Post-Game Talk: Pens try to play hockey against Isles.

[BHD]

I don’t know what has given you any indication that has happened. It’s quite possible that the players just haven’t been playing to the level that they need to or are saving themselves for the playoffs. Mike Sullivan isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. To even suggest that as a possibility is quite ridiculous. Again - they have over 20 wins and less than 10 losses since the calendar changed to 2018. Didn’t hear too many people calling for his head when they were winning a bunch.

And I’ll ask you the same thing I asked someone else. Do you think Joel Quenneville is a garbage coach that needs fired?

How they've played for the better part of a month.

As for the last part, a coach - yes, even a good one - should be dismissed under certain circumstances. If his message has gotten old...

 

[turd]

Did you take a video so we could also see those guys holding everyone accountable when you were in the locker room?

I feel like that’s gotta be one of the biggest misconceptions in sports, and particularly, in hockey. That these grown ass adults need someone to keep them accountable. “Leadership” might be the most overblown intangible in the sport. They’re all mostly 25-30 year old guys, who have all mostly won at least one Cup in their careers. They don’t need to be told what to do to be successful or have someone stand up and give them a rah rah speech to get them going. They’re adults, not children.

 

[PensPlz]

Did we move Horny?

He's too busy yelling at the refs and getting unnecessary penalties as a result from it.

I mean, we aren't getting powerplays as it is.... let's go yell at the refs so they really hate us. Over a highstick on the puck no-less.

Can't say I can ever picture Hainsey, Cullen, Daley or whoever ever doing that.

This team has shades of 2012 written all over it. God help us if we get the Flyers in the first round.

 

[Pancakes]

How they've played for the better part of a month.

As for the last part, a coach - yes, even a good one - should be dismissed under certain circumstances. If his message has gotten old...

Sullivan isn't going anywhere unless they have a long string of playoff disappointments and/or a few missed playoff years in a row.

And that's the way it should be. He's earned a very long leash.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

This is the way our division has been the past few months. Back and forth. A couple teams get hot and win 3 or 4 in a row...the others lose a couple in a row and think things are over...vice versa.

Said this last week when we were on a a 3 game win streak and the caps and philly lost a few in a row. Their fans were throwing in the towel. We were looking forward to winning the division and who we were going to face. Etc...etc..etc..

Bad timing with these injuries( we didnt even play a game after the deadline was over before murray and ZAR getting hurt in practice). Simon out. Still think we could / should have added a winger for Crosby. But with the way those two were playing, it seemed like adding Brassard would be enough.

The Curious Case of Ian Cole will never be solved.

Just get ZAR and Simon back asap. Kessel needs to get healthy. Murray will settle in. And let the playoffs begin. Dont care who we play.

 

[Gurglesons]

Who on this team is going to hold players accountable for not playing hard though? Who in the locker room is going to speak up? Guys like Hainsey, Cullen, Daley, Kunitz, and yeah, Cole and Reaves are sorely missed.

And also, it seems like Brassard is the only trade accusation this deadline that isn't doing anything. And considering he was a big ticket item, that's problematic right now. I mean, even vet plug Eric Fehr has 3 goals in his last 5 games with the Sharks.

I’m not sure anyone on that list outside of Cullen was an essential part of the lockerroom. Hainsey felt out of place as admitted, Kunitz has been here forever and flamed out plenty of times, who cares what Daley and Cole said and Reaves? LOL

Also, do people really believe Malkin or Kessel listen to these guys. The leaders of this team are still in the room. Malkin, Crosby and Letang are the people that lead this team and have.

 

[turd]

How they've played for the better part of a month.

As for the last part, a coach - yes, even a good one - should be dismissed under certain circumstances. If his message has gotten old...

They’re 7-5-1 since February 18th. From January 18th through February 18th, they were 10-2-1. That’s just the ebbs and flows of the sport. Yeah, they’ve had some real stinkers lately (Boston game comes to mind), but they’ve also looked downright unbeatable as well (thinking Dallas game). I don’t think, even just a little bit, that the message isn’t getting through to the players. There’s just some self-inflicted things they need to cut down on.

 

[Tom Hanks]

Sullivan isn't going anywhere unless they have a long string of playoff disappointments and/or a few missed playoff years in a row.

And that's the way it should be. He's earned a very long leash.

If we struggle these playoffs, Sully will certainly be coaching next season. If it happened again it would be a discussion at least.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

If the Pens win the next game by 3 goals are we debating not if the Pens three peat but how many games they give up on the way to the three peat?

I am trying to follow how the rules of the post game day thread work.

 

[turd]

If the Pens win the next game by 3 goals are we debating not if the Pens three peat but how many games they give up on the way to the three peat?

I am trying to follow how the rules of the post game day thread work.

If they win, you remain silent. If they lose, you advocate firing the head coach. Those are the rules.

 

[Tom Hanks]

If the Pens win the next game by 3 goals are we debating not if the Pens three peat but how many games they give up on the way to the three peat?

I am trying to follow how the rules of the post game day thread work.

Lol. In the extreme that’s how it is but for the most part it’s how they win or lose and what they might need to work on.

Although when it comes to game 1 in the first round the results of the previous 82 games don’t matter.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

For as much as Sid has been a problem this season with his lackadaisical play, the same goes for Sullivan and his coaching decisions. Both have being misfiring all season long and almost consistently too which is the more alarming thing. The issues crept up late last season and the playoffs, but the players willed themselves to win for whatever player they were rallying around whether it was Cullen or MAF's final year or for both having their potential final years that year, this year the team just looks unmotivated and lost and the worst part is so does the freaking coach.

I 100% don't think Sullivan should be fired. But I do think someone on his staff should, as a "listen, this shit is unacceptable and your shitty decisions cost this guy his job, grow the f*** up and make the right decisions that are painfully obvious at times."

 

[66-30-33]

Think Crosby's problem besides fatigue is lack of motivation. Won back to back years, has won everything he can. Hope he's motivated for the playoffs, if you can't get motivated for a 3 peat then I dunno. What do rich people want? more money. Players who have won cups, what do they want? more cups.

 

[Tom Hanks]

For as much as Sid has been a problem this season with his lackadaisical play, the same goes for Sullivan and his coaching decisions. Both have being misfiring all season long and almost consistently too which is the more alarming thing. The issues crept up late last season and the playoffs, but the players willed themselves to win for whatever player they were rallying around whether it was Cullen or MAF's final year or for both having their potential final years that year, this year the team just looks unmotivated and lost and the worst part is so does the freaking coach.

I 100% don't think Sullivan should be fired. But I do think someone on his staff should, as a "listen, this **** is unacceptable and your ****ty decisions cost this guy his job, grow the **** up and make the right decisions that are painfully obvious at times."

Sully played a style he thought was best to win a cup with the players available and it worked. Can’t really argue with that.

I don’t think you mean it this way but the bolded comes across as if the players didn’t play well it’s just the coaches fault but if the players played well it’s just the players despite the coach.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Sully played a style he thought was best to win a cup with the players available and it worked. Can’t really argue with that.

I don’t think you mean it this way but the bolded comes across as if the players didn’t play well it’s just the coaches fault but if the players played well it’s just the players despite the coach.

No there were some games where the coaching was mediocre at best, but we were propelled by some very good individual performances that the coaching staff adjusted the line-up to and made it work, but there were some issues that were starting to show up and this season it went full blown bad.

This year is a mix of that, some really bad play by some of the players and some really moronic coaching decisions. Sully didn't do a struggling Murray or Sid any favors and they didn't do their coach any as well.

I don't care about fluff shit piece articles about how Sully and Sid have this crazy cool relationship because they both love hockey, I care about what they're doing about the struggles this year and how to fix it.

Of which I don't see many articles of with quotes from both.

 

[Gurglesons]

How they've played for the better part of a month.

As for the last part, a coach - yes, even a good one - should be dismissed under certain circumstances. If his message has gotten old...

Sullivan’s message has gotten old?

 

[Ryder71]

Brassard destroyed it and Cole and Reaves held it together?

I don’t think so. If you play bad, you play bad it’s generally that simple. Players might have off nights but you can still skate hard and position yourself well.

The chemistry changed though, Reaves and Cole were very well liked here. Both were physical players who had clear and defined roles. We're a different team now. Less physical. We also lost ZAR to injury at that time. I think that also has hurt us. Hopefully when he comes back that will help stem the tide a bit.

 

[Tom Hanks]

The chemistry changed though, Reaves and Cole were very well liked here. Both were physical players who had clear and defined roles. We're a different team now. Less physical. We also lost ZAR to injury at that time. I think that also has hurt us. Hopefully when he comes back that will help stem the tide a bit.

We’re not an Instagram post though.

We are not losing because we aren’t physical. We are losing because we are playing bad. That’s the bottom line.

 

[ncm7772]

We’re not an Instagram post though.

We are not losing because we aren’t physical. We are losing because we are playing bad. That’s the bottom line.

Yes.

 

[Ryder71]

We’re not an Instagram post though.

We are not losing because we aren’t physical. We are losing because we are playing bad. That’s the bottom line.

When you lose that much physicality to your line up, the opposition inherently becomes more emboldened. More time, more space etc. That doesn't mean we can't play better, because clearly we can. But taking out Cole, Reaves and ZAR all at once is a lot of physicality and sand paper gone. They arguably are three of the top five physical players we had here. And as important, none of them are easy to play against. That's a big component to our team that's missing.

 

[Tom Hanks]

When you lose that much physicality to your line up, the opposition inherently becomes more emboldened. More time, more space etc. That doesn't mean we can't play better, because clearly we can. But taking out Cole, Reaves and ZAR all at once is a lot of physicality and sand paper gone. They arguably are three of the top five physical players we had here. And as important, none of them are easy to play against. That's a big component to our team that's missing.

I think that has more to do with how hard they work and how the team plays D.

A player might struggle offensively or not be the right fit on a line but they can always without the puck:
- push back hard
- get in good positions to break up plays
- cause turnovers
- force bad angle shots.

We should not be giving up 4 goals.

 

[Ryder71]

I think that has more to do with how hard they work and how the team plays D.

A player might struggle offensively or not be the right fit on a line but they can always without the puck:
- push back hard
- get in good positions to break up plays
- cause turnovers
- force bad angle shots.

We should not be giving up 4 goals.

But guys like Cole and ZAR more times than not are on the right side of the puck and do take away time and space. They have better gap, are solid positionally in addition to having a physical component to their games. With Reaves he'll just try and bowl you over or make you defend him along the wall which uses up energy. Again, we can play better without them, but these types of players, Cole and ZAR in particular, make it much harder on the opposition both physically and positionally. I don't think the Isles would have that many quality chances with those guys in the line up.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Washington smokes the Isles 7-3 and 6-3 last week, the Pens can't even score 2 goals against them tonight.

This team better find that switch soon...

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Here's to hoping the big stars are just taking it easy before the playoffs, cuz this is not the time to lose their stride.

This team is not a good enough team, as a whole, to have Sid, Geno, and Kessel playing any lower than an elite level on most nights. We're abhorrent defensively, forwards as well as blueliners--so if we're not overwhelming the opposition offensively, we're in a gigantic heap of trouble. This isn't new, this has been going on for over a year. We won last season in spite of all of our glaring issues because our stars overwhelmed and dominated, and we got clutch, elite goaltending when it mattered.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Regardless of the outcome of this playoff, JR has work to do. Get Letang off this team, reshape the blueline, and get a worthwhile winger for Sid and Jake.