mikey's Thread of Penguin Randomness

[shoeshine boy]

I thought they stopped doing those types of events?

no, they just stopped having whiney millionaires from having to wear the jerseys in warmups.

[skullman80]

I will be in attendance tonight.

[Rylan]

also, the Penguins have been pretty good about supporting it during Burke's tenure, but I think it also aligns with the general philosophy of many of the players, especially the Big Three.

[Lemon Berry Lobster]

[faftorial]

Trump should put an end to these sorts of events.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

signing AHLers to entry level contracts?

[mikey]

Heh

[shoeshine boy]

Trump should put an end to these sorts of events.

He's too busy selling Teslas

[stonewizard51]

Good Point

[Gaucho]

From Pensburgh:

Since the start of Crosby’s career during the 2005-06 season only 23 players have played in at least 100 games in the NHL and averaged more than one point per game in the NHL.

Between 2008-09 and 2018-19, a solid decade-long stretch, there were only eight players that topped the point-per-game mark.

Keep in mind that includes an especially low-scoring era between the 2010-11 and 2015-16 seasons were only four players in the entire NHL that played more than 100 games and averaged more than a point-per-game: Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Patrick Kane and Steven Stamkos. That was it.

Throughout Gretzky’s career there were 51 players that averaged more than a point-per-game, and 47 during his peak era between the 1980-81 and 1990-91 seasons.

[Dickie Dunn]

Haha oh boy...I'll see where he's at this week...

Michigan Tech's Chase Pietila has been named the CCHA Defensive Defenseman of the Year the league announced on Wednesday. Pietila was also named to the All-CCHA First Team.

[mikey]

Haha oh boy...I'll see where he's at this week...

Michigan Tech's Chase Pietila has been named the CCHA Defensive Defenseman of the Year the league announced on Wednesday. Pietila was also named to the All-CCHA First Team.

Still bad. I don't know what he's going to do...he's very unskilled, he doesn't skate well. I pulled up a game and the stream had technical difficulties, so I didn't see the first 10 minutes. So, the first shift that I saw was this one and I started laughing...I'll share with you guys...

He's 17 in black, the RHS...



I don't want anyone to judge a player too harshly based on one shift of course...but I just thought it was quite a place to start.

[Gaucho]

You're merciless.

[MR25]

The replies to this are exactly what you'd expect.

Was looking through old rosters for shits and gigs. Outside of one 20 game heater from Alex Nylander, literally 0 Point 0 "young players" that people think Sullivan ruined have done anything at the NHL level outside of the Penguins roster. And no one would give a **** about Nylander if he was some Canadian boy named Alex Newland.

Hell, even one of his successes, Conor Sheary, only eclipsed his Penguins goal totals (23 in 16/17, 18 in 17/18) ONCE since he was traded to Buffalo, and that was just 19 with the Caps in 21/22.

The Penguins have had exactly 0 NHL talent in the system, arguably since they called up Guentzel, Sheary, Rust, and Kuhnhackl to be complimentary pieces to the Cup teams. I never really got the argument to begin with, but even now with the benefit of hindsight, it makes even less sense to hold it against the coach.

[Orlando Penguin]

There is a portion of the fanbase that make it their only lot in life to complain about Sullivan. The line of Rutger/Ponomarev/Koivunen could be responsible for the 2026 Cup-winning goal and rather than be happy about it, they will flock to the cesspool that is The Athletic comments section and dodint that Sully should have had them up sooner.

[mikey]

Anything good in the article?

[Ad@m]

This would be a sweet vacation

[dodint]

Is making the Predators play in Sweden the NHL version of sending Jacksonville to England?

[Ad@m]

The replies to this are exactly what you'd expect.

Was looking through old rosters for shits and gigs. Outside of one 20 game heater from Alex Nylander, literally 0 Point 0 "young players" that people think Sullivan ruined have done anything at the NHL level outside of the Penguins roster. And no one would give a **** about Nylander if he was some Canadian boy named Alex Newland.

Hell, even one of his successes, Conor Sheary, only eclipsed his Penguins goal totals (23 in 16/17, 18 in 17/18) ONCE since he was traded to Buffalo, and that was just 19 with the Caps in 21/22.

The Penguins have had exactly 0 NHL talent in the system, arguably since they called up Guentzel, Sheary, Rust, and Kuhnhackl to be complimentary pieces to the Cup teams. I never really got the argument to begin with, but even now with the benefit of hindsight, it makes even less sense to hold it against the coach.

Can you paste the article for us?

[MR25]

I don't have Athletic access. Only the ability to see mouth breathers respond on Twitter

[meecrofilm]

Here's the continuation quote that's been making the rounds for obvious reasons

"Of course I hear it, I'm not stupid," said Sullivan, "I'm just incredibly stubborn. The more you say I'm dumb for doing something, the more I'm going to prove I'm right for doing it," he continued.

[King Colby]

Relevant excerpts.

Sullivan, in an exclusive interview with The Athletic, made his feelings on the current and future Penguins very clear. He also made it known, with a particular conviction, that he isn’t going anywhere.

NHL coaches sometimes get fired for having a rough month. Sullivan knows this. He also knows what he wants, and what he wants isn’t coaching anywhere else.

“I don’t even think about it,” he said. “I have incredible loyalty to this organization. I’m grateful for the opportunity to coach this team. It’s been a privilege to coach this team, to be a part of this organization. I have a certain loyalty to all of the people who are a part of it here.”

The losing hasn’t been fun.

“This is an organization that has enjoyed its share of success,” Sullivan said. “Lately, we’ve hit some bumps in the road. But that doesn’t deter me from wanting to do my job. Just because it gets hard, that doesn’t make you want to quit. Where we are as an organization, I don’t think it’s caught anybody by surprise. It’s an inevitable evolution. We’re doing everything in our power to try and navigate this as best we can, to be as competitive as we can as quickly as possible. And all I want is to help this organization win.”

One of the biggest criticisms of Sullivan from fans and media alike is the belief that he is unwilling to let young players possess significant roles, that he’d rather side with less talented veterans. This could potentially become a problem in coming seasons, given the Penguins have 30 draft picks in the next three years and are in desperate need of a youth infusion.

Sullivan hears the criticism loud and clear.

“Of course I hear it,” he said. “I’m not stupid.”

It’s a criticism he vehemently disagrees with. The coach unfolds his arms and becomes more animated when it is discussed.

“I would argue against it,” he said. “The players I put on the ice are the guys I think are going to give us the best chance to win. That’s it. I don’t care how old they are. Look back at our two Stanley Cup teams. There were five guys we called up from Wilkes-Barre on those teams, and nobody knew who they were. Conor Sheary played with Sidney Crosby and nobody knew who Conor Sheary was. Don’t tell me I’m not willing to put out young guys in prominent roles. I’m absolutely willing to put them in prominent roles. But they have to be effective and they’ve got to be ready.

“At the end of the day, depending on where we’re at as an organization and depending on who is available to us, we are putting the best 20 guys on the ice to help us win. I don’t care how many years professional they have under their belts. I don’t care what their age is. Age has absolutely nothing to do with it. What it has to do with is your ability to have a positive impact in terms of helping the Penguins win hockey games.”

“There’s a certain standard that’s been established here for a long period of time that has brought this organization a lot of success,” Sullivan said. “There are a lot of people who have been responsible for that, specifically our Big Three. I know what it means to those guys to win. There’s an expectation with those guys to play the game a certain way, with a competitive spirit. And there’s an expectation that we’re going out to win every night, no matter what it takes. That’s always been the message. It still is.”

[King Colby]

This is the first year since 2016 that there have been any meaningful “young guys” in the organization. There’s also no reason to rush them up here if they’re not ready especially considering most of them are in their first full year pro.

Not to mention Tomasino is an everyday top 9 player averaging 14 minutes a night at age 23.

And Kolyachonok (23) is also getting a hell of a look on the top pair right now playing 16 minutes a night.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

Was looking through old rosters for shits and gigs. Outside of one 20 game heater from Alex Nylander, literally 0 Point 0 "young players" that people think Sullivan ruined have done anything at the NHL level outside of the Penguins roster. And no one would give a **** about Nylander if he was some Canadian boy named Alex Newland.

Hell, even one of his successes, Conor Sheary, only eclipsed his Penguins goal totals (23 in 16/17, 18 in 17/18) ONCE since he was traded to Buffalo, and that was just 19 with the Caps in 21/22.

The Penguins have had exactly 0 NHL talent in the system, arguably since they called up Guentzel, Sheary, Rust, and Kuhnhackl to be complimentary pieces to the Cup teams. I never really got the argument to begin with, but even now with the benefit of hindsight, it makes even less sense to hold it against the coach.

This is really the only way to evaluate this and yeah, it’s pretty obvious that the Pens generally get the most out of the prospects. Just a quick glance at our draft pick history makes it clear that we didn’t “waste” any young talent by not giving them a chance

Pulju seems to be the big rallying cry for those morons recently but anyone with half a brain can see that Pulju is the issue, not the NHL teams that have sent him away

[MR25]

I just remembered Daniel Sprong as well. You could call that a "miss", but I would point out a guy who can't stick on an NHL roster for more than a year or two at a time despite putting up those goals per 60 numbers he does has bigger issues than Mike Sullivan's previous trust in him.