Speculation: Who will be the next head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins?

[Tasty Biscuits]

Wouldn’t be against Malhotra. Seems like he did some good things for Matthews and Nylander.

Guessing if he coaches like he played there’d be an emphasis on speed, defense, the PK and faceoffs.

So.........early-Sullivan?

 

[Factorial]

Just peeked at HF Flyers and there appears to be universal disdain for the Tocchet hiring.

 

[3074326]

Just peeked at HF Flyers and there appears to be universal disdain for the Tocchet hiring.

Good

f*** em

 

[Jacob]

Whoa, Marc Savard got fat. Don’t want him.

 

[ThosePuckingPenguins]

Speaking of fat, what’s Bruce Boudreau up to these days? If we’re rebuilding, might as well make it fun.

 

[GilbertSeinfeld]

Whoa, Marc Savard got fat. Don’t want him.

He's stress eating.

 

[cheesymc]

I saw the Penguins had interest in Mitch Love. While scouring for young up and coming coaches he popped up. There’s some videos of him on YouTube. Seems like a serious, focused, and detailed oriented coach, and strong communicator so I was hoping the my Ducks would give him an interview if Carle declined. Unfortunately Verbeek pretended to “cast a wide net” and quickly offered an opportunity for redemption to his buddy Q.

 

[66-30-33]

I would have no issue with Mitch Love as the choice. But for my money, Todd Nelson deserves a HC gig more than anyone out there. Either would be fine. There are other options. Malhotra? I don't know. I guess it's OK.

As long as Dubas keeps looking outside the box, I am good.

Let's hire Nelson to coach the PP/forwards and Love for the PK and defense?

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I saw the Penguins had interest in Mitch Love. While scouring for young up and coming coaches he popped up. There’s some videos of him on YouTube. Seems like a serious, focused, and detailed oriented coach, and strong communicator so I was hoping the my Ducks would give him an interview if Carle declined. Unfortunately Verbeek pretended to “cast a wide net” and quickly offered an opportunity for redemption to his buddy Q.

 

[Pancakes]

So who does Yohe have puff articles queued up for now that Rick Tocchet is off the table?

 

[GilbertSeinfeld]

So who does Yohe have puff articles queued up for now that Rick Tocchet is off the table?

Mike Velucci or David Quinn.

 

[ThosePuckingPenguins]

So who does Yohe have puff articles queued up for now that Rick Tocchet is off the table?

Whoever gives him access.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

I would have no issue with Mitch Love as the choice. But for my money, Todd Nelson deserves a HC gig more than anyone out there. Either would be fine. There are other options. Malhotra? I don't know. I guess it's OK.

As long as Dubas keeps looking outside the box, I am good.

I've heard Todd Nelson does well in interviews but doesn't get hired because GMs are skeptical his super aggressive style will last in the NHL. Specifically, they think players will burn out mentally and not stick with it. It's different in the AHL, where the talent level is more varied and players are either desperate to prove themselves or desperate to stay in pro hockey.

They like it. They like his preparation. But they don't think they can win with it. And I think that he's now been painted as just an AHL coach.

Ken Holland raved about him. Holland had a chance to hire him in Edmonton in 2019. He hired Dave Tippett because Tippett had coached 1,000 NHL games.

‘Certainly, he’s ready’ — Are Todd Nelson and the Ducks a coaching fit?

Nelson, a Dallas Stars assistant, previously coached his AHL teams to the playoffs in seven consecutive seasons and won the Calder Cup.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I've heard Todd Nelson does well in interviews but doesn't get hired because GMs are skeptical his super aggressive style will last in the NHL. Specifically, they think players will burn out mentally and not stick with it. It's different in the AHL, where the talent level is more varied and players are either desperate to prove themselves or desperate to stay in pro hockey.

No, that's absolute bs mate, it's not what you think it is with his system.

Admittedly I am a fan of Nelson's and have been talking him up as well as blokes like Warsofsky, Carle, etc over the last few seasons. He's a coach that has his players all buy in, he is open to communication and criticism by his players and isn't one of those *cough* Sullivan *cough* shitty coach types that holds a grudge towards players that dare question something he wanted them to do.

I do like the idea of Mitch Love as an option as well and I know Jacob was quite vocal about him as a coaching option before Sullivan was fired. I am sure Dubas wants to speak to him when he can and judging by the way the Canes are playing the Caps, probably this weekend.

They like it. They like his preparation. But they don't think they can win with it. And I think that he's now been painted as just an AHL coach.

I don't think he is. The issue is he doesn't want to be an Assistant Coach in the NHL. He's stated that in an interview where he said he's done being the Assistant Coach that goes around to another opportunity only for them to choose some veteran coach that they think will help them win and so he goes to find another opportunity. I don't fault him for that, that's shitty to keep going around and not getting a fair shot. But if he was ok with being an AC again, he'd be back in the NHL immediately, you can't fault a bloke for wanting more and showing he could possible be someone that could offer more to teams as a coach.

Ken Holland raved about him. Holland had a chance to hire him in Edmonton in 2019. He hired Dave Tippett because Tippett had coached 1,000 NHL games.

‘Certainly, he’s ready’ — Are Todd Nelson and the Ducks a coaching fit?

Nelson, a Dallas Stars assistant, previously coached his AHL teams to the playoffs in seven consecutive seasons and won the Calder Cup.

www.nytimes.com

Holland came and took over the Oilers with the goal of making them a playoff team, there was no way Nelson was going to be on his radar vs a coach that had a long history in the NHL that had a ton of playoff experience. He canned McLellan and hired Tippett. By then Nelson was with Dallas as an Assistant Coach. If anything, he was f***ed over in Dallas as well, when Monty was fired for the booze fuelled incident in Dallas, they went with Bones instead as a coach over Nelson. Holland was quoted as saying he wanted a veteran coach, he was never giving any young coach a shot if a veteran coach was available.
------

You should check this out, he talks a lot about his coaching style, his thoughts on coaching, development, etc. He discusses how he makes game adjustments (you know, shit Sullivan was allergic AF to 9 times out of 10), I had it bookmarked last December just in case my wishes were granted and Sullivan was shitcanned, lol.



And this is a good read - Sunday Q and A: Todd Nelson and his "jam it down their throat" coaching philosophy (use the reader option in your browser or phone).
Because in that article, it addresses your "Aggressive system" claim.

Craig Custance: I heard your aggressive philosophy was one of the things that impressed the Coyotes most during your interview. How would you describe your philosophy as a coach?

Todd Nelson: “I think in this day and age, if you wait for something bad to happen it’s going to happen. Why not try to dictate play? That goes along with my system work, that goes along with my philosophy. I hate the term, ‘Let’s weather the storm.’ I hate that because you’re in a defensive mode versus ‘We fight fire with fire’ and we’re going to jam it down their throat. Over the course of a game or series you have to adjust tactics; I get that. Those are the adjustments you have to make. I want to force them to beat us. If I get beat, I don’t want to do it in a defensive mode. I want to go after them. If they beat us, I tip my hat to them.”

And also this from that article...

CC: What’s your forecheck?

TN: “It’s nothing revolutionary. A lot of people play 1-2-2 in the offensive zone, they’ll play a 1-2-2, 1-3-1 in the neutral zone. We do play that way. It depends on the team. I also play a 2-1-2 in the neutral zone and a 2-1-2 in the offensive zone. That’s more of an aggressive system. You can’t implement it unless you have total buy-in from the players. If you make a mistake, odd man rushes happen.”

CC: You’re comfortable with that higher risk?

TN: “Here’s the thing. People will tell me I couldn’t play that way in the NHL and I did it in Edmonton. I talked to the players, I asked them, ‘How do you feel about this?’ The players like it. They’re aggressive, they’re on their toes. It’s more of an up-tempo system. The whole philosophy is to create turnovers. When I was in Edmonton our defensive corps wasn’t as strong as other teams. I tried to create turnovers in the offensive zone and neutral zone rather than wait for them to dump the puck – then we had to break the puck out. My philosophy is, I like to create turnovers in the neutral zone and offensive zone so we have more offensive zone time, which will lead to more goals.”

This is why I call bs on that idea that teams balk from him for that philosophy and it burning the team out. It's not something he does unless he has total buy-in, so if it works he will do it, if it doesn't, he's already adjusted to something else. His only stint is with an absolute shit show Oilers team that almost botched Leon Draisaitl's career before it really began.

In any case, I think Dubas is definitely going to stick to his mid June plan if he really wants to talk to all the best candidates. So that's Assistant Coaches still coaching in the NHL and some of the AHL coaches still in the playoffs. I think Nelson, Love, etc are some that he would like to talk to as well, if he really wants to talk to all the best candidates that is.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

The thing about Nelson I really liked was that he got the most out of players because they really bought into his belief in them and they developed a lot under his guidance, especially at both ends of the rink (RNH for example). He has a long list of players that developed well under him in the AHL, etc. But in his time with the Oilers, he was the only coach that ever got anything remotely good out of Yakupov after that flash in the pan rookie season (Yakupov had 25pts in 50 games, he had 33pts total that year to put it into perspective - 8pts in 31 games before Eakins was fired), he also had RNH and Eberle thrive under his coaching as well as others.

In any case, I am all for hearing which names pop up for candidates, like: Love, Nelson, Graham (just for how he's helped the Stars prospects develop),

I hope they don't look into wankers like DJ Smith, Woodcroft, Bannister, Quinn, etc. According to Yohe, just because Bannister played for the Greyhounds when Dubas was f***ing 6yrs old, that must mean he really sees him as an option, also Bannister came over from Owen Sound as a coach for the Greyhounds a full year after Dubas left...lol. It's not that Bannister sucks, but he was literally hired by Armstrong to be there until they found a better coach, that was widely known by everyone and Army basically stated as much, I don't think you want to make the next coach of the Penguins next steps a coach that was never seen as a legit option and just a "you're here until the coach I want is available." The issue with Bannister is he has a no nonsense approach with star players but instead of coaching them through it, preaches the Torts/Sully method of benching them even when it doesn't make sense to, he basically Mike Johnston'd the shit out of that Blues team this season, everyone looked rough - even Thomas at times, all of their top players really got their game back on track with Monty. So to Bannister as an option? f*** that.


I laughed so hard at Yohe's shit article about how Sid, Geno, and Letang's feelings matter and how it would be for them to play for a young coach - what a dumb f***. They will play for a coach that Dubas hires no matter what, because for one, they do want to win and they know they weren't under Sullivan and they are smart enough to know the experience doesn't matter as much as the ideas making sense and working.

Will the Big Three be OK with playing for a 34-year-old with no NHL experience? I’m not sure about that. You might say it’s no big deal, but if a coach loses those three before the season even begins, that would be a massive problem for the Penguins in the short and long term.

What I’m hearing about Penguins’ first coaching search in a decade

The Penguins coaching search is expected to move slowly, but we're already hearing some whispers.

www.nytimes.com

PS - Yohe, the above...if those 3 players have an issue because of the coach's age, the issue isn't the coach, those 3 are. Johnston was fired because his coaching style was shit, it wasn't about experience, he had a style that he won with in Portland and he brought it to the NHL, he assumed it would work, it didn't. Ignorance isn't always about inexperience, Sullivan as experienced by the time he became absolutely ignorant to changes and his system as well as a lot of other shit. Hell by his own logic, if inexperience was such a problem, the Penguins wouldn't have wanted Sullivan to be the coach when MJ was fired and "the three" would have begged JR to hire a veteran coach. Like jesus you stupid wanker, how do you know the history of the team and still keep saying dumb shit. The 3 f***ing cups in the Crosby/Geno/Letang era are LITERALLY f***ING WON WITH INEXPERIENCED NHL COACHES (or as little as Sullivan's).

It's shocking that dumb twat like Yohe is still employed with the garbage he "reports" about.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Who cares if the core's feelings get hurt by playing for a younger coach? What an insane thing to actually care about.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Who cares if the core's feelings get hurt by playing for a younger coach? What an insane thing to actually care about.

Lol exactly. Like I don't even get who the audience is for that type of of shit comment. It's painting a very petulant and entitled behaviour for Sid, Geno, and Letang and no fan really cares to see that shit. So it's literally what a dipshit like Yohe thinks of them but tries to make it sound like they're so respected that even if you hired the best coach available that might not have experience, it would be disrespectful to those 3 because the bloke might be young......the f***?

 

[HandshakeLine]

Also, it's really more insulting to imply that Sid, Geno, and Letang (and of course Byran Rsut) care about such incredibly stupid things.

 

[plaidchuck]

I think a lot of this handwringing about what the core thinks about xyz coach or team decisions comes from the 90s where it was rumored Mario(beforr ownership) and Jagr had influence on coaching and personnel decisions. Then you had the rumors of the team “tuning” out Therrien and Johnston.

This has never shown in the attitudes or manners of the Sid era core but it’s always been fodder for the yinzer rumor mill.

 

[OtherThingsILike]

I think a lot of this handwringing about what the core thinks about xyz coach or team decisions comes from the 90s where it was rumored Mario(beforr ownership) and Jagr had influence on coaching and personnel decisions. Then you had the rumors of the team “tuning” out Therrien and Johnston.

This has never shown in the attitudes or manners of the Sid era core but it’s always been fodder for the yinzer rumor mill.

To be fair, I'm pretty sure Mario ignoring coaching he didn't like has been confirmed. Hence all of the coaching changes in the later part of his career.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Also, it's really more insulting to imply that Sid, Geno, and Letang (and of course Byran Rsut) care about such incredibly stupid things.

Well Bryan Rust is probably too butt hurt losing Sullivan, I am sure he will hop on some twitch feed and cry about it. That Sully glazing wankbucket, but to assume Sid, Malkin, and Letang would is just so f***ing weird. Crosby literally just said he gets why Sullivan was fired and that obviously losing as much as they have the last few years, someone would need to answer for it.

But they didn't whine when Bylsma was hired, they didn't when Johnston was hired and they definitely didn't with Sullivan, so where does he get that notion from? Like he is putting that bullshit out there himself for clicks.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

To be fair, I'm pretty sure Mario ignoring coaching he didn't like has been confirmed. Hence all of the coaching changes in the later part of his career.

Well under Mario and Jagr there was the issues with Constantine, Bowman, Hlinka, etc. So the country club jokes were more than just rumours with Mario.

But for Crosby and others, the only narrative of that sort of bullshit spun was by Yohe and Rossi. Remember when it was reported Sid was pissed at Bylsma or some bullshit? Crosby had to come out and say yeah that didn't happen, but that shit stain Yohe and Rossi would act like it did.

 

[plaidchuck]

To be fair, I'm pretty sure Mario ignoring coaching he didn't like has been confirmed. Hence all of the coaching changes in the later part of his career.

Yeah and I think a lot of these old heads assume Sid acts the same since Mario was his mentor. You even had posters here stating that the country club mentality persisted on the team with Sid. That all of course ended when the back to back cups happened.

We desperately need some new blood that recognizes that as great as they were overall, the Mario ownership days are over.

 

[Khelandros]

It's probably been a rough couple of days in the Sullivan household. If Poolparty can somehow get into the lineup tonight and score a couple, that just might push the Penguins into giving up on Sullivan.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

I've heard Todd Nelson does well in interviews but doesn't get hired because GMs are skeptical his super aggressive style will last in the NHL. Specifically, they think players will burn out mentally and not stick with it. It's different in the AHL, where the talent level is more varied and players are either desperate to prove themselves or desperate to stay in pro hockey.

They like it. They like his preparation. But they don't think they can win with it. And I think that he's now been painted as just an AHL coach.

Ken Holland raved about him. Holland had a chance to hire him in Edmonton in 2019. He hired Dave Tippett because Tippett had coached 1,000 NHL games.

‘Certainly, he’s ready’ — Are Todd Nelson and the Ducks a coaching fit?

Nelson, a Dallas Stars assistant, previously coached his AHL teams to the playoffs in seven consecutive seasons and won the Calder Cup.

www.nytimes.com

Well, two things:

- Clearly, Holland made the wrong call on Tippett.

- you are basically describing Rod Brind'Amour's style and system. It wins games in the regular season, but his teams usually run out of steam by the third round. Let's see if this year will be different.


I would like to think that teams are smarter than to NOT hire someone based on conjecture or hypotheses. But perhaps they are not. I am not saying Nelson is at the top of my wishlist, but his AHL Calder Cup playoff results are extremely hard to continue to ignore. I don't care why.