King'sPawn
Enjoy the chaos
- Jul 1, 2003
- 23,166
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Sounds like a good move for the Penguins. His biggest obstacle will be teaching the D to activate effectively, if he wants to call himself a "pace" coach.
Penguins fire Mike Johnston, Mike Sullivan named new head coach
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He got the team to 8th, and made them competitive vs the Rangers despite a really bad injury situation.
The difference between being in and out of a playoff spot this year, is Crosby and Malkin actually trying in the shootout last night.
Bumps will happen along the way. A team that is routing everyone after 30 games usually runs out of steam and doesn't win it all.
Face it, he was never given a fair one.
aufheben
#Norris4Fox
People seriously trying to put this on Crosby? Crosby hate is so 5 years ago.
Johnston did nothing with a talented roster, despite whatever deficiencies they may have.
Johnston did nothing with a talented roster, despite whatever deficiencies they may have.
Dipsy Doodle
Rent A Barn
- May 28, 2006
- 77,089
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You're just a slave to your fantasy stats. There's no correlation between your "standings" and wins and losses.
Addison Rae
Registered User
Dipsy Doodle
Rent A Barn
- May 28, 2006
- 77,089
- 21,868
"Got the team to 8th"? That's supposed to be an achievement?
This is a team that finished 2nd in the conference in '13-'14 with injuries at least as bad as what MJ dealt with. This year there were no significant injuries and lo and behold, the team is still on the playoff bubble.
K Fleur
Sacrifice
- Mar 28, 2014
- 15,973
- 27,010
34th highest winning percentage all time!
All Time!!
You're just a "fantasy stat watcher".
When Evgeni Malkin has to impersonate Mario Lemieux just to be as productive as Kane or Benn or Seguin, it's not exactly what I'd call a case of a coach setting up his players to succeed . . .
Ziggy Stardust
Master Debater
Who the hell was responsible for the Rutherford hiring anyway? His antiquated methods haven't done the organization any favors, unless it was their goal to assemble an underachieving squad.
I think Johnston was the wrong hire for the Pens right off the bat but so was Rutherford. To me, Rutherford seemed like a stop gap measure that should have been addressed ages ago. I think his mix of players is an issue for the Pens and now Sullivan seems like yet another stop gap measure.
The finger is now squarely pointed on both Rutherford and the players.
Time will tell how they react.
The finger is now squarely pointed on both Rutherford and the players.
Time will tell how they react.
Empoleon8771
Registered User
Which would I prefer, 150 point Crosby/Malkin and a playoff miss or 50 point Crosby/Malkin and a playoff miss? Such a tough decision.
MJ sucks, it's hilarious that you're trying to argue otherwise.
Frankly, I couldn't even begin to explain how disfunctional the Penguins organization is.
aufheben
#Norris4Fox
Multiple times in this thread I've seen the proposed implication that Crosby scoring a lot somehow hurts the Penguins, while simultaneously blaming the Penguins' troubles on Crosby not scoring.
Penguins were not missing the playoffs under MJ this year.
But I'm arguing with the guy who created a will the Pens miss the playoffs poll after under 30 games played!!
MJ is a SC caliber coach. Hard to show that when he is fired before his 2nd playoffs.
FLYLine27*
BUCH
I disagree. I can't see any other team jumping to make him a HC. This guy has the look, talk and walk of a career assistant NHL coach.
Icarium
Registered User
- Feb 16, 2010
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Yes, it's all the stat watchers' fault somehow. That must be the most hilarious thing I have heard in a while.
And nice try dreaming up some "a good amount fans" who would be okay if their team didn't make the playoffs and calling them. If they are fans more of some star player than of the team why the hell should the management of the team pander to them? Even the Pens management isn't quite as inept, if for nothing else because this kind of fans are a tiny, tiny minority.
I was wrong - this is the funniest thing I have read in a while not your previous post above. My apologies.
At the end of the day that Johnston is a guy who thought everyone else was wrong and running an ultra-defensive system on a team with stacked offence and suspect defence would somehow do the trick. And what do you know - he was wrong and everyone else was right! Shocking development, I know.
Empoleon8771
Registered User
Yet they're not in a playoff spot, that's the part you're conveniently ignoring. And that was with a mostly healthy team they were out of a playoff spot.
Lol at the last part. You can't seriously believe that crap.
The hilarious thing is that people are saying "The Pens fired Johnston because of Crosby's low point totals" as an insult, as if Crosby (and the team as a whole) not scoring wasn't the reason they're not in a playoff spot right now.
How admitting how reactionary the action actually was, and how Johnston was never given a fair chance.
If Crosby and Malkin convert their shootout attempts, this is not a thread! But somehow that isn't reactionary? LOL
Deep inside the stat watchers hated Johnston. That was evidenced by the repeated bashing he got on here when the Pens won 7 in a row. "It is luck" "It is a fluke" etc.
Never giving him the credit he deserves.
No, I'm saying how ridiculous you are for suggesting being 9th place and out of a playoff spot by 1 point with 54 GP left is an ABSOLUTE NON PLAYOFF TEAM.
Absolutely. Had they kept Johnston, I'd see them as a very strong contender, perhaps winning this year.
Kings when they won, won by suffocating teams, and boring defensive hockey. Why else do you think Sutter gave Johnston credit? He saw himself in him.
Empoleon8771
Registered User
Okay, I'm going to lay this out nice and easy for you. Look at the standings right now. Look at the goal totals for the Penguins. People hated Johnston because he completely neutered the Pens offensively, which surprisingly enough, caused the Penguins to become a significantly worse team. They were a fringe playoff team last year, barely squeaking in as the #8 seed on the last day of the season, and they're out of the playoff picture right now. That is why MJ got fired and why people hated MJ. MJ's neutering of Crosby and Malkin KILLED the Penguins. Pens fans weren't saying MJ needed fired because of their fantasy teams, they were saying MJ needed fired because he was literally killing the Penguins. That's the reality of the situation. If you think otherwise, you're wrong.
Where did I say they were an "absolute non playoff team"? Nice job reading.
Look at the Penguins record in the past year. They've been a .500 team since their completely unsustainable start to last year. Oddly enough, the only time that this team wasn't a mediocre fringe playoff team or worse was when MJ first got here and actually allowed his offensive players to perform. The Pens were winning NOTHING with MJ this year. He was a crappy coach that was horribly unqualified to being a NHL coach. And surprisingly enough, the team felt the same way.
The Kings and the Pens comparison is hilarious. The Kings actually win by playing defensive systems. Their best players don't get neutered completely when playing a defensive system like Crosby and Malkin do. That's due to their play styles. There is no way in hell a team with Crosby, Malkin, Kessel and Letang should have been playing like the LA Kings. That's another black eye on Johnston.
Syckle78
Registered User
I still don't get why the pens didn't end up being in on Babcock. We kept hearing over and over they were linked to him the year prior to his contract being up in Detroit. Then as his final season wrapped up and he actually became available we heard nothing about the pens being involved in going after him. Seems odd to me.
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