News Article: Rutherford and Johnston are staying. Both of them.

[joeyjake5]

So who is running and ruining this team. Mario/Burkle.

The edict came down, no management or core player changes.

The edict should have been every thing will be evaluated and changes will be made if it helps the team.

Mario and Burkle are happy with the status quo. And I gotta believe Mario was behind the LJ trade.

 

[gopens66]

I don't prefer, I demand it be on another team. We all know if he stays here, he will spend the majority of the year with Crosby or Malkin.

This. Playing him on the third line would be fine- in a vacuum. He's paid too much to be playing third line minutes, and we all know he wouldn't get played there anyway. I would rather trade him for picks at the draft, or package him with Sutter for something bigger.

 

[SEALBound]

So who is running and ruining this team. Mario/Burkle.

The edict came down, no management or core player changes.

The edict should have been every thing will be evaluated and changes will be made if it helps the team.

Mario and Burkle are happy with the status quo. And I gotta believe Mario was behind the LJ trade.

I'm sure that you're the guy I see on the street corner yelling about chem trails and fluorine in the water too, aren't ya?

Come on now man, I know we are all upset at the direct of this team and weary of management, but this is a baseless, wild accusation that has no creditable reasoning to it.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

He was pretty good up until the Olympics.

He wasn't the same player that first came here but he was scoring a ton of goals. Previous 2 seasons he was close to .5 goals per game.

That's pretty impressive but it turned to **** very quickly.

His play was well below adequate before the Olympics. The downward spiral goes back years, and this year it reached terminal velocity.

It's never been about production with Kunitz. He's been shifting away from the type of player that was successful with Sid; a physically punishing, tenacious player who could chip in a decent amount of points. I'd much rather take that type of guy back at 40-45pts than to have a floater and a leech getting 70pts. Kunitz hasn't been an effective player for years. Whether it's age, complacency, or whatever, he just hasn't been up to par for what we need.

It was time to move on when his last deal was up. It's certainly become imperative that we dump him this summer, at all costs. I think we can still get some semblance of a return for the guy, but if need be, take whatever you can get. Just get rid of him. Same goes for Scuderi, but I doubt anyone would take a flier on that guy. We're gonna be forced to buy him out, and if that's what it takes to get him off of this team, so be it.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Pouliot said he could have played game 5.

Fair enough, but players are the least reliable sources on their own injuries. They've been known to try playing through life threatening conditions.

 

[SEALBound]

His play was well below adequate before the Olympics. The downward spiral goes back years, and this year it reached terminal velocity.

It's never been about production with Kunitz. He's been shifting away from the type of player that was successful with Sid; a physically punishing, tenacious player who could chip in a decent amount of points. I'd much rather take that type of guy back at 40-45pts than to have a floater and a leech getting 70pts. Kunitz hasn't been an effective player for years. Whether it's age, complacency, or whatever, he just hasn't been up to par for what we need.

It was time to move on when his last deal was up. It's certainly become imperative that we dump him this summer, at all costs. I think we can still get some semblance of a return for the guy, but if need be, take whatever you can get. Just get rid of him. Same goes for Scuderi, but I doubt anyone would take a flier on that guy. We're gonna be forced to buy him out, and if that's what it takes to get him off of this team, so be it.

Exactly. The Kunitz we want was 09 Kunitz. A drop off in production was be absolutely understandable...if only he played the same style. It's an interesting phenomenon of Top 6 wingers that have come to play with Sid and Geno over the years and how they change as players.

Kunitz was a gritty physical winger...that turned into a positional floater.

Neal was a gritty physical winger...that turned into a positional floater.

What will become of Hornqvist and Perron? Seems like it was all about the style of play when those two first got here...then it turned into a production quo where they were more concerned about being in the right place to get the goals instead of playing the game that made them effective in the first place.

In any case, Kunitz's age and play over the years has taken its toll it seems. If he's not the physical battler...he's really of no value to us anymore. He's still a good player but not what we need in the top 6 anymore and we have too many for the bottom 6...he's just not a fit with the roster anymore.

 

[Shady Machine]

Fair enough, but players are the least reliable sources on their own injuries. They've been known to try playing through life threatening conditions.

For sure. I'm not complaining he didn't play. I don't think Pouliot is changing the course of that series anyway.

 

[joeyjake5]

I'm sure that you're the guy I see on the street corner yelling about chem trails and fluorine in the water too, aren't ya?

Come on now man, I know we are all upset at the direct of this team and weary of management, but this is a baseless, wild accusation that has no creditable reasoning to it.

Well, then why does Mario let this inept management continue. Mario was either behind the trade or is letting this clown team of 9 to make big hockey mistakes.

 

[gopens66]

I'm sure that you're the guy I see on the street corner yelling about chem trails and fluorine in the water too, aren't ya?

Come on now man, I know we are all upset at the direct of this team and weary of management, but this is a baseless, wild accusation that has no creditable reasoning to it.

This person's vote counts the same as mine.

 

[Shady Machine]

Well, then why does Mario let this inept management continue. Mario was either behind the trade or is letting this clown team of 9 to make big hockey mistakes.

Uhh because he is the owner and not the General Manager. He hires a team to make hockey decisions and gives them free reign to make those decisions unless they involve major players (Neal last year for example).

 

[joeyjake5]

Then I guess you and Mario would be alright with letting JR trading Horny for Lupul or some other run down player.

 

[roquay]

His play was well below adequate before the Olympics. The downward spiral goes back years, and this year it reached terminal velocity.

It's never been about production with Kunitz. He's been shifting away from the type of player that was successful with Sid; a physically punishing, tenacious player who could chip in a decent amount of points. I'd much rather take that type of guy back at 40-45pts than to have a floater and a leech getting 70pts. Kunitz hasn't been an effective player for years. Whether it's age, complacency, or whatever, he just hasn't been up to par for what we need.

It was time to move on when his last deal was up. It's certainly become imperative that we dump him this summer, at all costs. I think we can still get some semblance of a return for the guy, but if need be, take whatever you can get. Just get rid of him. Same goes for Scuderi, but I doubt anyone would take a flier on that guy. We're gonna be forced to buy him out, and if that's what it takes to get him off of this team, so be it.

Good points but I'd be happy to still have Kunitz here if he was still scoring a goal every 2 games.

Of course you don't want a bunch of players like that but we have Perron and Horny now.

I guess it's a moot point though since neither Gritty Kunitz nor Sniper Kunitz are coming back.

Gut feeling he gets traded to Anaheim.

 

[#1GuinFan]

Then I guess you and Mario would be alright with letting JR trading Horny for Lupul or some other run down player.

Having a GM run the team is status quo, for all sports teams. Same thing with having a CEO, VP, etc etc. This is how businesses are structured. Just cause you are the owner does not mean you run and oversee the whole show, thats hows businesses fail. Instead you hire people to oversee aspects of the operation. In many cases the owner is nothing more than a money man of a business, and has little to any hands on effect as is the case with most sports teams.

 

[Shady Machine]

Then I guess you and Mario would be alright with letting JR trading Horny for Lupul or some other run down player.

I never said that. If Lemieux isn't satisfied with the direction of the team he should fire JR. That said, I don't think the owner should be involved in most minor trade decisions. Given that Neal was traded for Hornqvist, I'd assume JR would consult Lemieux before trading Hornqvist.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

With these 2 idiots staying, nothing will change and this upcoming season will be wasted as well...you watch.

 

[Darth Vitale]

Only if it's free.

 

[ArcticFox]

With these 2 idiots staying, nothing will change and this upcoming season will be wasted as well...you watch.

Not that it makes a difference with the currect state of affairs, but I wouldn't even bet we can get a guaranteed 8th seed next season. But yeah, that or a 1st round exit really amount to the same thing. Though maybe if we see the Pens out in April then Burkle and Mario might get it through their thick heads something's deeply wrong with this team 6+ years after the cup win.

 

[Bennett Brauer]

Not that it makes a difference with the currect state of affairs, but I wouldn't even bet we can get a guaranteed 8th seed next season. But yeah, that or a 1st round exit really amount to the same thing. Though maybe if we see the Pens out in April then Burkle and Mario might get it through their thick heads something's deeply wrong with this team 6+ years after the cup win.

If Burkle and Mario didn't think something was deeply wrong, they wouldn't have fired Shero and Bylsma, people talk like JR and MJ have screwed this team for years. Nobody is going to come in here to a brand new organization and turn this team into the best team in the league in one year, nobody will do that. Am I the only one who thinks we have potential? Take away the injuries and how bad are the Pens? I understand injuries happen in hockey but we lost key players for weeks at a time, we're not talking "day to day, take an ice bath and be fine" injuries, we lost players for weeks, almost months at a time. If we can avoid long term injuries to key players, the Pens are a higher seed and a better team in the playoffs, how am I the only one who thinks that? I can't be...

Change "likely won't" to "might not" because YOU NEVER KNOW! Pens were 22-6-4 with a PP clicking at an great percentage before injuries struck. Again, I know injuries happen in hockey but we are always hit hard with them, we're not talking "day to day" stuff, key players have been out for weeks at a time with injury. You absolutely cannot judge the job Johnston has done after one season with the lineup he had. If the Pens stay healthy and add more quality to the team like another top 6 winger, we might be having a different conversation next year. People call it an "injury excuse" no it's a fact and a reason to have a down year, 5th in the league in Man games lost, no team in the league survives the injures we had, none of them, not Chicago, not the Rangers, no team at all.

The Pens have a bright future with some quality youth to look forward to at the moment, Pouliot, Maatta, Harrington, Dumoulin, Sundqvist, Kapanen, Murray, Jarry, and I'm sorry but other than the Simon Despres-Ben Lovejoy gamble, I have 0 complaints about the job Rutherford has done. He really did improve this team more than Shero did, and I wish more people would realize that.

People forget Shero thought a bottom 6 of Glass, Sutter, Kobasew, D'Agostini, Vitale, and Adams was acceptable. Rutherford thought Spaling, Sutter, Downie, Winnik, Lapierre, and Comeau was a little better, I would agree, wouldn't anyone else? Hornqvist played awesome and filled a need, sure we lost James Neal but it was worth it, Hornqvist is a heart and soul player who covers every part of the ice. When Dupuis went down, we replaced him in the top 6 with a more skilled guy and better player in David Perron, sure it costed us a 1st but I think we have enough youth that the pick was expendable, considering we NEEDED a top 6 winger and we just drafted Kapanen, it seems like a no brainer. Also, Bortuzzo for Cole? Do people realize we turned a 6/7 defenseman into a potential top 4 defenseman?

The Despres for Lovejoy trade was stupid in every sense of the word, Rutherford said he wanted an experienced right handed defenseman, but most Pens fans believe that wasn't JR's call, it could have been one of his AGM's who know Lovejoy like Botterill or Fitzgerald. With that said, that's the only move I'm unhappy with, and it's not even a big deal with Ian Cole here, as well as the names on defense that I mentioned above.

People can trash Rutherford and Johnston all they want, fans of the Pens, other team's fans, it doesn't matter what anybody thinks, hell it doesn't matter what I think but I am confident that they can get the job done, I think Johnston is a better coach than Bylsma by a mile, and I think Rutherford has done a pretty good job from the time he was hired to now, people can mention Carolina all they want, he's not being asked to do the same thing here as he was in Carolina, he doesn't have to build a core, he has that with Crosby, Malkin, Letang and Fleury, he's asked to mentor Botterill, Fitzgerald and Guerin (like he did Francis) and build around the core which he has done in Carolina and he is doing here.

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDo]

With these 2 idiots staying, nothing will change and this upcoming season will be wasted as well...you watch.

Anybody calling Johnston an idiot probably needs the strap on their safety helmet loosened.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Anybody calling Johnston an idiot probably needs the strap on their safety helmet loosened.

Who took 70 games to realize Adams isn't an NHL player?

Who was riding the guy with 1 point in his last 20 into the ground on scoring lines when we scored 1 goal in 4 of our 5 playoff games?

Who kept playing the worst transition defenseman in the NHL against one of the biggest and fastest forechecking teams in the NHL when he had other defensemen available?

He's not an idiot, but he sure does a good impression of one when it comes to roster decisions.

 

[plaidchuck]

I guarantee he has no choice in the matter of dressing scuderi or giving kunitz top six looks, which is a big part of the problem.

 

[bradshaw06]

Who took 70 games to realize Adams isn't an NHL player?

Who was riding the guy with 1 point in his last 20 into the ground on scoring lines when we scored 1 goal in 4 of our 5 playoff games?

Who kept playing the worst transition defenseman in the NHL against one of the biggest and fastest forechecking teams in the NHL when he had other defensemen available?

He's not an idiot, but he sure does a good impression of one when it comes to roster decisions.

Who rigs every oscar night?

 

[WayneSid9987]

Who took 70 games to realize Adams isn't an NHL player?

Who was riding the guy with 1 point in his last 20 into the ground on scoring lines when we scored 1 goal in 4 of our 5 playoff games?

Who kept playing the worst transition defenseman in the NHL against one of the biggest and fastest forechecking teams in the NHL when he had other defensemen available?

He's not an idiot, but he sure does a good impression of one when it comes to roster decisions.

Something tells me MJ was treading carefully this season while assessing what he actually has moving forward. For both him and JR.

I'd be surprised if either believe Kunitz is a solution moving forward. JR did say he wants a winger each for Sid and Geno still. That puts Horny and Perron in and Kunitz out, imo.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

If Burkle and Mario didn't think something was deeply wrong, they wouldn't have fired Shero and Bylsma, people talk like JR and MJ have screwed this team for years. Nobody is going to come in here to a brand new organization and turn this team into the best team in the league in one year, nobody will do that. Am I the only one who thinks we have potential? Take away the injuries and how bad are the Pens? I understand injuries happen in hockey but we lost key players for weeks at a time, we're not talking "day to day, take an ice bath and be fine" injuries, we lost players for weeks, almost months at a time. If we can avoid long term injuries to key players, the Pens are a higher seed and a better team in the playoffs, how am I the only one who thinks that? I can't be...

You're the only one. How anyone can look at the Pens' scoring depth (or lack of scoring depth) and think there's potential there is beyond me. How many games does this team have to score 1 goal or less in before people accept that minus two guys, it's one of the least offensively capable forward groups in the league?

And on defense, they're nothing to write home about. Letang and Maatta are proven top four caliber players. After that there's a bunch of unproven rookies/youngsters and/or garbage. Hardly what I'd call a defense capable of going up against the better teams in the league.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Who rigs every oscar night?

MJ doooo. MJ doooooo.

Something tells me MJ was treading carefully this season while assessing what he actually has moving forward. For both him and JR.

I'd be surprised if either believe Kunitz is a solution moving forward. JR did say he wants a winger each for Sid and Geno still. That puts Horny and Perron in and Kunitz out, imo.

I'll believe it when I see it. A coach shouldn't need a whole season of Sid and Geno's prime to see what works. And if that mandate comes from higher up, then we're only going to waste more time tiptoeing around obvious problems.

I guarantee he has no choice in the matter of dressing scuderi or giving kunitz top six looks, which is a big part of the problem.

Until that's confirmed by something other than hearsay, I'm going to blame the guy directly accountable for the nightly line-up.