Not sure what to think. Since i haven’t seen this posted yet:
PITTSBURGH (AP)—The Pittsburgh Penguins fired coach Michel Therrien on Sunday, less than a year after he led the team to the Stanley Cup finals.
Dan Bylsma, coach of the team’s AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, was installed as interim coach of the Penguins with 25 games remaining in the NHL season.
Even with Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, who rank first and second in the league in scoring, the Penguins have struggled to a 27-25-5 record this season. They’re in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, five points out of eighth and the final playoff spot.
The Penguins lost to the Detroit Red Wings in six games in last year’s Stanley Cup finals.
The firing came a day after the Penguins blew a 2-0 lead in a 6-2 loss in Toronto. The Maple Leafs scored five times in the third period.
Pittsburgh has just one road win since Dec. 26.
“We believe we need a change in direction and, with 25 games remaining in the regular season, our goal remains to finish strong and qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs,” general manager Ray Shero said in a statement. “Dan Bylsma is one of the bright young coaches in the game and has done an exceptional job as the head coach in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season.
“We also would like to thank Michel Therrien for his significant contributions to the Penguins organization.”
Bylsma (BYLE-smuh), 38, will coach his first game with the Penguins against the New York Islanders on Monday. In his first season as head coach of the AHL team, the Baby Penguins were 35-16-1-2.
He played nine NHL seasons as a right wing with Los Angeles and Anaheim from 1995-2004.
Therrien became coach of the Penguins in December 2005, after 2 1/2 seasons at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He engineered the club’s turnaround from a struggling franchise to a Stanley Cup contender. He was a finalist for coach of the year in 2006-07, after the Penguins improved by 47 points over the previous season. That ranks as the fourth-best turnaround in a season in NHL history.
Entering this season, Therrien and the Pens were 94-51-19 over the last two seasons.
Despite injuries to Crosby and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, Therrien and the Penguins went 47-27-8 for 102 points last season, their second straight 100-point season. Pittsburgh won its first division title since 1997-98 and earned its first Cup finals berth since 1991-92.
Therrien is the fifth NHL coach to be replaced this season and second this month. Ottawa fired Craig Hartsburg two weeks ago.
I’m iffy on this with Therrien. I’ve read some things where some hockey guys have said that he is an ideal coach for a young team that needs a strong, hard line coach, but he is not a good coach when dealing with top line talent. He had the same problem in Montreal and apparently was having it here. There were tons of rumors floating last year that a lot of the guys on the team didn’t like him.
Naming this kid from WB/S as interim I think is good, only fear I have is if he really is as good as everyone says, but doesn’t succeed here in 25 games, there is no way you can send him back to WB/S so you’ll be looking for 2 separate head coaches in the off season. That could make things a little dicey.
Whoever thinks Caputi and Whitney for a 36 year old winger that won’t go into corners or fight for the puck is an idiot. This team is going to need a kid like Caputi in the future. We need skilled guys that have a little grit. All the skill in the world won’t produce wins unless you have guys that will dig the pucks out of corners and forecheck their asses off.
Only trade I’ve heard run around that I think makes sense is Staal for Nathan Horton from Florida. We need wings, Florida needs centers, Horton is a natural wing that Florida is forcing to play 2nd line center, Staal is a 3rd liner here but a natural 2nd liner somewhere else. Both have similar cap hits, Horton is only 24 or 25, right handed, a big guy, and plays a physical game.
If we trade any highly regarded prospects, I’ll be upset. This club right now is shy on guys that are grading out highly in the future. Goligoski, Caputi are about it in terms of guys that are in the pros right now. Pierro-Zabotel is a good looking winger playing in juniors right now but he is 2-3 years away. I don’t think the Pens can afford to trade any prospects, they need to try to acquire them and build some depth.
I am pretty much on the same page as you. The only thing I would argue about St Louis is that his style seems like it would mech well with Sid’s. He is fast, has a somewhat similar “crazy” style of play and has incredible hands. But like you said to trade two guys and both being a lot younger I am not too sure if it is the answer. I do like the Horton idea, we need players like him…just unsure if he would mesh well with Sid?
From what I read Bylsma wants to have more of a offensive focus on the team system…seems fine with me. I just hope the defense performs as well under a new systemn even though it seemed our shots against was terrible at times with our current system.
Bylsma did not criticize Therrien, but said it’s clear to him the Penguins need to get back to being a fast, offensive-driven team.
“With the strengths we have, we should be able to go into buildings and make teams deal with the quality of players we have at every position,” Bylsma said. “I look at a group that can win games right now, and we need to do that. We can do this, but the players have to believe we can do this.”
staal for horton is stupid! im glad its dead… staal for st.louis or heatley or antriponov makes more sense…
firing therrien…ehhh i dunno about this… we dont know what goes on in the locker rooms and in practice, i could see if the penguins are using his system and losing rather then not following his system and losing on their own… it was a big move but i still think there is more to come
Before they trade Staal off for anyone, I would really like to see them try him on Sids line as a winger, whats the worst that can happen… we already lost 6-2 to a team thats struggling
I would trade Staal for a bag of peanuts, he’s horrible.
I thought Therrien was a decent coach but I don’t know what went on off the ice. Maybe the players did not like him. :dunno:
The only thing the penguins lost from last year was grit. They still have the skilled players, they just lost the players that do the most work. I don’t think they need a big name winger, they just need players that will get a little dirty. IMO
anyone know why Gill is scratched?? yes i know a lot of you guys hate him, but I still think he has been playing better then Eaton. just my 2cents… I just dont think Eaton has been playing like his old self… but who am I to say
my guess is this guys going to try implementing some run and gun, rush the forth man (redwings knock off) offensive system and gill doesnt fit into that scheme very well… maybe.
read any of his other lame ass hockey analysis and you will have explanation enough for yet another ridiculous comment about why some NHL team could justify losing a top notch, pure goal scorer for Jordan Staal simply because Nick got his jersey. :rolleyes:
It’s nice to get a point, but one point at a time isn’t going to get us into the playoffs with 20 something games left. And for christ sake it was the ISLANDERS!!!
