Confirmed with Link: It's Started! (Management firings)

[Empoleon8771]

But our discussion is about you saying you think he's a great coach and me not agreeing with that. Now you're saying that we need to see proof of this elsewhere first before we can conclude that. But that seems like a weird thing to say because that applied to Bylsma circa 2014 as well. If someone argued that Bylsma was a bad coach and needed to be fired in 2013 or 2014, you'd use the argument "he's actually a great coach until he proves otherwise" to counter that?

Put another way -- lets say he gets fired and lands a job with a middling team. Do you see that team becoming good under him? "Great" coaches can turn mediocre teams into teams that sneak into the playoffs or 8th seed types into #4 or #5 seeds. Do you see Sullivan doing that?

....yes? That's my point. He's a great coach until he proves otherwise. And yes, I would have said exactly that about Bylsma. It was time to move on because he was too comfortable and was too stubborn with his decisions, but I still thought he was a great coach that would do well elsewhere. It wasn't until he failed miserably in Buffalo until I realized he was actually a bad coach.

I don't see that as questionable logic whatsoever.

 

[Jobeycool]

They all 3 should have been fired now that you look at things around the league .. Sullivan has made mental cases out of them solving math problems to shoot a shot on net.

 

[Pens x]

I fundamentally disagree with you on this. The GM is supposed to put the stamp on their team. If they're not allowed to even do that because the head coach is really the boss, then what are they paying the GM for?

He literally got paid $3.5 million to not do a god damn thing from late July until the week of the deadline. No one is passing that up. Plus, he has to know deep down he isn’t capable of being a GM and this was likely his last opportunity for a pay day.

 

[canadianguy77]

They all 3 should have been fired now that you look at things around the league .. Sullivan has made mental cases out of them solving math problems to shoot a shot on net.

They need to have a geometry refresher course in training camp to perfect all of those missed slap-pass-redirects that should have went in the net.

 

[Pens x]

If Sullivan is kept, which it looks he will be. They need to change the rest of the coaching staff

I agree, but we’ve done that now twice. A third time surely will make a difference. At least I don’t have to hear about Todd “the defensive magician” Reriden bull shit ever again.

 

[canadianguy77]

He literally got paid $3.5 million to not do a god damn thing from late July until the week of the deadline. No one is passing that up. Plus, he has to know deep down he isn’t capable of being a GM and this was likely his last opportunity for a pay day.

I want a GM with integrity and a sense of self-worth sprinkled with some confidence. I don't want a GM who is clouded by greed. He should never have been hired if he was going to kowtow to his head coach and basically be his bitch. I don't get why that's difficult to understand.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I think the positive impact coaches have on teams is overrated a bit. I think the best type of coach you can get is someone who can manage the ego of players and keep them from getting rattled, while also making sure to toe the line of staying out of their way enough and not meddling too much.

A good coach isn't gonna coach a bad team to a Cup, but a bad coach can take a team with promise and put it right into the dumpster. NHL coaches, over time, all end up the latter.

I don't think Sullivan is a complete and utter doofus like Bylsma was. I do think Sullivan's ego and spitefully stubborn nature undoes all of his smarts though, so in the end, it doesn't really matter how smart or "good" of a coach Sully is. He's been the wrong guy for the job since 2020, arguably 2019.

 

[canadianguy77]

Yea because it was Sleepy that demanded we sign Simon, keep ZAR, bring back Archibald, extend Rust for an eternity. Sully’s grubby paws are all over some of the recent roster moves over the last couple of years. Christ, we don’t have one physical player on this team despite Burke and Sleepy saying they would change that. Wake up.

Wait...aren't you the poster who always refers to Ron as "Sleepy?" Are you changing course or just adjusting your sights?

 

[Pens x]

I want a GM with integrity and a sense of self-worth sprinkled with some confidence. I don't want a GM who is clouded by greed. He should never have been hired if he was going to kowtow to his head coach and basically be his bitch. I don't get why that's difficult to understand.

I don’t want a GM who is awful at his job. He should never have been hired because he’s a f***ing joke.

Beyond that, I don’t care that much about their personal character. There are only 32 GM jobs out there, and only a couple open up a year. You can’t be on your high horse too much as a GM.

 

[Jobeycool]

Did you guys watch the Press Conference about this? I watched it on YouTube .. Who signed Elon Musk on the upper management lol....

 

[SEALBound]

We need a pinned post at the top of every page with the disclaimer:

Just because Sullivan was not fired today does not mean the new GM won't fire him.

Hiring and firing head coaches is the GM's job.

 

[Pens x]

Acklin seems like such a dweeb. I can’t imagine how many wedgies that guy suffered growing up.

 

[Jobeycool]

Acklin seems like such a dweeb. I can’t imagine how many wedgies that guy suffered growing up.

Watching the play back on YouTube the excuses are not to good..

 

[Pens x]

Wait...aren't you the poster who always refers to Ron as "Sleepy?" Are you changing course or just adjusting your sights?

No, Ron Hextall is a complete jackass. But you can’t blame him for signing Simon or ZAR. You can blame him for protecting Carter and Blueger over McCann, being Sully’s lapdog, extending Carter, acquiring Granlund, and never fixing the goalie tandem etc. Just because he’s a complete jackass doesn’t mean Sullivan isn’t.

The team is better off today than they were yesterday by firing Sleepy, but they still desperately need to fire Sullivan. At the very least, the new GM has to have a spine when it comes to Sully. They need to meet regularly and the GM needs to have the authority to question his lineup decisions, call-ups, etc. I really find it impossible to believe that back and forth ever happened between sully and Hextall.

 

[Pancakes]

Why is it difficult? Did Sullivan win those Cups within the last couple of seasons?

I just don't get this. When does Sullivan's "Cup free pass" end? His team hasn't won a first round series since 2018. Exactly how much better has Sullivan been since 2019 and beyond than Laviolette to give him this sort of leeway?

I'm not saying we should keep Sullivan, but Sullivan has a ton more cred within the organization thanks to those Cups than Laviolette does or did with the Caps.

That's all I'm saying.

 

[vodeni]

Get that old guy back on here to comment…I miss him!

I think Kirk had a lobotomy and woke up as a hair guy

 

[Pens x]

How does Hairguy feel about all of this? Do the season ticket holders in the rafters agree with this?

 

[vodeni]

Yes everybody is blinded to him & 75% of this board are the only people who see his overwhelming faults

thats kind of truth to be honest, same for the things happening on ice, I sometimes wonder

 

[Pens1566]

Honestly, I'm not even convinced that Sully is a good/great coach. I think it's entirely plausible that he caught lightning in a bottle in '16 with 3 superstar forwards, an insane matchup problem of a "3rd" line, an unusually reliable goalie, and basically told the team "skate fast". His problem is he still thinks that works and every year since has been a bit worse than the one before it ... I really don't expect him to ever replicate that success.

 

[vodeni]

Shero is one of the most disrespected people involved with the Penguins in a long time.

I can't think of a player, coach or GM that got more undeserved shit that Shero did. Shero had his flaws, but his only fireable mistake was hanging on to Bylsma.

true but that was a huuuuuuuuge mistake that cost us at least one if not two cups...so one mistake but really big one

 

[tom_servo]

Before this year, the last time I felt I got absolutely nothing from the team was '02. But at least that year signaled the beginning of valuable draft positions. '15 was dark but at least they had years ahead of them.

No playoff wins, no player development, no good draft picks, no individual achievements. No real injuries to blame. And the short term goal is unknown. This year has cemented the last five years as a total waste.

Considering other factors like coming off an egregious blown series lead, routinely choking leads throughout the year, and generally losing in every player transaction, I felt like a sucker investing time into the team. During that first Western trip it was clear I was wrong on any optimism I expressed during the off-season. All bets failed.

When I think of the veteran Bruins totally transformed, it hurts even more. We weren't the Blackhawks. It wasn't the inflated star contacts that foretold the end. Just plain old terrible management. Shame on me for assuming there was any sort of plan.

Now onto becoming a common franchise with marginal hopes.

 

[vodeni]

No, but he was the one who tried to make a defensive winger out of him.

exatly, he embraced him as some kind of PK defensive specialist, which was an obvious joke

Absolutely. Sullivan is not a bad coach. And he’s probably going to have success elsewhere, unlike Bylsma.

time will tell

 

[Pens x]

Honestly, I'm not even convinced that Sully is a good/great coach. I think it's entirely plausible that he caught lightning in a bottle in '16 with 3 superstar forwards, an insane matchup problem of a "3rd" line, an unusually reliable goalie, and basically told the team "skate fast". His problem is he still thinks that works and ever year since has been a bit worse than the one before it ... I really don't expect him to ever replicate that success.

I agree. He was a nobody before then and has had no success since. Now players are finding success away from him. I think he benefited from a team with two hot goalies and insane depth at forward.

Even people that want him gone just assume he will have success elsewhere. I’m not sure that’s a given, really. I don’t think he’s a bad coach, but to me he’s no better than half of the coaches in the league.

 

[the penitent]

The interviews for GM need only consist of three questions:

1) Would you re-sign Jarry?

2) Would you keep Jeff Carter on the roster just because he has a contract?

3) Would you agree with Sully's keeping Letang and Malkin together on the points for PP1

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, the interview should be ended right then and there. Say goodbye and refuse to even validate the candidate's parking

 

[vodeni]

Yohe and Ol'29er just had an hour show. The segment on Sullyvan was hilarious...It started paraising him to high heaven than as they go on they started piling on him, he was lost all year, he did not look like himself, the players were saying he was soft on them, on and on...kind of thing we have been saying long...he did not have his heart in here this season, he was milking it, last season, if Dumo I think closes on Zib a second quicker we are in the second round and Sully never get to hear about four miserable years...This year he was just daydreaming there and trying to stick it to someone...