Toggle sidebar

Speculation: Penguins off day talk thread: Yes, Sully is still the coach

Status
Not open for further replies.
TimmyD said:
So they want something from Puljujarvi that he’s never really provided in his time as a pro… “anything offensively is a bonus.” He’s an offense first skill winger lol…
Click to expand...
He was supposed to be, but he's not.
This kid can really defend.
1702323765380.png
 
Time for a bunch of "Dubas sucks!" chants to break out at home games. Dubas is enough of a pantywaist to let that shake him up good.

And once he's shook up, he may actually start earning his salary by doing his job properly. Or he may curl up into a little ball and quit. Either way....
 
While I'm extraordinarily skeptical of Sullivan at the moment and I think Reirden should have been shown the door a month ago, I do appreciate the hesitancy about canning Sullivan concerning "suitable replacements".

I think there has to be interviews between Dubas (who has already, presumably, talked to the players) and the new coach candidates that center around philosophy and the system they intend to implement and whether or not it's a good fit for this team. I don't think just anyone can come in and coach this team in a way that would just be automatically better than Sullivan.

For example, Bruce Boudreau. BB has always run a very offensive system. One that opens the doors for offensive-minded guys to do what they do best. His results speak for themselves on that front. And while I would love to bring more offense to the table, you look at the results we've recently had with aggressive forecheck, offensive-minded systems...it's not good. We did a lot better playing a NZ support, counter-punch style. And that's largely because of the players we have. We don't have a bunch of young, speedy, gritty players anymore. We have a punch of middle and older-aged guys who don't have the jets and endurance anymore to play those styles.

So yeah, the coaching philosophy and results from implementing systems that are likely to work with this current group are important in our next coaching search. While I would not balk one bit of canning Sullivan, I do detect a bit of flippancy from this board on how easy they think it is to replace him. This isn't the forward group from 10 years ago that can overcome systematic shortcomings based on skill alone. They need the structure, they need a custom-fit system, and they need the accountability.
 
DesertedPenguin said:
No, it's called logic. A guy who has only been a head coach for the past two decades isn't going to take a part time assistant job.

He's either going to take one last head coaching gig or he's going to stick with broadcasting and quietly retire.
Click to expand...

And I have my own perception of logic: here is a guy who is in his twilight years and this might be an opportunity to parlay success (fixing a dreadful PP) into his next coaching gig. That might be with the Pens or another team.

I'm not sure how my presumption is any less "logical" than yours?
 
Buddy Bizarre said:
And I have my own perception of logic: here is a guy who is in his twilight years and this might be an opportunity to parlay success (fixing a dreadful PP) into his next coaching gig. That might be with the Pens or another team.

I'm not sure how my presumption is any less "logical" than yours?
Click to expand...
Boudreau's been on the market since January 2023. If he wanted to be an assistant, he had an entire offseason coaching carousel to take a job, including with cup contender.

All of the evidence suggests he's either done coaching or he's waiting for one last head coaching gig.
 
dubas obviously isnt ready to fire sullivan as a part of a pivot yet or he wouldve fired sullivan and pivoted already. that being the case its always amazing the number of people who are aghast when a gm doesnt completely trash their current coach like that is a sensible way of operating.
 
DesertedPenguin said:
Boudreau's been on the market since January 2023. If he wanted to be an assistant, he had an entire offseason coaching carousel to take a job, including with cup contender.

All of the evidence suggests he's either done coaching or he's waiting for one last head coaching gig.
Click to expand...

Or he's waiting for the opportunity HE wants. He's always spoken highly of Sid/Geno/etc.

Your "evidence" is conjecture, just like mine is and unless you have first hand info, we're a couple of dorks on a message board. The difference is that I don't insinuate my own assumptions as factual
 
  • Like
Reactions: BillPrep and AuroraBorealis
cookthebooks said:
dubas obviously isnt ready to fire sullivan as a part of a pivot yet or he wouldve fired sullivan and pivoted already. that being the case its always amazing the number of people who are aghast when a gm doesnt completely trash their current coach like that is a sensible way of operating.
Click to expand...
I think it's more that the statement of belief in Sullivan was so strong that it seems like firing him isn't even remotely a possibility.

I guess there's a possibility that this press conference represents the dreaded vote of confidence stuff that you see from other gms. Sometimes you get these kinds of statements and then (if there's still no improvement) the firing happens. That could happen here.

But...I don't get that vibe from the Dubas presser. I think they genuinely have no interest in firing Sullivan.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheGoldenJet, Andy99 and Buddy Bizarre
Pancakes said:
I think it's more that the statement of belief in Sullivan was so strong that it seems like firing him isn't even remotely a possibility.

I guess there's a problem that this press conference represents the dreaded vote of confidence stuff that you see from other gms. Sometimes you get these kinds of statements and then (if there's still no improvement) the firing happens. That could happen here.

But...I don't get that vibe from the Dubas presser. I think they genuinely have no interest in firing Sullivan.
Click to expand...
not giving your coach a vote of confidence is dumb though. if you arent confident in your coach they should be fired. when they lose your confidence you should fire them immediately. it shouldnt be a drawn out affair where you are giving press conference updates about how you are moving closer to firing them.
 
cookthebooks said:
dubas obviously isnt ready to fire sullivan as a part of a pivot yet or he wouldve fired sullivan and pivoted already. that being the case its always amazing the number of people who are aghast when a gm doesnt completely trash their current coach like that is a sensible way of operating.
Click to expand...

Eh I don't think anyone expects the GM to drag his coach/team in public but why should anyone be anything except extremely skeptical about any meaningful changes on the horizon when they have shown over and over that they'd rather just shrug and make a couple of empty and pointless roster moves? There is no evidence that even the assistants seats are warm and the powerplay is currently like 0 for a bajillion or whatever.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheGoldenJet and Buddy Bizarre
cookthebooks said:
dubas obviously isnt ready to fire sullivan as a part of a pivot yet or he wouldve fired sullivan and pivoted already. that being the case its always amazing the number of people who are aghast when a gm doesnt completely trash their current coach like that is a sensible way of operating.
Click to expand...
Just watched his presser. He talked about loving Sullivan's work when watching him daily. He said he expects him to be the coach now and far into the future.
Paraphrasing, but close enough.

---

Rust is out week-to-week apparently. Historically that means 28 days on average. Wish they'd just put him on LTIR for the relief.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheGoldenJet
cookthebooks said:
not giving your coach a vote of confidence is dumb though. if you arent confident in your coach they should be fired. when they lose your confidence you should fire them immediately. it shouldnt be a drawn out affair where you are giving press conference updates about how you are moving closer to firing them.
Click to expand...
A lot of teams give the whole vote of confidence before canning a coach if improvement doesn't happen. I don't know why, but it's a thing.

Maybe it's a message to the players as much as anything. A subtle "hey get going, or Sully is gonna pay the price" kinda deal.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Buddy Bizarre and cookthebooks
Pancakes said:
A lot of teams give the whole vote of confidence before canning a coach if improvement doesn't happen. I don't know why, but it's a thing.

Maybe it's a message to the players as much as anything. A subtle "hey get going, or Sully is gonna pay the price" kinda deal.
Click to expand...
a gm talking about potentially needing a pivot sooner rather than later seems like a huge message getting sent beyond the platitudes we hear about coaches before they get fired all the time
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pancakes
I'm all in favor of a change in the coaching ranks but anyone who thought Dubas was going to say anything other than what he said about the staff is missing reality. You don't call a press conference to criticize your coach. You either support him or you fire him, and since they weren't going to do the latter, this was the only route. You can argue that there is no point in even having a press conference, which is a fair comment, but there was no other way this was going to go today.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CascadiaPenguin, Buddy Bizarre and cookthebooks
Pancakes said:
A lot of teams give the whole vote of confidence before canning a coach if improvement doesn't happen. I don't know why, but it's a thing.

Maybe it's a message to the players as much as anything. A subtle "hey get going, or Sully is gonna pay the price" kinda deal.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Little to be gained by publicly skewering your HC.

-If they turn it around, you've soured the relationship
-If they don't turn it around, you can always say "We've done further evaluation and came to a conclusion a different direction had to be made"
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrBrightside and Pancakes
Buddy Bizarre said:
Agreed. Little to be gained by publicly skewering your HC.

-If they turn it around, you've soured the relationship
-If they don't turn it around, you can always say "We've done further evaluation and came to a conclusion a different direction had to be made"
Click to expand...
However, in this case the praise was so strong for Sully that I'm not sure his firing is going to come.

If anything I bet the Pens just start trading assets and then try again with Sully next year and that Dubas eats the L on this season.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BillPrep, Andy99 and AuroraBorealis
Seeing as how it's happened like maybe a dozen times throughout every pro sport I've watched in my lifetime... I really don't think anyone actually expected the GM to come out and go all Don Rickles on his coach. It's more like rolling our eyes about some pointless presser while the team flounders around with no plan in place outside of "let Todd have a thousandth crack at it. Maybe try splitting the units again... that's always super effective."
 
Sullivan isn't gonna be fired this season. That's what things boil down to. Dubas wasn't just supporting his coach, he was heaping praise and talking about him being here far into the future.
If a coach was genuinely on the hot seat right now, you don't say things like that.

They're going to pursue every other option before axing Sullivan.
We're basically f***ed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: akapidots, Tacitus Kilgore, Hell Yeah!!! and 3 others
Get Dubas a big red nose because he’s a f***ing clown.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom