Bylsma's not a good coach, in fact he's probably one of the worst 5 in the league.
Whats funny is Babcock Hitchcock, and Julien are all top 5 coaches IMO
Always thought he was overrated cause he took the Pens team to the cup. Pretty much any coach in the NHL could of coached them to a cup with that lineup.
Unfortunately USA doesn't have that many great coaches to choose from.
Brooks Orpik had no right to be on this team.
He was on there because the USA coach also coaches the Penguins. That's it. A very self-serving, short-sighted move.
I almost liken it Mike Milbury picking "his" Bruins for the all star games- guys like Chris Nilan, Gary Galley and Dave Christian. (singlehandedly changes the way all star rosters are chosen...what a legacy you have there you POS.)
And yet Dan B's choice was in the olympics. Far more disgraceful. My 6 year old even asked who the "slow guy" was...just complete BS.
I like Brooks- (went to BC myself and have followed him since), but this "my guy" crap has no place on this level. If a different Dman was playing maybe Benn doesn't score.
Thanks Dan!
If you are alluding to Orpik as being slow, you're wrong. If there's a strength he has, it's his skating. Yes he's starting to lose a step with age, but he's still a great skater and is by no means "slow".
LOL, this has to be one of the most ridiculous comments I have ever read on HF. Please, enlighten us. Particularly with the Olympics.Its a weird coincidence that Bylsma coached teams in NHL & Olympics choke against lesser talented teams, but please go ahead and stay in denial.
Good to see hard core hockey fans have no clue what they are talking about. Only play Kessel vs the 4th line right? So he plays 8 minutes. Orpik was picked because of his skating.
Outside of Malkin, Crosby, Neal and Kunitz who should be getting all the minutes for the Penguins? You realize Crosby & Malkin tie up a lot of salary right? Was Bylsma at fault for Fleury being terrible in consecutive playoff years? Conference Final and 2 Stanley Cup finals. Terrible coach. I've watched 90% of the games Byslma has coached. He gets results. He has 4 forwards and a couple of defensemen and a head case goalie to work with. I haven't seen a single good argument in this thread.
Then you haven't read it.
Bylsma has a losing record AT HOME in the playoffs. Unacceptable. Why? Because he refuses to take advantage of last change.
Bylsma refuses to line match or allow his best players to be his best players. Versus Boston, he constantly had Malkin out there vs Chara, even at home. This is the exact matchup Julien wanted. Malkin hadn't scored a goal with Chara on the ice in something like 14 games prior to their playoff matchup. He countered the Bergeron line with the Crosby line. Once again, giving Julien the matchup he wanted. But it didn't hurt them right? The Penguins were still that awesome offensive machine right? Oops, wrong, they couldn't score worth bean in that series.
Bylsma refuses to adjust, instead preaching to "get to our game", and being stubborn by not deviating from his system. Sometimes you need to figure out ways to stop the other team instead of just playing offense.
Bylsma blew a 3-1 playoff lead in 2011. No matter the roster, blowing a 3 game lead is unacceptable.
He coached a team that had a complete meltdown versus Philly, after being a strong defensive team all year, they turned into complete swiss cheese from the goaltender on out. Their special teams, their breakout, their neutral zone play, everything was solved by Philly, and then he couldn't control his team.
Did you watch the series versus the Islanders last year? They didn't deserve to win, they were completely outplayed and got by on sheer talent alone. He refused to go away from his famous stretch pass breakout and it was killing the team. In his mind, you keep doing the same thing and it will work. Don't deviate from the system.
They've lost to lower seeded teams up until last year and have only won THREE PLAYOFF SERIES since 2009. That's right, THREE.
The addition of Martin might be the saving grace this year as Jacques has come in and changed their defensive zone game, their breakout, their neutral zone play and they've almost eliminated the ridiculous non stop stretch pass. They've also started to adjust in game, something that Bylsma did very little of before the arrival of Martin.
These are just off the top of my head, but I'm pretty sure they're decent arguements.
If you are alluding to Orpik as being slow, you're wrong. If there's a strength he has, it's his skating. Yes he's starting to lose a step with age, but he's still a great skater and is by no means "slow".
There is a lot more to "speed" than the ability to skate from point A to point B the quickest.
And Orpik is no longer able to handle the better skaters in NHL. His value remains but much of it is in his intangibles such as leadership and experience...things that were not required on the US roster full of captains and stars.
Again, this was a crap roster demand by a surprisingly crappy coach...
Eh...I do not think it is at all fair to blame Orpik's inclusion as being all DB. If you read the ESPN article on the selection of the US team, Orpik was actually a unanimous unquestioned decision by the GMs before Bylsma seemingly had any input in the player selection discussion. He is still viewed as a shutdown defense man by the much of the NHL for some mind blowing reason.Brooks Orpik had no right to be on this team.
He was on there because the USA coach also coaches the Penguins. That's it. A very self-serving, short-sighted move.
I almost liken it Mike Milbury picking "his" Bruins for the all star games- guys like Chris Nilan, Gary Galley and Dave Christian. (singlehandedly changes the way all star rosters are chosen...what a legacy you have there you POS.)
And yet Dan B's choice was in the olympics. Far more disgraceful. My 6 year old even asked who the "slow guy" was...just complete BS.
I like Brooks- (went to BC myself and have followed him since), but this "my guy" crap has no place on this level. If a different Dman was playing maybe Benn doesn't score.
Thanks Dan!
LOL, this has to be one of the most ridiculous comments I have ever read on HF. Please, enlighten us. Particularly with the Olympics.
He was terrible in the Olympics and is overrated in general.
Why put Kessel vs Toews when you have the last change?
Why put the second best Us sniper (Pacioretty) on the 4th line?
Why not Kane centering Kessel/JVR?
So many of his moves were stupid.
He's the worst coach in the NHL. But the Russian coach also struggled