Post-Game Talk: Sharks 4, Penguins 0 - A Special Teams ****Show

[Pens x]

Is that what it takes to get the team to play hard game after game? Sullivan strikes me as about as hard-core as coaches come when it comes to wanting players to do their jobs every game.

Why do opponents show up virtually every game against the Pens, but the Penguins effort is always in doubt? Is a "player friendly" coach going to change that? Will the Turnover Twins (Phil and Geno) suddenly pay attention to detail? The lack of passion and attention to detail seems to be a recurring theme regardless of the coach.

I want a coach that will bench a worthless player like Jack Johnson. Give me a guy that plays his best 12 skaters every night, something Sully has not done since June 2017.

 

[Love the Penguins]

Well, it's not like they have a lot to choose from on defense.

I think Sullivan is the best coach the Pens have ever had. Their problems don't stem from him, they need to take a good look in the mirror.

 

[zero8771]

Did I say that having 12M in RW's who don't fit in the top 6 isn't a problem?

Ha. No you didn't

 

[AlphaMikeFoxtrots]

it seems fitting that this performance came directly after gmjr's DON'T QUESTION ME EVERYTHING IS FINE tantrum

is it, jimmy?

 

[vikingGoalie]

Well, it's not like they have a lot to choose from on defense.

I think Sullivan is the best coach the Pens have ever had. Their problems don't stem from him, they need to take a good look in the mirror.

Scotty Bowman wasn't exactly a slouch.

 

[Love the Penguins]

Scotty Bowman wasn't exactly a slouch.

I remember when Mario wouldn't allow him to attend team practices. Plus he only coached one season in the Burgh. An all-time great coach, of a team loaded with Hall of Famers, but they did what they wanted. Not so different from today's bunch.

 

[Teiran]

I remember when Mario wouldn't allow him to attend team practices. Plus he only coached one season in the Burgh. An all-time great coach, of a team loaded with Hall of Famers, but they did what they wanted. Not so different from today's bunch.

I mean... two seasons, but we don't like to talk about the second one.

 

[AlphaMikeFoxtrots]

JJ is NOT all that is wrong with this team.

nope, not even a little. he's just the most glaring symptom of the complete loss of the plot.

 

[LOGiK]

nope, not even a little. he's just the most glaring symptom of the complete loss of the plot.

but growing narrative

 

[Love the Penguins]

I mean... two seasons, but we don't like to talk about the second one.

Ha, you're right, still the biggest heartbreak in Pittsburgh sports history. Damn David Volek!

 

[BrookswasHere44]

Luckily the Crosby era legacy has been set. It could have very easily been VERY ugly

 

[canadianguy77]

Well, it's not like they have a lot to choose from on defense.

I think Sullivan is the best coach the Pens have ever had. Their problems don't stem from him, they need to take a good look in the mirror.

Riikola sitting is a minor travesty in itself. He was at worst our 3rd best dman almost every game he has played with us. The simple act of switching JJ out for him would probably do wonders for this team. Unfortunately there are internal politics that are preventing that from happening.

 

[Love the Penguins]

I agree Riikola should be getting the opportunity to see if he can be a 3rd or 4th defenseman. I know it's heresy here, but I don't think Johnson has been the worst defenseman of all time, just a passable 5 or 6 who is physical, blocks a lot of shots, and is serviceable on the pk.

 

[Turin]

I agree Riikola should be getting the opportunity to see if he can be a 3rd or 4th defenseman. I know it's heresy here, but I don't think Johnson has been the worst defenseman of all time, just a passable 5 or 6 who is physical, blocks a lot of shots, and is serviceable on the pk.

Cole is a passable 5. Johnson kills this team.

 

[PensandCaps]

We've scored more goals and allowed less goals than the Caps have this year.

I don't get the doom and gloom on here. We're probably the best team in the Metro still. The Islanders are not serious.

 

[Love the Penguins]

Bad signing of Johnson, no doubt. The Sharks wised up from the beating the Pens gave them in '16; the Pens inexplicably have gone from speed to I'm not sure what the game plan is.

 

[canadianguy77]

Those drop-pass entries that the 1st PP unit wont stop doing cost this team an odd-man rush the other way almost every single game. We've watched it all season long. It's a huge issue as the shorties are so obviously showing. What are they up to now...13 or 14 shorthanded goals against? That's probably around 8 points in the standings right there. And it was a back breaker again tonight.

But my question is, are those entries on the players or the coaching staff?

Because if it's the players who are too lazy to dump and chase on the entries, then your job as a coach is to stop putting them on the pp.

But if it's the coaches who insist on the players doing it, then there is something even more fundamentally wrong.

I would guess that the players are doing it, because the 2nd unit has no problem dumping and retrieving to get possession in the zone. If I was the coach I would switch the units until the message was received.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I've been waiting all season for them to step it up and start playing like a contender. Here we are at the deadline and they still don't show the dedication necessary. Not in effort and not in the details.

I'm not calling on them to mail it in, but there should be no rentals. Period. If they move their 1st in a hockey trade, it absolutely must be lottery protected.

The bolded is what pisses me off the most about this year's club. It doesn't matter how much the roster is tweaked or how much the lines are altered if they give that kind of effort and lack of commitment to actually doing even the basic stuff.

This is game 61, and we're closing in on the stretch drive. This "we're still figuring things out" might have been a valid excuse in October and November, but it's just pathetic at this point in the season.

 

[LOGiK]

Cole is a passable 5. Johnson kills this team.

Let me tell you I want sully to sit Johnson for 5 games just to see what happens. Purely for this boards reactions to the outcome..

 

[Son Goku]

We've scored more goals and allowed less goals than the Caps have this year.

I don't get the doom and gloom on here. We're probably the best team in the Metro still. The Islanders are not serious.

How can you watch the games and not understand the doom and gloom? That's almost brain aneurysm level.

 

[Will Hunting]

Turned the game off after Kessel ****** up another shorthanded goal. I have a hard time watching them because he is on the ice. And when he does this, I am so furious that I basically can´t watch that game anymore. Many reasons to turn it off and I guess I did the right thing. Hornqvist is awful too, but at least he is a ghost. Ghost is still better than Phil, he doesn´t exist and doesn´t hurt much. Also, Pearson is useless too and JJ sucks. But Kessel is an even bigger problem IMO. Since the allstar break, he is basically sabotaging this team.

 

[Son Goku]

Turned the game off after Kessel ****** up another shorthanded goal. I have a hard time watching them because he is on the ice. And when he does this, I am so furious that I basically can´t watch that game anymore. Many reasons to turn it off and I guess I did the right thing. Hornqvist is awful too, but at least he is a ghost. Ghost is still better than Phil, he doesn´t exist and doesn´t hurt much. Also, Pearson is useless too and JJ sucks. But Kessel is an even bigger problem IMO. Since the allstar break, he is basically sabotaging this team.

I think Kessel is done here and should be moved accordingly before things become toxic.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

The Pens WITH EVERYONE HEALTHY only have 3 defensemen who for sure would be starting on a higher end playoff team.

Johnson? Dear god no.
Pets, Cough Drop, Ruh? No, no, no.
THIS YEAR'S Maatta? Nope. Not even him, I'm afraid.

And yet JR seems to think the key to winning the Cup is adding another winger.

I just don't understand how he can watch that defense corps and think it's anywhere good enough to win with. Maybe if Murray plays like his two Cup run form. And even then I'm not sure.

 

[LOGiK]

We've scored more goals and allowed less goals than the Caps have this year.

I don't get the doom and gloom on here. We're probably the best team in the Metro still. The Islanders are not serious.

 

[Will Hunting]

I think Kessel is done here and should be moved accordingly before things become toxic.

Hopefully. But I am not exactly confident in this case. **** his production. **** it. For every offensive play he makes there is one bad defensive play he makes. Couple it with his laziness and you have a toxic player which is part of a problem. Not the solution.