Confirmed with Link: Penguins and Mike Sullivan part ways

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Every player in the Rags system under the age of 31:

The thought of Sullivan and Torts red-faced screaming at 26 year old Adam Fox because they think he's basically fresh out of Harvard is kinda hilarious.

 

[cygnus47]

The thought of Sullivan and Torts red-faced screaming at 26 year old Adam Fox because they think he's basically fresh out of Harvard is kinda hilarious.

I don't care if you scored! Real players don't dipsy-doodle through the neutral zone!!

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I don't care if you scored! Real players don't dipsy-doodle through the neutral zone!!

"Listen Adam not to worry... I'M going to fix your game. It went great for Erik Karlsson and it's gonna go great for you, rook."

"Coach I've been in the league for six seasons I think..."

"CAN'T HEAR YOU TOO BUSY BEING A MISUNDERSTOOD GENIUS"

 

[ZorkEnchanter]

Dubas's plan is coming to fruition... Rust to NY Rangers for (2) 1st Rounders, (2) 2nd Rounders

 

[cygnus47]

"Listen Adam not to worry... I'M going to fix your game. It went great for Erik Karlsson and it's gonna go great for you, rook."

"Coach I've been in the league for six seasons I think..."

"CAN'T HEAR YOU TOO BUSY BEING A MISUNDERSTOOD GENIUS"

"You made THREE risky plays on that shift"
"They all worked and we almost scored"
"THREE RISKY PLAYS!!"

 

[Turin]

You guys who think NYR aren’t going to
Improve at all are setting yourselves up for serious disappointment imo

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

"You made THREE risky plays on that shift"
"They all worked and we almost scored"
"THREE RISKY PLAYS!!"

"You just can't be trusted and need to be coached up... not that I'll actually be doing that. But as a result of your negligence I'm taking away your linemates that compliment you, yanking you off the powerplay and am gonna talk a buncha shit on you after every game to the press. Trust me this is the thing to do... it worked great for the last guy."

 

[ThosePuckingPenguins]

You guys who think NYR aren’t going to
Improve at all are setting yourselves up for serious disappointment imo

They probably will but I mean, the vibes there are rancid. Dolan wants to be more involved as owner which is never good, Drury is a mess, their second best player is being accused of sexually assaulting an employee and there was a ton of internal drama last year.

I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they make the playoffs last year but I’m not sure how much Sullivan squeeze out of that roster.

 

[cygnus47]

They probably will but I mean, the vibes there are rancid. Dolan wants to be more involved as owner which is never good, Drury is a mess, their second best player is being accused of sexually assaulting an employee and there was a ton of internal drama last year.

I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they make the playoffs last year but I’m not sure how much Sullivan squeeze out of that roster.

They don't have the footspeed for his 2016 system so he'll be implementing what he did here after 2017. They're gonna suck.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Yeah but he'll adjust to their players. He did that all the time, here.

He just needs to whip up a new system for them smart-quick. He's known for that, too.

 

[Empoleon8771]

You guys who think NYR aren’t going to
Improve at all are setting yourselves up for serious disappointment imo

I think the Rangers will definitely improve but I also don't think they really have the horses to run Sullivan's system.

Their forward group isn't all that fast and their defense doesn't have any good puck movers beyond Fox. They're not really set up well as a team to run the kind of system Sullivan wants to run. I definitely think guys like Trocheck, Miller, Fox and Kreider fit Sullivan's system super well, but a lot of the roster doesn't fit it that well.

The coaching change alone will spark them into improving IMO, but I don't think the roster they have is really set up to win even with adding Sullivan. Their defense looks especially bad for a Sullivan system IMO.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

The real question there Emp is what defense IS good for Mike Sullivan?

 

[Empoleon8771]

The real question there Emp is what defense IS good for Mike Sullivan?

A lot of good skating puck movers who can move the puck quickly to forwards. Basically what the Penguins had on defense before Hextall took a hatchet to it in the name of getting more physical.

Their defense right now is Fox, Miller (who kinda sucks and is probably a cap casualty), Schneider, Borgen, Soucy and Vaakanainen. It's really devoid of actual puck moving talent after Fox.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

A lot of good skating puck movers who can move the puck quickly to forwards. Basically what the Penguins had on defense before Hextall took a hatchet to it in the name of getting more physical.

So to clarify the defense that we all kinda hated and were generally happy with having changed?

I'm not being a dick here... you aren't wrong. I just think at least tactically that Mike Sullivan is an utter goofbag and have no idea why anyone especially here would think he's going to be successful beyond the usual new-coach-smell bump. It feels like he got every single possible model of defense in his time here and none of them looked great unless he had unsustainably incredible goaltending.

But hey... Igor, right? So hey maybe I'm way off base and he can pull another rabbit.

EDIT: Either way I think I'm belaboring the point... we get it, McHurt. Maybe I should be careful what I wish for but the idea of him and Torts coaching NYR is enough for me to be happy haha

 

[ZorkEnchanter]

If the Rangers are paying attention... just give us your Draft Pick... that MF'er ain't playing for years ....

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Thank f*** we no longer have to hear about “sticktoitiveness”, amirite!!!

 

[HandshakeLine]

Dubas's plan is coming to fruition... Rust to NY Rangers for (2) 1st Rounders, (2) 2nd Rounders

If Dubas does this almost all is forgiven.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I said almost.

 

[Pens1566]

You guys who think NYR aren’t going to
Improve at all are setting yourselves up for serious disappointment imo

Eh, I'm not so sure. I'm not super convinced that Sully is actually that good of a coach. He hasn't shown that he can adapt to his players instead of forcing them into his preconceived roles/responsibilities.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Since I aggressively refuse to follow any NHL team that isn't us, if NYR improves or whatever, it makes no difference to me. I simply do not care that they exist, unless we are playing them at that very moment.

I pretty much feel the same way about every band that came out of NYC post-1980, coincidentally enough.

 

[Jared Grayden]

Since I aggressively refuse to follow any NHL team that isn't us, if NYR improves or whatever, it makes no difference to me. I simply do not care that they exist, unless we are playing them at that very moment.

I pretty much feel the same way about every band that came out of NYC post-1980, coincidentally enough.

I think the 1st round pick is the primary concern. If that gets conveyed this year most will be indifferent to the Rags next year.

 

[JTG]

I haven't been paying close enough attention this season, but we DO have the Rags 1st right?

It took some balls for Sullivan, who was only interim coach and I think lost his first 4 games? To go to JR and say “I need these types of players in order to play the way we need to play.” Then a couple trades and a couple call ups and we went from a boring bland no-identity team to one of the fastest and most aggressive teams in the league. We were kind of a juggernaut for a stretch. You know you’re good when you win a Cup entirely without your #1 D.

I don't read hockey discussion much here any longer, but I'll always stand by Sullivan being a really good coach. He had that team running at Red Army levels of discipline in the Cup years with guys making top money in the NHL and he hadn't won shit.

Those teams were interesting because a lot of guys got their flowers - Shero and his drafting was a big one. JR still had the ability to tweak a roster. Sully was coming into his own as a coach. Only person who really looked like a tit was Bylsma.

I fully understand the Rangers signing Sullivan, but hiring Tortorella as an assistant makes no sense to me.

1. He failed as head coach there before.
2. Dude is like 70 years old.
3. He's coming off a shitty tenure with the Flyers.
4. He hasn't been an assistant coach since at least 2000

They are best friends. Torts is f***ing old and can't HC again - and they probably won't let him HC in NY. Sully is the mouth. Torts is the discipline.

 

[Jacob]

I haven't been paying close enough attention this season, but we DO have the Rags 1st right?

Probably not. They can decide if they want to give it to us instead of next year's. But clearly they want to be better next year so they'll probably keep it.

 

[HandshakeLine]

They are best friends. Torts is f***ing old and can't HC again - and they probably won't let him HC in NY. Sully is the mouth. Torts is the discipline.

They are the same f***ing coach.

 

[JTG]

They are the same f***ing coach.

Over the last 3 years...agreed.