Fire MJ

[shmenguin]

kunitz sucks anymore, we're oft-injured, including 2 important guys for pretty much the whole year, and most importantly sid and geno can't make the impact in today's NHL the way they used to. i don't think there' much more to it than that.

i don't think HCMJ is a great game manager, but his tactics have been sound. overall, the league has changed in a way that takes away our advantage. we're probably screwed for a while, unless we get some breaks along the way. but the coach isn't holding the team back.

[large garlic]

I agree with mikey that the Pens are more structurally solid than they were under Bylsma, and I wouldn't fire Johnston after one season, but it's tough to ignore the significant downturn in results and just give Johnston a pass, no questions asked. Say what you will about the tenets of Bylsma hockey, but at least it's an ethos that got the Pens to the playoffs every year, even 2011 when Crosby and Malkin were out.

(Side note: how do the NBC announcers keep claiming that Berube is doing such a terrific job with the Flyers? I know they always beat the Pens, but they were eliminated from the playoffs a week ago and have looked like dog poo whenever I've seen them play anyone else.)

[CBear3]

So Bylsma wins a cup, but it's all Therrien's work. The team starts the season under MJ like a house on fire but that's all because of MJ's structure. Pot-kettle.
The start of the season was the anomaly, the bump from a fresh face And a few new wrinkles in their game. Since the All-Star break, that's your real team. Guys apparently suffocated by process and structure, to the point they do nothing well.

How much of a shake up in personnel can you expect, with the money that's already tied up in 29/58/71/87?

[Tico Rick]

The sour taste from Bylsma was how those teams got bounced in the playoffs.

Losing to an inferior Habs team, up 3-1 on tampa and blowing it, the circus that was philly, swept by Boston in ECF, up 3-1 on Rangers and blowing it.

He wasn't that bad of a coach, he had really bad end results in the playoffs.

yeah but at least we were a regular season giant.


maybe HCMJ is a much better playoff coach, but if not, I'd rather have good regular season and bad playoff over bad regular season and bad playoff

People seem to forget that last summer the mantra was that the regular season was not to try to win the President's Trophy but to prepare the team for the playoffs. Now everyone is going crazy because MJ hasn't matched Disco's regular season performance. L.A. Had a so-so regular season last year, and they did okay in the playoffs. It takes time to change a culture and implement a new system, especially when half the team is new and when you've lost half the team to injuries. I agree with mikey. I'm looking forward to see what MJ can do in the playoffs, but even if the Pens don't make the playoffs, it would be a mistake to can MJ, even if it were for Babcock.

[cadams]

You think this team is ready for the playoffs under Johnston's guidance?

[Tico Rick]

If Letang and Erhoff are back, this team will be ready.

[Craig]

The sour taste from Bylsma was how those teams got bounced in the playoffs.

Losing to an inferior Habs team, up 3-1 on tampa and blowing it, the circus that was philly, swept by Boston in ECF, up 3-1 on Rangers and blowing it.

He wasn't that bad of a coach, he had really bad end results in the playoffs.

yeah but at least we were a regular season giant.


maybe HCMJ is a much better playoff coach, but if not, I'd rather have good regular season and bad playoff over bad regular season and bad playoff

If you have crosby and malkin on your team, the two options you presented are the same.

[mikey]

Yeah not for nothing...but this has been missing the last several regular seasons (but was not missing in '09)...urgency coming in...I mean, it's nailbiting now and everything, but you don't know if not moonwalking into a playoff berth that clinched in November is the cure for these playoff exits...

2014: Clinched the playoffs right away by a million points, played about .500 in March/April (11-9-3)...
2013: I mean, we were on from start to almost finish that year practically...a hiccup vs. the Isles (Fleury-led), dominated Ottawa and then were out-coached by Boston...but that season was pretty damn good...even losing Crosby down the stretch, we still went 8-4...
2012: Again, 50+ wins, most in the league...played the same all year long, then our brains melted against our nemesis for whatever reason...
2011: Again, rolled out of bed into the playoffs...even went 12-4-2 down the stretch...no Crosby, no Malkin, still should have won the first series though...
2010: Another team that really wasn't challenged much during the year. Had like 20 wins by December 1 or so...
2009: We weren't even in a playoff spot all February long...sacked up and went 14-2-3 in March/April and claimed the chalice...

Hopefully these smelling salts work for our group here...

[Silentom]

A few losses and a bunch of new threads are spawned... LGP TAKEOVER!!

[shafnutz05]

Hopefully these smelling salts work for our group here...

Yeah, as nail-biting as it for us fans, I like the fact that this team *has* to win to get in at this point. Coasting into the playoffs hasn't worked for a long time.

[BEPF]

Somewhere Bylsma and Shero are having a beer and laughing their asses off.

Yea, I was definitely thinking this same thing.



BEPF

[CBear3]

But the teams that string together runs to get into the playoffs and succeed do it over a month or more. It's not like these guys haven't seen the standings getting tighter, the urgency has been there. They just haven't responded to it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not sure how different it'd look with somebody else at the helm; but its obvious that MJ wasn't the magic wand this team needed to pull its head of its rear.

[columbia]

[quote="BEPF"][/quote]

Welcome, sir!

[King Colby]

Johnston seems like a good coach... pens firing him probably wouldn't be the worst thing for hos career... he'd probably get an opportunity in short order with a more coachable team

[Tico Rick]

Puck Daddy tells us why the Pens are struggling - players not named Crosby or Malkin are just not very good:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck- ... 47961.html

[shmenguin]

Puck Daddy tells us why the Pens are struggling - players not named Crosby or Malkin are just not very good:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck- ... 47961.html

that's secondary to crosby and malkin not being as good as crosby and malkin.

the supporting cast is significantly better than it was last year. if today's NHL is going to become a battle of who has the best whiteboard, the fluffiest goalie, and who clogs up the ice most effectively, it doesn't' really matter who is filling out the rest of our lineup.

[NAN]

Thanks New Jersey.

[thehockeyguru]

Benching Downie for Craig Adams..... Adams should have been in the press box for most of the 2nd half of the season. I think he has done a very poor job of adjusting the lineups and finding the best combinations. This team has been sinking since the ASB and he hasnt made any notable adjustments.

[mikey]

Benching Downie for Craig Adams..... Adams should have been in the press box for most of the 2nd half of the season. I think he has done a very poor job of adjusting the lineups and finding the best combinations. This team has been sinking since the ASB and he hasnt made any notable adjustments.

Such as...?

[thehockeyguru]

Benching Downie for Craig Adams..... Adams should have been in the press box for most of the 2nd half of the season. I think he has done a very poor job of adjusting the lineups and finding the best combinations. This team has been sinking since the ASB and he hasnt made any notable adjustments.

Such as...?

I wouldnt be playing Perron on the top line. He hasnt shown he deserves top line minutes. Give Downie a period in the top 6. Put him with Comeau and Malkin. Play Crosby, Kunitz, and Hornqvist. Let Perron play with Sutter and Winnik.

I dont even like Kunitz in the top 6. I'd put Spaling up there if he hasnt been equally as worthless.

If I'm HCMJ I'm throwing out all sorts of different options until something clicks.

[mikey]

Oh ok, so just shifting wingers around...I don't really care too, too much about that stuff to be honest...

And it's tough just keeping throwing out all kinds of things until something clicks if you don't give things long enough time to click...it's a major adjustment to play with our three centers of note, they all play distinctly different games...so constantly exchanging wingers is not something I'd be a fan of necessarily...

But yeah, it's a matter of preference...I can see a good case for Kunitz not being in the top six, as he has been not been strong...

[meow]

Benching Downie for Craig Adams.....

Downie has an injury, though...right?

[thehockeyguru]

Benching Downie for Craig Adams.....

Downie has an injury, though...right?

Listening to the radio this morning, they made it seem like it wasnt a big deal and that he could have played.

[mikey]

That sounds made up...

[thehockeyguru]

Oh ok, so just shifting wingers around...I don't really care too, too much about that stuff to be honest...

And it's tough just keeping throwing out all kinds of things until something clicks if you don't give things long enough time to click...it's a major adjustment to play with our three centers of note, they all play distinctly different games...so constantly exchanging wingers is not something I'd be a fan of necessarily...

But yeah, it's a matter of preference...I can see a good case for Kunitz not being in the top six, as he has been not been strong...

I understand that it takes time to click but Perron has been with this team long enough to say that he has been in a funk. Something needs done to snap him out of it. I just want to see some sort of sense of urgency from this team / this staff. The effort level was a lot better and Hornqvist had a heck of a game on Sunday.

But man its getting frustrating watching these guys not finish.