Speculation: Offseason coaching thread: Should they stay or should they go?

Coaches:


  • Total voters
    88
  • Poll closed .
I feel like this team's been soft as baby shit in the corners and around their own net for like, as long as I can remember. I wish we had at least a couple guys who would like, ensure the other team would at least have to pop a couple ibuprofen on the flight home or at the hotel. :laugh:

This team's just so damn lame. Can't have a pure shooter cuz what if they're not good defensively?! Can't have a guy that hits cuz what if he's not scoring in bunches?! Meanwhile, this team's got like a dozen guys who try in vain to fit in the "jack of all trades/swiss army knife" role but really just kinda suck at everything.

Experience Penguins Hockey™
 
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Becoming convinced it's just Sullivan masterclass of keeping his job.

Keep bad goalies because you can blame your seasonal failures on them - keep your job.

Keep bad coaches because you can shed blame on them and - keep your job.

Charm the press to keep the heat off. If only (we..i.e. players) could do this or that. Versus if only I did not craft this team into a dumpster one line hockey team.

Feels good to throw the towel completely in on these last (check watch) TEN YEARS of Penguins hockey (last 6 plus next 3-4) on a freaking coach. Because, you know, that's why fans tune in. The Pittsburgh Sullivans versus the Utah Hockey Club. Wack.
 
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Becoming convinced it's just Sullivan masterclass of keeping his job.

Keep bad goalies because you can blame your seasonal failures on them - keep your job.

Keep bad coaches because you can shed blame on them and - keep your job.

Charm the press to keep the heat off. If only (we..i.e. players) could do this or that. Versus if only I did not craft this team into a dumpster one line hockey team.

Feels good to throw the towel completely in on these last (check watch) TEN YEARS of Penguins hockey (last 6 plus next 3-4) on a freaking coach. Because, you know, that's why fans tune in. The Pittsburgh Sullivans versus the Utah Hockey Club. Wack.

Our systems for the last decade+ has always* been detrimental to goalies but it’s won us 3 cups. Given our roster and age of stars maybe it’s time to tweak it.

*Mike Johnston’s wasn’t but yeah 😝
 
Marco Sturm did not get the SJ job, which is a surprise to me. I think he would be a great hire to run the PP.

Todd Nelson is still playing, Hershey is going to the finals again.
 
Yeah, I was super wrong about not wanting JT Miller because he's a dickhead, but I take some solace in the thought that if the team had acquired him, Sullivan would've turned him into Blueger or some bullshit.

Glad this guy's just here forever, for some dumb f***ing reason. :laugh:
 
I gotta say, real inspiring hire guys View attachment 882665

Inspiring wouldn't be the insult I'd use here.

Reinforcement is what I'd use. It's reinforcement to the entire hockey world that this is MIKE SULLIVAN's team. Not anyone else's. He wants grinders who can't finish? He gets them. PMD who can't bench 40 pounds? He gets them. Terrible assistants to cast blame on? Gets them. Goalies that can't save a game? He gets them. Someone plays the game too physically or one-dimensionally? Gone. Youth? Nah.

I honestly don't think he has any intention of winning nor the mind to do it at this point. His sole focus is on job retention in this city for some damn reason.

And yeah, I know Sid loves the guy. Sid gets whatever the hell he (deservedly) wants on this team. Shame they listen to him for staffing purposes. The guy who thinks he can win with a potato on his line because he's geared that way should not be given the potato. I 100% believe Sid will spend the last several years of his career nowhere near the playoffs - losing his spot to in the all time ranks to all the up and comers who will eclipse his playoff numbers against bad goalies - happily, because he won't ever cast the blame where it belongs - a shit coach/system and a shit roster around him.

What a time to be a fan. It'll be a lot easier watching them lose when they SHOULD lose versus lose because their front office is filled with imbeciles.
 
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I would have less problems with nepotism if it produced more exciting hockey.

I mean, I gave any hope of winning the cup seasons ago, but why do we have to ice a boring hockey team? That's the bigger crime.
Would be nice if Sullivan's coaching buddies and favorite player type were actually useful at coaching/playing hockey. That's a form of nepotism I can get behind.
But instead we get one of the worst coaches in the NHL as an assistant, and worthless 4th liners like Harkins, Acciari, Nieto. And the reason we get so much trash is because that player type reminds him of himself in his playing career, and he feels compelled to honor and reward them.
So this organization and its fans needs to suffer to satisfy Michael Sullivan's feelings.

We probably only got Puustinen up here last year as much as he was because Dubas pushed for it. Otherwise it woulda been like Gruden or some shit getting 50 games.
 
I would have less problems with nepotism if it produced more exciting hockey.

I mean, I gave any hope of winning the cup seasons ago, but why do we have to ice a boring hockey team? That's the bigger crime.
Yeah, give me a team that's playing a wide open, fun style that results in 5-4 games every night (win or lose) over this borefest that results in 2-1 games every night.

This goes back to coaching philosophy and thus, acquisitions. Instead of having a high-powered bottom six full of skilled, but maybe flawed defensively, types, we stock our bottom six with defensively responsible slugs who can't score.

Give me a team with the former for a change so we can at least enjoy the losses.
 
Becoming convinced it's just Sullivan masterclass of keeping his job.

Keep bad goalies because you can blame your seasonal failures on them - keep your job.

Keep bad coaches because you can shed blame on them and - keep your job.

Charm the press to keep the heat off. If only (we..i.e. players) could do this or that. Versus if only I did not craft this team into a dumpster one line hockey team.

Feels good to throw the towel completely in on these last (check watch) TEN YEARS of Penguins hockey (last 6 plus next 3-4) on a freaking coach. Because, you know, that's why fans tune in. The Pittsburgh Sullivans versus the Utah Hockey Club. Wack.
Sullivan won us 2 cups and is probably one of the best coaches in the league. I feel optimistic about the next season. Maybe we can go for a deep run in the playoffs.
 
I'm a bit curious to see whether Vellucci or Sullivan take up the PP responsibilities. If Sullivan picks it up, we'll finally be able to kill the "it's Rierden's fault the PP sucks" and put it firmly on Sullivan. But at the same time, I figure he'll probably delegate that to someone else and let them take the fire for it.
 
The boring aspect is a problem. For me, Quinn has one job and one job only...get EK65 to play the way he did in San Jose. Yeah, he played for a losing team. But that offense is required and when on top of his game, Karlsson is one of the most entertaining players in this league. Full stop. Gotta get back to that style of hockey.

By the end of last season, we were starting to see a bit of the old Karlsson (and that was with the current coach). So it can be done. This is a must for Quinn. no excuses. I believe it is the main reason he is here.

I'm a bit curious to see whether Vellucci or Sullivan take up the PP responsibilities. If Sullivan picks it up, we'll finally be able to kill the "it's Rierden's fault the PP sucks" and put it firmly on Sullivan. But at the same time, I figure he'll probably delegate that to someone else and let them take the fire for it.

The PP is the big mystery now. Some people think Quinn will just handle both duties, like Reirden did. But since the latter was an abject failure at both, perhaps Dubas will look at it differently.

Hopefully, Liverpool FC can sell enough jerseys so that we can hire a PP coach.
 
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I'm a bit curious to see whether Vellucci or Sullivan take up the PP responsibilities. If Sullivan picks it up, we'll finally be able to kill the "it's Rierden's fault the PP sucks" and put it firmly on Sullivan. But at the same time, I figure he'll probably delegate that to someone else and let them take the fire for it.
I know it's quite obvious a lot of you wankbuckets don't actually do research that is in any way meaningful and just whine about shit. But Mike Sullivan the year he took over from MJ, took the duties of running the powerplay. I suggest you go and f***ing look at how well that was and maybe see that it's a coach that thinks he knows best when he doesn't. Then go look at year 2 with Tocchet running the powerplay and how that faired.

Goaltending isn't the issue and it's comical the whinging in regards to it. The year before it was later known that Jarry had a severe injury that he tried to play through, Sullivan kept over playing him with that injury and then this year he played him into the ground and didn't use the back up properly and even then, Ned wasn't all that great when you breakdown his analytics and actual play. Sullivan literally adjusted Karlsson's game when he was playing well and turned him into a second guessing player that wasn't elite all of a sudden. Oct-Nov Karlsson was typical EK and elite. At some point late Nov, Sullivan "made adjustments" to his game.

Sullivan f***ing sucks.
System is absolute shit and Quinn is even worse at coaching one. All of the issues Quinn has had as a coach is what Sullivan would have if he didn't have Crosby, Guentzel, and Malkin or Tocchet telling him his idea is stupid and do this instead.

Also that troll account of praising Mike Sullivan is ridiculous and an idiotic shtick.
 

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