause they didn't want to do what he was trying to have them do... Craig Patrick backed the Vets and Edzo was basically neutered. He should have quit right there, not let them fire him

 

[Uemoda]

Eddie Olcyzk sucked. Mark Recchi sucked.

There is no hero in this story.