Speculation: Coaching Search - Part III: Dan Bylsma deal "imminent"

[Zman5778]

Why did Malkin and Crosby's production fall so far this year?? Why did the penguins as a whole fall 11 points off from last year?

Both questions are kind of easy to answer.

Malkin's production dropped off because he lost his wingman Neal and Hornqvist never really developed any chemistry with him when healthy.

Crosby? Kunitz's play fell off a cliff and he didn't have Dupuis.

Not to mention that scoring was down league-wide.


As far as the Pens themselves??? Pittsburgh had 343 man games lost due to injury. Maata, Letang, Ehrhoff and Martin accounted for 120 of those games. That's their top 4 defensemen. No team can overcome that kind of injury.

 

[ozpensfan]

Why did Malkin and Crosby's production fall so far this year?? Why did the penguins as a whole fall 11 points off from last year?

I hate to break it to you, but the playoffs were MAF fault. The guy was beyond awful. You just can't win like that.

http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2013/5/8/4312126/marc-andre-fleury-stats-penguins-nhl-playoffs-2013

Sometimes young players are just not good enough. Both of those guys you said were not very highly touted in NHL circles. A guy like Olli Maata played a bunch. I think the whole young guy nonsense is complete BS. He played Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Letang, Neal, Kennedy a bunch.

The leagues production as a whole is down, its not just Crosby and Malkin.

Of course Crosby, Malkin and Staal are going to get minutes - its when they get their minutes.

Bylsma was totally cluess at changing any strategy that didnt involve the token "Ah yeah i'll throw Crosby and Malkin together for a shift"

Your right in saying some players arent good enough - but when players are good enough you dont stint their development. Simon Depres was forced to sit for Rob Scuderi... bennett forced to 4th line minutes.. and this is how you treat your top prospects? Couldnt imagine what he would do with Mark Pkysk.....

 

[Karate Johnson*]

I'm not saying Bylsma is the answer, and while he has some very real criticisms from his time in Pittsburgh, he's a young guy.

And people seem to forget people very often learn from their mistakes. Just because he may have done some things wrong doesn't mean he's going to do them again.... That's not how smart people operate.

 

[BloFan4Life]

Both questions are kind of easy to answer.

Malkin's production dropped off because he lost his wingman Neal and Hornqvist never really developed any chemistry with him when healthy.

Crosby? Kunitz's play fell off a cliff and he didn't have Dupuis.

Not to mention that scoring was down league-wide.


As far as the Pens themselves??? Pittsburgh had 343 man games lost due to injury. Maata, Letang, Ehrhoff and Martin accounted for 120 of those games. That's their top 4 defensemen. No team can overcome that kind of injury.

Byslma did when he was coach. It was never an excuse he used.

https://twitter.com/ManGamesLostNHL/status/591404370190696448

 

[sabresEH]

So you didn't think a stacked Russian team on its home soil was the main competition to Canada. I call BS on that, and most everyone before the tournament had Russia coming out of Group A.

Lundqvist was the best goalie in the tournament on a great Swedish team and then Rask was second on another great Finnish team.

Vancouver clouded the judgment of many in terms of international play, but the USA was the 5th best team going into Sochi. They lacked high end skill it takes to compete on the big ice. Too many good players, not enough great.

No, after beating them 7-3 the olympics before, and going in with a better team, I found the team that beat us and took us to overtime as the bigger threat.

I did say arguably. Because it was definitely arguable. Lundqvist had a tough start to the year with the pad changes and going into the tournament there was some concern. He squashed all concerns with his play but going into the tourney USA, again IMO, USA had better goaltending and goaltending can steal a tournsment like this.

And it didn't cloud the judgement, it showed how good their high end players are and how much depth they have. Kane-Kessel-Parise-Patches-JVR-Wheeler are some of the best high end players in the NHL. I get that they don't have an OV or a sid, but Patty K is top 5 in the world in terms of skill and Kessel is without a doubt one of the best offensive players as well. They definitely had enough great players to win.

 

[BCS]

As far as the Pens themselves??? Pittsburgh had 343 man games lost due to injury. Maata, Letang, Ehrhoff and Martin accounted for 120 of those games. That's their top 4 defensemen. No team can overcome that kind of injury.

The Pens also had a lot of man games lost when Bylsma was the coach. Crosby was hurt regularly. It didn't affect them in the standings. That's not even me trying to defend Bylsma, whom I don't really want. It's a statement of fact.

One year, for example, Crosby and Malkin combined to miss 80 games. The team still finished with 100-some points.

 

[joshjull]

Tons of guys had career years under Bylsma. Maata, Kennedy, Neal, Kunitz, Niskanen, etc. Even a guy like Staal is no where near the player he was under Bylsma.

I don't think you understand what developing a player means.

 

[Zman5778]

Byslma did when he was coach. It was never an excuse he used.

https://twitter.com/ManGamesLostNHL/status/591404370190696448

Because those teams had depth.

The Pens this year had very little depth. Very little.

 

[Zman5778]

The Pens also had a lot of man games lost when Bylsma was the coach. Crosby was hurt regularly. It didn't affect them in the standings. That's not even me trying to defend Bylsma, whom I don't really want. It's a statement of fact.

One year, for example, Crosby and Malkin combined to miss 80 games. The team still finished with 100-some points.

No doubt Bylsma had to deal with injuries.

But, that was when the Penguins actually had a solid farm system with good younger players.

The Pens had precious little depth this year....and even less cap room to actually call up people. How many times did they skate shorthanded??


All I'm saying is this: One cannot place the total blame on the Pens 11 point decline on coaching.

 

[Bps21*]

Because those teams had depth.

The Pens this year had very little depth. Very little.

How is that possible? They just got done spending years developing under the great Dan Bylama

 

[BCS]

No doubt Bylsma had to deal with injuries.

But, that was when the Penguins actually had a solid farm system with good younger players.

The Pens had precious little depth this year....and even less cap room to actually call up people. How many times did they skate shorthanded??


All I'm saying is this: One cannot place the total blame on the Pens 11 point decline on coaching.

No argument that their roster is horrendously constructed. Bylsma had it better, undoubtedly.

 

[ozpensfan]

Another thing that totally annoys me about Bylsma is in recent history his teams could never get up in big games circa 2009. heck he coached team USA - Couldnt even get the team motivated in the bronze medal game and they get shelled 5-0. No USA team should get blitzed that way.

 

[Myllz]

Another thing that totally annoys me about Bylsma is in recent history his teams could never get up in big games circa 2009. heck he coached team USA - Couldnt even get the team motivated in the bronze medal game and they get shelled 5-0. No USA team should get blitzed that way.

You're telling me players in the Olympics playing for a medal for their country need their coach to motivate them?

 

[ozpensfan]

Not so much the motivation thing, i mean a good coach could motivate players more (not that playing for your country shouldnt be motivation enough) but they sure shouldnt have been shelled that badly.

 

[BUFSABES1981]

I'd like to be on record as well on the no to Bylsma camp. At this point go get some fresh meat and see how they do.

 

[Paxon]

You're telling me players in the Olympics playing for a medal for their country need their coach to motivate them?

I tend to agree with you, though maybe in some cases someone (more a player or players I'd think) needs to get the guys to get over their disappointment. I don't really think it's on Bylsma. Howver, the way he had the team come out against Canada, by design, completely neutered everything positive about how they were playing previous to that (which, to be fair, he should receive some kudos for, because they were sharp in the group stage). I think it really sucked the life out of the team, carrying right over to the medal game against Finland. I get that Canada was a different animal than every other team they'd faced, but you have to play to your strengths instead of playing not to lose. I have nothing but respect for Latvia, but Team USA is not Latvia. They have to go out there like they're better than the other guys and attack. USA should always be a skating, forechecking team.

 

[Myllz]

I tend to agree with you, though maybe in some cases someone (more a player or players I'd think) needs to get the guys to get over their disappointment. I don't really think it's on Bylsma. Howver, the way he had the team come out against Canada, by design, completely neutered everything positive about how they were playing previous to that (which, to be fair, he should receive some kudos for, because they were sharp in the group stage). I think it really sucked the life out of the team, carrying right over to the medal game against Finland. I get that Canada was a different animal than every other team they'd faced, but you have to play to your strengths instead of playing not to lose. I have nothing but respect for Latvia, but Team USA is not Latvia. They have to go out there like they're better than the other guys and attack. USA should always be a skating, forechecking team.

Bylsma definitely did not coach Team USA in the Olympics well, I won't argue that. Saying he's at fault for not motivating his team though, I'm not buying that one.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

 

[Chad Thundercock]

If there's one thing the Murray presser assured me of, even if a guy like Bylsma who I don't care for is hired, I'm confident he's not just a Dew Yur Jerrb doofus.

 

[Husko]

Since I missed the excitement today and the Babs thread is closed, I'll post here. Feel free to move and start a new thread if necessary mods. But two things. 1) what did Harrington do to piss everyone off? (other than the presser?)

2) Babcock's face while Harrington is talking:

 

[Zip15]

Both questions are kind of easy to answer.

Malkin's production dropped off because he lost his wingman Neal and Hornqvist never really developed any chemistry with him when healthy.

Crosby? Kunitz's play fell off a cliff and he didn't have Dupuis.

Not to mention that scoring was down league-wide.


As far as the Pens themselves??? Pittsburgh had 343 man games lost due to injury. Maata, Letang, Ehrhoff and Martin accounted for 120 of those games. That's their top 4 defensemen. No team can overcome that kind of injury.

The Penguins led the league in man games lost in 2013-14 with 527, and also led in AMIP (Average Minutes of Injured Players), which essentially measures how important the players are that you're missing. They finished with 109 pts and won their division by 13 pts.

Bylsma got the most out of that 2013-14 in the regular season. Tough to argue otherwise.

 

[RoofIt5hole]

I just don't see Bylsma being the guy.



However Buccigross thinks it's a fit...

 

[Wisent42]

I just don't see Bylsma being the guy.



However Buccigross thinks it's a fit...

However, I would not be surprised if Bylsma is our next coach. I think he is the front runner right now. I haven't decided how I feel about that yet.

 

[DazedandConfused]

I can live with Bylsma. Might be my sleep deprivation speaking, but a Bylsma/Richardson combo would be aiiight.

 

[Jacob582]

I think Blysma is at the top of their list. Only Don Sweeney can save us now. Fire Julien!