Penguins fire Mike Johnston, Mike Sullivan named new head coach

[hatterson]

Is this Kessel's 4th head coach in 2015?

Yep, Just. Carlyle was fired in the first week of January.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Just hope Sullivan doesn't run your powerplay Pens fans...

*looks at roster*
*looks at power play stats*

He's been beaten to the punch.

 

[SJSharksfan39]

Can this mean Sidney Crosby can finally wake up and have like 2 goals a game? I know I'm asking for selfish reasons (Fantasy) but he's become kind of "yesterday's News" in this league. Kane is literally taken over as the best player in Hockey.

 

[radapex]

He hired Johnston.

Because everyone else passed on the position...

 

[SirPaste]

Why does Tocchet get to keep his job?

Teams gotta have a bookie

 

[Empoleon8771]

I see the Pens haters are in full force here. JR has overall been a positive for us, minus the Winnik and Despres trades and the Johnston hiring. Sullivan is an upgrade on what we have and has done a fantastic job with WBS. Johnston murdered the Pens offensively.

I wanted Boucher, but I'm fine with this too.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Watch Crosby win the Art Ross now

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

bad hire from the start...he was such a bland coach

 

[hockeykicker]

 

[Chukcha]

No god! No god, please, no, no, no! Nooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!

 

[featherhawk]

I thought they would hire Guy Boucher

 

[RSeen]

Um why is anyone citing Steve freaking Simmons? The guy has 0 credibility and to be quite frank is a hack.

 

[RSeen]

Lucky for the Devils the Pens passed on Hynes when they had the chance. Big mistake IMO.

 

[Shrimper]

Trust Simmons to be interested in that, guy is a hack.

 

[Pyrophorus]

good, i was afraid the leafs wouldnt get their first

I don't have confidence in him, but it was, and still maybe a sad possibility.

 

[nmbr_24]

Wow, and he had the same coach at least 2 of the 3 seasons he spent in Boston. This isn't his fault though.

 

[Kane One]

Good for Sullivan. Hopefully he gets someone else to run the PP though.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

Johnston will probably head back to Portland.

 

[KGL]

Steve Simmons is a grade A moron.

 

[featherhawk]

Good for Sullivan. Hopefully he gets someone else to run the PP though.

with the PP unit they have there should not be a need for a coach to mess with them, just let them play

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Of course Simmons would post that tweet. Everything is Kessel's fault.

 

[BruinLVGA]

I remember when he coached us for a couple of seasons...

 

[radapex]

That's the killer...the Penguins entered last season playing an up-tempo style and looked like they were legitimately having fun...and then fast forward a year and they're playing a system that you'd expect an expansion team with no skill to be running.

It takes talent to turn that much skill into a roster full of Blair Atcheynums.

It's the difference a trustworthy defense makes. Here are the D pairings they ran the first game of last season (based on TOI):

Martin - Letang
Ehrhoff - Scuderi
Maatta - Despres
(Scratched: Bortuzzo, Chorney)


And here are the D pairings they ran the first game of this season (based on TOI):

Cole - Letang
Scuderi - Lovejoy
Maatta - Dumoulin
(Scratched: Clendening, Erixon)

Keep in mind that Maatta missed most of last season with cancer and shoulder surgery. He hasn't been the same player this season, but has started to come around. But that's a HUGE drop off from Martin/Letang/Ehrhoff/Scuderi to Letang/Cole/Scuderi/Lovejoy. I have a hard time believing the latter are all on an NHL roster, let alone playing as a team's top 4.

 

[ottawa]

The Kessel effect....dudes been getting coaches fired since he stepped into the league.

 

[K Fleur]

Steve Simmons making sure Kessel's old hot dog vendor stays in business I see.