Perhaps the title of this article should be, “The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same.”
Coach Mike Sullivan continues to put his forward lines in a blender. And we continue to see the same results. Last night’s 5-3 loss to Marc-André Fleury and the Wild was the latest installment.
The one thing Sullivan could do that might affect positive results…i.e.; tweak his system or install a new one to better fit the talent on hand…he refuses to do.
Actually, that’s not entirely true. Sully did go with a 1-2-2 for parts of the Wild game, a more conservative style that’s worked for us in the past. However, he never seems to stick with it for very long. Like a moth drawn to the flame, he returns to his aggressive forecheck.
We’ve now lost six games in row. I hate to be a doomsayer, but this isn’t going to get any better. Games we would’ve won in the past, the recent-come-from-in-front losses to the Flames, Canucks and now the Wild, we’re losing.
We’ll be lucky to win 20 games this season unless…
…we fire Sullivan.
Now.
This isn’t meant to place the entire blame for our shabby showing at his feet. Thanks in large part to GM Kyle Dubas’s misdeeds (acquiring Erik Karlsson, just about all of his free-agent signings) as constructed we’re not a very good team.
Still, while Sully seems to be able to identify our issues (so could a blind man) he seems unable to affect any solutions, tactical or otherwise. This includes shuffling the lineup like a deck of cards at a Vegas poker table, which invariably sacrifices combinations that were successful (the Drew O’Connor–Lars Eller–Jesse Puljujärvi third line) as well as ones that weren’t. Robbing Peter to pay Paul in the process.
Personally, I think Sully exceeded his shelf life a couple of years ago. Jon Cooper of the Lightning is the only other NHL coach of similar tenure. The difference is, he’s still getting results. Sullivan isn’t, and hasn’t, for quite some time.
Who’d we get to replace him?
Former Lightning and Senators coach Guy Boucher, most recently an assistant with the Maple Leafs, pops into my head. He’s very detail oriented and his teams play with S-T-R-U-C-T-U-R-E, something I’m not sure Sullivan can spell let alone teach. Yet he’s also creative and considered a power-play wizard. Another feather in his cap…he was credited with developing a young Steven Stamkos in Tampa Bay.
Boucher’s teams tend to experience a great deal of early success. After he assumed the coached reins from Rick Tocchet in 2010, the Lightning promptly jumped 23 points and made it to the Eastern Conference Final before falling to the eventual Cup champion Bruins in seven games.
Along the way, they rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat our Pens.
In his first season in Ottawa, he likewise guided the Senators to the 2017 Conference Final, where they lost a double-OT Game 7 to us.
Boucher’s downside? He tends to wear out his welcome in short order, somewhat along the lines of former black-and-gold coaches Kevin Constantine and Michel Therrien.
I don’t care. At this stage, I’m not looking for a long-term solution. Nor do we need a nicey-nice coach. We need accountability and structure. Under Boucher, we’d at least have a chance of attaining it.
Under Sullivan we don’t.
But Dubas won’t fire Sullivan, for all the wrong reasons (contract extension, FSG adores him). Too, he’s been appointed coach of Team USA for the 4-Nations Face-Off Tournament in February. Partly to save face, Dubas won’t even consider a change until after that…and our season has sadly gone down the tubes.
Then there’s the overarching fear that Sullivan would be hired by another team and enjoy success…a distinct possibility. He didn’t win two Cups by being a dummy. To the contrary, he’s intelligent, well-spoken and knows the game.
That doesn’t mean he’s the right coach for this group of players. (He isn’t.)
Sullivan himself once said the key to success is having the team buy into what you’re teaching. The players aren’t buying any longer.
I guess if there’s a silver lining to our crappy situation, we’re on pace for a lottery pick in the Entry Draft. If you’re going to be bad, you might as well be really bad.
Way back in 2008, a group of passionate Pens fans who wanted the aforementioned Therrien canned banded together to form PenguinPoop. Guess I’m resurrecting an old cause.
To borrow from Andrea Bocelli of Four Tenors fame, it’s time to say goodbye.
It’s time to replace Mike Sullivan.
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If we keep stacking these losses, I wouldn't mind seeing Porter Martone in Black & Gold.
Hey Rick,
Let me ask you something, do you think Mozart’s Piano instructor was a genius?
What about MIchaelangelo’s art teacher?
How about Mario’s shooting instructor?
The point is Sullivan took over a team that had 2 generational talents, several other future Hall of Famer s and a host of top-notch talent. The team Teflon-Mike took to the Cup was not the team with which Mike Johnston started the season. JR made several more key trades after the Coaching change.
I am not afraid to acknowledge the truth – Sullivan is not a great Coach, he is not even a good Coach, he is a run-of-the-mill, average Coach who fell into a dream position and is even now being given far too much credit for those Cups. He should give at least half the money he earned in salary et al to Sid, Geno, Kris, and MAF.
It is time to start looking at the realities – FIRE SULLIVAN!!!!!!
The Other Rick
I would say this on Sully's behalf - theirs been a ton of very good coaches in every sport
that were blessed with talented players and couldn't win. As a coach you still have to
find away to coach the star players and bring them together as a team. To win the Cup
he obviously was able to do that, and another feather in his cap is the way the Pen's core
group stand behind him and say to a man they don't want to play for anyone else.
Mike, Rick,
I guess in this matter, at least for now, we are going to be on opposite sides. Warren Young got a fat contract and accolades at the NHL level that he didn't deserve, allowing just one generational talent set the table for him. Doug Shedden and Robbie Brown got similar free rides in the NHL courtesy of One generational talent. Dominik Simon was accorded a similar walk playing Brian Piccolo to Crosby's Gale Sayers. In the same manner Mike Sullivan is being credited with being an elite Coach.
More importantly, let us remember that Teflon Mike was the beneficiary of not just one generational talent but two, plus multiple All Stars at every position.
I would be tempted to agree with you Mike if the evidence of the teams fall from grace wasn't so painfully evident. Sullivan almost blew the repeat, only an inhuman performance from MAF saved his bacon. Our Penguins were heavily out chanced with the second worst CORSI of the playoffs that repeat run. Sullivan's Pnts% in Boston without generational talents was only 0.543% which is roughly 500 hockey in this modern 3 point game era. . Now without all those All Stars and an aging duo of generational talents Sullivan is once again tanking with at best an opportunity to scratch his way back to 500.
Hockey players are a rare breed of athlete in this era of I-I-me-me stars. There still are hockey players that put team first. Sid, Geno, and Kris (and when he was here in Pgh - MAF) are perhaps the most loyal of that rapidly disappearing anomaly. Therefore it doesn't surprise me that the core, led by those anachronistic icons, try to defend their defenseless Coach. More importantly, their loyalty doesn't sway me in to buying into the Sullivan myth.
Worse, in my mind, is that perpetuating the myth of Sullivan as anything more than a run-of-the-mill Coach will only prolong the agony of watching this inept hockey version of Inspector Jacques Clouseau turn our Pittsburgh Penguins into Pink Panthers.
Agree, Mike.
You simply don't win a Stanley Cup, let alone two, totally by accident. Sully and Dan Bylsma before him contributed with just the right message and approach with the right group at the right time.
There's an old saying...familiarity breeds contempt. I'm not suggesting for one second the players have contempt for Sully...far from it. But over time, you get comfortable with each other, like an old pair of slippers. Maybe too comfortable. And the message...and impact of that message...softens and fades.
Part of what made Scotty Bowman such a great coach...aside from having great players...was his penchant for stirring the pot and keeping his players off-balance and slightly uncomfortable. He wanted them playing with an edge.
I'm sure Sully wants that, too. But something's getting lost in the translation.
As I mentioned, not all of this falls on Sullivan. While I give Dubas an A for effort...at least up till this summer...most of his moves have failed miserably. There's absolutely no cohesion and no identity. Just a bunch of guys skating in different directions with different aims. It would be very difficult for anybody to get this team to win on a consistent basis.
However, for reasons already stated, I wouldn't mind giving someone else a try.
At this stage, what's the worst that could happen?
Rick
Therien - boring, defensively responsible, structure hockey. Fired. Replaced with Bylsma, unleashed the offense, wins a Cup.
Johnston - boring, defensively responsible, structure hockey. Fired. Replaced with Sullivan, unleashed the offense, wins 2 Cups.
The Crosby era pattern is there if you want too send him out on a high note.
Hey Nick,
I get what you're saying. But at 3-7-1 (and falling) do you really think they're going to right the ship under Sully?
The same mistakes and shortcomings have been playing out unchecked (pretty much like opposing forwards) since the early stages of the '22-23 season. This team especially doesn't seem be be able to execute Sully's on-your-toes style and play anywhere near effective team defense at the same time. I mean, the gaps are abysmal. You could drive a Zamboni through some of those openings.
He, or whoever is our coach, is going to need to button up, even to a modest degree, in order for this team to experience any success at all.
Sad to say, our glory days are but a blip in the rear view mirror. It happens to all Cup teams eventually.
I personally don't think we should be so petrified of making a coaching change. And Sully, frankly, isn't the coach I want overseeing a youth movement. I think he stepped into pretty much an ideal situation back in '15...a team with a viable veteran core and a handful of kids ready to contribute in varying roles. Yes, he gave them a chance, but they'd already been developing in the system.
Rick
I think you misunderstood my comment. A coaching change is exactly what this team needs. Particularly it needs a defense first, structured, boring hockey coach like Therrien. This team has no cohesion, does not play defense. And most of all, 'they are soff.' They need a coach that will hold them accountable and bend them to his will. And then they need someone, once that system is installed, to open the offensive floodgates again. It's what has brought the best stretches of Penguin hockey in the Crosby era. A defensive coach followed by one that lets the horses run.
Hey Nick,
You're right...I did misunderstand. Sounds like we're thinking along the same lines.
Rick
PS--A brief add-on.
I don't think we should be so quick to dismiss coaches like Therrien and Johnston who teach structure. I personally think you need to learn how to play with structure first, so those lessons stay with you and serve as a foundation even after the restraining bolts are loosened.
Rick
Rick
With the Coaches available my vote would go to Gallant - I think with the lack of
toughness on this team he's exactly what the doctor ordered.
Rick
It will to take immense pressure from the Media and fans for them to make a Coaching change. The
lack of toughness on this team is a much bigger issue than most will admit, and everyone was talking
about how much of a lift it gave the team and fans when St Ivany stepped in and fought Nabor's who
was mixing it up with Sid. Why can't Sullivan and management see this??? IMO their allowing Sullivan
to influence there need for a couple of tough guys - another reason he has to be replaced asap.
I know I'm preaching to the choir but your article is spot on "THE TIME FOR CHANGE IS NOW"!!
Hey Mike,
I absolutely agree. I think we could literally lose every game (and the way we're playing we just might) up through the 4-Nation's tournament and Sully will still be behind the bench. Which in a totally backhanded way might pay-off in a lottery pick in the draft.
Agree 100 percent regarding toughness. I was quite proud of St. Ivany for coming off the bench and going straight at Faber. Handled himself pretty well, too. (It figures...we didn't draft him.)
That type of thing happens almost never around here. One of the main reasons I'd like to see Sully replaced...the way he devalues toughness and physical play...and players.
Let's face it, you're not going to score five goals a game, especially this team. Goals are going to be hard to come by on some nights. On those nights when the puck's not going in, you need guys who can bang and grind and wear the opposition down.
We have next-to-none of that element, by Sully's Ivory soap "just play" design. The thing is, he'll bemoan players not competing and/or winning puck battles. Yet the kind of guys who'll do the dirty work are precisely the kind he steers away from.
Maddening, to say the least...
Rick