We had joy, we had fun
We had seasons in the sun
But the wine and the song
Like the seasons have all gone
(Lyrics by Jacques Brel / Rod Mckuen
Sung by Terry Jacks)
As I wrote in my first installment, Mike Sullivan was the biggest reason why this team failed, and our Pittsburgh Penguins will miss the Playoffs for the first time in over a decade. He chose the players and after five years behind the bench they were the players he wanted, except for the Penguins top three Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang, all of whom have contracts that either make it impossible for his boss to move, or at least very difficult.
Last season when the Penguins played their best hockey, it was when the injury bug plagued them and many of Sullivan’s choices for player were removed from his toolbox. When those players started to come back, so did the Penguins troubles.
Sullivan also chose the strategies and tactics or at least chose the assistant coaches that made those decisions and, in the end, had the authority to override any choices below him. He chose to bench players. And he was responsible for making in game/in series adjustments. And in the end, he blamed everyone else for team failures, even though all the choices were his.
However, his boss, GM Jim Rutherford, had many opportunities to hold Sullivan accountable and he did not. Even after getting swept by the New York Islanders last season, instead of making Sullivan earn his contract extension this year, he game Sullivan an extension Furthermore, it has been painfully obvious to anyone with eyes to see that Rutherford and his coach were not always on the same page. Rutherford tried bringing in players with grit but Sullivan either did not use them at all or used them sparingly, grudgingly (Ryan Reaves, Eric Gudbranson).
Even when Sullivan acknowledge he had lost his team during the Islanders debacle last season by whining that nobody on the team was listening to him Rutherford backed his coach. Rutherford joined his Teflon coach in trying to ascribe blame to the players rather than themselves. Honestly, why would any player want to play for a Coach or GM that doesn’t have a clue how to lead, a Coach and GM that refuse to accept their own culpability but instead play a blame game in the media.
Furthermore, it was Rutherford who stripped the team of young talent and has kept the team up against the cap and unable to maneuver that much. Yes, early on Rutherford made some incredible trades, stealing major pieces for two Cup runs but he has since balanced them out with horrible trades and signings.
Trading Kaspari Kapanen and a pick for Phil Kessel while getting the Toronto Maple Leafs to retain salary was inspired and probably Rutherford’s greatest trade. That trade effectively bought this team their two Cups. However, publicly blaming Kessel for the Islander sweep and posturing that he was going to trade him all Spring and early summer limited any real trade value to Alex Galchenyuk and a prospect accelerated the end of the Crosby – Malkin era.
That prospect, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, may eventually help this team but that will not be for another couple of years. Truthfully, with the lack of quality Defensemen on this team, Joseph, after making significant progress in Wilkes Barre – Scranton, particularly in body weight, jumping from a childlike 163 lbs on his 6’-2” frame to a more man like over 180 lbs, may actually earn a spot on next seasons roster but the 21 year old is still 5 or 6 years away from really hitting his prime. John Marino’s are a rarity.
Paying the Vegas Knights, a draft pick to take Marc-Andre Fleury may go down in history as the dumbest trade in Penguins history. Nobody forced Rutherford’s hand on this one. All teams had to expose at least one goalie with two years professional experience to the draft and the Penguins only had Fleury and Matt Murray. So, Rutherford had to expose one of them and it only made sense to expose Fleury. However, no rule stated he had to pay Vegas a draft pick to take him. He could have dared them to take Conor Sheary, Tom Kuhnhackl, or any other of those kids off his roster. And if George McFee didn’t take Fleury, he would have gone down as the biggest idiot of all time for failing to draft Penguins fan favorite Fleury.
Add in horrible signings like Matt Hunwick, that the team barely was able to sneak out from under, thanks to Buffalo’s help, to Jack Johnson, and sorry to say this Patric Hornqvist. Johnson’s contract may not be all that large, but it forced the team into some seriously, well, “creative” decisions to get Cap compliant at the start of this past regular season.
And as much as I like Hornqvist and think he deserves all the money he will be getting, $5.3 million for 3 more years with full NTC this year and two more years of a M-NTC, it seriously hinders the team now and for 3 more years. Hornqvist certainly will earn that money if he stays healthy, but with the way he plays he misses a lot of games (he missed 10 of 69 this past season) so there is little room to have a quality kid around to step in.
Sullivan may be the biggest reason for our Penguins failure and the frustrating end to the era, Rutherford, like obesity or high blood pressure contribute heart disease, was a significant risk factor in missing the playoffs this season. Moving forward, the team needs to move on from Rutherford. With the way he squanders picks, even if the Penguins win the Alexis Lafrenière lottery, with his track record, there is no guarantee that Rutherford would not trade that pick for a high priced under-achieving veteran.
“With the flowers everywhere
I wish (our Penguins) could be there”
It appears to be house cleaning time. No big surprise here, some people need to be sacrificial lambs.
Where’s my sit-up bench?
Hi Coach,
Well written piece my friend. Indeed Jimmy Rutherford and Coach Mike Sullivan needs to be held fully responsible for the out comes of the past two years.That is why they are paid the big bucks. For my money they both have to go and fresh blood has to be brought in.Maybe the Team President as well ?
Being away from the blog for over a year and a half I have had numerous times to reflect on the state of our beloved Penguins as compared to other teams in the league.I have not liked what I saw. Many teams were far superior to our beloved Penguins. For example.Team Speed. Did we slow down? Partially yes but in reality the rest of the league sped up !! They saw what we did in our 2 cup wins and they copied our success. What did we do? We got older and slower to the point we needed our Goalies and the power play to win games. Five on five play we are not that good in the last 2 years Coach.
Lets get serious now. In the Montreal series Malkin shot 15 or 16 shots at Price. Because they had Shea Weber,BIG Shea Weber he cleared the slot and Price had an easy time seeing the puck.Would Gretzky keep doing the same over and over?? I think not.
In the case of Crosby his game has changed in that in the last two playoff series the opposition has been able to neutralize him. Just look at the numbers. This is not a criticism. He is 33 years old and is not the same player he was at age 27.He can no longer lead this team to s Stanley Cup by himself.
Ask any of his many friends up here in Nova Scotia. They all love him but say the same.To me Sidney at this stage of his career is like Jean Belliveau of the Montreal Canadians.The second greatest Montreal player ever to wear the uniform. Some guy named Rocket will always be # 1. With Sidney he will be the second greatest player ever to wear a Pens uniform. The number one guy owns the Team. That is how I see Crosby. But it does not change my current assessment.
Kris Letang. He is our power play quarterback and has not scored a power play goal in over 60 games?? Why is he still here? We pay him 7.25 million a year. On a bad night he is a turn over machine.
Matt Murray has not been the same player for over 2 years. Funny thing Coach, just about the time the league made goalie equipment smaller to increase scoring in the game !! Murray never changed but his equipment did.
He is just not the same Goalie anymore.
So I want to say Coach, the truth is the Pens need to start the rebuild NOW. It should have been last year but for reasons you mentioned above we no longer have any Cap Space to move.
Before I sign off I just read a small piece from Dave Grove, i think he used to be on Pens media broadcasts and he said the Pens just need a another scoring winger to get back to the Chase for the Cup.I certainly hope this is NOT the opinion of the PENS Ownership because all I can say is take a hard honest look at the Competition thru out the NHL and you will see that the Pens are at best a Bottom 50% Team.
In closing I want to add that the 13 consecutive Playoff appearances by the Pens is a record we should ALL be very proud of.
THAT IS THE TRUE TEST OF THE CROSBY ERA IN PITTSBURGH !
Even Mario could not beat that record !!
Cheers Coach
Hey Jim,
You’re preaching to the Choir, Jim. The game has passed the GM and Coach both. Other teams have scouted the Penguins, dissected Sullivan and JRs game, extracted its strengths and added it to their teams. They learned the speed game but realized that bigger guys can skate too. They also found the weaknesses in Sullivan’s game and worked to avoid it in their game while Sullivan stubbornly holds on to his whole game – strengths and weakness. Now those teams are flying past them.
I’ll be getting to the players soon.
But to cut to the chase here, yes, the time is now, for change. Had JR and Sullivan had the guts to retool after the Capitals loss a couple of years back and started selling off some players when they were higher the return may have brought about a serious Cup run this year or next but now it will have to be a rebuild. If they win the Lottery, they may be able to limit the time frame of rebuild but it needs to be a rebuild, a rebuild from the front office on out.
Well said Coach.
We are the Choir my friend !!!
I can not wait to see your review of the players !! That should be a good one ! You are not one to mix words !!
Cheers
Short memories around here. You are wrong in saying that the Pens could simply have exposed Fleury. He had an NMC and had to be protected. The Pens gave Las Vegas the draft choice so they would convince Fleury to waive his NMC.
Stratton welcome to Penguin poop,
No, I do remember that Fleury had a M-NTC, NMC, the NMC meant that the team could not waive him and send him to the minors or expose him to the draft without his consent, the M-NTC gave the Penguins a bit of an out when it came to trades; Fleury had to submit a list of 12 teams that he would not be traded to.
Trading a pick to Vegas in no way shape or form would have been considered a benefit to Fleury. However, under the realization that Murray was going to be the started and Fleury the backup certainly would appear to be a much stronger motivator for Fleury to waive the NMC clause than giving a third party a draft pick
“However, under the realization that Murray was going to be the started and Fleury the backup certainly would appear to be a much stronger motivator for Fleury to waive the NMC clause than giving a third party a draft pick”
This is also untrue. The Penguins made the deal with Las Vegas in March, far before the playoffs started. Fleury could not have known how the playoffs would play out. Also you are mind reading Fleury. I’ve always found mind reading to be highly unreliable.
But let’s get real. The Penguins didn’t lose to Montreal or the Islanders because they sent a #2 pick with Fleury. It is irrelevant. Dredging up the past in order to assign blame is for losers. The past can’t be changed. Winners look at the current situation, make an assessment and form a plan for the future.
Stratton,
No, I am not mind reading, I am only thinking logically. Fleury came out strong when Murray was on the shelf that season, but as Murray’s return loomed Fleury started to falter. His save % was sub 0.900 for the bulk of the year that year as his playing time diminished. Had Fleury stayed, he would have been relegated to back-up. If he didn’t realize that well he wasn’t paying attention and the fact that his Sv% was dropping would be serious evidence that he did realize that, was not happy about it, and it was affecting his play.
I have never heard or read anything about a conspiratorial backroom deal with Vegas to try to convince MAF to waive his NTC. If that is true, it appears you have insider information to which the rest of the world is not privy.
In fact on Jun 21, 2017 Pierre LeBrun tweeted “Penguins worried I think that with a market flooded with goalies, Vegas had many options. Had to entice Vegas to ensure they took Fleury…”
Even if you have insider info that the rest of the world does not,
1) If we aren’t privy to the backroom deal we can’t be held accountable for not using it in forming opinions.
2) Scientists not Losers look at past events to predict future behaviors. The paying of a draft pick to Vegas to take MAF may not have directly affected the loss NYI and Mon but it goes to show lack of acumen on the part of the GM. I did not want to take time and space to iterate all of JRs gaffes that date all the way back to his announcing of his 1st choice to replace Bylsma only to be embarrassed when that candidate came out and said he had not signed and would not sign. Or how he traded Hagelin away, retaining part of the salary and then tried to illegally trade for him back when he realize how bad that trade was. Or his knee jerk trade for Reaves then later that season trading Reaves to Vegas with a 4th round pick for Tobias Linberg (a minor leaguer) who was then traded to Ottawa for more minor leaguers, so that the team lost Sundquist and 1st round pick ad got nothing for it (since even the 2nd round pick that they also got in the original trade is now out of hockey.) Or the Cole and Gustavsson for Brassard trade that the dropped down to the Brassard to Fla trade for Bjugstad and McCann. McCann at first looked good but had a really bad year making it appear that trade to yielded the Penguins Squat.
Instead of writing an exhaustive list of bad trades I opted to show a mix of bad decision that included signings and re-signings.
In the end personal attacks, calling people losers to make yourself feel better for not carefully reading what was written is is the more problematic.
“No, I am not mind reading, I am only thinking logically. Fleury came out strong when Murray was on the shelf that season, but as Murray’s return loomed Fleury started to falter. His save % was sub 0.900 for the bulk of the year that year as his playing time diminished. Had Fleury stayed, he would have been relegated to back-up. If he didn’t realize that well he wasn’t paying attention and the fact that his Sv% was dropping would be serious evidence that he did realize that, was not happy about it, and it was affecting his play.”
Yeah, this is a perfect, Platonian example mind reading.
“I have never heard or read anything about a conspiratorial backroom deal with Vegas to try to convince MAF to waive his NTC. If that is true, it appears you have insider information to which the rest of the world is not privy.”
“In fact on Jun 21, 2017 Pierre LeBrun tweeted “Penguins worried I think that with a market flooded with goalies, Vegas had many options. Had to entice Vegas to ensure they took Fleury…”
“Even if you have insider info that the rest of the world does not”
Then you weren’t paying attention. It was widely reported after the fact. That’s likely why Lebrun didn’t report it earlier.
“2) Scientists not Losers look at past events to predict future behaviors.
Scientist don’t throw tantrums and blame at data, either. Blame is not a concept in science. Looking at all the facts and not just what suits you is not science either. But running a hockey team is far from science, anyway.
“The paying of a draft pick to Vegas to take MAF may not have directly affected the loss NYI and Mon but it goes to show lack of acumen on the part of the GM. “
And trading for Marino and Petterson proves his acumen. So what’s your point.
“I did not want to take time and space to iterate all of JRs gaffes that date all the way back to his announcing of his 1st choice to replace Bylsma only to be embarrassed when that candidate came out and said he had not signed and would not sign. “
Who cares? He hired Sullivan who won us two cups. That more than offsets any “embarrassment.” It’s doubt thatt he Pens would have won those cups with Dejardain. (Also, his first choice to replace Bylsma was Trent Green, not Desjardin.) This is a perfect example of your ridiculous bias. JR does something great and all you can do is pick at some minor issue.
“Or how he traded Hagelin away, retaining part of the salary and then tried to illegally trade for him back when he realize how bad that trade was.”
Trading Hagelin turned out to be a nothing trade one way or the other. The people complaining now were complaining then about having 6 goal scorer on Malkins line. Also, trading Hagelin led to Gudbransen, whose presence really saved their bacon in 2019 when injuries knocked out much of the defence.
“Or his knee jerk trade for Reaves then later that season trading Reaves to Vegas with a 4th round pick for Tobias Linberg (a minor leaguer) who was then traded to Ottawa for more minor leaguers,”
Reaves has proved himself a very useful player in LV. It was on Sullivan, not JR, that he didn’t pan out. And really, watching Tom Wilson run amok doesn’t make you think that the Pens could use someone like him?
“so that the team lost Sundquist “
Whoa, stop right there. Sunqqvist would no have made the team and would had to go through waivers, so he would have been losrt anyway. He then sat on the bench in St Louis for a year because he couldn’t crack the line up. Eventually he became a useful player. But at the time of the trade, he was no loss at all.
“and 1st round pick ad got nothing for it (since even the 2nd round pick that they also got in the original trade is now out of hockey.)
So you are saying that it is JR’s fault that he couldn’t predict the future and foresee that Lauzon would suffer a career ending injury. That’s real logical.
Or the Cole and Gustavsson for Brassard trade that the dropped down to the Brassard to Fla trade for Bjugstad and McCann. McCann at first looked good but had a really bad year making it appear that trade to yielded the Penguins Squat.”
This one is really funny. At the time, 90% of the hockey world considered the Brassard trade a stroke of genius. It didn’t work out. Sometimes that happens. One further not on Cole. He signed the next year for $4.5 million. There is no way that the Pens could have afforded to keep him anyway.
“Instead of writing an exhaustive list of bad trades I opted to show a mix of bad decision that included signings and re-signings.”
If you were interested in a fair and objective assessment instead of a tantrum, you would list all good things that he has done. Also, there isn’t a GM whose been in the league very long who you criticize with a similar list. It proves nothing. Absolutely nothing. I’ll be you were one of the crowd screaming for Botherill to replace JR. That worked out great for Buffalo, didn’t it!
“In the end personal attacks, calling people losers to make yourself feel better for not carefully reading what was written is is the more problematic.”
This is the point. I did read. Unlike your partner on this site, you prefer to go off on a tantrum rather than actually look at the situation objectively. That is demonstrated both by your ignoring facts that don’t suit your narrative and the angry, hostile tome of what you write. This is exactly the kind of thing you read on Hockeyfuture boards when average the mental age seems about 10 years old.
Hey Other Rick,
Very well written. If only our Pens had displayed the same passion and focus, we might still be playing.
I pretty much agree with everything you wrote…even about Hornqvist. I absolutely love the guy. But the Pens do have some young power forwards in the pipeline…Poulin, Legare, O’Connor and Zahorna…not to mention Anthony Angello. So it may be time to move him.
Speaking of the guys mentioned above, I see a showdown coming between Rutherford and Sullivan. It’s obvious…and it’s been obvious for a while…that JR would like to add a power element to the team. And it’s just as obvious that Sullivan resists it.
This team was really built to Sullivan’s specifications…small, quick and skilled…but it failed. Rutherford must now assert himself regarding the power element. But even if Sullivan (grudgingly) assents, it raises a whole batch of new questions. Can he coach any other style of play…and style of team?
I don’t know. It could be the deal breaker…
Rick
Hey Rick,
Thanks,
Agreed, Hornqvist embodies everything we here in Pittsburgh admire and as said I don’t begrudge him any of the money he will be getting, but on this team at that price he is now a luxury we can ill afford. To paraphrase our friend Jim most recently said “It is time to think with a heads and not our hearts. We still have an opportunity to make our fall from the playoffs short lived if we make smart moves.
I remember when JR signed O’Conner and Zahorna, we talked about it and were both really excited at their size but that quickly faded in the realization that Sullivan would just bury them,
There still is another big man already in the Organization (Outside of those you cite) that I have mentioned a couple of times; Pavlychev. I have heard conflicting comments about him from a couple of our Penn State Alum from down the gym. Dan likes him but Travis is unimpressed. However, I also talked to a kid who played against him, so I value his opinion a little more, and he was impressed. The only down side is our Pens lose rights to him Aug 15 if they don’t sign him first.
Probability says that not all of them will become NHL calibre, but I certainly would want a coach who gives all players a chance not just midgets.
I have never been a fence sitter. Once I make a decision, I don’t second guess, I go with it and grind down the bumps in flight or when I have to change direction. I don’t waste time musing. It may make some uncomfortable but I fire both Sullivan and JR and move into a new era with new management. Furthermore, I wouldn’t discount what Pens4ever commented on an earlier page, I would not limit my search to recycled NHL coaches and even GMs, all candidates would be open.