Post-Game Talk: Harkins appreciation night

[Honour Over Glory]

The other issue with Granlund is Sullivan refused to change his mindset about what a third line could be. Instead of retooling the lineup to have 3 lines that can score, Sullivan stubbornly stuck to the 3rd line as a checking line, and he insisted that Granlund play like a typical "checking 3C" play.

Like, the actual acquisition might have actually been a positive one if the damn coach saw that we added another OFFENSIVE weapon and didn't insist on playing him like we added Jordan Staal.

Exactly.

Sullivan uses that 3rd line like it's a 4th line, he likes having 2 fourth lines to throw out there and then gives Malkin zero help so he purposefully makes it into a 1 line team for scoring and the media will blame Malkin because he couldn't put up Sid & Jake duo numbers with the likes of DOC, Zucker, Heinen, Smith, etc.

Then to see Sullivan keep getting praise heaped on him just pisses me off.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

It’s funny because they are arrogant in a way that they try to come off as not arrogant. They play down to their competition because they “respect” every team, but when you watch them play they think they are just absolute studs still.

Mike Sullivan thinks the Powerplay will figure it out. He thinks EK has another level. He thinks he sees things in his bottom six etc.

If they were arrogant in the right way it may be beneficial, but they are this weird vibe of arrogance while trying to be very respectful and just “sticking to playing the game the right way”.

I don't disagree, but I think they're arrogant in another way: While they respect every opponent, they believe their talent is superior and that the cream will rise to the top. That was true five years ago. It isn't now.

I think that's one of Sullivan's pitfalls, too. He has seen many of these players figure it out and get their game together that he retains faith that they'll do it again, which blinds him to the fact they may need more help or to do things a different way.

And this is why I'm at the point where you punt on this season, flip anyone not named Crosby, Malkin, Letang, and Karlsson at the deadline and/or draft, do a global search for a new coaching staff in the spring, and then utilize the assets you acquired as well as all that cap space to build a team that can compete until the current era ends.

 

[pistolpete11]

Sullivan's role for Harkins is very well defined. That's part of the problem. He wants a bottom six that takes no risks and just plays the other team to a draw. And then he expects the top six to pick up the slack but Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin aren't 26 any more. They can't carry an entire offense by themselves.

Course Dubas deserves blame for harboring the same thoughts. You can build a bottom six that just doesn't score when you have a top six with multiple players putting up 100 points, but we haven't had that for years.

The thing is it would be working fine if the PP was even mediocre, though. So I can't get too mad at the initial strategy.

The issue is that they are not adjusting that strategy to reality. The reality is that the PP is not even close to mediocre and they seem incapable of fixing it. So they need to change course and find a way to get more scoring from the bottom 6. Guys like Puusy, Poulin, Z, Hino, etc. should be in for Harkins and White. Maybe they will end up giving up more goals, but it's a risk they have to take because the current plan isn't working.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

Why don't the other 5 guys on the ice move and open themselves as an option to receive a pass?

Why blame 5 other people when you can blame the lazy Russian?

 

[Jesse]

It f***ing pisses me off that fecal stains like Yohe, Rossi, Jesse, Madden, etc write these f***ing hit pieces on Malkin and even the new players without realizing these were highly productive players that are being coached to being unproductive and keep blaming the players.

Please post one of said hit pieces I've written I cannot wait to read it.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Please post one of said hit pieces I've written I cannot wait to read it.

I might have lumped you in with the rest of the Pens media that refuses to actually discuss any sort of coaching issue and the other issues of usage, etc. So maybe that wasn’t fair to lump you in with them for Geno, I’ll apologize for that.

But then there’s the whole fact that you’re fine writing an article about some tweak on a forecheck issue by Sullivan in November, yet the inconsistencies, his usage, etc are definitely discussion worthy. Because mate, that November 14th article about the Neutral Zone tweak to make the Pens tougher, the next thing you write is some Penthouse Forum Sidney Crosby piece (I mean I don’t blame you, he’s doing well with Jake like usual), where you go into detail about how Crosby is a god at his age which is fine - it’s the fact that you’re fine talking about Sid understanding his line mates and no mention of the struggles on this team.

If you look at the Pens, the only players thriving are the ones on the 1st line. If you have 1-2 players struggling, you can say hey the GM picked some bad options, but on a team with 12 forwards, 3 are producing at a reasonable clip and 9 are suffering….that’s a coaching issue.

Are you not allowed to write about Sullivan in any sort of negative light?

Seriously asking here, are you going to get in trouble admitting you can’t hear? Use an emoji as a reply if you aren’t allowed to.


There I joined that cesspool of a site, I follow you, I can now enjoy your tweets for trashing Harkins, also I have no idea how that platform really works so I guess now I can see trade rumors by blokes like Kevin Weekes and call fairweather Pens fans wankers?