News Article: Rutherford and Johnston are staying. Both of them.

[SEALBound]

How long after last years series did Mario wait to give Shero the boot? And give the interview? Give it time.

 

[FDBluth]

It's bad business to fire a new GM and coach after one season. It won't happen. Johnston wasn't terrible. Rutherford made some good moves. Despite what some of you think, a single trade involving bottom-pairing defensemen didn't break the Penguins. We'll see what happens this summer.

 

[UnderratedBrooks44]

It's bad business to fire a new GM and coach after one season. It won't happen. Johnston wasn't terrible. Rutherford made some good moves. Despite what some of you think, a single trade involving bottom-pairing defensemen didn't break the Penguins. We'll see what happens this summer.

If they fired Rutherford I wouldn't shed a tear. Despres is probably an extremely cheap #4 Dman we could've maybe gotten 10 more years out of. Completely moronic trade, not to labor the point

Also, botching the cap was inexcusable. Given that Botterill is supposedly in charge of that, based on that I think it proves they don't have anyone in their front office right now that's capable of being GM.

Just one of those mistakes I could've probably tolerated, but both? They should look for someone else IF there's anyone out there.

 

[Wolf Without a Howl]

If I'm not mistaken, I do remember in the days after being eliminated last year, Dejan reported that Bylsma would be staying. Just throwing that out there

 

[ColePens]

I wish I could say living and breathing this game since I was a kid has given me some great insight into what's wrong with this org, but the reality is its common sense.

For some inexplicable reason common sense isn't so common with this org. The owners said all of the right things, then the opposite happened.

Gets tiring.

Sadly, but realistically, that happens with a lot of companies, too. Actions must match words. Organizational culture 101. Common sense is greater than anything.

If anything our organization runs this place like a ****ing company. Not even a bad one. A good one. But as Jim Collins wrote in one of the best books I've ever read: "Good is the enemy of great." Pens are okay with selling tickets, being marketable, and being good. It's the enemy of what is holding them back from being great and a lot of it is ignored common sense.

 

[JTG]

It's bad business to fire a new GM and coach after one season. It won't happen. Johnston wasn't terrible. Rutherford made some good moves. Despite what some of you think, a single trade involving bottom-pairing defensemen didn't break the Penguins. We'll see what happens this summer.

I think believing it is bad business is the wrong way to go about things - especially with this team whose two best players are not spring chickens anymore. I like some moves JR made. I still like the Perron deal, the Cole deal, and the Lapierre deal. The Despres deal was bad, and the mismanagement of the cap at the end of the season was a ridiculous blunder. I'd call his 1st year in Pittsburgh a wash.

With that being said, it doesn't fall just on JR. Botterill has been called this cap genius for years, but it falls at his feet too. I'd personally like to see the whole front office - every single one of them - cleaned out.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about Johnston. A part of me believes in being a new coach, he was dealt a rough hand with all the injuries. I do believe he falls into a Bylsma mold, especially when it comes to Perron. Perron has come out and publicly said that when he is on his off wing, he needs to slow down. That is prime clue that you should never ever move him off his off wing.

I think Johnston's dislike of Downie is also unwarranted. He does stupid things, he needs to be controlled, and when he starts to get that crazy look, he needs to be sat. But in terms of a guy I didn't feel cheated by once this entire season - it was Steve Downie. The guy oozes heart, character, and passion. If he isn't brought back, I will be very disappointed. I think if you give him a real solid 3rd line center who is a big body that can make some room, Downie can be a 20 goal 3rd liner, and give you everything you want from a 3rd line winger.

I won't be heart broken either way, in regards to coaching and management. I'd definitely lean more towards cleaning everything out and starting over, especially if we can find a coach who can really put his stamp on this team, who is a grizzled veteran and has lead a collection of great players to success.

 

[ColePens]

It's bad business to fire a new GM and coach after one season. It won't happen. Johnston wasn't terrible. Rutherford made some good moves. Despite what some of you think, a single trade involving bottom-pairing defensemen didn't break the Penguins. We'll see what happens this summer.

Very rational thought, but I think the trade of that bottom pairing defensemen was the ultimate trust breaker among the fans. It sure as hell created a disconnect. Despres was a name that was brought out in discussion after DB/Shero era ended. Ownership talked about getting younger.

I think the fan base has a huge, and I mean huge, reason to be upset and frustrated. They were lied to and I think that trade gets the most talk because it was the final piece in a long and frustrating 6 years.

The fans accepted a lot of excuses over the years and trusted the organization would change. There wasn't just one ultimate moment where the team turned and went the other way. It was tons of decisions, over time, that led them to this point.

 

[Kristopher Letang]

Alright so I have to say that I'm proud of this team, I really am. For the first time in years I saw heart, which is amazing! I'm maybe in the minority but I think we lost because of the injuries not because of the trades or whatever (Despres isn't the only reason we lost and not even the biggest reason we lost). We did a good job playing a game that wasn't ours instead of doing like Bylsma and (getting to our game). MJ knew that our D wasn't going to do **** playing our system so we came back to the dump and chase (The only system that could work with that D that wasn't able to do the first pass with the lack of Letang,Maatta,Ehrhoff and Pouliot). We battled hard and we lost 2-1 to every game which is big for me because I thought we were going to get destroyed. I really think that without the D injuries we would have won this series.

Now that this has been said, I think that we can do wonders with this group if we dump the dead weight (The usual suspects). Can JR do it? Hmmm I don't know. But I really hope this team dump guys for draft picks/young players because this series showed to everyone who isn't blind that youth can play in the playoffs vs anyone. If they don't well .... lol?

 

[Joejosh999]

I hear ya Cole....but reading DK comments I think few to none fans even remember the details of that Mario-Burkle chat last year....we may be the only group that feels they've been lied to....everybody else is just lapping up the latest PR.
And THAT is what Morehouse is counting on, I'm certain.
Nobody even knows that they changed NOTHING but figureheads.
Our BK is doing yeoman's work, but go read the Comments. It's seriously depressing....

 

[orby]

as much as i think this team was mismanaged, it was a tightly contested five games in which a badly depleted pens team made a stacked president's trophy winner work for it. I think Rutherford or whoever is primarily responsible for the Despres trade and late-season cap fiasco should be canned but i understand the leeway they seem to be giving Johnston. This would have been a different series with a healthy Letang, Matta, Ehrhoff, and perhaps most importantly, Malkin.

 

[Darth Vitale]

I guess I'm still in the minority who thought the Ehrhoff deal was a good one for us. Who knows what happens to him this offseason, but had he been healthy, I think he would have helped a great deal.

I still don't have much of a problem with the Erhoff signing. I understand what happened at the end and we ran out of space but that's a 20/20 hindsight call. At the time it was a pretty reasonable deal for a very solid defenseman, without getting locked into a huge contract. I don't fault Rutherford for Erhoff. I do fault him for having zero balls and brains with the Despres move. He couldn't stand up to his lieutenants and say "that is a horrible move; I won't do it!" ****ing iditiotic and the reason people have (over time) labeled him as not a very good GM -- he randomly makes these moves sometimes that are incomprehensibly bad and not in character with the rest of his moves.

Did anyone catch the blurb that Lovejoy was on the ice for 10 of the 11 goals scored by the Rags?

I think I'd rather have Derek Engelland on D, and he's terrible.

HE NEEDS TO GO. Period. Just call it a loss and get him the F off this roster so someone better than him can contribute.

I'm calling it right now: Evgeni Malkin to Carolina for Jordan Staal.

and I thought I was a cynic. Holy ****. Even if both Staal brothers were included I wouldn't approve of that deal as a fan. Even I can't picture Rutherford being that dumb. That would be like a Double-Milbury... Malkin for J. Staal. Holy ****.

Shero was a good GM, but he failed miserably when his back was against the wall because he was too loyal to those he shouldn't have been.

This is basically true. Shero was a good GM on balance and I was not real happy to see him get the boot. Mario should've forced his hand to can the entire coaching staff, and then if he wanted to leave, fine. But his only real mistake was buying into Bylsma's ******** philosophy, which in turn caused him to pull a Rutherford and go sign Scuderi, etc. Shero did some good things on balance. He was just in denial about Bylsma's weaknesses as a coach and system. That's the owners's job to smack him upside the head and say "Hey Ray! Wake up! This **** isn't working. Time to take a new direction with your coaching staff and scouts. Or you can leave too -- your call."

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Sadly, but realistically, that happens with a lot of companies, too. Actions must match words. Organizational culture 101. Common sense is greater than anything.

If anything our organization runs this place like a ****ing company. Not even a bad one. A good one. But as Jim Collins wrote in one of the best books I've ever read: "Good is the enemy of great." Pens are okay with selling tickets, being marketable, and being good. It's the enemy of what is holding them back from being great and a lot of it is ignored common sense.

There is a distinct difference with a "company" like the Pens, however. Generally most businesses can be broken down into the product/service sectors, or both. Employees, in most cases, are interchangeable. Most people are just part of the cog. These employees can switch companies, retire, be laid off, etc and the co. line stays in the black, assuming its a well run org.

The Pens "brand" relies on Crosby and Malkin to push sales and meet their margins. So while the "company" may be happy with just being good, the two star employees have their own individual legacies to be concerned with.

If this org doesn't change it's ways and finally build around these guys properly, their "brand" will be playing for another team. And we both know how fast the bandwagon fans will fall off without their star power.

 

[Darth Vitale]

There is a distinct difference with a "company" like the Pens, however. Generally most businesses can be broken down into the product/service sectors, or both. Employees, in most cases, are interchangeable. Most people are just part of the cog. These employees can switch companies, retire, be laid off, etc and the co. line stays in the black, assuming its a well run org.

The Pens "brand" relies on Crosby and Malkin to push sales and meet their margins. So while the "company" may be happy with just being good, the two star employees have their own individual legacies to be concerned with.

If this org doesn't change it's ways and finally build around these guys properly, their "brand" will be playing for another team. And we both know how fast the bandwagon fans will fall off without their star power.

Correct on all counts. There are analogies to be made but none directly other than generally "good is the enemy of great."

 

[JQR]

There is a distinct difference with a "company" like the Pens, however. Generally most businesses can be broken down into the product/service sectors, or both. Employees, in most cases, are interchangeable. Most people are just part of the cog. These employees can switch companies, retire, be laid off, etc and the co. line stays in the black, assuming its a well run org.

The Pens "brand" relies on Crosby and Malkin to push sales and meet their margins. So while the "company" may be happy with just being good, the two star employees have their own individual legacies to be concerned with.

If this org doesn't change it's ways and finally build around these guys properly, their "brand" will be playing for another team. And we both know how fast the bandwagon fans will fall off without their star power.

If it reached that point you would be an idiot if you still supported the Penguins organization. I wouldn't fault anyone for jumping ship along with the star power.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

If it reached that point you would be an idiot if you still supported the Penguins organization. I wouldn't fault anyone for jumping ship along with the star power.

I'll always watch. I admit it.

The game is just in my blood and has been since I was a little kid. I've just learned it's only entertainment so I don't get too worked up anymore. I get annoyed and disappointed though.

 

[UnderratedBrooks44]

I'll always watch. I admit it.

The game is just in my blood and has been since I was a little kid. I've just learned it's only entertainment so I don't get too worked up anymore. I get annoyed and disappointed though.

I'll probably always watch but honestly they need to start figuring out how to open up the game. I used to miss no more than 5 games a year and usually it was around 2. After this year I won't shed a tear if I miss 15-20. Also, starting with that Kings game awhile back it's been difficult to justify to my girlfriend why we should block off an entire evening for what amounts to mediocre entertainment at best. (not that she complains because she's awesome in that way, but that's another story)

 

[Darth Vitale]

I'll always watch. I admit it.

The game is just in my blood and has been since I was a little kid. I've just learned it's only entertainment so I don't get too worked up anymore. I get annoyed and disappointed though.

I'll always watch too -- it may just be at a certain point the Pens organization pisses on me enough that I take my TV hours (of life that I'll never get back and want to enjoy) elsewhere. Started watching hockey because the Pens played it so much differently in the Lemieux Jagr era than did every other team. I thought we'd be back to that with Sid and Geno after the Firesale horrors and the end of Devil's hockey after the last lockout, and after watching Rico Fata and Ramzi Abid poop on this franchise.

But I'm not sure what's going to happen next. It's very easy to look at this team and see "marketing trumps all" and wonder if maybe this team is really built for neophyte fans ages 15-20, and not grumpy old guys like me who started watching in the 90s. Also I have to admit there's a part of me that relates heavily to teams like Minnesota and Winnipeg. Classic hockey environs with generally smaller market forces. Watching fans in Winnipeg during the playoffs... chills.

It's still part of the modern NHL and subject to the same disappointing trends but, I dunno.

Change my mind for the better Mario, change my mind for the better. If this **** keeps up I don't really see the point.

 

[cheesedanish87]

Morehouse conforming they will be back.

 

[Darth Vitale]

Not surprising about Johnston. Somewhat surprising re: Rutherford after the Lovejoy / Despres ****-show. At the very least I hope we get rid of some of the "extra chiefs". Because according to Rutherford, that trade was their baby if I understand correctly. He still bears responsibility for not saying "you're ****ing nuts, I'm overruling all of you" but still. Too many chiefs in this front office. Some with their heads still squarely up their ass, apparently. Bylsm-itis infection still not cured.

 

[JQR]

I'll always watch. I admit it.

The game is just in my blood and has been since I was a little kid. I've just learned it's only entertainment so I don't get too worked up anymore. I get annoyed and disappointed though.

I get that I guess. I dunno, if the Pens reached a point where they drove out both Malkin and Crosby, I'd definitely watch a lot less Pens hockey and a lot more of other teams, not even necessarily wherever those two went. In this hypothetical I can't imagine being anything less than completely livid and I can't imagine watching a Penguins game being enjoyable at all.

 

[billybudd]

Not surprising about Johnston. Somewhat surprising re: Rutherford after the Lovejoy / Despres ****-show. At the very least I hope we get rid of some of the "extra chiefs". Because according to Rutherford, that trade was their baby if I understand correctly. He still bears responsibility for not saying "you're ****ing nuts, I'm overruling all of you" but still. Too many chiefs in this front office. Some with their heads still squarely up their ass, apparently. Bylsm-itis infection still not cured.

I'm still not buying what Morehouse is selling. Not yet. Johnston might be tough to fire, after he got junk to at least hang with the President's trophy winner. I'm going to wait and see with JR. Morehouse saying he'll be back is meaningless to me.

 

[UnderratedBrooks44]

I'm still not buying what Morehouse is selling. Not yet. Johnston might be tough to fire, after he got junk to at least hang with the President's trophy winner. I'm going to wait and see with JR. Morehouse saying he'll be back is meaningless to me.

Yeah I mean it's a bad sign he said that but people need to stop getting so riled up over quotes. If they talk it over over the next week or two and decide in the end to fire JR, does anyone really think Morehouse will give a crap that he gave that quote? Come on. Plus everything is semantics with these interviews. Sure they can say they "have never given a thought" to firing him...........up to the point where Morehouse said that.

It's the same as the old "I'd love to come back and play here if I can", just more subtle.

 

[SEALBound]

If it reached that point you would be an idiot if you still supported the Penguins organization. I wouldn't fault anyone for jumping ship along with the star power.

Craig Adams. Craig Adams is my red line. They resign Craig Adams and I am gone. Never had to say that...ever...or even contemplate it...even during the dark ages. But nope, this is the line. If it's crossed I will move one. Likely to Anaheim or St. Louis. I like those rosters.

If they move a star, there better be a DAMN good return coming back. I just don't see it happening.

 

[IcedCapp]

No decisions have been made. None.

I don't know what DK is being told, and frankly, I don't care. There are things being discussed. No decisions will be made until the playoffs are over and some moving parts stop moving.

 

[Cherpak]

Morehouse conforming they will be back.

I know I shouldn't be pissed with this announcement but with a ****ing idiot like Morehouse running this clown show should we really be surprised?