After fifteen games last season, our Pittsburgh Penguins were 8 – 7 – 0. After fifteen games this season, with all of last season’s scapegoats gone, Mike Sullivan has guided his boys to an astounding turnaround, 5 – 8 – 2. It is painfully obvious that last season poor performance was all on Todd Reirden, not.
This season the names have been changed, with Reirden gone, and the results have gotten worse. Therefore, the Sullivan apologists need a new scapegoat. Next up, Erik Karlsson, another large personality is in the crosshairs (I just read another web site pushing that very deflection from the truth after last night’s loss).
Before I rant any further, I want to remind everyone here that I was never in favor of trading for Karlsson. It was asinine to bring in another soft puck moving defenseman on a team that only has soft puck moving defensemen. I also stated that trading for the old “Karlsson” was even dumber. If a team felt the need for a “Karlsson” then trade for the new “Karlsson”. In short, I have no love for number 65, I have no real desire to defend him.
However, right is right, and I will not quietly let spin doctors affix blame to one more innocent party while the real Teflon man slips through unscathed.
Cold hard evidence tells us that Karlsson has won 3 Norris Trophies as voted on by the league. He has been named to the NHL 1st team All Star five times. And he has had this success for two different teams and eight different Coaches. In his last season with the San Jose Sharks, during the first 15 GP he scored 10 G, had 11 A, and was a +3. He Finished the season with 25 G, 76 A (although -26) and earned that third Norris. Last season, with the devil that we blamed, Todd Reirden, over the first 15 GP he scored 5 G, had 11 A and was +9. This season, in that 15 GP snapshot, Karlsson has 1 G, and 7 A, and is a -7.
Last night, Karlsson was a -3. This morning a writer of an apologist blog wants to blame last nights loss on this year’s sacrificial lamb – Karlsson. Said blogger starts right of the gate in his game recap. “There’s little reason to sugarcoat Karlsson’s game, which included a minus-3 rating. The first goal was the direct result of his mistake”
Go to the NHL Website recap of the game and watch that play again. You will first see Seth Jarvis of the Carolina Hurricanes make really good play to break up a Lars Eller pass in the neutral. However, the Sullivan apologists do not want anyone to see that A. there were two teams on the ice last night and maybe the other team made a good play, nor do they B. want to acknowledge any antecedents to their diversion from the man behind the curtain.
Then as Jarvis sets the table for the play to go back the other way to Jalen Chatefield who bumped the puck up to former Penguins’ first round draft pick Jordan Staal we are again expected to ignore the sweet little skate kick of a less than accurate pass up to his stick made by Staal.
All of this was happening while Karlsson was trying to follow Teflon Mike’s game plan of attack with the Defense by racing to get up ice for the offense. Therefore, with two really strong plays by Hurricanes had to change direction and try to get back to defend against the transition brought in part by great opponent plays and poor tactical Coaching.
As Staal came entered the zone Jordan Martinook raced ahead toward the far post. Karlsson was in as good of a position as he could get after having been trying to follow the Coaches attack, attack, attack mantra. He was in between Staal and Martinook and between Martinook and the Goal when Staal once again made a great play. The Cane’s Center sent a beautiful saucer pass to that low post. Karlsson’s stick was in the passing lane as his Coach wants his Ruth Buzzi Defensemen doing. Unfortunately, it is not the easiest of plays to knock a puck out of the air when moving at speed and Karlsson whiffed (I wonder if that myopic blogger would have hailed our beleaguered RHD if he had blocked the pass).
In a worse development, the Cane’s Martinook connected on that difficult play when his pivot’s saucer pass dropped perfectly on his stick for a very pretty redirect; a redirect we used to see Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin make in their heyday.
In short, Karlsson did everything his Coach drilled into his team in practice, but the other team was just better. If anyone (said blogger) wants to ignore the efforts of the Cane’s on the ice at that time, then blame the Coach for his opposite world strategies and employment of puck moving Defensemen to the exclusion of defensive Defensemen
We celebrated those heydays when our boy were making those plays, crowing look how great that play was!, not that Defenseman really blew it. However, it does make sense to blame a Defenseman for one goal out of five to take the fans attention away from a 5 – 1 drubbing. Blaming a Defenseman can focus attention away from how much better the other team played and how poor the game plan turned out.
On the 2nd GA, in the article I had to stop reading (it got to hard to stomach) I was assaulted with “the second (GA) could only be described as indifference.” In fairness there is some truth to that. Karlsson had two Canes coming right at him up the wall. However, I am not sure if it was indifference or indecision that sprung Canes. More importantly, look again at where Karlsson’s support was. Marcus Pettersson was still hanging out on the far wall as the puck came hard up the ice with multiple attackers bearing down on his defensive partner.
Yes, Pettersson shut the barn door and got back into the play once the puck was in the Penguins’ zone, but the horse had left the barn by the time he got too the middle of the ice for support. If anyone was being indifferent Pettersson was.
More importantly, look at the beginning of the play. All three Penguins forwards were trapped around the Cane’s Goal line and none of them were able to get back into the play, not Eller, Not Cody Glass, not Drew O’Connor. Yet the propaganda machine in an effort to divert attention from the Coach plays to wag the dog in Karlsson’s direction.
Finally, the team didn’t lose 5 – 4, they lost 5 – 1. Furthermore, despite the ridiculous assertion from the blog that caused enough anger in me to write this response, when a Goalie gives up 5 Gs on only 18 Shots on Goal, it is 100% on the Goalie.
I didn’t want Karlsson but smoke and mirrors used by the friends of Mike Sullivan to redirect attention from the real millstone dragging this team down to the nether regions of the league (now 26th and falling – when was the last time our Penguins this bad, this late in the season). The GMs have been changed out, the Assistant Coaches have been changed out, and all but two generational talents, one former All Star and probable Hall of Famer and Bryan Rust among the players and one Head Coach are left from those heady days of Stanley Cup wins.
Crosby, Malkin and Kris Letang all won Stanley Cups without Sullivan. Karlsson won Norris Trophies and was named to five All Star teams. Logic doesn’t just dictate but now demands a hard look at Mike Sullivan and his termination!
It doesn’t matter who is brought in, this is failing and failing miserably. I would not even mind giving Mike Velucci an interim tryout. He has won at every other turn he has been in. Only here, hitched to the Sullivan broken down cart of wishful thinking is the Mike’s record stained.
Regardless of who is hired, this team will only stand a chance (if that is what they truly want) when there is a different hand at the helm. The insanity has to stop. Everyone else but Sullivan can’t be to blame.
Rick & The Other Rick
I know this will sound somewhat crazy but I think part of Karlsson’s problem is Marcus Pettersson. Like the Other
Rick I don’t think it’s really Pettersson’s fault as much as it’s Mike Sullivan’s system. Why is Sully pushing players
like Pettersson and Shea to elevate there games offensively?? Look, Pettersson gets big time opportunities time
after time sneaking in from the point but can’t finish – IMO teams are concentrating more on Karlsson and willing
to give up those chances to Pettersson who’s not gifted offensively at all. Pettersson’s strength is as a stay home
defenseman, and for Karlsson and Letang to be aggressive offensively Pettersson’s should never, and I repeat never
get caught pinching. Also, this is comparing Letang stats 2g, 3a and a -8 to Karlsson 1g, 7a and a -7, and I think
it’s ironic that no one crushed Letang after the Islander game. Letang is currently 4th among Penguin Defenseman
in points behind Karlsson, Grzelcyk and Pettersson.
I know I’m all over the place with my comments. But to sum things up here go”s.
1) Until they make a coaching change I don’t think we can put the blame on any player. The system
is flawed. I have no idea what type of coverage there using defensively, but what I do know is that
way to often our Defenseman end up screening our own goaltender.
2) Is Karlsson struggling “Yes” but why??
3) Is Letang struggling “Yes” we know why!
4) Just for one or two games watch Karlsson’s passing versus Letang’s
5) I like Ned and think he’s a solid backup but it’s time to allow Blomqvist to gain some valuable experience.
100% agreed Mike, right down the line.
Hey Mike,
I’m agreement about Pettersson, who seems to be pinching (and getting trapped) way more than I remember, along with your assessment of his offensive talents.
It’s the Chad Ruhwedel Syndrome where Sully seems to send everybody, regardless of their skill level.
I also agree that Letang really seems to be deteriorating. I guess at age 37, that’s to be expected to a degree. Also not sure Grzelcyk is his ideal partner, but haven’t the foggiest on who else to suggest.
Agree that Blomqvist is the real deal.
Rick
Hey Rick,
I understand your conundrum over who to suggest over Grzelczyk. Among the many problems with this team is the plethora of clones accumulated in Sullivan’s “System”. To paraphrase the Bard for a moment a Grzelczyk by any other name would smell.
A brief follow-up.
When John Marino first arrived, he was a very effective defenseman. Smart, made good reads, good skater, good gaps. Occasionally contributed on offense.
His last season here you could tell Sullivan was pushing him to develop his offensive game. He seemed to get caught up ice a lot and generally looked uncomfortable, something rarely was his first couple of seasons.
After we traded him to New Jersey (Dear Lord, what an awful deal that was) he settled back into his normal game and was quite effective.
Anyway, the whole dynamic kind of reminds me of what we’ve seen with Ryan Graves, and now with Pettersson…
Rick
Rick
Marino’s a great example and even though I don’t think Shea should be in the NHL, during the game
the other night they were saying the coaching staff is pushing him to work on the offensive side of
his game “Why” – if he plays in the league being a stay home Defenseman is what he is. He’s 27
years old. Even if he improves in that area of his game it will be marginal.
Sullivan has to go!!
Hey Other Rick,
Excellent article, my friend. While I can’t say I agree 100 percent regarding the relative culpability of Karlsson and Nedeljkovic, I’m pretty much right in step with your opinion of Sullivan.
The more things change (GMs, personnel, assistants) the more they stay the same (blown leads, turnovers, lack of focus and attention to detail, especially on defense).
At what point do you look at making a coaching change?
Not saying another coach would necessarily do better (although he’d be hard-pressed to do worse). But it sure would be refreshing to at least give someone else a crack at it. We’ve just grown so stale with Sully at the helm.
Rick
Hey Rick,
Thanks. Just to reiterate, I don’t like playing Karlsson defender; I didn’t want him here in the first place. However, he is not the Devil that many defenders of the status quo would like the rest of the fans believe and his part in last nights debacles was at best only 1/19th of the loss. If I would be in the mood to argue I would suggest that his contribution was actually well less than some other players or coach with only one or two players and no Head Coach contributing less then he to the eye sore that last night was.
Furthermore, I would suggest that Canes can play better and at speed compared to any of the FA veterans that are stealing TOI that should be given to players on their way up rather than the plethora of minimum wage has-been s and never-was s that Dubas and Sullivan assembled here. The talent gap between the benches was palpable. I really doubt any of the veteran pylons flanking Crosby or Malkin could have redirected that saucer pass Staal set Martinook up with nor do I see anyone but Malkin or Crosby capable of knocking the Eller pass down to steal the puck and go back the other way populating the Penguins bench. And rather than allow kids to start truly developing their skills flanking either of the two generational talents in Pgh, Sullivan steals from the 2nd line, reducing it to ineffectiveness to shore up the first and plugs the over-the-hill gang to stumble and bumble their way to 1 Goal on 36 shots while the Penguins resident turnstile had to fish out 5 pucks out of 18 tries against him.
The players our Coach and GM choose to employ are simply not good enough to skate with teams like the Hurricanes on most nights. Our teams needs Blomqvist in Goal to ever hope for a win against real NHL teams. He is the only Goalie capable right now of stealing games, and that is what they need from their netminders – show stoppers on a nightly basis.
Maybe Blomqvist can prevent the team from going down to 5 – 9 – 2 tonight. I hope so.