Random Penguins Fodder

[DelPen]

Gruden just called up. If Poulin ends up being scratched I would seriously consider being done with this team.

[KG]

Gruden just called up. If Poulin ends up being scratched I would seriously consider being done with this team.

Get ready for Carter and Gruden both in the lineup!

[pronovost19]

Hi. I just needed to post on page 66. That is all. Carry on smartly.

[pronovost19]

Past: Feeling sorry for Geno because he has bad wingers.

Present: Feeling sorry for the bad wingers because they have Geno.

[penny lane]

Hoping that like other older vets, an off year followed up by a great one for Evgeni.

Very happy, if allowed, with the victory the Canes did not clinch a playoff spot.

[Skatingpen]

Malkin is simply not working hard or trying. There is no excuse for his effort. Unless of course he is injured.

[FLPensFan]

Malkin is simply not working hard or trying. There is no excuse for his effort. Unless of course he is injured.

What if he's dying alive?

[KG]

Watching games like that is what infuriates fans. You let the kids play over some dried out slow vets and you get some energy in the lineup. Also the last 2/3 fighting for the playoffs are not great teams.

If we would have fired Sullivan mid-season, there is no way we wouldn't have had a better year, the power play would have improved and maybe the Jake trade doesn't happen (not that I am against it, but we wouldn't have traded him if we were in the playoffs).

It's frustrating to see a by-in-large not good Caps team potentially make the playoffs, same with Detroit and Philly.

This team should have been a playoff team this season. KD/FSG have shown too much loyalty to Sully and the core. This team can still contend for the playoffs next season if they bring in a new coach.

The bottom six should comprise of mostly kids. DOC-Eller-Puustinen and Ponomarev-Poulin-Puljujarvi type of lines. No more Harkins-Acciari-Carter bleh.

Find Sid his new Jake (or bring Jake back). But the key is to get Geno going. Playing him with Bunting and Rakell isn't good enough for him these days. He needs speed and play drivers. Or get a 2C and move Geno to wing. Have to find a way to move out Smith and Rakell and bring in some new fresh players.

Or see if Geno want's to move on, because he is not going to turn into the next Sergei Fedorov who turned his game into more of a defensive center as he aged.

[FLPensFan]

Watching games like that is what infuriates fans. You let the kids play over some dried out slow vets and you get some energy in the lineup. Also the last 2/3 fighting for the playoffs are not great teams.

If we would have fired Sullivan mid-season, there is no way we wouldn't have had a better year, the power play would have improved and maybe the Jake trade doesn't happen (not that I am against it, but we wouldn't have traded him if we were in the playoffs).

It's frustrating to see a by-in-large not good Caps team potentially make the playoffs, same with Detroit and Philly.

This team should have been a playoff team this season. KD/FSG have shown too much loyalty to Sully and the core. This team can still contend for the playoffs next season if they bring in a new coach.

The bottom six should comprise of mostly kids. DOC-Eller-Puustinen and Ponomarev-Poulin-Puljujarvi type of lines. No more Harkins-Acciari-Carter bleh.

Find Sid his new Jake (or bring Jake back). But the key is to get Geno going. Playing him with Bunting and Rakell isn't good enough for him these days. He needs speed and play drivers. Or get a 2C and move Geno to wing. Have to find a way to move out Smith and Rakell and bring in some new fresh players.

Or see if Geno want's to move on, because he is not going to turn into the next Sergei Fedorov who turned his game into more of a defensive center as he aged.

History is doomed to repeat itself. This is a repeat of Shero-Bylsma, only, Dubas didn't hire Sullivan and Dubas has just come on board. Shero's unwavering support for Bylsma, refusing to fire him when ownership was pretty much demanding it, cost Shero his job, as well as Bylsma.

[Three Stars]

History is doomed to repeat itself. This is a repeat of Shero-Bylsma, only, Dubas didn't hire Sullivan and Dubas has just come on board. Shero's unwavering support for Bylsma, refusing to fire him when ownership was pretty much demanding it, cost Shero his job, as well as Bylsma.

You have proof of that?

As you might recall, Bylsma was retained for a portion of the summer after Shero was fired. My reading suggests that they didn’t want him snapped up by a division rival.

“Shero reiterated his support for Bylsma.
“Dan is one of the top coaches in the NHL. His record speaks for itself. We fell short of our goal this year, and we’re all disappointed in that, but I believe—and our ownership believes—that Dan is the man to lead us into the future.”

Excerpt From
The Rise of the Pittsburgh Penguins 2009-2018
Rick Buker

[FLPensFan]

History is doomed to repeat itself. This is a repeat of Shero-Bylsma, only, Dubas didn't hire Sullivan and Dubas has just come on board. Shero's unwavering support for Bylsma, refusing to fire him when ownership was pretty much demanding it, cost Shero his job, as well as Bylsma.

You have proof of that?

As you might recall, Bylsma was retained for a portion of the summer after Shero was fired. My reading suggests that they didn’t want him snapped up by a division rival.

“Shero reiterated his support for Bylsma.
“Dan is one of the top coaches in the NHL. His record speaks for itself. We fell short of our goal this year, and we’re all disappointed in that, but I believe—and our ownership believes—that Dan is the man to lead us into the future.”

Excerpt From
The Rise of the Pittsburgh Penguins 2009-2018
Rick Buker

I'll have to do some digging, but I thought it was widely reported within the 6 months to a year after both were gone that ownership/upper management soured on Bylsma, and Shero would not let him go.

Source 1: Pensburgh summary of Lemieux/Burkle interview...Sounded like the owners really wanted to fire Dan Bylsma last year, but Shero stuck his neck out for his coach and a compromise ended up being adding veteran coach Jacques Martin (a friend of Lemieux's) to the bench.

https://www.pensburgh.com/2014/5/16/572 ... k-penguins

Source 2: Rob Rossi, before Shero was actually fired...Ownership is not happy with a perceived lack of accountability, overall team toughness and poor drafts, the sources said.

No decision on Shero had been made as of Wednesday, but ownership favored terminating Bylsma, the sources said.

https://archive.triblive.com/sports/pen ... -on-shero/

I'm sure there are more, but that's what I found in a quick 10 second search.

[Antonio]

Sounds like a broken record here. Like history is playing out all over again...those who don't learn from history....

One of the top coaches in the NHL....indeed. Just like Bylsma, I could see Sullivan being in the trash heap of garbage coaches where he belongs within a few years of his gravy train here ending, just like glorious Cup winning awesome coach Dan Bylsma.

[Three Stars]

So, it would be better to say that ownership was willing to listen to their GM when it came to coach decisions, but also added a coach as a compromise. Shero did not stamp his foot and refuse. Shero also recognized that he would be the one to face the music for that compromise if it didn’t work out.

Context matters.

[Skatingpen]

Malkin is simply not working hard or trying. There is no excuse for his effort. Unless of course he is injured.

What if he's dying alive?

That just gave me a shiver down my spine

[FLPensFan]

So, it would be better to say that ownership was willing to listen to their GM when it came to coach decisions, but also added a coach as a compromise. Shero did not stamp his foot and refuse. Shero also recognized that he would be the one to face the music for that compromise if it didn’t work out.

Context matters.

No, it really wouldn't be better to say that. Everything I recall reading was that things got messy towards the end, on coaching, drafting, and a lot of other stuff. Just because I can't find the exact quotes 10 years later doesn't mean it didn't happen. Lemieux and Burkle wanted Bylsma gone. Shero stuck his neck out to save him, and when the Penguins flopped in the playoffs, Shero got chopped...with Bylsma soon after.

Just because it doesn't come out directly in an article doesn't mean it doesn't happen. It usually means "sources" have to be protected, etc.

[Three Stars]

So, it would be better to say that ownership was willing to listen to their GM when it came to coach decisions, but also added a coach as a compromise. Shero did not stamp his foot and refuse. Shero also recognized that he would be the one to face the music for that compromise if it didn’t work out.

Context matters.

No, it really wouldn't be better to say that. Everything I recall reading was that things got messy towards the end, on coaching, drafting, and a lot of other stuff. Just because I can't find the exact quotes 10 years later doesn't mean it didn't happen. Lemieux and Burkle wanted Bylsma gone. Shero stuck his neck out to save him, and when the Penguins flopped in the playoffs, Shero got chopped...with Bylsma soon after.

Just because it doesn't come out directly in an article doesn't mean it doesn't happen. It usually means "sources" have to be protected, etc.

I mean, it's right there in the link you posted.

Burkle: Yes. And Ray made a strong argument for what he wanted to do, for the continuity he wanted, for extending the contracts, all the stuff you know about. I think the piece that was added, really by Mario, and that was embraced by Ray was to bring the other coach in and change the ability to adapt to situations. And if you look back at that today, in some ways, I wish we hadn’t made that bet. Because that’s another year. So if we’re disappointed, it’s that we lost a year to the change that we should have made already.

So...it would be better to say that ownership was willing to listen to their GM when it came to coach decisions, but also added a coach as a compromise. Shero did not stamp his foot and refuse. Shero also recognized that he would be the one to face the music for that compromise if it didn’t work out.

Shero confided to his family that he'd be fired if the Penguins lost the series. Now his worst fears were realized.

"After Game 7, we were in the wives' room...and there were a lot of tears," he recalled. "They knew things were going to change, and that was the end."

"I went down to see Dan and he just said 'I'm sorry.' I said, 'Dan, there's nothing to be sorry about. It's incredibly disappointing, obviously, but you know and I know that things are changing.' A few days later, that was it."

Also from the Rick Buker book.

[largegarlic]

Watching games like that is what infuriates fans. You let the kids play over some dried out slow vets and you get some energy in the lineup. Also the last 2/3 fighting for the playoffs are not great teams.

If we would have fired Sullivan mid-season, there is no way we wouldn't have had a better year, the power play would have improved and maybe the Jake trade doesn't happen (not that I am against it, but we wouldn't have traded him if we were in the playoffs).

It's frustrating to see a by-in-large not good Caps team potentially make the playoffs, same with Detroit and Philly.

This team should have been a playoff team this season. KD/FSG have shown too much loyalty to Sully and the core. This team can still contend for the playoffs next season if they bring in a new coach.

The bottom six should comprise of mostly kids. DOC-Eller-Puustinen and Ponomarev-Poulin-Puljujarvi type of lines. No more Harkins-Acciari-Carter bleh.

Find Sid his new Jake (or bring Jake back). But the key is to get Geno going. Playing him with Bunting and Rakell isn't good enough for him these days. He needs speed and play drivers. Or get a 2C and move Geno to wing. Have to find a way to move out Smith and Rakell and bring in some new fresh players.

Or see if Geno want's to move on, because he is not going to turn into the next Sergei Fedorov who turned his game into more of a defensive center as he aged.

I totally agree. On paper this team, despite all of its flaws, has more talent than Philly and Washington. It's nuts to me that Dubas went out and got Karlsson, signaling he was all in on competing this year, but wouldn't fire Sullivan in December/January when things were starting to look bad.

[largegarlic]

Malkin is simply not working hard or trying. There is no excuse for his effort. Unless of course he is injured.

I do remember that the first practice after the All-Star break, Malkin was given the day off for a maintenance day, and someone here pointed out that that makes it seem like he's nursing some chronic injury. On the one hand, it would be comforting to think that he is injured and could heal up for next season. On the other hand (speaking from experience), getting old is basically having chronic injuries that you're living with on a daily basis, and maybe Malkin is just reaching that point where he can't do it physically anymore.

[Antonio]

Malkin is simply not working hard or trying. There is no excuse for his effort. Unless of course he is injured.

What if he's dying alive?

Then trade him for Kris beech et al

[Tico Rick]

Malkin is simply not working hard or trying. There is no excuse for his effort. Unless of course he is injured.

What if he's dying alive?

Then trade him for Kris beech et al

I think the only place Malkin would accept a trade to is Florida, and I'm not sure why they'd want him.

[pens_CT]

Malkin is simply not working hard or trying. There is no excuse for his effort. Unless of course he is injured.

What if he's dying alive?

Then trade him for Kris beech et al

I think the only place Malkin would accept a trade to is Florida, and I'm not sure why they'd want him.

If you could move Malkin magically off the roster, who would be his replacement? Do you think you could trade for a 2C? If so I think you're dreaming. Free agency (Elias Lindholm)? That would be a gamble based on the amount of money he probably wants. Bottom line is you're probably going to have to draft him which means getting in the top 5 of the draft.

[thehockeyguru]

Malkin looks like an all star compared to Rakell

[pens_CT]

Malkin looks like an all star compared to Rakell

Malkin needs to modify his game and realize that he's 37. Unfortunately he's too stubborn to change. Rakell needs to be moved, however coming off this season, good luck in moving him.

[Three Stars]

The greatest trick the devil Rakell ever pulled was convincing the world Penguins that his scoring touch existed. He had two good years in Anaheim. That’s it. The rest has been an inconsistent puddle of meh.

[thehockeyguru]

Malkin looks like an all star compared to Rakell

Malkin needs to modify his game and realize that he's 37. Unfortunately he's too stubborn to change. Rakell needs to be moved, however coming off this season, good luck in moving him.

People were saying the same about Rust at the end of last season. Sometimes guys have down years.