The "Fire Michel Therrien" Thread

[66-30-33]

Barring more injuries, that's ********. There's no way this roster is an 8th seed roster. Coaching this team to the 8th seed is bad coaching.

Like i said, 8th seed is the worst that could happen because i said no playoffs=fired.

 

[trader997]

Yea.. I 100% agree. MT wasn't that terrible tonight (which shocked me).

Come on, we would have won the game if MT had put Malkin and Crosby on the same line for the last period and not only the last 3 minutes of the game. Together, they're red hot lately and cannot produce anything offensively playing with all the grinders we have in this lineup. We need another forward cuz seriously this team lack offensive skills, we'll have gonch, whitney and MAF back come playoff time, but right now this team is looking like an AHL team with 2 supertars having these 3 guys out with injuries.

But still, we need to bring a guy like cheechoo, hedjuk or whoever can skate and score playing on Geno or Sid's line come playoff time cuz they're just not 100% efficient playing with Dupuis, Talbot, Fed and Satan which to me, are all grinders...

 

[Don'tcry4mejanhrdina]

You guys think Therrien juggles the lines too much, how angry would you be if he put Malkin on defense? Well, Scotty Bowman did that wih Fedorov. My point is this: EVERY coach does things that are against the grain. Therrien has taken this team a long way very quickly. Yu talk about how the Penguins' talent has won the games in spite of Therrien, well was it Pittsburgh's talent that made them one of the best defensive teams in the East last year? With guys like Scuderi, Gill, a rookie in Letang, old man Sydor, "soff" Ryan Whitney (who was playing hurt) and "pp quarterback" Sergei Gonchar and Hooks Orpik. Honestly, Gonchar never used to be so good defensively. Whitney wasn't able to play to his strengths because of his foot. Letang was (is) still learning. Sydor is over the hill. Gill was awful for Toronto and considered a terrible move at the time. Scuderi, by all means, should have disappeared along with Melichar in the "new nhl" and Orpik too forever to play consistently well. But this team still managed to be 2 wins away from the Cup. On paper, that defense should be average at best. Now, they're still winning games without the two defensemen who log the most minutes, even getting points early on when the Penguins "talent" wasn't scoring many goals.

Some of you guys whine so much. Other teams win, other teams can play well. It isn't always about Pittsburgh playing poorly. Pittsburgh isn't perfect, they never will be. I know, guys will say, "Well I don't care whether they win every game, just as long as they work hard" but guys like Ouellet, Recchi and now Dupuis are torn apart despite always working hard. It's sickening. As long as there is a salary cap, every team will have flaws. This is a 30 team league, it's become even harder to win the Cup in any given year. Yeah, Pittsburgh never won the cup last year but many of you guys see so focused on the negatives that you can't even appreciate the fact that this is a good team and enjoy it when they win games. Everyone wants the Pens to be playing like San Jose, but which team has played up to expectations in the playoffs? Pittsburgh has had more success in 1 year than San Jose has had in any of the years where they were considered Cup contenders. Those fans should be worried because every year they blow it. Same with Ottawa. If Pittsburgh doesn't win a cup in the next 5 years, then you have every right to be ****** off. But right now, every full season since Therrien has been coach, Pittsburgh has actually surpassed the expectations going into the season. We waited for so long until this organization iceed a competitive team again, why is everyone so impatient now? Try to enjoy it. Yes, mitakes will happen, but so will great plays. And in the end, the good far outweighs the bad right now, and it isn't even close.

 

[SirJordanStaal11*]

To be honest as much as people(rightfully) complain about Therrien, a bigger problem is the roster we have assembled. I posted about this a while ago, but it really is just a bad supporting cast.

Our two guys who should be legit top six forwards(Satan, Sykora) are both playing horribly right now and look old and finished. The two other spots on the top six have been occupied by a revolving door of third liners who can't acceptably play there. Dupuis and Talbot are hard workers, but they don't have the ability to work well in the top six. Our one GOOD line is Staal's. Staal, Cooke, and Kennedy are a great line because all three are third liners who think well together and are being put in the right role.

But how much can we blame MT? What other options does he have? Satan and Sykora are his only real options on the top six. Ditto the revolving door of third liners for the top two left wing spots. Therrien is mixing and matching because nobody we have can really play well there and he is hoping somebody somehow fits in. It hasn't and won't likely happen.


Folks, this is what we have. You can complain all you want about Therrien not getting enough effort or what have you out of the team, but the fact is you should only expect so much out of the current crop of forwards we have. We are the Crosby/Malkin show and after that we have two washed up top six guys and a bunch of 3rd/4th line guys. We actually have a lot of GOOD 3rd/4th line guys. Talbot/Kennedy/Staal/Cooke/Dupuis/Fedotenko is an excellent bottom six. The problem is we have nobody who really fits the top six.

I don't even mind having a few muckers on the top two lines because it is unrealistic to expect 60+ point guys on every wing. The biggest problem by far is Satan and Sykora are nowhere to be found and the 3rd liners we have on left wing on the top six are being asked to pick up the slack and they do not have the ability.

 

[Nei1ey*]

 

[stefanh]

Is this the flyersboard?

Just get a grip...

 

[Coach Travis]

Is this the flyersboard?

Just get a grip...

Please elaborate.

 

[Gold Diamond]

This thread is stupid. Firing a guy who has led us to within two wins of the Cup and the best start in over 10 years?

Therrien has his faults, but he's going nowhere. Get over it, already.

 

[ColePens]

Come on, we would have won the game if MT had put Malkin and Crosby on the same line for the last period and not only the last 3 minutes of the game. Together, they're red hot lately and cannot produce anything offensively playing with all the grinders we have in this lineup. We need another forward cuz seriously this team lack offensive skills, we'll have gonch, whitney and MAF back come playoff time, but right now this team is looking like an AHL team with 2 supertars having these 3 guys out with injuries.

But still, we need to bring a guy like cheechoo, hedjuk or whoever can skate and score playing on Geno or Sid's line come playoff time cuz they're just not 100% efficient playing with Dupuis, Talbot, Fed and Satan which to me, are all grinders...

He Handled the Malkin/Crosby deal right. This team operates best w/ depth... and not loading up 1 line. We know that by now.

The winger thing is quite the problem and Mike Yeo still hasn't changed the power play. It is not good.

 

[bathroomSTAAL]

steigerwald and errey seem to think therrien is pretty smart

They also thought Michel Ouellet was a pure goal scorer.

 

[end]

Well, Scotty Bowman did that wih Fedorov.

But... Fedorov is great at playing defense. He's doing it right now. Our problem with Therrien is that he sets his players up to fail, not succeed.

 

[end]

Is this the flyersboard?

Just get a grip...

The Flyers love Michel Therrien. They know we're going nowhere with him. Just like I love John Stevens. If they fired Stevens, then I might actually be upset.

 

[stefanh]

The Flyers love Michel Therrien. They know we're going nowhere with him. Just like I love John Stevens. If they fired Stevens, then I might actually be upset.

So going to the Stanley Cup Final is going nowhere in your book. That's creative.

 

[bathroomSTAAL]

The Flyers love Michel Therrien. They know we're going nowhere with him. Just like I love John Stevens. If they fired Stevens, then I might actually be upset.

I bet they really loved Therrien after his team embarrassed theirs in the conference final last year.

 

[Coach Travis]

This thread is stupid. Firing a guy who has led us to within two wins of the Cup and the best start in over 10 years?

Therrien has his faults, but he's going nowhere. Get over it, already.

I guess patience is warranted. And I hope that Therrien does prove me wrong and turns out to be the coach we need to win the Cup (and a few more!) because we have the talent to win a few cups, so it would be a shame to see that pass us by.

 

[Don'tcry4mejanhrdina]

But... Fedorov is great at playing defense. He's doing it right now. Our problem with Therrien is that he sets his players up to fail, not succeed.

Fedorov was at his best as a two-way center. He won a Hart trophy as one. He wasn't even close to the best defenseman in the league when he played defense. Who does Therrien set up to fail? Not Ouellet, he did pretty well in the top 6, better than most thought he was capable of. Scuderi? Gill? They seem to be doing pretty well despite both having faults. Honestly, who has really failed under Therrien and didn't play up to potential? Now you're making things up.

 

[harmonica]

Like I have said before, even if MT wins the cup in Pittsburgh, people will still call for his head.

 

[SuperUnknown]

I find it awfully funny that people in Pittsburgh complain with the team's performance. Your defense is composed of a bunch of 4th-6th dmen and rookies plus you have a bad backup goaltender as your starter. Even with Crosby and Malkin, your team should be losing many more games than they are.

Just look at the Lightning. On paper they probably have a better defense and a better goaltender. They have Lecavalier and St.Louis up front. Yet they can't win a game. They couldn't win a game last year either under Tortorella. But somehow you guys want to bring in Tortorella to replace Therrien... LOL

This thread sounds like a spoiled kid crying because he didn't get 5 times as many gifts as his friends for Christmas. Enjoy winning with your two men team and quit complaining already.

 

[The Benchwarmer]

I find it awfully funny that people in Pittsburgh complain with the team's performance. Your defense is composed of a bunch of 4th-6th dmen and rookies plus you have a bad backup goaltender as your starter. Even with Crosby and Malkin, your team should be losing many more games than they are.

Just look at the Lightning. On paper they probably have a better defense and a better goaltender. They have Lecavalier and St.Louis up front. Yet they can't win a game. They couldn't win a game last year either under Tortorella. But somehow you guys want to bring in Tortorella to replace Therrien... LOL

This thread sounds like a spoiled kid crying because he didn't get 5 times as many gifts as his friends for Christmas. Enjoy winning with your two men team and quit complaining already.

Beautiful post!! Awesome. I couldn't agree more.

 

[The Shovel Penguin]

I find it awfully funny that people in Pittsburgh complain with the team's performance. Your defense is composed of a bunch of 4th-6th dmen and rookies plus you have a bad backup goaltender as your starter. Even with Crosby and Malkin, your team should be losing many more games than they are.

Just look at the Lightning. On paper they probably have a better defense and a better goaltender. They have Lecavalier and St.Louis up front. Yet they can't win a game. They couldn't win a game last year either under Tortorella. But somehow you guys want to bring in Tortorella to replace Therrien... LOL

This thread sounds like a spoiled kid crying because he didn't get 5 times as many gifts as his friends for Christmas. Enjoy winning with your two men team and quit complaining already.

Yeah, I pretty much agree with this (except I think we're a little more than just a two man team..)

Admittedly I'm not big on Yeo but all things considered -- 9-2-1 just this November despite the injuries and goalie juggling, and we're supposed to fire the coach? I have a hard time seeing that as being a viable option right now.

 

[hockeydadx2*]

This thread is stupid. Firing a guy who has led us to within two wins of the Cup and the best start in over 10 years?

Therrien has his faults, but he's going nowhere. Get over it, already.

They'll never get over it, because they all think that just because they played deck hockey in Penn Hills one year, they know more about the game than MT does.

 

[st5801]

Ridiculous thread. Firing Therrien mid-season with an impressive record does nothing. You bring in a new coach and a new system now, with a top team, and all you do is mess up chemistry and take more time to adapt to it. No one outside of a vocal minority of message board posters thinks this is a viable option. The team is winning games with three key injured players. Therrien is here as long as we keep winning.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

I've said this before, and will continue to believe this. As long as the superstars are on the same page as the coach, the coach is safe. And the two superstars want to win, so I think they appreciate what Therrien does to win games.

 

[Jesse]

But... Fedorov is great at playing defense. He's doing it right now. Our problem with Therrien is that he sets his players up to fail, not succeed.

Really? Because after he embarassed Orpik by moving him to the 4th line last year, Orpik turned it on and played the best hockey of career. He has continued to do so.

He also handled Whitney in a similar fashion, and Whitney had a fantastic end to his season as well.

Sykora had a horrific fall last year, putting up dismal numbers at the start of the season, and was moved to the third line. His energy increased, he was called out, he responded and caught fire to end the year.

They might not like Therrien, but they sure respect him, and when the team is playing great hockey, it's a byproduct of them buying what he's been selling.

 

[Jesse]

Like I have said before, even if MT wins the cup in Pittsburgh, people will still call for his head.

I said this after last year. Agree 100%. Even a Stanley Cup couldn't satiate the masses at this point. Every step of the way, Therrien takes this team to the next level, and every step of the way, the same people complain about it. Despite this upward trend, winning a cup is just out of the question, depsite the fact that we were a mere post away from forcing a game seven last year.

The power-play will work itself out. Things like this ebb and flow through an 82 game season. I believe the kinks will be worked out in December and we'll see normal numbers in 2009. That's the way it goes.