Canadienna
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- Jan 27, 2015
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My first interpretation was they all had some potentially dangerous illness, but I think it's just poor wording and he means the lineups are a gametime decision (I hope!)
Mike Sullivan: Entire Penguins roster is a game-time decision
- Thread starter Hockeyfan2390
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Luigi Lemieux
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- Sep 26, 2003
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After seeing Mike Johnston coach the team I'd say a rock could not have coached them to a cup. Coaching matters even for a stacked team. He's a good coach for a certain type of roster but can't adapt. Penguins were the fastest team in the league back then, now they might be the slowest. But he still wants to play the same way.
Devilsfan2326
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- Oct 4, 2011
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KingsFan7824
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What did Belichick do post-Brady? What's he going to do in the next place he goes without Brady?
Coaching matters when you don't have enough talent. The right game plan can squeeze out a few wins here and there. Ultimately, when all things are equal, it comes down to your very talented top players for a coach though. Every fan hates their coach for not playing the young guys, but every coach doesn't want to get fired. If he's going to go down, he would rather pin his fate to the vets. Unless the team isn't expected to do anything, and the coach knows he won't be fired any time soon for team performance, then the young guys get the ice time.
Few coaches last forever, for good reason. Most teams don't have enough really good players playing at their best at the same time, which is why every team doesn't win.
Pro sports aren't the military. A lot of players make money than the coach. Grown men. They might listen for a while, but they'll tune you out eventually. Then the next guy. And the next guy. And the next guy.
Bjornar Moxnes
Registered User
Seeing how Crosby was on pace for less than 70 points under Mike Johnston, I think it's definitely more than a rock could have coached those teams to a cup...
Funny, because Sullivan’s coaching ability is on LTIR (Long Term Incompetence Reserve).
Jumptheshark
Rebooting myself
reading way too much in it. It means he is just not sure who is playing with who
Bringer of Jollity
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A new career
He was the right coach at the right time and the team caught lighting in a bottle. The team he inherited had hit a bad rut by 2015, and the GM shuffled the lineup (it helped that all of Rutherford’s moves from 2015-17 were like solid gold) and in doing so there was a youth callup wave from the AHL, all of whom Sullivan had just coached. So he came in knowing the young legs that were injecting life into a tired roster and hit pay dirt on several good trades. It helped that he was preaching an uptempo, highly attacking, professionally composed kind of style, which was a stark contrast to the “grind em” emotional toddlers the Pens had been under Bylsma. His demeanor, play style, and knowledge of the team was exactly what the Pens needed at that moment.
But that was 8 long years ago. Since then he has done very little to change his style as the roster has gotten worse (through not so good trades/GMs) and older (through time). The team still plays the same high risk style. And until 2-3 years ago the roster talent was enough to keep us as a middling bubble team, but now they don’t have the horses anymore, offensively or defensively.
I have no doubt Sullivan will probably get many other HC gigs in the years ahead, and be good at some of them. But in Pittsburgh he is now on his third set of assistant coaches, and is also serving under his third general manager. The guy has basically outlived everyone in the org who has either been fired or walked from failure over the team’s flagging fortunes. He is Teflon and it’s inexplicable how he has managed to chum up with ownership to essentially make himself un-fireable.
Rodgerwilco
Entertainment boards w/ some Hockey mixed in.
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