Post-Game Talk: It’s never been more over

[MeinerEiner]

We've had two drastically different rosters the past two years and both have had the same results.

It's crazy to be in that situation and to also have years of the Pens failing in the playoffs on top of that and not consider changing the coach.

I happen to think that Sullivan is a good coach, or at least was when we won the cups. But that doesn't matter any more. Every coach has a shelf life and it's beyond clear to everyone but FSG/Dubas/Hextall that Sullivan is way past his.

A good coach sees problems and tries to get them out of the system. Sullivan has done nothing to make this team better. IMO he is a very overrated coach who got super lucky with the back to back.

 

[Zbynek]

View attachment 819864

Deserve to get launched out of a f***ing cannon Mike Sullivan o'meter: 100%

 

[Gurglesons]

Colin White was on the ice for 3 GA in 11 minutes tonight. lol.

 

[Pancakes]

A good coach sees problems and tries to get them out of the system. Sullivan has done nothing to make this team better. IMO he is a very overrated coach who got super lucky with the back to back.

I don't think anyone lucks into back to back cups. There's a lot of whitewashing about Sullivan right now because everyone hates him and wants him gone and I get that, but the guy was instrumental in those two cups and I'm not personally a believer that it was all secretly Rick Tocchet or luck or whatever conspiracy theories people want to peddle. Obviously there is an element of luck in winning the cup but to win two back to back you must be doing something right.

Regardless though it doesn't matter if he was Scotty Bowman in those b2bs or Edzo level bad but insanely lucky. It really doesn't. What currently matters is he's had years of failures and it's reached a boiling point where the Pens need to figure out whether they still intend to contend or whether it's time to start tearing things down. And step one in that is making a decision on the coach.

 

[The Great Mighty Poo]

Colin White was on the ice for 3 GA in 11 minutes tonight. lol.

What exactly in the 11 herbs and spiced Kentucky fried finger licking f*** does Colin White do? I honestly don't realize he's playing half the time.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Colin White was on the ice for 3 GA in 11 minutes tonight. lol.

That just earned Puustinen a stay in the AHL for the rest of the season.

 

[Gurglesons]

Amazing defense. @DesertedPenguin

 

[MeinerEiner]

I don't think anyone lucks into back to back cups. There's a lot of whitewashing about Sullivan right now because everyone hates him and wants him gone and I get that, but the guy was instrumental in those two cups and I'm not personally a believer that it was all secretly Rick Tocchet or luck or whatever conspiracy theories people want to peddle. Obviously there is an element of luck in winning the cup but to win two back to back you must be doing something right.

Regardless though it doesn't matter if he was Scotty Bowman in those b2bs or Edzo level bad but insanely lucky. It really doesn't. What currently matters is he's had years of failures and it's reached a boiling point where the Pens need to figure out whether they still intend to contend or whether it's time to start tearing things down. And step one in that is making a decision on the coach.

I completely agree with the bolded.

I think he got lucky that Porter got hurt and he had to play the youth. We’ll never know what happened if Porter got not injured but I don’t think the Pens go on a run like this.

If Sullivan is a good coach he would have adjustment to his system, the way he uses his lines etc. in between now and 2018. He didn’t do anything so to me he disqualifies as a good coach.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Not much to like about this game. No one was good in this, no one. Crosby had such a bad gaffe in his own end that resulted in a weird goal that was credited to E-Rod. Just a flat out mess.

This was 100% the game that would be the final straw for a team in a similar position to fire their coach. Yet this team will never do it. The last 10 games is like text book “this is why this team fired their coach” stretch.

 

[The Great Mighty Poo]

Not much to like about this game. No one was good in this, no one. Crosby had such a bad gaffe in his own end that resulted in a weird goal that was credited to E-Rod. Just a flat out mess.

This was 100% the game that would be the final straw for a team in a similar position to fire their coach. Yet this team will never do it. The last 10 games is like text book “this is why this team fired their coach” stretch.

 

[Elvis P]

I'm still mad about the Pens using the horn to celebrate the Panthers 5th goal. WTF?

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I'm still mad about the Pens using the horn to celebrate the Panthers 5th goal. WTF?

Listen, there ain't a lot goin' on offensively for this team. We take what we can get when it comes to celebrating goals--sometimes the other team's.

 

[canadianguy77]

I feel like the odd man rushes against lately have been particularly devastating. When they had that month or so where they were playing relatively well, they were still giving up odd man chances but they weren’t as clean as they are now. For whatever reason, they don’t appear to be supporting as well.

 

[HandshakeLine]

All Coaches Are Bylsma

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Sullivan's mantra.

What was his stupid ass Tomlin type of quote?

"We didn't execute... Obviously, we weren't our best tonight."

All Coaches Are Bylsma

I bet if Crosby came out to say he needed to change his game because he hasn't been good enough, Sullivan would be packing his shit to move into McAvoy's basement the next day.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I feel like the odd man rushes against lately have been particularly devastating. When they had that month or so where they were playing relatively well, they were still giving up odd man chances but they weren’t as clean as they are now. For whatever reason, they don’t appear to be supporting as well.

That was probably mid November to December, things reverted back right after that.

 

[eXile3]

You would think after watching every player not named Crosby underperform all season you would look at the coaching.

 

[Zbynek]

Uh huh. Hextall was fine. That's why he may never work another job as a GM after his handiwork in Philly and Pittsburgh.

A move-by-move look at Ron Hextall's tenure as Penguins general manager

Here is a look at the significant deals made by Ron Hextall in his two-plus years as general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins: April 11, 2021 Penguins acquire: Forward Jeff Carter Los Angeles Kings acquire: 2022 third-round pick (conditional), a 2023 fourth-round pick Carter was good at first...

triblive.com

Quite the resume! We should all appreciate Hextall's underrated ability to, uhhh, exist. Sometimes.

-edit- Damn, I completely forgot about McGinn's sick 4 year deal. Another Hextall banger.

McGinn 4 year 11 million dollar deal was just insane and that deal goes until friggin 2025

Colin White was on the ice for 3 GA in 11 minutes tonight. lol.

It's almost as if the scoring-scoring-defense-grinder line setup stopped working at some point after trying it for 8 years straight without a single tweak.

 

[spcastlemagic]

I always liked the Pens as a kid, but my fandom began in earnest in 2001, Eastern conference quarterfinals, Straka beats Kolzig in OT, hooked ever since. The dark ages that immediately followed that run to the Conference Finals were rough - we were constantly selling talent, Mario was almost always injured, we had no players and the most exciting thing game to game was watching Konstatin Koltsov fly down the ice faster than anybody in the league while leaving his hands somewhere back in the neutral zone.

But we knew there was at least an idea - we’d draft high, get new talent, and Mario would charm some governors or whatever and we’d get a new arena. In the meantime, we’d play terribly but at least rack up a gnarly amount of penalty minutes. And hey it worked! We got a decent arena and 3 cups out of it, can’t complain.

This… this feels bleaker than watching Dick Tarnstron lead the team in scoring, a Riiiiiico Faaaata goal call that goes on too long, my buddy Louie buying a Dan LaCouture jersey to see him traded a month later, thinking Milan Kraft was finally putting it together, watching Matt Bradley and Mike Eastwood dress for all 82 games.

There’s no plan this time, because there is no organizational imperative to be competitive. It’s not tank and rebuild, it’s not even wheel-and-deal and try to rebuild on the fly. They think what they’ve built is perfect. What they’ve built is a mausoleum. “Here lies Penguins hockey 1988-2018. It was fun while it lasted.”

 

[Giskard]

On February 15 2009, the team had a record of 27–25–5 and was five points out of playoff position. The organization fired head coach Michel Therrien and replaced him with Dan Bylsma.

I think it's time to let him go. The day is right too.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

I'll give Dubas a few years. I'm just saying his decision making in Toronto and in his first year here makes me really worried that he'll do something really f***ing stupid.

Like would anyone be shocked if he threw 9.5 mil at Elias Lindholm for 7 years?

There are fans just 2 weeks ago prior to his trade on these boards saying we should target Lindholm so.. I mean for me it's simple and I've been saying this for the 3rd consecutive season after the Islanders 1st round exit, this team needs to retool for younger bodies or rebuild once and for all. Can Dubas do it, not sure but the longer we wait the more were in shit down the road

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

I always liked the Pens as a kid, but my fandom began in earnest in 2001, Eastern conference quarterfinals, Straka beats Kolzig in OT, hooked ever since. The dark ages that immediately followed that run to the Conference Finals were rough - we were constantly selling talent, Mario was almost always injured, we had no players and the most exciting thing game to game was watching Konstatin Koltsov fly down the ice faster than anybody in the league while leaving his hands somewhere back in the neutral zone.

But we knew there was at least an idea - we’d draft high, get new talent, and Mario would charm some governors or whatever and we’d get a new arena. In the meantime, we’d play terribly but at least rack up a gnarly amount of penalty minutes. And hey it worked! We got a decent arena and 3 cups out of it, can’t complain.

This… this feels bleaker than watching Dick Tarnstron lead the team in scoring, a Riiiiiico Faaaata goal call that goes on too long, my buddy Louie buying a Dan LaCouture jersey to see him traded a month later, thinking Milan Kraft was finally putting it together, watching Matt Bradley and Mike Eastwood dress for all 82 games.

There’s no plan this time, because there is no organizational imperative to be competitive. It’s not tank and rebuild, it’s not even wheel-and-deal and try to rebuild on the fly. They think what they’ve built is perfect. What they’ve built is a mausoleum. “Here lies Penguins hockey 1988-2018. It was fun while it lasted.”

The biggest problem here in the next 4-5 seasons no matter what happens and direction the team takes, we are not getting a Crosby, Malkin, Flower and Staal!!! Staal is probably the only reality we might end up getting down the road. We are f***ed unless Rakell, Rust, Malkin, Letang, EK, can all be traded and return 1st round drafted players that can step in right away!

 

[Ulf5]

There are fans just 2 weeks ago prior to his trade on these boards saying we should target Lindholm so.. I mean for me it's simple and I've been saying this for the 3rd consecutive season after the Islanders 1st round exit, this team needs to retool for younger bodies or rebuild once and for all. Can Dubas do it, not sure but the longer we wait the more were in shit down the road

Basically what, 4 weeks until the deadline?
Hopefully Jake is alright and hopefully this doesn't foil Dubas' attempt to trade him. If he plans on trading him at all.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

There is no extending the window. There is no retool. There is "wait until Sid gets bored and retires", followed by an ugly teardown of anything not nailed down and probably like a decade of crossing fingers and hoping the pro and amateur scouts aren't as godawful as they've been the past, what, six years?

 

[Rakell67]

Basically what, 4 weeks until the deadline?
Hopefully Jake is alright and hopefully this doesn't foil Dubas' attempt to trade him. If he plans on trading him at all.

3 weeks