Samifan Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 http://www.tsn.ca/penguins-fire-head-coach-johnston-sullivan-named-replacement-1.408168 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FD19372 Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 You're next, Regis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B21 Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 It was a matter of "when" and not "if" at this point. I thought they'd go with Martin but have no problem with Sullivan. Martin joins him as an assistant. Here's hoping for some 2009 de ja vu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nossagog Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Cya Mike, don't let the door hit you on the way out. Hopefully Sullivan will bring his up tempo game to the Pens. Too bad we couldn't have done this last year and made a play for Babcock. Would love to see the Pens with a top notch coach instead of experiments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B21 Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Cya Mike, don't let the door hit you on the way out. Hopefully Sullivan will bring his up tempo game to the Pens. Too bad we couldn't have done this last year and made a play for Babcock. Would love to see the Pens with a top notch coach instead of experiments. Agree. I can't fault Johnston for taking the job. I do fault the Pens for the hire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxpin Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Johnston was a bad hire out of the gate. Not because he's a bad guy or because he maybe wouldn't succeed elsewhere. I just thought he was trying to use Camaro to haul furniture. I think he was killing Crosby. I don't know that they have it right yet (and I still don't think the GM is worth a paycheck), but this is a step in the right direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Phil Kessel on his 4th coach in a year...what's the record? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B21 Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Phil Kessel on his 4th coach in a year...what's the record? Yup. All Kessel's fault. Maybe try contributing to the discussion? We get it. You don't like Kessel. Move on from it already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxpin Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Phil Kessel on his 4th coach in a year...what's the record? He still has a couple to go to tie about 100 Flyers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Yup. All Kessel's fault. Maybe try contributing to the discussion? We get it. You don't like Kessel. Move on from it already. He's got 3 g in his last 14 games. It's certainly not all Kessels fault, but at $8 M a year he sure isn't helping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polaris922 Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 He's got 3 g in his last 14 games. It's certainly not all Kessels fault, but at $8 M a year he sure isn't helping. We only pay him 6... It's Johnston's system that holds us back. And Kessel is out scoring Crosby right now so.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxpin Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 We only pay him 6... It's Johnston's system that holds us back. And Kessel is out scoring Crosby right now so.... Which means it's Crosby's fault, right? Johnston MAY have worked, but you guys need another top-4 defenseman. Maybe top 2. Don't you think? I have to agree, though, that Johnston's system is kind of square peg/round hole with this team. It could be successful elsewhere, but really not a great fit for the makeup there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polaris922 Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Which means it's Crosby's fault, right?Johnston MAY have worked, but you guys need another top-4 defenseman. Maybe top 2. Don't you think? I have to agree, though, that Johnston's system is kind of square peg/round hole with this team. It could be successful elsewhere, but really not a great fit for the makeup there.I'm actually pretty happy with our defense, minus Scuderi. We have some young D that are REALLY playing well.It's playing a defensive system with three of the top ten offensive forwards in the league that blows my mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxpin Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 I'm actually pretty happy with our defense, minus Scuderi. We have some young D that are REALLY playing well.It's playing a defensive system with three of the top ten offensive forwards in the league that blows my mind. Kind of like the Phillies building a hitters' park, getting rid of the hitters and bringing in a bunch of pitching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojo1917 Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 wow, the timing of this sucks for the Pens IMO. I agree with the B should have **** canned him over the summer and gone after Babcock, the pickin's are slim mid-season so i guess we'll see what happens. Johnston wasn't working out, that was clear. I wonder if he ever got the true buy in from his leaders ? Sid's a hard worker so i don't imagine he was problem but i wonder about the other guys. Also, I think @ruxpin is right about needing two more solid defenders, too many young guys back there right now maybe they'll tighten up in time but every wart shows at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxpin Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 wow, the timing of this sucks for the Pens IMO. I agree with the B should have **** canned him over the summer and gone after Babcock, the pickin's are slim mid-season so i guess we'll see what happens. Johnston wasn't working out, that was clear. I wonder if he ever got the true buy in from his leaders ? Sid's a hard worker so i don't imagine he was problem but i wonder about the other guys. Also, I think @ruxpin is right about needing two more solid defenders, too many young guys back there right now maybe they'll tighten up in time but every wart shows at the moment.Yeah, they have some kids on the back end that are good and will only get better. I think for Johnston's system, in particular, they still needed another strong top four vet. Letang's own Seabrook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hf101 Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 I think they fired the wrong guy here. The biggest issue with the Pens is Rutherford and he is still employed. Rutherford is the one making trades that have weakend the franchise in depth and talent. Pittsburgh's defense is a mess even with a healthy Letang. Warsofsky-MaattaLovejoy-DumoulinScuderi-Clendening I'm not sure what Sullivan can do to with this team any different than what Johnston was able to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxpin Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 I think they fired the wrong guy here.The biggest issue with the Pens is Rutherford and he is still employed. Rutherford is the one making trades that have weakend the franchise in depth and talent.Pittsburgh's defense is a mess even with a healthy Letang.Warsofsky-MaattaLovejoy-DumoulinScuderi-ClendeningI'm not sure what Sullivan can do to with this team any different than what Johnston was able to.I'm not a Rutherford fan and agree on the finger point, but I'll add that he also hired the wrong coach and then kept him longer than he should have. I talked about defense, too, but I don't think it's that bad. Just missing a piece that would have made Johnston's system look better. I think free-wheeling has ultimately hurt them in the past. So I understand trying to go to a defensive system. I'm not sure whether Johnston's went to far or if the top 6 just aren't capable of playing that way, but it was a bad fit. And I agree, that too is on the GM. I don't know enough about Sullivan to know whether he got it right this time, but his horrible timing made it so his choices were limited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B21 Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 He's got 3 g in his last 14 games. It's certainly not all Kessels fault, but at $8 M a year he sure isn't helping. And yet amazingly he's 2nd on the team in goals and 3rd in points...which is about where he's supposed to be. It also points to a much bigger "problem" with this team than Phil Kessel. Pick the top 10 "problems"....he's probably 17th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murraycraven Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Does not matter... until Rutherford is gone this team is going nowhere. Reshuffle the deck and stay in mediocrity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 We only pay him 6... It's Johnston's system that holds us back. And Kessel is out scoring Crosby right now so.... The reason I'm not a Kessel fan is cause he makes $8 M a year (I don't care who pays it) and will basically watch his team try and get the puck back. Phil holds Phil back...that's why a guy with his skill keeps getting traded. Crosby isn't having a good year. But at least he'll dig pucks out of the corner and backcheck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 I'm actually pretty happy with our defense, minus Scuderi. We have some young D that are REALLY playing well.It's playing a defensive system with three of the top ten offensive forwards in the league that blows my mind. I agree it's holding them back and that's pretty foolish for a coach. But I also think when the next guy opens it up, that D is going to get exploited. Which leads us back to Rutherford and his GM skills. He's made them a worse team with a lousy farm system. One of the few bright spots (Sprong) has been kept up when he should have been sent down. Instead of developing in junior he's sitting in the press box or playing 5 minutes a game and burning a year off his ELC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 I think they fired the wrong guy here. The biggest issue with the Pens is Rutherford and he is still employed. Rutherford is the one making trades that have weakend the franchise in depth and talent. Pittsburgh's defense is a mess even with a healthy Letang. Warsofsky-MaattaLovejoy-DumoulinScuderi-Clendening I'm not sure what Sullivan can do to with this team any different than what Johnston was able to. I just said basically the same thing before coming to your post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 And yet amazingly he's 2nd on the team in goals and 3rd in points...which is about where he's supposed to be. It also points to a much bigger "problem" with this team than Phil Kessel. Pick the top 10 "problems"....he's probably 17th. Fair enough...but he started the year a lot better than he's ending it. 2 points in December? And he's certainly not there to play D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJgoal Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 I agree it's holding them back and that's pretty foolish for a coach.But I also think when the next guy opens it up, that D is going to get exploited. Which leads us back to Rutherford and his GM skills. He's made them a worse team with a lousy farm system. One of the few bright spots (Sprong) has been kept up when he should have been sent down. Instead of developing in junior he's sitting in the press box or playing 5 minutes a game and burning a year off his ELC.The thing about Sprong that gets me is apparently Rutherford was angry that Sprong is sitting in the press box. You're the GM - send him back down if your coach won't use him, you have that power. Now, the coaching change might result in Sprong seeing the ice, but Rutherford can't act like he holds no blame in how the kid was being handled up until then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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