Something Festers in the Heart of the Penguins Locker Room

Saruman was heard to say “Something festers in the heart of Middle-Earth, something you have not seen. But the great eye has seen it.” in the J.R.R. Tolkien Lord of the Rings classic

Rumors are rumors. You can’t necessarily believe all that you hear. However, the number of rumors that started before Pascal Dupuis came through Pittsburgh and had his say in an interview have mushroomed. And although you can’t always believe rumors, where there is smoke there is or will be a fire, unless something is done about it.

Apparently “Something festers in the heart of the Pittsburgh Penguins locker room, something many may continue to bury their heads in the sand to avoid seeing.”

Many, many years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and I was young, a rather comely young lady would walk in the circles I traveled. Actually, despite be fairly attractive, she darkened the circles in which I traveled. Whenever she walked into a room, she brought in with her gloom and doom. She would immediately launch into a litany of complaints of how everyone maltreated her. In time I finally said to her, do you realize there is always one person in all of those negative scenarios. In the depths of her denial she retorted, “No way, it was Mary, Sue, Tom, and John.”. “No”, I reminded her, “You are always there. Have you ever considered trying to be more positive?”

In modern times, I have lost count of the number of times that I had to remind Technicians working under me that if 1% of the patients you work with either didn’t understand you or were non-compliant due to their personal issues, I believe you, if it is 5% of your patients, I still am willing to believe it. I will even accept 10% of the problem being the patient. However, when the numbers start to reach 15%, 20%, 25%, the problem is you.

I started saying the same thing, here, about our Penguins. I was willing to believe it Ian Cole was the problem when it was Ian Cole. I was still willing to believe Mike Sullivan over Ryan Reaves, even when the rumors came out that Reaves would never return to Pittsburgh in the free agent market, following his trade. I reiterated my concerns this off season when I heard rumors that Andrey Pedan didn’t want to play here and defected to the KHL.

I continued my concerns as Sullivan wasted Daniel Sprong. After forcibly dumping Sprong, Sullivan tried defending his poor treatment of Sprong and the kid’s banishment to the 4th line by saying that Sprong could not replace Patric Hornqvist or Phil Kessel as a top 6 Winger and that he (Sullivan) didn’t have time to (do his job) develop the talented prospect. After Sprong was dispatched, right here on these boards, I mused as to how long it would take for Sullivan to throw another player into his dog house? and who would that unfortunate player be?

We are now catching up to the present.

Very recently a fire storm started when former Penguin Dupuis related some observations he had from the Penguins’ locker room. It would seem I had an answer to my question. More importantly the answer to my question wasn’t just which one of the Penguins’ players would replace Sprong in Sullivan’s dog house, but which ones?

It turns out that Sullivan has put mega stars Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel in his dog house. He isn’t satisfied with tossing away one star, he needs to deplete an already shrinking talent pool by 2.

Either Sullivan didn’t read a recent article by Ryan Wilson on another web site or his ego would brook no discourse to its content, for Sullivan gives every appearance to thinking that this is his team and that he drives the bus. Sullivan appears to be laboring under the delusion that he can replace Malkin and Kessel with any and all role players on this team

Just after the 13 minute mark of the 3rd period in the Penguins’ shutout win against Carolina, Sullivan benched Kessel. Who knows why Kessel was really benched, but the party pabulum we are expected to digest is that Kessel doesn’t play Defense. Let’s not talk about the fact that Kessel is paid to play offense and when paired with Malkin and a real NHL top 6, plays great defense by tying the puck up in the offensive zone).

Wasn’t that one of Sullivan’s complaints about Sprong? Right next to Sprong wasn’t good enough to replace Kessel and Hornqvist as a top 6, even though at least one of those players always played 3rd line. Well, Sullivan, if you get rid of Kessel too, what does that say about your Sprong excuse? Are you going to try and tell us next that Kessel wasn’t going to replace Byran Rust and Hornqvist as a top 6? And once he is gone, that Malkin wasn’t going to replace Sidney Crosby, Derick Brassard, or Riley Sheahan as a top 6?

This has become a complete farce. If Sullivan isn’t the problem, then he would have not reacted the way he did after Dupuis’ comments. If you don’t have something to hide, you don’t whine about someone leaking what was said in the locker room. Dupuis wasn’t disclosing injuries or tactical information. He wasn’t revealing state secrets. And, in a contest of integrity, Sullivan you lose every time to Dupuis.

A recent article in a local paper mulled over the talent drain that all teams go through due to outside forces. Unfortunately, our Penguins not only have outside forces tearing at the talent fabric, but internal forces ripping away at the fragile balance of talent. Our Penguins may lose more talent to self-inflicted wounds.

During the Dan Bylsma era, there was a complaint among the fans that the players need discipline. That complaint had merit. However, there is a line over which discipline becomes abuse of power. A coach needs to get players on board with his schemes but he can’t be egotistical in thought and draconian in implementation. A coach has to be a leader not a boss. He has to lead players to buy into his schemes for their intrinsic value not because he is the boss.

Sheahan and Matt Cullen may be giving their all, but Sheahan’s best and at this stage of his career Cullen’s best is only fractional of Malkin’s or Kessel’s going through the motions. Some level of logic has to be shown by the coach.

There is one person at the center of a host of personal problems with the Penguins. Mike Sullivan always seems to be having problems with players. There is a revolving door in his dog house. The number of players the coach has had problems with is now growing ast what would be 1/4 of an NHL roster. A fairly solid start on a Cup contending team could be made with players Sullivan has dumped or is apparently now trying to dump. (Although rumors are only rumors, but Marc-Andre Fleury was also rumored to be on Sullivan’s dump list).

If the Penguins GM can’t figure out that the problem is the coach, a call from higher up may need to be made. players win Stanley Cups not coaches. Scotty Bowman won his Cups with an array of Hall of Fame stars to numerous to list. Pick a coach with multiple rings and you will find mega stars doting his team. Furthermore, fans do not show up to games or purchase merchandise because of a coach. Players are not only responsible for winning Stanley Cups but also for driving team value. If Penguins management doesn’t act soon, there may not be a team left. If Sullivan runs Malkin and Kessel out of town, the team will not make the playoffs and team value will plummet.