mikey's Thread of Penguin Randomness

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

I know I’ll get accused of being a fair weather fan but at this point I can’t really imagine spending 2.5+ hours of my life watching bad hockey

It used to be like crack cocaine on OLN. Even when the Red Wings were on the PK and played 4 corners to kill the entire Pens power play… Rico Fata… those were the days.

I became a Pens fan around 99-00 but growing up in NY I never really watched the Pens until the Sid days

I’m a big sports fan (at least, what I would consider big) but once my teams are effectively eliminated from the playoffs it really just becomes a box score checking exercise. I wouldn’t insult anyone who would continue to watch the Penguins but I can’t think of many worse ways to spend 3 hours of our short lives than watching the Pens lose in OT to a shitty Senators team

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

that said, my brother and I had planned to go to Pittsburgh for the Rags game on Saturday. So I have that going for me…dammit

[JC2]

I'm probably not gonna intensely watch every minute of every game right now, and I wish I could but...

[mikey]

I'm not soff. Winning doesn't feel nearly as rewarding if losing isn't in your vocabulary or tolerance. 2009 wouldn't have meant so much to me if I had quit on the team during Generation X.

It cheapens the winning experience.

[nocera]

I’m with mikey. Though this current losing streak has made the games feel more like background noise. Losing definitely makes the winning sweeter. And boy oh boy are we going to see a lot of losing before we see another win.

[JC2]

Not living in Pittsburgh, it was also a lot harder to just watch a game with Generation X. It was still a treat to watch the team when I got to, even though they sucked.

Now that I can literally watch every hockey game I want, perhaps it's best to cut that down to just the occasional game. (I mean, there's so much commercial time in the NFL, I'm usually doing chores during those games anyway).

[meecrofilm]

I wouldn't mind as much if they were still putting in effort, but if they can't be bothered to show up...

That said, will def be looking to score some cheap tix down the stretch.

[King Colby]

It's not that they're dogging it for 60 minutes, but they aren't putting in that extra 1% to make hard plays.

I get it, but it's painful to watch. They do still owe it to the paying customers to do that on occasion

[Morkle]

7% chance to make the playoffs, guys.

[NTP66]

7% is too high.

[dodint]

It was 3% on Saturday and they've only lost since, so...

[skullman80]

It was damn near 70 degrees here and sunny when the game started last night. We took a nice walk and I had the nhl score thing in a browser window on my phone to check periodically. No way I was going to waste 2+ hours of my night watching the current **** show of a roster try to score a goal.

I have next to zero interest in how this season ends other than how high of a draft pick they finish with. At least when I sat through the X-generation there was some semblance of hope coming. They sucked but they played hard. This current group of players have 1000% mailed it in at this point. I also probably thought that Fata, Koltsov, Tarnstrom, Murley etc were actually going to be good some day, but I was in my 20's and didn't have anything else to really care about in life.

There are too many other things in life to enjoy than watching bad hockey for two and a half hours though. Especially with the weather getting nicer. I'll check box scores here and there, and dodint about stuff on here because it's a habit. If all that makes me a bad fan then so be it.

[Gaucho]

Man, I'm down on this team right now. It's not the **** coaching.

[stonewizard51]

For me anyhow, watching the Pens is like seeing a major pileup on the interstate. It's not pleasant to see but you can't take your eyes off it. I must be a glutton for punishment.

[Trip McNeely]

Man, I'm down on this team right now. It's not the **** coaching.

See i disagree. The team has quit for sure but I just can’t understand how Sully continues next year with this team. This stretch is the nail in the coffin for me

[shoeshine boy]

See i disagree. The team has quit for sure but I just can’t understand how Sully continues next year with this team. This stretch is the nail in the coffin for me

they all know it's over. might as well let it all go to keep our first round pick away from San Jose. Sullivan's extension doesn't kick in until next season. dump him and you have to pay him $5.5m each year for the next 3 years.
I don't believe it's Sully as much as his assistants. he's got to dump Rierden in the Summer April 17, 2024 at 9:35 PM EDT

[mikey]

I will admit, it's disheartening to see effort guys like 87 and 58 really lacking in...all aspects...that's concerning. Now, slumps happen to everyone. They're not dumb, they see what's going down...I'm not going to weaponize an entire era, an entire generation against Sullivan. But I'm going to count some of this against him, this is a strike. Which isn't necessarily on him, per se. But sometimes you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. So that needs to be monitored.

Now, if we get some serious roster turnover...then, well, your voice really can't wear out with a new, excited team...but that's not exactly the most realistic thing in the world. But college coaches, junior coaches, etc. they can last forever because the player churn is baked in. I'm confident 87 and 58 can turn their lives around with a new exciting roster. I know they're down right now and it shows.

But if we end up with a new, competent roster (within reason) next year and we're really bad and disinterested through the first 20 or 25 games, then you probably want to start looking harder at the coach.

Sid is 1+8=9 | -13 in the last 12 games

-13 is the worst on the team by a lot considering the sample...
Letang is -9, Acciari is -8 playing 14 minutes, Eller and Joseph are -7.

Reilly Smith and Drew O'Connor are the only guys that have played the majority of that time and are a team-best E.

[skullman80]

Up until a week or so ago I was thinking of going to one last game this season. I figured get a Jagr bobblehead and maybe watch a win against the hapless Sharks. Just looked..cheapest ticket is 45$, Two tickets after fees are like $110, figure $20 for parking, $20 on some bad food, and the drive in and back....and it's just not worth it to watch this team be inept. I can buy the stupid bobble head after the fact for less than $140+ drive time.

It just all sucks....this team has just sucked the will out of me to want to watch them, let alone pay money to watch them.

[Gaucho]

Sometimes a coaching change is needed even when the coach is not the issue, I get that. Good coaches get canned all the time, it's just the nature of sports.

[nocera]

$20 for parking seems optimistic unless you’re planning on a decent walk across town.

[Morkle]

The only thing I am quasi tired of - is if this rumor of the Pens being really down after moving on from Jake.

Get over it, your poor play forced GMDBs moves.

[Trip McNeely]

My main issue with Sullivan is it very much seems like he has completely run out of answers.

You look at some of the teams he coached to great records had an insane amount of injuries. Some of those runs he went on with multiple AHLers getting call ups. Now, it seems he can’t coach them out of anything. Part of it is the stars are older, but again, they would have half decent records missing Letang and Sid or Malkin for large chunks of time. I mean, I watched his reactions last night, it’s like he’s completely over it too.

I go back to that comment EK made earlier in the year about the powerplay. I know he’s a little different in terms of how he comes across to the media, but he openly questioned the coaching of the powerplay. That to me is a big, big issue that really just went under the radar

[JC2]

That's pretty much what I said in the Fire Sully? thread.

Firing him now does nothing (it's too late), and he's getting paid next year anyway. Let Dubas work with the roster a bit more, and let Sully start the season. But if the same issues are happening, he's gotta go.

Edit: responding to mikey's post

[Morkle]

I really do believe that Crosby and Co. said they don't want to play for any other coach. There are times the group 100% looks like they're disinterested in playing winning hockey. That's a concern, and I don't think "country club atmosphere," but no other coach survives what's been going on.

No other coach has this poor of a track record the last 5 years, and misses the playoffs twice. Most of them don't even get this half year to survive.

[nocera]

I don’t see a world where Sullivan is not the head coach for 24-25.