Panic? Pushing the plunger? Eh, not yet … but soon.
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43 Comments
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Its an extremely tough decision. I believe Sullivan to be one of the top 5 coaches in the league. Its hard to part ways with that, but damn if hasn't hit that part in his tenure that all coaches get to where they just cant pull their teams out of it, or they are stuck in their ways. Tough decisions to be made.
Is it laziness or pride that keeping the gm from lifting a damn finger to improve the roster …??
As long as 87 is in town there is no benefit in moving away from Sully
Fire Canada!!! (I guess hire him again so he can be fired again :))
I’m not “there” yet either … watch these guys win the cup this year … or get close … how can you bet AGAINST Sidney P. Crosby …?
he’s angry … really EFFIN angry – even though he doesn’t show it … but he is … something good is gonna happen .. it has to ..
IF Pens win their next 4 they are 3rd in division regardless of teams ahead of us. All the Metro teams have sucked recently. If they dont do that then the season is done for sure
Rob rossi said ..i think read his page..that every playoff team wants jake..so.its time to trade him off..now when we can get something for him..sorry jake i like u..but its time to rebuild…
Keep sully..an get rid of the rest of the coaches
Let’s just say I would feel 100% better if Sid and Jake were locked up for life as penguins….the other players are expendable to me. Of course that’s not the case 🫠
DK you should be fired and not allowed to talk about the pens for even mentioning firing Sully! Seriously though your performance as a journalist isn’t up to par and I think it time we party ways with you also!👍👌
Don't dump the coach and don't sell your best players as long as Crosby keeps bringing what he does. Look at what's in place and built from there (1st line and 1st d-pair and maybe even Sully). Don't give up on Karlsson or you get someone back who's in the same talent range. Same for Jake. (Which for both is nearly an impossible thing to do.) Keep Malkin because of his valuable contract. But if he's doesn't carry the 2nd line then move him to wing or the 3rd line. Be open to trade away the contracts of Graves, Smith, Rakell (and Carter at the end of the season) and aim for another strong center and a steady defenseman. And give it a new try next season. Even though it's mostly frustrating to watch, I'm still thankfull to have so much talent on the roster. What am I going to watch when we sell everything? What are the chances they'll back in the race in the next 5-15 years. I don't even want to think about that. Especially while seeing the effort Sid's still putting in.
Hey DK, thank you for continuing to hammer that the goaltending has been good. Jarry and Nedeljkovic have been good this season, and it deserves to be recognized. The defense is the biggest issue that needs corrected. Having 2 elite offensive defenseman calls for 2 very good to elite defensive defenseman and they dont have that currently. I hope they find someone at the trade deadline, whom they can acquire, who can fill that role.
Okay…so IF I'm understanding you right???..we can't fire the coach( & to be clear…I don't want to)..but we don't make ANY roster changes!???…this team needs a shake up…a kick in the ass…if that doesn't happen from Sullivan…then from where???
Pens tend to go on cup runs when replacing the coach…it is what it is…I have no faith in another cup run with Sullivan at the helm, bottom line…fans have to ask themselves if they want one more run, if so a new voice in the room should increase those odds
Do we just forget that Sullys two cups came because he brought up a ton of players from the baby pens who were fighting to prove themselves and that pushed the older guys to perform as to not get bumped. That and fleury going beast mode are the only reasons for those cups. Once we lost that young drive. It was over.
Keep Sully, trade PO, Geno(his fire is gone) and Jake(just don't want to lose him for nothing this off-season), bring up Poulin and Puljujarvi (after signing him). Hopefully, Ludvig can come back and stay healthy.
DK what’s the point of firing Sullivan? There isn’t a coach on the plant that can get blood out of this rock of a team. The bottom line is that firing the coach would just be a waste of money paying two coaches. Not to mention general managers only get so many big changes before the lens gets shifted on themselves. Dubas is smart enough to wait.
Dump some assistant coaches!! Especially the power play coach.
How in the hell do not clearly see it is a coaching problem. They ARE tuning him out, they CAN'T function consistently with his system, he ISN'T adjusting his approach. The most he does is tinker wingers. And IF he isn't fired WHY isn't Reirden ??? How can he sit back, and how can dubas sit back and watch this power play and do NOTHING make it right?
Every coach has a best before date. If Sullivan goes it is not because of what is happening in 2024, you also have to consider our complete lack of playoff success since the Cup years.
2nd worst PP in the entire league. With Jake, Sid, and Erik Karlsson. Fix it or miss the playoffs – fire/trade/bench whoever – if the coaches can't fix it, they're the wrong coaches.
Is this somehow a sudden thing that firing Sullivan would be considered a knee-jerk reaction? Pretty sure it's been a hot topic for at least a couple of seasons already, just like I'm sure this team, under this coach, has been slowly but surely spiraling downward since the last cup in 2017. During this time they've had 3 GM's and 2 ownerships. Who goes through that kind of significant franchise change while retaining the same coach? The only constant, in the face of declining play and results, has been the coach and the core. One or the other has to give at some point if things don't start trending upward, and I think we've had a large enough sample of 6+ years to safely assume that isn't going to happen in the next year, let alone the next month or two. What it ultimately comes down to is Sid or Sully. If Sid's here, they have to cater to him or take a chance of him playing in another jersey once his contract is up. That is if he doesn't demand a trade before then if they send all his friends packing.
I could be wrong, but I don't think fans would cry much of a river if Sullivan was seen behind another teams bench next season. I'm not saying hiring a new coach would even accomplish anything, but they have to try something at this point, because the wall they've been banging their heads against is clearly not moving. In the greater scheme of things, Sullivan is the odd man out. If they hadn't locked up Malkin and Letang making them essentially unmovable anchors, I'd suggest something else, even though previous attempts at roster overhauls under Hextall and now Dubas still haven't worked, but this core situation makes Sullivan the easiest hopeful fix to what is probably a hopeless situation.
thoughts on Reirdan DK?
I Would fire Rierdan and make a trade before firing sully.
The steelers and pens daily shots are becoming identical.
Honestly, I don't think we even need to jump to firing Sullivan. If anyone should go it's Reirden. He's currently coaching a powerplay that has multiple future HOF'ers and somehow is the worst in the league, and a defense that gives up a lot of odd man rushes. This (especially the power play) is plainly unacceptable. No excuses. If he can't figure it out how to get a lot more out of this group, then bring in someone who can. If the power play was just average, they'd have several more wins
yes! grit…and speed. The problems are not new here. Things have caught up to the Pens mostly because they are the oldest team and are not as fast as they used to be, and they havent had grit in years. Speed and grit trumps talent in the NHL these days. I blame the team malaise on whoever assembled the mix of players..it's just wrong for how hockey is these days. I;m sure Sullivan knows how to get the best out of the team he is presented with…If they dont have the capacity…well this is where we are. Does anyone think that if we do get into the playoffs this season, we will get out of the first round? unless wholesale changes are made
A bad month? Sullivan's had 6 bad years and they keep getting worse.
While watching the most recent games, my first thought is man these Pens are exhausting to watch. I used to enjoy watching them, now it feels more like a chore. I would be fine if the management took a stance about the future, either we are going to do anything we can to get this team rolling, or we are going to sell and try to regroup in the next few years. The issue is that the front office is just waiting for the team to show some form of identity (good or bad), but so far it seems the identity of this team is inconsistency. My question is what can light the fire under this teams butt? Would it take threats of trades or demotions. Would it take bringing in a young or high energy player? Would it be a pizza party? Hey I would pay for that party!
Firing the coach could give them an short-term boost if for nothing else the entire team that is way, way too comfortable might play really hard for a few weeks to ensure their spot with a new coach. Malkin, Rakell, Karlsson, Carter, Smith (when healthy) and Graves might actually play with a sense of urgency and focus if they think they have to impress someone new.
But beyond that, changing the coach really doesn't make the team any younger or hungrier. And quite frankly … I am not sure why a good coach who has any sort of options would want to take the job. The next 3-5 years are going to be rough, so whoever the next coach is will just be a transition guy the way Eddie Olcyk was back during the X-Generation years. So whoever takes the job would be signing up for coaching career suicide … as happened to Eddie Olcyk.
Where have you gone Super Mario? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
I love Sullivan but he’s gotta be the sacrificial lamb. The last two times the penguins replaced their coach mid season they won the cup
They don't need to fire Mike sullivan. Shake up the roster a little bit, and bring up a couple of youngsters from the AHL.
I like Sullivan. Not so much Rierden.
DK said “rings on his finger… ZZZ” 🤣
With all due respect, people don't want Sullivan to be fired only because of this season's poor performance. They want him out for lack of playoff success since 2018. Despite some roster changes over the years, Pens keep getting worse with every season. I don't think the team will magically improve without any radical changes.
Wouldn't it be great if Sid started throwing chairs and equipment and cussing out his teammates in the locker room? If not Sid, then get Carter to do it. If not Carter, then maybe Eller. I'd suggest Letang too but he'd just toss everything blindly backwards.
If you don't believe Sullivan, at least, SHOULD be in trouble you're just out of your mind
Since they last won a playoffs series, the Penguins have changed: goaltending, bottom pair D, top 4 D (minus Letang), bottom six (many times over), Geno's wingers. Hell, they even changed GM (twice) and ownership.
The common factors here are the Core Three, Rust, Jake and their "High caliber Coach". This team looks STALE, their playing style is BORING, they make the SAME MISTAKES game after game. You cannot be serious if you believe this is at these 5 players fault, especially considering who we are talking about here. Mike Sullivan needs to go ASAP, he hit his expiration date almost 4 years ago. Hopefully Dubas isn't as blind to these problems as the Pittsburgh media seems to be
I don't think firing Sullivan is the answer, but only because I don't think this group is going to listen to any coach at this point. But I sure would like to see some fresh approaches to the power play, even if that means bruising a few egos in the process.
If this team couldn't win with Tanev and Mcann as secondary scorers, what makes you think they can win with Eller, Accari or O'Connor? Unless they turn the Powerplay from worst to best AND properly deploy Karlson (ie: have him be the best player on the ice and in full control) this team will have no chance at a Cup.
They haven’t won a playoff series since 2018…a lot of players have come and gone the past half decade, but Sullivan is still here and the one constant between every player now and then. I’m tired of Pittsburgh coaches, looking at you too Tomlin, just getting a free pass every year for having a winning record and being abject playoff failures. The PP as well is 100% on him. He’s severely underachieved for 5+ years now and should have been gone this past offseason or at least a month or two ago.
Cups are won when your 3rd line is better than their 2nd. Its like being without the franchise QB. Go Get [It] Or your just wasting time.