Confirmed with Link: Mike Johnston HC, Tocchet AC, Martin ??|Penguins Hire Headless Body of Gary Agnew

[Vujtek]

Hopefully we can bring Brind amour, tocchet and keep JM. That would be ideal to me.

Brind'Amour already signed to continue as an assistant in Carolina.

 

[PensFan68]

Won't pretend to know too much about him, but certainly willing to give him a chance. Onward with a new coaching era... interesting to see who his assistants will be.

Agreed. I know nothing about him. I haven't been reading the boards that much lately (since Desjardins went to Vancouver), so not sure what's been said about him. Whats his coaching style? I know he's coached jr players so it could be different, but will he seem to command respect or be a player friendly coach?

 

[gordie]

Was surprised to see he has 55k followers, then noticed he retweets a lot of naked girl pics and it made sense

Never underestimate the numbers of his "Pro Wrasslin" followers.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Hawks puck retrieval system was a complete 180 of DB system. I think Letang, Maatta, Despres, etc will really like it.

My concerns are with Letang, because MJ's system pushes the issue and his blueliners have a green light to pinch.

I'm not sure if he is the coach to round out Letang's game. We shall see what happens.

 

[KIRK]

Madden is hoping Johnston will get fired and tocchet will take over

I'm not sure how sarcastic a take on Madden that is.

 

[ColePens]

Hawks puck retrieval system was a complete 180 of DB system. I think Letang, Maatta, Despres, etc will really like it.

My concerns are with Letang, because MJ's system pushes the issue and his blueliners have a green light to pinch.

I'm not sure if he is the coach to round out Letang's game. We shall see what happens.

I'm interested to see how it all plays out on the NHL ice. Can you give me a little feedback on the retrieval system? I don't watch too much junior hockey.

I can't wait to tape a few games and see what he implements.

 

[KIRK]

Hawks puck retrieval system was a complete 180 of DB system. I think Letang, Maatta, Despres, etc will really like it.

My concerns are with Letang, because MJ's system pushes the issue and his blueliners have a green light to pinch.

I'm not sure if he is the coach to round out Letang's game. We shall see what happens.

Is he going to use Sid and Geno the way they need to be used?

 

[Penguinzilla*]

Hawks puck retrieval system was a complete 180 of DB system. I think Letang, Maatta, Despres, etc will really like it.

My concerns are with Letang, because MJ's system pushes the issue and his blueliners have a green light to pinch.

I'm not sure if he is the coach to round out Letang's game. We shall see what happens.

Can you (or someone) elaborate on "Hawks puck retrieval system was a complete 180 of DB system"?

 

[Jaded-Fan]

From a system standpoint I am not thrilled. They likely will keep putting up amazing regular season numbers, which matters to Pens' ownership I believe. But I wanted a more Playoff oriented defense first system. Like the Rangers played against us their last three games, or like we played against them in games three and four. Johnson is unlikely to bring that and I am not sure how that will play in the playoffs.

At least he apparently makes in game adjustments.

We didn't have good options this off-season. And they got worse when the couple of well thought of coaches chose elsewhere. All we can hope for is that Johnson beats somewhat low expectations.

 

[Jacob]

I don't see Martin staying on to be a rookie's assistant, but whether he does or not if we continue to employ his defensive coverage structure I think we'll be golden.

 

[SuburbanRhythm]

He must really think his audience is so stupid that no one will notice how he contradicts himself constantly.

Have you met the average Madden fan?

 

[KIRK]

From a system standpoint I am not thrilled. They likely will keep putting up amazing regular season numbers, which matters to Pens' ownership I believe. But I wanted a more Playoff oriented defense first system. Like the Rangers played against us their last three games, or like we played against them in games three and four. Johnson is unlikely to bring that and I am not sure how that will play in the playoffs.

At least he apparently makes in game adjustments.

We didn't have good options this off-season. And they got worse when the couple of well thought of coaches chose elsewhere. All we can hope for is that Johnson beats somewhat low expectations.

1. Let's see what Johnston actually does at the NHL level. Perhaps he'll actually adapt his system a little to the players he has and the league. I mean, I know the concept of a coach who adjusts his system to his players instead of the opposite might strike some as a bit odd, but . . .

2. http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/sto...enguins-portland-winterhawks-suspended-system

 

[Ugene Magic]

Don't like the inexperience at HC in the NHL, but glad it's done with.

It will be more wait and see what happens, more of the same this offseason.

Which would that make me, Glass half empty or glass half full?

I'm thinking the latter.

I will say I'm not mad, and not excited in the least, either.

Moving on.

 

[KIRK]

http://www.winterhawks.com/page/coach-s-corner

Mods, sorry for the full cut and paste, but this is Johnston's words:

DETERMINE YOUR OFFENSIVE SIDE…..WOULD YOU?

• Pull your goaltender and make a 5-on-3 power play into a 6-on-3 power play?
• Allow your wingers not to come back in the defensive zone…to be a threat in the neutral zone for a quick counter?
• Play with four forwards and one defenceman?
• Pick a smaller, more skilled defenseman over a bigger, grittier, less-skilled defenseman?
• When down by two goals, pull your goaltender with five minutes left?
• Pull your goaltender with eight seconds left in the period and a face-off in their zone?
• Allow your more offensive players to cheat to the offensive side of the puck or will all players have the same defensive responsibilities?
• Use forwards on the power play point?
• Work on plays to score on the penalty kill?
• Allow your defence to jump into the rush indiscriminately?

SIX KEYS TO OFFENSIVE SUCCESS

1. Be a First Pass Team

• Defense needs to look for the smart play
• Allow passes to the front of the net or through the middle
• Discourage the “dump out” or “no look rim” style of play
• Safe plays stifle creativity
• An area pass is still a direct pass…utilize bank passes off the boards and laying pucks into open spaces for teammates to skate into
• The players away from the puck have a responsibility to get their stick open and available for direct passes…(much like a receiver in football)
• Use of deception “look away” to have more time to make a play
• Practice transition off the back check and their rush chances

2. Shoot the Puck and Drive the Net

• Sounds simple but volume of shots are key
• Check the shot totals of the top scorers in the NHL…and also shots that miss the net or are blocked per game…the puck must get through
• Defensive coverage often breaks down after a shot
• Net drives off the puck create a play at the net but also openings in the slot. First two players away from the puck must drive the net with no hesitation…(unless the puck carrier has the wide lane deep)
• The first drive should be through the mid lane
• Funnel shots and players to the net

3. Activate Your Defense into the Attack



(Read more at link)

 

[gordie]

From that list above it looks like they're starting to move in the right direction, if he can get these players to execute instead of holding their hands like the past coach did?

 

[WayneSid9987]

http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/20...s-gmhead-coach-mike-johnston-who-should-know/

Another good article.
Will probably have way more patience with the likes of Despres, Bennett.

 

[Asuna]

This dude is all about offense.

 

[Fire Shero*]

Don't know anything about him. I would have thought we could have found an established NHL coach.

Seems like he is acting like Pete Carrol. He kind of screwed over Portland and bailed. Portland won't have a first round pick until 2018 because of all of the rule violations.

The violations were pretty apparent.

I don't like this hire.

 

[HuskerTornado]

Glad the search is over, hopefully Johnston is the right coach at the right time for this team. Now time to see how the draft and free agency go, along with whatever trades we might see.

 

[bathroomSTAAL]

I don't like this hire.

I find that genuinely surprising

 

[Sutter16]

Mike Johnston. Good hire. I'm happy with this

 

[systemsgo]

Cautiously optimistic. Now on to the draft

 

[Jaded-Fan]

1. Let's see what Johnston actually does at the NHL level. Perhaps he'll actually adapt his system a little to the players he has and the league. I mean, I know the concept of a coach who adjusts his system to his players instead of the opposite might strike some as a bit odd, but . . .

2. http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/sto...enguins-portland-winterhawks-suspended-system

Oh I don't know him from anyone else. I was talking generally. As an example I was for Blashill for two reasons. Most importantly he brings Detroit's system which I wanted for this team. But also he is the successor as their coach and Detroit personnel have done well elsewhere.

As a general thought I am skeptical that doubling down on a high scoring system is the right way to go to advance toward a cup. In fact I am fairly sure that it is not.

 

[KIRK]

From that list above it looks like they're starting to move in the right direction, if he can get these players to execute instead of holding their hands like the past coach did?

I don't know how it's going to work out, but he's hired a coach who's going to try to ride this team's strengths as the way to mitigate its weaknesses. This is safe is death hockey. When we talked about Ron Wilson, it's what he tried to do in Toronto. Gonna be quite the roller coaster, but, you know what, it's going to be a roller coaster designed to leverage, rather than mitigate, Sid and Geno. We'll see . . .

You know, when guys like this and Gentille basically are saying 'you know, it might have been ugly getting there, but this may have worked out for the Pens in the end', I'm a little encouraged.

https://twitter.com/JSportsnet
John Shannon ‏@JSportsnet 4m
Just landed...Mike Johnston to be next coach of Pittsburgh Penguins. In the end, Rutherford got a perfect fit for his team.

 

[gordie]

Cautiously optimistic. Now on to the draft

Best way to put it.