TSN: Penguins ousted in the First Round in 2022

[K Fleur]

So no one thinks cutting Sullivan would be an overreaction? The teams we lost to the last 2 years are 3 wins away from the Finals and at least this this year we dominated the play against that team. In a league where a lot of good teams haven't been able to get the conference finals?

• Has won the Stanley Cup 33% of the time he's been the Pens coach
• .614 win % as a head coach
• 1 losing season in his 8 years as a head coach

I feel like some of us are lacking perspective. Getting out of the 1st round of the playoffs isn't the same as it was several years ago. The NHL wanted the round to be more competitive and now it is.

Would you believe me if I told you that just 7 years ago the Pens fired a coach that;

• Had won a Stanley Cup for the Pens
• Had won the Jack Adams trophy
• Had a .668 win % as the Pens coach (and .615% for his career)
• Did not go 4-15 in his last 19 playoff games.

The Pens must still be trying to overcome such a reactionary move.

 

[Pens x]

Would you believe me if I told you that just 7 years ago the Pens fired a coach that;

• Had won a Stanley Cup for the Pens
• Had won the Jack Adams trophy
• Had a .668 win % as the Pens coach (and .615% for his career)
• Did not go 4-15 in his last 19 playoff games.

The Pens must still be trying to overcome such a reactionary move.

I think people know that the team will not fire Sully, so they convince themselves he’s still a good coach despite 3 straight years of piss poor playoff results. It’s always someone else’s fault.

-Fatigue from previous long runs
-Jarry (despite never being pulled or sat)
-Fluke playoffs against the Habs!
-Hot goalie!
-Injuries
-No bounces/bad luck
-Hornqvist and Kessel ruined the team

Surely it can’t be Sully!

Now the team is even too lazy to run a player out of town or fire an ineffective coach. They’ve basically given up if ownership doesn’t drag a player through the mud after a disappointing first round exit.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

This isn't that complicated to understand.

If the Penguins had been passive like they were last year or completely overwhelmed like they were in 2019, then Sullivan likely should have been fired.

They weren't. The Penguins played hard. They controlled play for most of the series, at least for extended stretches of every game save for one. They showed an ability to turn the tables on the Islanders for periods of play.

Their goalie stunk and they had some key lapses in decision-making that burned them. That's not cause to fire the coach. You fire him when he's out-classed and has lost the room. Sullivan was neither this year, no matter how angry people are about the first line or not pulling Jarry.

 

[OtherThingsILike]

Sullivan at 5th place in the Jack Adams voting.

 

[Pens x]

Sullivan at 5th place in the Jack Adams voting.

You don’t win the Jack Adams in the playoffs. If we are decimated with injuries, and Sully has to, gasp, make adjustments, he’s a decent coach. But then it’s back to the same old stubborn crap when everyone is available.

What worked against Buffalo and New Jersey in February doesnt work in the playoffs.

 

[DrDangles]

I think the reality is most of us feel like Sullivan has lost the room. I guess there is a counterpoint to that given how well they played this post season outside of goaltending, but at the same time it's hard to get onboard with a team that is "win now" allowing a coach three consecutive first round exits.

As far as Jarry. I dunno man, I've never been super hot on him. I thought he did a good job this regular season, but ultimately the playoffs are what is important and that implosion was the worst I've ever seen from a Penguins goaltender which is honestly pretty impressive given what has gone on the last thirty years.

I would've agreed with that sentiment last season, but the entire group really seemed to be gelling after their annual slow start this season. They definitely weren't playing like a team that had tuned their coach out. Like Sid said during his exit interview, the entire locker room felt they were going to make a deep run. The only part Sid won't say out loud is that Jarry completely shit the bed on them. If CDS is healthy, they probably beat the Isles. Whether or not he could backstop them beyond that, we'll obviously never know.

As for Jarry's future, I dunno man. He was great last season, and had ups and downs this season. At the end of the day he's like 25 and goalies are weird, even guys Rinne can have a few meh seasons and can be seen as worthless trade value wise, only to regain form and win hardware. I'm still not sold on him either, but selling low on him when his contract is completely manageable seems like bad asset management to me. I'm all for bringing in a vet to add some depth (where is Vokoun when you need him), or even somebody we can 1A/1B if we somehow lose CDS, but completely giving up on the kid over one bad playoff series isn't the answer here.

 

[Pens x]

I would've agreed with that sentiment last season, but the entire group really seemed to be gelling after their annual slow start this season. They definitely weren't playing like a team that had tuned their coach out. Like Sid said during his exit interview, the entire locker room felt they were going to make a deep run. The only part Sid won't say out loud is that Jarry completely shit the bed on them. If CDS is healthy, they probably beat the Isles. Whether or not he could backstop them beyond that, we'll obviously never know.

As for Jarry's future, I dunno man. He was great last season, and had ups and downs this season. At the end of the day he's like 25 and goalies are weird, even guys Rinne can have a few meh seasons and can be seen as worthless trade value wise, only to regain form and win hardware. I'm still not sold on him either, but selling low on him when his contract is completely manageable seems like bad asset management to me. I'm all for bringing in a vet to add some depth (where is Vokoun when you need him), or even somebody we can 1A/1B if we somehow lose CDS, but completely giving up on the kid over one bad playoff series isn't the answer here.

I don’t know if you can honestly assume CDS would have played. Sully isn’t known for making adjustments.

The fact that he didn’t yank Jarry even only with Lagace as the back up is still very troubling.

 

[Ryder71]

I don’t know if you can honestly assume CDS would have played. Sully isn’t known for making adjustments.

The fact that he didn’t yank Jarry even only with Lagace as the back up is still very troubling.

Sully's got to go. There's absolutely no question about that.

 

[Pens x]

Sully's got to go. There's absolutely no question about that.

 

[eXile3]

Getting fired after three 1st round playoff losses is not an overreaction IMO.

Right but to my point, the 1st round matchups are much more competitive now. Both the Islanders and Habs in the conference finals. It's not like we got beat by bad teams. I also don't see any coaches out there that would be better than Sullivan.

 

[Pens x]

Right but to my point, the 1st round matchups are much more competitive now. Both the Islanders and Habs in the conference finals. It's not like we got beat by bad teams. I also don't see any coaches out there that would be better than Sullivan.

That same excuse is thrown around year after year. I’m sure you can find old “wE cAnT FiRE BylsMa” threads spewing the same nonsense. There might not be a better coach than Sully from 2016 right now, but the clown that has been behind the bench over the last 3 or 4 years shouldn’t be too difficult to replace.

You don’t keep a guy that has underperformed for 3 or 4 years simply because you are afraid of replacing them. This mentality will lead to another first round exit, which will be blamed on someone else.

 

[Gurglesons]

Right but to my point, the 1st round matchups are much more competitive now. Both the Islanders and Habs in the conference finals. It's not like we got beat by bad teams. I also don't see any coaches out there that would be better than Sullivan.

We’ve been favorites in the last three series.

 

[Pens x]

Right but to my point, the 1st round matchups are much more competitive now. Both the Islanders and Habs in the conference finals. It's not like we got beat by bad teams. I also don't see any coaches out there that would be better than Sullivan.

The Habs this season are also very different the Habs that dumbied us two years ago. The Habs this season are better. I know it’s hard to keep track of all of the teams that eliminated us early in the playoffs as of late.