Quality Post-Playoffs Article from Mike Colligan

[Avyran]

Some quotes...

It’s not pretty to look at, but consider this pathetic Eastern Conference Final performance:
- A powerplay unit that scores zero goals on 14 opportunities
- The team captain — one of the so-called “best players in the world” — is held without a point in four games
- A defense that allows one player to attempt 21 shots in a single game
- Outhit 142-105 and outshot 136-106 in the series
It’s no wonder the Boston Bruins swept the Pittsburgh Penguins in four straight games. Oh, and one more thing… Those were stats about Boston — not Pittsburgh.

As Shero weighs the decision to dismiss Bylsma on Wednesday, he’ll no doubt think about how Washington fired Bruce Boudreau two seasons ago. Boudreau led the Capitals to repeated regular season success but couldn’t exceed the lofty standards that had been set for the franchise. He was fired and quickly snatched up by Anaheim, and recently was nominated for the Jack Adams Award after reviving the Ducks from the ashes this season.

Bylsma would jump to the top of any list of coaching nominees around the league and it wouldn’t be unreasonable to envision him leading to Vancouver Canucks to dominance next year.

The biggest difference, however, between Bylsma and Boudreau (or John Tortorella) is that Bylsma still seems to have the full support of his players. Boudreau and Tortorella didn’t.

Each member of the Penguins was asked about Bylsma on Sunday. Their answers weren’t just “yes, we support the coach because he’s our coach.” They were enthusiastic endorsements.

Colligan's definitely one of my favorite Penguins writers at the moment (along with Seth Rorabaugh at emptynetters). Good post-series thoughts. BTW, this isn't a "Defend Bylsma" article (in my eyes, at least).

[TheGhostofGoulet]

While Boudreau did lead the Ducks to a playoff spot and the second seed out West, he once again failed to make a deep postseason run.

[Dr Rosenrosen]

Some of those player comments are what concerns me. Bylsma should be so far up Letang's @ss by now that he would never want to endorse him like that. Feeds the country club mentality theory.

[littlemoonboot]

What have those players done to deserve having a say in it? Under Bylsma's tenure, they've turned into a sloppy group of superstars that rely more on talent, less on work, and have no composure when things go wrong. But hey, I guess they support him. Good for them.

[pressure=9Pa]

Good article. Thanks for sharing.

[llipgh2]

If I remember correctly, the players all said the right things about MT. Until he was fired.

[Pavel Bure]

If I remember correctly, the players all said the right things about MT. Until he was fired.

Sykora did not. He said no one knew the game plan. Just chip it off the boards and nothing after that.

[Take the Body Shoot the Puck]

Although the player's openly endorsed HCDB, how often did they state that it was they who were failing to execute his coaching or apologize for failing him? Without hearing any of that, I buy those endorsements as lip service given as part of a politically correct interview. I'm not sure how many players will come out and say "I'm tired of playing for that guy, please save us from his horrible coaching".

[shmenguin]

i like colligan, but there is some silly stuff being thrown around there

The Penguins never held a lead against the Bruins. Scoring an early goal instead of allowing one in three out of four games may have revealed a very different dynamic in the series.

like it's some stroke of bad luck that they couldn't get an early goal and not simply that they were impotent on offense.

If Pittsburgh had scored at the league playoff average of 9.21 percent in their series against Boston, they would have finished with 13 goals instead of 2.

if pittsburgh would have gotten quality shots, maybe they could have approached that 9.21 percent. the shooting percentage was about right for the types of junk they were generally throwing at rask.

and a bonus quote from sutter...

If you look back on the series and if we had won a couple of those games no one would probably be talking about it

good grief. i can't believe a person with an adult brain said this.

[MRandall25]

The Bruins would immediately trap once they scored a goal. Not out of the question to think that it would've been different had the Pens scored a first goal/had a lead.

[shmenguin]

they only had about 45 minutes to do so in game 4. i guess that's not much time to mount a decent attack.

[DontToewsMeBro]

If I remember correctly, the players all said the right things about MT. Until he was fired.

Sykora did not. He said no one knew the game plan. Just chip it off the boards and nothing after that.

Did they look like they had a clue last week? No. Except it wasn't even "chip it off the boards", it was "flip the puck 50 feet in the air at their defense and hope it wasn't icing".

[TheGhostofGoulet]

If I remember correctly, the players all said the right things about MT. Until he was fired.

Sykora did not. He said no one knew the game plan. Just chip it off the boards and nothing after that.

Didn't Sykora also have some choice words about Bylsma after the former hit free agency?

[Great58]

[quote="Take the Body Shoot the Puck"]Although the player's openly endorsed HCDB, how often did they state that it was they who were failing to execute his coaching or apologize for failing him? Without hearing any of that, I buy those endorsements as lip service given as part of a politically correct interview. quote]
I thought Kunitz came out saying it was the player's fault for not executing. That for it to happen for a period or a game could be called bad bounces or bad luck but when it lasts all series it's on the players.

[MRandall25]

they only had about 45 minutes to do so in game 4. i guess that's not much time to mount a decent attack.

I believe he would've been referring to Games 1-3 where we gave up the 1st goal on the 1st shot twice and the first period all 3 games.

[shmenguin]

so it's not "what if we scored the first goal". it's "what if we weren't so impotent on both ends of the ice early in the game". chalk it up to bad luck i guess.

[llipgh2]

If I remember correctly, the players all said the right things about MT. Until he was fired.

Sykora did not. He said no one knew the game plan. Just chip it off the boards and nothing after that.

Didn't Sykora also have some choice words about Bylsma after the former hit free agency?

I remember his comments when he hit free agency. Don't remember the comment during.

[BurghersAndDogsSports]

Some quotes...

It’s not pretty to look at, but consider this pathetic Eastern Conference Final performance:
- A powerplay unit that scores zero goals on 14 opportunities
- The team captain — one of the so-called “best players in the world” — is held without a point in four games
- A defense that allows one player to attempt 21 shots in a single game
- Outhit 142-105 and outshot 136-106 in the series
It’s no wonder the Boston Bruins swept the Pittsburgh Penguins in four straight games. Oh, and one more thing… Those were stats about Boston — not Pittsburgh.

As Shero weighs the decision to dismiss Bylsma on Wednesday, he’ll no doubt think about how Washington fired Bruce Boudreau two seasons ago. Boudreau led the Capitals to repeated regular season success but couldn’t exceed the lofty standards that had been set for the franchise. He was fired and quickly snatched up by Anaheim, and recently was nominated for the Jack Adams Award after reviving the Ducks from the ashes this season.

Bylsma would jump to the top of any list of coaching nominees around the league and it wouldn’t be unreasonable to envision him leading to Vancouver Canucks to dominance next year.

The biggest difference, however, between Bylsma and Boudreau (or John Tortorella) is that Bylsma still seems to have the full support of his players. Boudreau and Tortorella didn’t.

Each member of the Penguins was asked about Bylsma on Sunday. Their answers weren’t just “yes, we support the coach because he’s our coach.” They were enthusiastic endorsements.

Colligan's definitely one of my favorite Penguins writers at the moment (along with Seth Rorabaugh at emptynetters). Good post-series thoughts. BTW, this isn't a "Defend Bylsma" article (in my eyes, at least).

Not a bad read but I really dont care but what people write about the stats or this or that. I watched the games. We had easy to defend shots from easy to defend places, we never got close to the goalie, we never controlled play in their zone and our bottom 3 d-men stunk so bad they barely played.

I have said all year. We are perimeter it showed to go along with our bottom lines who cant do anything but play slow defense - no push. The Bruins did nothing special, it actually shows how bad we actually played and not how much closer the series really was.

[pugilist13]

Look, Bylsma is a solid coach, players love to play for the guy. He had quite a bit of success here. However there comes a time when complacency takes hold. Players, like employees reach a comfort zone and fail to produce at the level they once have. Its human nature. As with most management they will be replaced. That time is now.

[PghSkins]

Look, Bylsma is a solid coach, players love to play for the guy. He had quite a bit of success here. However there comes a time when complacency takes hold. Players, like employees reach a comfort zone and fail to produce at the level they once have. Its human nature. As with most management they will be replaced. That time is now.

I guess this is as good an explanation as any for what I always wonder, as someone who never played more than intramurals- which is if you have a coach you love, whose job may well be on the line and the alternative will likely be someone who's not nearly as much of a "player's coach-" wouldn't you play your behind off for the guy?