The Penguins bumped their payroll to about $31 million by adding high-priced free agents such as Sergei Gonchar, Ziggy Palffy and John LeClair during the off-season, and saw themselves – at the very least – as a playoff-caliber team.
They’ve done absolutely nothing to back up that belief through the first two-plus months of the season.
http://www.postgazette.com/pg/05350/623371.stm
Therrien: A man who cracks whip
Olczyk says the Penguins’ new boss is a perfect fit for the jobFriday, December 16, 2005
By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-GazetteIt says something about Michel Therrien that just about every Penguin who has played for him in Wilkes-Barre believes he’s a good choice to coach this team.
John Beale, Post-Gazette
New Penguins coach Michel Therrien, foreground, meets with his team at their first practice together yesterday at Neville Island. At right is Penguins player and owner Mario Lemieux.
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It probably says more that the man he replaced feels the same way.“He’s going to do a great job,” Eddie Olczyk said yesterday. “He’s a knowledgeable guy, and I think he’ll do a really good job.”
That remains to be seen, of course, but this much is certain: Therrien will go about his job in a radically different way than Olczyk.
He won’t put any more time or energy into it than Olczyk did – that probably isn’t possible – but his approach to dealing with players bears scant resemblance to the way Olczyk handled things.
“He’s got his way,” Therrien said, “and I’ve got my way.”
Olczyk, an upbeat sort by nature, is partial to positive reinforcement and tried to encourage his players to perform to their potential. Therrien, on the other hand, is about as pleasant as a pit bull with a toothache when someone is guilty of a bad play or mental lapse.
“He just demands so much from everybody,” said winger Matt Murley, who played for Therrien in the American Hockey League for two years. “If you’re not doing what he expects, he’s going to let you know.”
There is no secret, though, about what Therrien, who has a three-year contract, expects from his players. He puts a premium on accountability, and his first practice yesterday made it obvious that upgrading the Penguins’ defensive play is a priority.
“I really believe we need some structure,” Therrien said. “We’re not going to be able to win many hockey games if we give up over 40 shots and over 20 scoring chances. We need to address that.”
The neutral-zone trap is a cornerstone of Therrien’s system, although players who were with him in Wilkes-Barre said Therrien views it not strictly as a defensive tactic, but one that can generate offense.
“We’ll be trapping everywhere,” Murley said. "A lot of people think it’s a defensive system, but he likes to think of it as an offensive system, because we’re going to go out and create turnovers.
“And once we get the turnovers, with the talent we have, he just lets us go free in the offensive zone. Do what you want and have fun there. We should be able to create a lot of goals with the guys we have.”
Holding onto the puck as long as possible is another tenet of Therrien’s style. He figures, quite logically, that if his team has the puck, the opponent doesn’t have much chance of scoring.
“Puck possession is really important, especially these days, with the new rules [enforcement],” he said. "When you don’t have the puck, you’re putting yourself in a bad position to spend time in the penalty box. Eventually, if you start cycling the puck down low [in the attacking zone], you’re going to have a scoring chance or you’re going to draw a penalty.
“The more you have the puck, the [fewer] shots on net [the other team is] going to have, and the [fewer] scoring chances. We’re going to have to learn to play with the puck.”
The Penguins will be learning that from a whole new staff, because assistant coaches Joe Mullen and Randy Hillier – both members of the Penguins’ Stanley Cup teams in 1991 and 1992 – also were fired, along with goaltending coach Shane Clifford and conditioning coach John Welday.
Their jobs were filled by three men who worked with Therrien in Wilkes-Barre: Mike Yeo is the assistant coach – assistant general manager Ed Johnston will work with the coaches until a second assistant is hired – Gilles Lefebvre takes over as goaltending consultant and Stephane Dube is the new conditioning coach.
General manager Craig Patrick said Olczyk, Hillier and Mullen will remain with the organization. Olczyk and Hillier will scout and handle special assignments for Patrick; Mullen’s long-term duties have not been worked out, but he and ex-Penguins coach Rick Kehoe will run the Baby Penguins’ bench this weekend.
The coaching change wasn’t the Penguins’ only personnel move. They recalled right winger Michel Ouellet from Wilkes-Barre and assigned forwards Maxime Talbot and Lasse Pirjeta to the Baby Penguins, creating a spot on their 23-man roster for Mario Lemieux in the process.
And there’s no guarantee the lineup will stabilize anytime soon.
“There could be more changes coming, depending on what we see, in the very near future,” Patrick said.
Therrien inherits a team that enters its game against Buffalo tonight at 7:08 with a record of 8-17-6, worst in the Eastern Conference. They were 13 points out of the final Eastern playoff spot going into the games last night.
Nonetheless, Patrick said his team was capable of getting back into contention.
“We’re going to get back in the playoff hunt,” he said. “And, hopefully, make the playoffs.”
Therrien, 42, characterized himself as a pragmatist – “I’m not a dreamer. I’m a guy who’s down to earth” – and declined to predict whether the Penguins will be able to compete for a playoff berth.
“We’re going to take one day at a time,” he said. “I think that’s the best way. And we’ll see eventually where we’re going to be able to finish.”
Therrien had exceptional success with the Baby Penguins, compiling a 94-56-17-8 record, with 10 ties, in two-plus seasons. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has dominated the AHL this season, going 21-1-2-1 in its first 25 games. His only previous NHL experience came with Montreal, where he compiled a 77-91-22 record.
Now, he has inherited perhaps the most enigmatic team in the NHL. The Penguins bumped their payroll to about $31 million by adding high-priced free agents such as Sergei Gonchar, Ziggy Palffy and John LeClair during the off-season, and saw themselves – at the very least – as a playoff-caliber team.
They’ve done absolutely nothing to back up that belief through the first two-plus months of the season.
“We look pretty on paper, but what are we?” Patrick said. “We’ll find out what we are, starting today.”
