THOUGHTS ON KESSEL, PENS MANAGEMENT, AND IDEOLOGY

So Penguins fans, how are you feeling these days? This last week or so, it’s been a little crazy, no? Do you feel like I do, and have a sense of relief this morning that the Penguins didn’t allow Jim Rutherford to trade for Phil Kessel…yet? You should. Rutherford says all the right things on camera, about wanting to be patient, but from all accounts this weekend, he was pretty ravenous about wanting to get another top six forward, and from most accounts, Phil Kessel was his guy.

I can’t say I’m a fan of Phil Kessel. I remember before he was drafted a story that came out that he had an altercation with Sidney Crosby while they were still in Juniors. He’s had a toxic relationship with the media everywhere he’s gone. The knocks on him are consistent; he’s angry, he’s rude, he’s anti-social, he consistently puts himself before his team, and he can act like a petulant child – there are others, but that’s just the things off the top of my head that have been said about him.

Now, as a fan, I can live with some of that. I’d be calling the kettle black if I said that I wasn’t a little angry, or anti-social from time to time, but I always try to handle people with respect if only because of how it reflects upon me. Be professional. Take your lumps when you earn them, but celebrate your successes when they come too. Now, admittedly, part of Kessel’s problem has been where he’s played. Canada is ground zero if you’re a hockey player. Players born in Canada want to play there; it’s a dream to most of them. For Toronto, where Kessel has almost spent his last six years, it’s the life blood of the city. As in any career, if you’re not in love with what you do, it can wear on you.

By all accounts, Phil Kessel was enamored to be a Maple Leaf in September of 2009. Toronto is a hockey mecca, and if you view yourself highly enough, it can be a place you can ascend to god-hood amongst the fans. The problem seems to be that Kessel overestimated his worth to those fans. The world, after all, has become “what have you done for me lately?” Kessel was expected to shoulder the load of not so good Toronto teams, and when he couldn’t, animosity began to build.

The Penguins are a team that’s standing on a bloody edge. The “window” in which to win another Stanley Cup with Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby as part of its core seems to be closing. It shouldn’t be, but because of handing out poor contracts to players who shouldn’t have gotten them, the Penguins have made a royal mess of things. The Penguins are an aging team, they no longer have good depth, and they’re trapped in salary cap hell, in large part, because of former General Manager Ray Shero, handed out those contracts and who traded away younger players for Band-Aid fixes in previous attempts to get another Stanley Cup.

Which brings us to this point: the Penguins have two ways they can handle this. They can go all in and trade away the last remnants of any future to build on, and get a player like Kessel who’s got seven more years on his contract with a cap hit of 8 million per season until the end of the 2021-2022 season. They can continue to be a top heavy team that pays almost 35% of its salary cap to a handful of players (that percentage will increase w/ Kessel), who every year has to find players willing to play at rock bottom prices to fill out a roster to win them another Stanley Cup. Or they can choose to quietly step back for a season or two, and retool.

I personally am a fan of taking a year or two and stepping back from the team being “all in” although I’m not sure many fans would agree with me. If Crosby and Malkin do love it here, I’m sure you can convince them that by shedding bad contracts and getting in good pieces for another serious run in 2 years is more beneficial to going full tilt now with a high probability of failure, not just for now but for years to come if the Penguins continue on this path.

I talked to a friend at the middle of last month about the 2 year thing, but Mark Madden recently wrote an article about it here (http://www.1059thex.com/onair/mark-madden-25939/twoyear-plan-13704176/) and since I can’t prove my conversation, I’ll gladly give Mark the credit, because he’s right, and I agree with him.

Think about it from this perspective; the Penguins are rumored to add Sergei Plotnikov and perhaps Viktor Tikhonov, both from the KHL. Plotnikov must sign an entry-level contract, which means he’ll be playing for around 1 million next season, for 1 season. Tikhonov, who’s played in the KHL for a few years, is still property of the Arizona Coyotes until July 1, and although his NHL career never amounted to much (until now, potentially) he’s going to probably earn north of 2 million if he signs. Tikhonov has improved his game in the KHL from where it was in his previous NHL stint. Both have played as linemates to Alexander Ovechkin at various points over the last few seasons in international competition. Those are the guys the Penguins need to be grabbing for now.

I liken Tikhonov to a cross between Malkin friend and current NY Islander Nikolai Kulemin, and former Malkin winger Ruslan Fedotenko. He’s a defensively responsible forward, capable of back-checking, and can likely be expected to put up between 10-15 goals and 20-25 assists, and that’s with me predicting him not to play with Malkin – it’s possible, even likely, Tikhonov exceeds that, especially if he plays with Malkin. So that’s 40 points. The year the Penguins won the Stanley Cup, Malkin’s wingers were Fedotenko and Petr Sykora. Sykora had 46 points, and Fedotenko had 39 and, oh yeah, Malkin won the MVP.

I know less about Plotnikov, except that he’s got a pretty awesome YouTube highlight reel, and that he seems to be a poor man’s Chris Kunitz, only with a little more intensity but also a gear or two slower. I’ll take that every day and twice on Sunday, especially at 1 million per season. These are the players that Penguins General Manager Jim Rutherford need to be going after this free agency year. They’re guys who will help your core. They buy you time to get some of your problem areas under check.

Not only that but signing guys like Plotnikov and Tikhonov can build you depth. So you don’t plan on making a serious Stanley Cup run for two years? It’s not hurting getting Plotnikov and Tikhonov a few years of NHL experience with Evgeni Malkin first. That means the talent that’s ready to make the roster in 2 years has to push guys that are established harder, and there’s nothing wrong with that scenario. Why trade Brandon Sutter for a lower tier top six forward when you can move him for a good prospect and a couple of draft picks? Planning is everything.

Plus, what happens if this team is sold within the next year? Even if Ron Burkle is the guy who buys Mario Lemieux’s shares, it’s likely that Burkle is going to want a management team completely of his choosing, which means a reduction of that ridiculous top heavy management team the Penguins employ, meaning that Rutherford and coach Mike Johnston could well be out of work at this time next year. I’d rather they leave something in the cupboard for when that happens, then going all in now, for what I feel is another futile attempt.

Consider what happens if the Penguins manage to trade both forward Chris Kunitz and defenseman Rob Scuderi to open up some cap space, and get some draft picks in return. If you’re thinking like Ray Shero did, which is that the franchise doubles as a family and thinks that way first, Kunitz and his wife reside in whatever city Chris plays, and Chicago, where his wife is from. Kunitz is likely to go to another team with a shot of winning another Stanley Cup, but you might build some good will with other NHL players if you do him a favor and move him closer to Chicago. Scuderi, on the other hand, is saddled with a modified no-trade clause. The requirement he had when he signed with the Penguins two seasons ago, was that he wanted to be closer to his New York home, so ideally, if you can move him to a team that’s within an hour flight of New York, he should be okay to do that. Good will can go a long way, not long ago, the Penguins had a lot of it, but the butchery of the firings of Dan Bylsma and Ray Shero did more harm than good in that department. From a public relations standpoint, both Kunitz and Scuderi are respected NHL players, and doing them a solid can also help your franchise out.

If the Penguins start shedding dead weight off the roster, and getting back pieces to build up the core again, it’s reasonable to think within a season or two they’d be in better shape to make another run at the Stanley Cup – with better results than what they’ve had recently. That means you have to stop trying to put Band-Aid fixes on this team, though. No more trading 1st round draft picks. No more 4 year contracts to players older than 31. No more trading two 2nd round draft picks for six weeks of Doug Murray. No more spending to the cap and because of injuries, you can only play 5 or 4 defensemen a night, damaging this team before the playoffs begin because you mismanaged said cap. And no more trading young defenseman like Simon Despres to Anaheim for Ben Lovejoy. That trade was beyond stupid, and will haunt this team for years to come. Straighten up Penguins, otherwise your window will be closed sooner than you’d like.

WHAT IF… PART III – THE PLAYERS

(This is the third part in a three part series)

My last two articles took a look at Dan Bylsma as coach, and Ray Shero as general manager. While they no doubt hold pieces of the blame in this situation, this doesn’t fall on those two alone. Some of the blame has to fall on the players, who have done little to improve this team.

This morning, there were a lot of self-serving rumors out there from disgruntled fans who wanted to trade Evgeni Malkin or Sidney Crosby, both of them the faces of this team, and both of them failing badly in this playoff at living up to that star billing. Both are paid handsomely – next season, they will count just over 18 million combined out of a 71 million dollar salary cap. They are, make no mistake, somewhat to blame.

They’re to blame because they are the leaders of this team. Malkin is content to ride second fiddle to Crosby. While he’s getting a chance to show his personality the more he learns English, it’s clear that he doesn’t want to be in the spotlight. Yet, starting next year, because Malkin’s contract was signed after the most recent collective bargaining agreement, he will actually eat up more of the salary cap than Crosby. That should be alarming to most Pens fans.

It’s not that Malkin isn’t talented – there are times he looks like Mario Lemieux 2.0 when he gets rolling, the problem is that he rarely stays engaged in that mode for very long. He can take over games, and then be next to invisible for the next few games. He’s maddeningly inconsistent. He needs to be a force. If Crosby can’t be, then he has to be. He’s being paid like one. That said, I don’t advocate moving Malkin. Maybe I would have before you traded Jordan Staal, but not now. You need him.

As for Crosby, people have been speculating since the Columbus series that something was wrong with him. Was he injured? Was he sick? Was he hexed from a voodoo doctor? We may not know. Mark Madden did a column this morning where he takes a look at what’s wrong with Sid. You can read that here: (http://www.timesonline.com/columnists/sports/mark_madden/madden-guesses-on-what-s-up-with-penguins-crosby/article_285e42de-1455-5f63-abac-3109cd06ea3b.html)

I think Mark hits the nail on the head. Crosby is a phenomenal player. But you want to know what was generating news prior to the trade deadline? Ryan Kessler. Because clearly, Dan Bylsma figured out that having a 3^rd line center that was just doing his job wasn’t enough – he had to be a scoring machine that was hard to defend, and Ray Shero does nothing if not attempt to satisfy his coach. Who would Kessler have played with that Brandon Sutter wasn’t? The sheer idea was lunacy. Never mind that once again, Crosby didn’t have proper line mates because of Pascal Dupuis’s injury. You want to tell me you couldn’t acquire Matt Moulson, who went for a song and a dance to Minnesota?

Not only that, but I’ll again point to Shero’s introductory press conference. “We’re going to be a tough team to play against.” He might have followed through on the first cup run, but it’s been clear since that he’s lost sight of that. Crosby’s been getting mugged since the Columbus series. Penalties are relaxed in the post season. And frankly, Crosby never had a chance. Since his early days, he’s been disliked by referees, who hate to be shown up when they fail to do their job. You think he’s going to get a call now? He has to be missing a limb and bleeding out on the ice for that, and frankly, Marc Staal is doing his best to see that happen, in spite of the fact that he’s been through a concussion that cost him a great deal of time as well. Who’s going to defend him? Jussi Jokinen or Brian Gibbons? For that alone, Shero’s job should be in question.

So you didn’t acquire your captain and best player in the NHL anybody to play with when one of his regular line mates goes down, and you didn’t get anybody to protect him. No wonder he’s among those who probably feel this team doesn’t have a prayer in these playoffs. You put him in a terrible situation to try to make it work.

That isn’t an indicator to let Crosby off the hook. No matter the reason, Sid hasn’t been himself, and the fans have started to lose patience with him. He’s being called out for his lack of offense. He’s being called out because when an opposing team gets in his head, his leadership goes to shit – and who can blame him? Sure, there are reasons for that, and we just talked about them, but he’s shown little maturity this post season. When the Penguins were competing for Stanley Cups not long ago, they had guys like Gary Roberts, who lead by example. They still need that, because even if it is “Crosby’s team” that doesn’t mean he’s a good enough leader to pull his team together. It’s clear right now that he’s not.

However, if these Penguins fall tonight to the Rangers, or if they pull through, only to fall in the next round, you can’t leave this team as the status quo. If upper management changes, so must the reason they’re being let go, and that falls on the players – some of them, anyway.

No, moving Crosby and Malkin isn’t needed, nor is it smart. You don’t cut off your nose to spite your face. If fans get their wish, and Crosby and Malkin are moved, guess what? This isn’t a playoff team. You’re a .500 team at best. No matter who comes back in a trade, this team isn’t what it once was.

But there are players that can be moved that can fit the needs of your “new” team going forward.

First, and probably the hardest, is finding a taker for Kris Letang. I know Kris is just a few months away from having a stroke. It’s not going to be an easy task finding a trading partner who will assume the risk. It also will paint the franchise in a negative light, for A) moving him before his contract kicks in and B) moving him knowing you’re not going to get full value for him – say nothing of moving a man who isn’t in peak health.

You’re going to take a loss for moving him, but if you’re going to remain viable in a season or two after a slight rebuild, it’s a move you have to make. Just throwing it out there, see if you can entice Toronto, who’s also in the midst of a rebranding of sorts, and see if you can get Cody Franson back in a deal for him, and maybe a clause in the trade where Toronto kicks back a couple of draft picks (say a 3^rd in 2015, and a 1^st in 2017) if Letang stays healthy and plays a set number of games each year.

If they bite, take some of the money you ear-marked for Letang, and give it to Matt Niskanen for his next contract. Niskanen is quite frankly one of the only people who earned another contract here with a pay increase this season.

Two, use one of the two optional amnesty buy-outs on Rob Scuderi – and I’ve read nothing that convinces me that you can’t. This was a mistake from the moment I saw it on the first day of free agency. Letting go of Scuderi the first time was a mistake, but signing him back as a 34 year old to a 4 year deal was asinine. Scuderi isn’t the player that left. He also fits in terribly on this roster, with its current make-up. Say nothing that the man can’t be a good mentor, but he’s taking a roster spot from somebody who can fit in better.

While we’re at it, try to trade Craig Adams. Bylsma’s favorite penalty killer has seen better days. He’s also around for one more season. Although his salary isn’t going to cause any problems, if you can’t find a taker for him, release him – or if you can’t do that anymore, then buy him out too. Each team gets two buyouts that have to be used this year.

Next up on the list would be to trade pending free agents to be for draft picks. For years, I thought this team should keep Brooks Orpik until the bitter end. Well, that’s now. Orpik is a favorite of mine, but there’s no question he lost a step or two this season. He’s valuable to somebody out there, maybe his negotiating rights for a 2^nd or 3^rd round pick. Same goes with Lee Stempniak, who has played as well as he had any right to after being acquired at the trade deadline. Maybe you can trade his negotiating rights to somebody for a pick. If not, I’d try to bring him back at lower than his 2.5 million salary from this year. He’d make a lot of sense on the third line with Brandon Sutter.

Other than that, I’d let some guys walk. Brian Gibbons was incredible at times for this team, and his speed is a clear asset, but he can’t be viewed as a viable forward on this team going forward. It’s not like he’s Paul Kariya. Dangle him at the draft, maybe you’ll get lucky, but if not, let him go.

The only players I would make any effort to keep that are pending free agents are Stempniak, Joe Vitale, and I’d make a call to Marcel Goc to see if he was willing to stay in a fourth line role, and promise him legitimate ice time in that role. Bylsma has treated a fourth line like a step child for most of his tenure here, preferring to go with three lines on most nights.

I know people are going to ask about Jussi Jokinen, but there’s a reason he’s a journeyman. It’s not because he’s not talented, it’s because if you’re a legitimate franchise, you don’t have a spot for him. He’s not offensively gifted enough to justify him having a permanent role in the top six, and he’s not built to play or stand up physically enough for the second or third line, and he’s going to be wasted on a fourth line. Plus, remember he wasn’t acquired for his scoring ability, he was acquired because the team didn’t have enough help taking and winning faceoffs. Like Gibbons, try to dangle him at the draft – maybe a team that needs scoring help coughs up a 3^rd or 4^th round pick for him.

Hopefully, if the Penguins at least move out Bylsma, the next coach will be told he has a season to get his house in order, which means he can try to coach some of those AHL guys up on the main roster to play in bottom six roles. Admittedly, Shero has been awful at drafting bottom six talent, but maybe you can get a Brian Rust, Adam Payerl or a Dominik Uher cemented into a couple of those bottom six holes, meaning you have less to go out and get later on. Without question, going forward, this team needs to be more physical, otherwise they’re not going to be much better than they are right now.

So that’s it from me for now. I feel the need to remind everybody that although there are times that it doesn’t seem like it, that I do love this franchise, and I want it to be successful. That doesn’t mean I need to put blinders on and ignore the glaring holes this team has. Sometimes, you need to cut out the bad parts so the whole has a chance to grow. This team is getting diminishing returns on its head coach. It’s time for a new voice, a new system, and a new outlook. Who knows, we might be talking a year from now about how this team is playing as well as it ever has.

WHAT IF… PART II – THE GENERAL MANAGER

(This is the second part of a three part series)

On May 26, 2006, Rejean Shero was hired as the General Manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He replaced Craig Patrick, who was the General Manager of the Penguins for 17 years. Most of the fans who were around during the Craig Patrick era believed at the end that it was time for a change – that Patrick, for all the good he did, had lost touch with what needed to be done to win.

Shero came in and made several bold moves. He evaluated the Penguins roster, as well as that of the minor league affiliates. He cut ties with the talent that he didn’t see fitting in with his design, and signed talent who did. In the 2007-2008 season, Shero’s Penguins came within two wins of winning the Stanley Cup, and the next season, 2008-2009, his team won the Stanley Cup. Patrick too, had early success, helping the Penguins win back to back Stanley Cup Championships in 1990-1991 and 1991-1992.

The problem is that General Managers are often trying to get the most out of the talent they have. Hockey, like most major sports, is a “what have you done for me lately” kind of league. Patrick’s team was still potent after those Cup wins, but thanks in part to money issues with then owners Howard Baldwin and Roger Marino, found itself in the hole financially. Patrick had his scouts looking heavily in Europe trying to find talent in which he could make the Penguins winners again, but he had an extremely hard time developing talent that he had drafted. The game was changing and Patrick, in spite of being a brilliant hockey mind, couldn’t keep up with those changes. It didn’t matter who coached the team, it wasn’t built to withstand the NHL as it was evolving.

Unlike Patrick, Ray Shero has a minor league affiliate that the team directly oversees so he can grow his talent in a North American style before moving them to the NHL. Shero keeps that team stocked with talent – defensive talent, to be exact. Shero has plucked a number of good defensemen prospects from the NHL Draft, and has either turned them into pieces on his team, or valuable trading pieces with other teams. His scouts, for whatever reason, seem rather abysmal at finding forward talent. Outside of Jordan Staal, who was Shero’s first draft pick as Penguins GM, and Beau Bennett, the Penguins haven’t had any major successful home grown forwards.

Also, Shero has raided his own cupboard over the last few seasons trying to win another Stanley Cup by trading draft picks and prospects, trying to get the right mix. And he’s done it a lot – to the point that Shero has depleted the organization of prospects going forward. At some point, you’d think it would be advantageous for the Penguins to get prospects back into their system, but thus far, it seems to be down the list on things Shero’s worried about.

So, if the Penguins are bounced from the Stanley Cup playoffs losing to a lower seed, and it claims Penguins coach Dan Bylsma’s job, as is widely believed (finally), should it also claim the General Manager?

The easy answer for me to give is probably yes, but it’s just not that simple. As was the case when Craig Patrick was in charge, the Penguins generally ran the same team out there year in and out, until the very end when they had a hard time making payroll, and the team resembled a minor league hockey team. Patrick was a fan of the European game, the style and finesse that allowed his talent (namely Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr) to flourish.

Shero, who likes a different breed of player than Patrick, is much the same. When Ray Shero took over the team, he promised a team that would be tough to play against night in and night out. He did that, initially, signing guys like Jarkko Ruuttu and trading for guys like Gary Roberts and Georges Laraque in his first couple of seasons. If you look at his roster now, however, you’d have a hard time picking out the guys who are tough to play against. So, is this a case of Shero softening his stance on the players he wants, or is this a case of Ray listening to the needs of his coach, Dan Bylsma? Probably a bit of both.

Unlike last year, when the Penguins had the salary cap room to go out and get guys like Brendan Morrow, Jarome Iginla and Douglas Murray, this year the team didn’t have that luxury, being pressed against the salary cap for much of the season, and only due to Kris Letang’s stroke and his being kept on long term injured reserve (LTIR) were the Penguins able to get any traction, getting defensive forward/faceoff man Marcel Goc and Lee Stempniak, a poor man’s Pascal Dupuis. Though both are pretty good defensively, neither is going to strike fear into any team that the Penguins play.

Also, both Shero and Dan Bylsma believe in running a system built on speed. The idea makes a lot of sense, until you get to the playoffs. The problem with getting fast players is that often times they’re small; usually less than 6 feet. When you get to the playoffs, referees often relax the rules, and bigger players, who like to clutch and grab in order to slow faster players down, become more effective, getting smaller players off their game, and making it difficult for them to use that speed as effectively as they did in the regular season. Such was the case against Boston, in the playoffs last year, who man-handled the Penguins and frustrated them to the point of sweeping the Penguins in four straight games. Yet, Shero and Bylsma continue to try and make the outdated system try to work.

This year, the Penguins had trouble with Columbus, because Columbus plays a very physical system, and more recently the New York Rangers. Neither team could match the Penguins for skill – though the Rangers are far closer than Columbus, but both have utilized a similar recipe to infuriate Pittsburgh to get them off their game, giving themselves a chance to win. That’s not to say that Bylsma wouldn’t like to play a more physical style – only that his players seem to shy away from it.

You also have to take an objective look at what is available if the Penguins were to relieve Shero from duty. Much like Dan Bylsma has gotten away with some really demoralizing losses the past few seasons, the Penguins couldn’t replace him because they had nobody available to do so. If Shero’s proclamation of Dan Bylsma being his choice as coach last season, costs both of them this year – who is an ideal choice to replace him?

Off the top of my head, I can think of three names the Penguins might want to look at in the event that Shero is let go:

Laurence Gilman, the assistant general manager of the Vancouver Canucks. Given the state of affairs that team is currently in, teams might shy away from Laurence, but in truth, he’s a cap-ologist and the head of amateur scouting for Vancouver. It’s a pretty good bet that unlike Shero, Gilman would hold his scouts to a higher standard on bringing in talent. Shero’s been good a finding defensemen, but little else. The NHL draft isn’t an exact science, but Shero should have more to show in his 7 years with the franchise thus far. Plus, there’s no promise Gilman will be retained now that his boss, Mike Gillis, has been let go.

Jim Benning, assistant general manager of the Boston Bruins. Benning, much like Gilman, has a background in amateur scouting, spending 8 years in the role with Buffalo before going to the Bruins, where he also spent a year as director of player personnel. Benning is well respected as a talent evaluator at all levels. The only drawback might be Boston’s relationship with Pittsburgh. Before Shero was hired in Pittsburgh, Boston nearly had him signed as their GM before Pittsburgh swooped in at the last minute and made him their offer, leaving the Bruins with their second choice (though not a bad one) in Peter Chiarelli. Plus, you know, that whole Iginla thing last year… I doubt Boston would stand in the way of such a move, but I doubt they’d appreciate Pittsburgh’s inquiry.

Jason Botterill, assistant general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sure, it’s somewhat suspect to think that if Shero were let go, the first choice to replace him would come from his top deputy, but Botterill has his own ideas on how to run a team, as seen by the way Wilkes-Barre Scranton plays. It’s similar to the NHL Penguins, but more disciplined. Plus, Botterill would know the ins and outs of the team, giving him a leg up on other potential choices. Ultimately, Botterill is what Shero was 7 years ago – somebody who’s been groomed to lead at a young age with a good mind toward making things work his own way.

Plus, if the Penguins were to do a whole front office sweep, it might give a new General Manager time to go out and restock the team a bit. Trade some of the players he doesn’t think will help the team in exchange for either prospects or draft choices that can, and ultimately get some of the prospects the Penguins do have into an NHL lineup – to see who can make it, and who can’t. That becomes difficult when you see that the most tradable assets the Penguins have are tied up with no-movement clauses.

There is also something to be said that I’m not looking at this in a way that makes the most sense. Unlike Bylsma, whose failures as coach are on display and fresh in the minds of ownership and especially the fans, Shero is better thought of in the Penguins organization. He’s a year removed from being named the General Manager of the Year. When Bylsma was named Coach of the Year, it was because he kept his team together in light of having injuries that had ravaged the team. It’s commendable, but Bylsma was never named Coach of the Year because he was a superior coach. I don’t think the Penguins will chose to dispatch Shero, but maybe, the team will elect to make a different kind of change…

In the last two weeks or so, the Carolina Hurricanes bumped longtime GM Jim Rutherford to the side, relieving him of his GM duties and promoting Ron Francis, who’s been groomed for that position for years now. Rutherford will remain as the team’s president and serve as an advisor to Francis. Following suit, the Philadelphia Flyers did the same with new GM Ron Hextall, who bumped Paul Holmgren upstairs to be the Flyers team president and the Calgary Flames did it, appointing Brad Treliving, who allows Brian Burke to remain the President of Hockey Operations in Calgary.

That said, it’s highly unlikely any (save for Burke who really seemed to have his fill in Toronto as GM) wanted to be removed as General Manager. Rutherford had to know this day was coming. Holmgren bristled at the suggestion a mere five days before the Flyers announced it – so you know he wasn’t on board, but the guess here is that when the choice came to step aside or we’ll fire you, Holmgren took the money and got out of the fire, keeping a steady paycheck and doing work that doesn’t draw the ire of fans.

Shero, at 51, is younger than any of Burke (58), Holmgren (58) or Rutherford(65). It’s highly unlikely he’s going to be happy to give up his seat at the table, but that doesn’t mean that he won’t. Shero owes a lot to the Penguins, who gave him his first GM job. The Penguins also went to bat for him so he could be an Assistant GM at the Olympics (and thanks to the unfortunate eye injury to David Poile – WAS the GM). They also helped him push for his father’s entry into the Hockey Hall of Fame. The cards have fallen where they may, and while he might not like it, it’s hard to imagine that Pittsburgh wouldn’t do right by him, much like he’s done right by the organization. If say, Jason Botterill is brought in to succeed him, Shero can sit as an advisor to Botterill for a season or two, and help him grow into that role. The Penguins, on the other hand, can allow Shero to interview for other GM jobs that open up – keeping him as an advisor until his next opportunity comes along.

Ultimately, I feel the Penguins won’t dispatch Shero – not yet, anyway, although that doesn’t mean they would elect to kick him upstairs, either. Yes, his close ties to Dan Bylsma have cost them a number of prospects, and his sticking by Bylsma even when it wasn’t popular shows the man has loyalty. At the same point, we have to remember that it was Bylsma who won Shero over, and that Shero himself never got to install the head coach of his choice. Bylsma won the Stanley Cup as an interim coach, and it would be kind of hard for Shero to justify dismissing Bylsma when the man just won a Stanley Cup. It might be possible that with his own choice, Shero might get back to being that tough team to play against, but if he stays, it needs to be made clear that some of his tendencies need to change – starting with some new scouts to rectify his poor drafting history.

WHAT IF THE PENGUINS COLLAPSE… PART I – THE COACH

Let’s face facts. When you’re a sports fan, objectivity is something that you seemingly have little use for. There’s what’s good for yourself and your team, and everything else. If your team is called for a penalty, you make an impassioned plea to anybody who will listen that a mistake has been made. If your team gets away with a penalty that isn’t called – we breathe a sigh of relief and pretend that it was never in question. We live and breathe for our sports teams, but what happens when that team’s health is in question?

Every sports team is faced with it at some point. A crescendo of issues that starts working against you. Star athletes get hurt, usually good players play themselves into a funk; the coach can’t make a call to save himself. The team starts playing with a mind of its own. Nothing is going according to plan. The fans start to get restless, and before long, a ground-swell of anger roars out of your fan base, that demands a sacrifice to the Gods of whatever sport you love, in order to get a clean slate.

Some of you can hear the disembodied voice now. “Hello Pittsburgh. Your judgment will begin shortly.”

Make no mistake, when the final breath commences in this hockey season, somebody’s going to take a blade to the Penguins hockey team for the good of the franchise. I had a feeling that it would happen against Columbus, but the Penguins proved me wrong. A lot of people think it could happen tonight night in Game 7 against the Rangers. Even IF the Penguins stave off elimination, there’s a good chance it will happen against Boston or Montreal – but make no mistake, it’s going to happen.

The Penguins are a team that has lost itself. The identity this team once owned is gone. The identity the coaching staff wanted for this team is also gone. The inmates are running the asylum. This is a team, as has been the case for at least 3 seasons now, that feels entitled – that they’re so good, other teams should just lay down to them – and it’s hard to argue that based on the regular season standings, except nobody ever handled a world championship to a team based on that fact. This year we saw something new. This year, it was reported that several members of this team felt that this wasn’t a serious Stanley Cup contender. And do you know what? The effort has certainly pointed to that belief.

So what happens when this team is finally put down? What changes do you make?

The Coach

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to any of you that I’m not a Dan Bylsma fan. I’m also not a Dan Bylsma apologist. I’ve been asking for his dismissal since the Penguins collapsed on an epic scale to Tampa Bay in 2010-2011, and I’ve been clamoring for it since the debacle against Philadelphia a season later. The man isn’t a bad coach, and by all accounts, he’s a good communicator, but he’s lost this team, and if you can’t see that, I’d like you to put on a tinfoil hat so we can see who you are.

No, this isn’t a complete failure by Dan Bylsma, it’s a failure of everybody associated with this team this season. But you know the old adage – you can’t trade the team, but you can fire the coach. Well, here we are. Truthfully, Bylsma should have been removed after Philadelphia treated the Penguins like the Flyers were the windshield and the Penguins were the bug a few seasons ago in the playoffs. The team played awful and there was no excuse for that, nor was there a proper answer against Philadelphia. That was the first time it became really apparent that Bylsma didn’t have control over this team – or if he ever did, that he had lost control over them.

After that, the “I don’t give a damn” style of play the Penguins had in that series occasionally began to seep into the regular season. They’d play a handful of games really well, played great as a unit, and then completely fall apart for a game or two. It wasn’t that some players just didn’t show up to play, but a majority of the team seemed to take the night off.

I felt sure after Boston melted Pittsburgh down for scraps in four games in the playoffs last season that Bylsma was gone. After all, there was no excuse for an epic collapse like that. The Penguins were supposed to be the team to beat, and yet, here they were, getting victimized in a way that wasn’t easily explainable. The Pens failed in every facet of that series.

What I didn’t count on was that Ray Shero would in essence tie his fate to that of his coach; in a move that I feel sure ultimately saved Bylsma from being thrown out on his ass. I was exasperated when the Penguins retained Bylsma, but at no point did I ever feel that Bylsma’s job was safe. Shero bought a stay of execution for his coach – at what cost has yet to be revealed.

The Coach Everybody Wants to Play For

Every so often, one of the major Sports Networks will do a private poll in which they ask players questions. An example might be “who is the best defenseman in the league?”

Last season, somebody asked NHL players who was the one coach they would like to play for. The overwhelming majority picked Dan Bylsma. Bylsma nervously laughed it off, saying he was glad he was liked, but that he wasn’t sure he wanted to be the number one choice. It was a smart answer. Give the man points for seeing the writing on the wall – you should NEVER feel safe being the guy everybody wants to play for, because more often than not, they want to play for the easiest guy around, not the best.

In truth, if Bylsma had been less of a player’s coach, or if he didn’t win a Stanley Cup while he was an interim, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, because he would have been removed years ago, one way or another. The thing that keeps Bylsma around is that he led a team to a Stanley Cup, and he’s nothing like his predecessor, Michel Therrien.

Bylsma is a good natured, light hearted coach. He’s a friend to his guys. And nobody wants to speak badly of their friends. Bylsma rarely rips into his players. That wasn’t the case with Therrien, who once had one of the coolest, blunt, call out the crap level of effort interviews after a game that you’ll ever see. If you’ve never seen it, I advise that you do – it’s nothing short of amazing: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agL3NHgb8Rk)

Therrien took the atmosphere the Penguins had prior to his arrival, and he blew it up. He got into the faces of his players, and he called them out, and if the message didn’t take, he’d work them until his message stuck. If you lost the night before because you didn’t give a complete effort, you had practice in the morning, and it wasn’t optional. To paraphrase a quote from Herb Brooks in the Miracle on Ice movie, “you didn’t work then, so you’ll work now.”

With Bylsma, practices aren’t Therrien-like. He expects a certain level of compete from his players, but he doesn’t mine that out of them like Therrien did. That makes him unquestionably easier to deal with to his players. Bylsma also doesn’t really scold his team, if somebody goes out and makes a mistake, Bylsma rarely holds them back from their next shift out – unless you’re a rookie, because he seems to take great delight in terrorizing them for making mistakes. Therrien expected his team to play a certain way, and when they didn’t, he worked them until it was second nature. The players hated that, but you know what? They never came out with the effort they do in these Bylsma coached games. Eventually, their grumbling grew to the point where they just quit on Therrien, and General Manager Ray Shero had to make a change.

When Bylsma took over, he took the reins off somewhat, and allowed a more free flowing style of game. That, coupled with the defensive structure that Therrien instilled in them got them to win a Stanley Cup in 2008-2009. Shero might have had somebody in mind as the next head coach of the franchise, bit it’s kind of hard to get the coach you want when the interim guy wins the Stanley Cup. Shero took it with a grain of salt, and worked to forge a good working relationship with Bylsma. Even last year, after Boston gutted this team by completely just assaulting them mentally and physically, Shero put himself on the line for Bylsma to keep his job.

There can be little doubt that Bylsma is playing for his job at this point. By all accounts, Mario Lemieux and Ronald Burkle are pissed. Under the guidance of Bylsma and Shero, the franchise is financially handicapped going forward because of all the deals that have been signed for long term and with no movement clauses. This team is going to be in a tough spot to compete without getting free of a few of those deals. Lemieux and Burkle spend to the limit so that every year they can compete for a Stanley Cup. Bylsma may not be the only one responsible – and he’s not – but you have to believe he’s going to be the first domino to fall, unless Lemieux just sweeps them all out the door on his way to putting the franchise back on track.

Bylsma’s undoing is this team’s effort. This lackluster effort – is the same that has been showing up for the past 3 seasons. How many times can you sit in front of the media after a game and say “we didn’t get to our game tonight” or “we just didn’t compete as well as we should have” or more recently, the damning statement “the work and compete and the battle level has probably been the most troubling thing.” Do you think?

By admitting as much – and Bylsma has no other excuses to peddle at this point, he’s admitting that he’s lost control. When a coach admits that he’s lost control, the writing is on the wall for everybody to see that a change needs to be made. This team isn’t finding new ways to lose; it’s losing the same way consistently. It has no spark, no will to compete. The best players in the world are playing way below their baseline. Teams have learned how to stop Crosby, and when he’s off his game, he shows no leadership. I don’t buy into Crosby being a terrible leader, but I do buy him as a terrible leader when he can’t focus on the game. If you can’t lead by example, do you expect your teammates to do what you say, not do what you do?

And who is that on? Shero, for not ever getting Crosby a competent winger who could take some of the pressure off the captain or getting guys on this hockey team that can defend their captain, or Bylsma, who demonstrates a poor level of management by not always putting Crosby out against lines that benefit his players – like better coaches often do?

Unless Bylsma pulls his team together, beats the Rangers, and then gets them to play through a solid series against either Boston or Montreal, his job coaching this hockey team will be over within days after this season ending. So – going with popular opinion, let’s say Bylsma and his staff are mostly let go after the season has completed. What then?

Possible Candidates

The belief last season was that Shero knew of nobody that could replace Bylsma that would have fared any better than Bylsma could in the same circumstances. He sold the idea, and maybe even made himself a target in doing so. This year, that may not be the case, and if the Rangers eliminate this team a round earlier than the Bruins did last season, it’s nothing short of sheer regression. I’m betting the owners won’t stand for it again.

Shero will play a role in selecting Bylsma’s successor, although how much input he gets will depend on his own job status at that point. Let us look at some of the potential names that could succeed Bylsma.

The first name that would have likely been in Shero’s rolodex for a replacement coach would have been Peter Laviolette. Laviolette coached with Bylsma in the Olympics, and was the former coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, Carolina Hurricanes (in which he lead them to a Stanley Cup), and the New York Islanders. Unfortunately, Laviolette was hired in Nashville prior to me writing this. Laviolette was a lighter touch version of Michel Therrien. He believed in being devoted to a system, and wasn’t afraid to call you out if he felt you weren’t living up to where he thought you should be, which is a lot like Therrien, but he was a better communicator than Therrien.

Since Laviolette is gone, the first name on the list is the man who he succeeded in Nashville, Barry Trotz. Trotz and Shero had a working relationship when Shero was working in Nashville. Trotz is a lot like Bylsma, in that he’s a player’s coach and is a good communicator, but his teams tend to play a more physical system, and he would have worked his players harder than Bylsma did. Trotz also liked using four lines, something that Bylsma rarely had the patience for, or the players to pull it off correctly. The problem is that most people point to the Penguins unwillingness to play harder, to sacrifice, and to show more effort in the playoffs is that the Penguins enjoy too much of a “country club” atmosphere under Bylsma, and while Trotz no doubt runs a tighter ship than Bylsma, Trotz might not have been enough of a change from Bylsma to be a valid consideration.

Second is John Hynes, current coach of the Wilkes-Barre-Scranton Penguins. Hynes is a phenomenal coach in the AHL – he’s currently building himself a heck of a resume, and could find himself a new job before training camp in the fall. He’s known as a no-nonsense type of coach who expects a lot out of his players. His close affiliation to the team might not be viewed as a positive, but the fact that he isn’t tempered with the same steel as Bylsma could work to his benefit. The team needs somebody who’s not going to make excuses for the lack of effort they put forth, and Hynes should have no problem with that. We might not ever get another “dey soff, dey say dat dey care, but I know dey don’t care” Michel Therrien press conference, but Hynes shouldn’t have a problem blowing up this team’s mentality. He might be the least known on my list, but he could be an ideal choice for the next coach of the franchise.

Third is Luke Richardson. Richardson is currently the coach for Binghamton in the AHL, and like Hynes, is building himself a resume that’s getting him noticed. He recently turned down the opportunity to be an assistant coach in Ottawa, where Binghamton is affiliated. It doesn’t take a leap to know that Richardson is biding his time for the right opportunity to be named an NHL Head Coach. Although Richardson doesn’t have previous ties to the Penguins regime, he might be somebody to keep in mind if Lemieux decides to go outside of the organization. Richardson had a lengthy career as an NHL defenseman, and judging from his success at Binghamton, I’d say he has a pretty good idea of how he can succeed.

And my shot out of left field? Guy Boucher. Boucher was a guy who a few seasons ago, could have picked anywhere he wanted to go. He chose Tampa Bay, and turned that team into a pretty good hockey team, along with Steve Yzerman as General Manager. But Boucher is a coach that is very much like Michel Therrien. He’s a guy who demands attention to detail, and will pound on players until they submit to his will and play his system the way he wants it to be played. The problem is that rubs talent the wrong way. In two and a half seasons, he wore out his welcome in Tampa Bay (if you’ve followed the Pens for a while it’s the same amount of time it took for Kevin Constantine to do the same in Pittsburgh), and now finds himself in the Swiss National League with SC Bern, but if you want Therrien 2.0, who will beat the lackadaisical way this team plays right out of them, Boucher might be the best fit that isn’t named John Tortorella, who’s beyond toxic right now.

Also, Boucher once upon a time coached Sidney Crosby, but don’t use that as a reason to endorse him – it has been done before. Once upon a time the Penguins hired Ivan Hlinka, who had coached Jaromir Jagr, while Jagr was still a Penguin and that was nothing short of an unmitigated disaster.

Since I’m pretty sure there’s no saving Bylsma, I’d say that – to me at least – John Hynes makes the most sense on my list. Hynes and his no-nonsense style would immediately serve notice that the Penguins are in for a culture shock, but at the same point, it’s not a complete reboot of the franchise. Hynes is familiar with some of the roster. He’s not a Michel Therrien type who hammers you into submission or at the least he shouldn’t do so with the speed that Therrien did. That also means that there would be roster turn-over, which might not be a bad thing. Hynes might be the voice the Penguins need going forward, that will keep them from half-assing it in games, and if it doesn’t, I expect he’ll work that right out of them.

It’s clear that Bylsma doesn’t scare his players, who fear no reprisal. If they miss an assignment, it’s OK, Dan will just send them right back out there. John Hynes likely won’t – and if Shero still has a job its likely Lemieux and Burkle will keep him on a short leash, meaning Shero will be moving out those guys who don’t fit the system Hynes uses, and keeps it from being as effective as it can be.

PENGUINS DOOMED TO REPEAT PAST MISTAKES

There is a quote from John Wooden that I think sums up this Pittsburgh Penguins team perfectly, and has done so for the last few years.  “Winning takes talent. To repeat takes character.”

This Penguins team has followed the same blueprint the last few seasons.  They’ve somewhat changed the pieces of the puzzle, yet still somehow manage to fail at their task of winning another Stanley Cup.  The one constant in those losing efforts that has been readily apparent in those failures has been bad leadership – all the way around.

Last season, the Penguins had salary cap room to make a few moves, and Ray Shero went out and got future Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla, former Dallas Stars captain Brendan Morrow, and hard hitting Douglas Murray.  Three fantastic pieces to any team, let alone a team that is already comprised of NHL poster boy Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, or Norris Trophy candidate Kris Letang.  This team was stacked, and the outcome should have been different…

Yet, Iginla, who made his on-ice home for years along the right side, played most of his time here out of position on the left side, and wasn’t as valuable as he could have been.  Brendan Morrow, a grinder by trade in this stage at his career, was billed as somebody who would do ‘anything’ to win, was highly ineffective as the Penguins neither told him what role he was playing, and he played injured for a large part of his Penguins tenure.  Sure, Ray Shero acquired them to be assets on this team, but he acquired them for another reason – because this team needed leadership.  Instead, the leadership that was already in place, that of Sidney Crosby and company, who just more or less invited them to be part of the country club lifestyle.  After all, they had more talent than anybody, and talent wins championships, right?  Yet, both Iginla and Morrow weren’t interested in being leaders here, both were playing for their futures.

Boston annihilated the Penguins with a smothering team defense, and eliminated them from the Stanley Cup playoffs in four straight games.  They were the better team, and they were the team that got to go to the finals, where they lost to the team the Penguins should have been emulating all along – the Chicago Blackhawks – the team that never gave up and never surrendered.  That lived and died as a team.

A team, such a concept, and yet it’s one that has been lacking in Pittsburgh for the last few seasons.  Sidney Crosby might be the best player in the world, but Sid can be taken off his game – he takes himself out of the game when he gets agitated.  He takes stupid penalties, and tries to do more than he needs to when his team is behind, a move that often backfires in some form or another.  For the record, Kris Letang is another player who plays with reckless abandon once he’s been knocked off his game.  These are your leaders on offense and defense.

And let’s not leave the leader of these men unscathed.  Coach Dan Bylsma is a great communicator, if you don’t believe it just listen to the Penguins management whenever they get a chance to talk about it.  The problem is that Bylsma has given this team everything he can.  His strategic approach is flawed.  His game plan can be easily discredited in the playoffs when a team gets to sit down and figure out a plan of attack.  And, the most telling, is there are games when his team just tunes him out.

Earlier this season, when the Penguins were battered and bruised, and a pretty big portion of the team was injured, a good part of the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins came to play for a while in the NHL to replace them, and Bylsma was largely credited for keeping the team afloat, and even getting the motley crew on a winning streak, against all odds.  But stop for a second to realize two very important parts to that.  One, Bylsma won with AHLers, most of whom had never played an NHL game under the man.  That tells me that their coach, John Hynes, is doing an incredible job teaching those men to be NHL hockey players.  And two, it tells me that the roster DID NOT tune out Bylsma when they played.  Rookie mistakes happened, sure, but idiotic lapses of judgment didn’t.

As much as I think Bylsma should be fired as the Penguins coach, and I’ve certainly made no secret of feeling that way, I knew it had no chance of happening this season, in spite of the embarrassing way this team lost in the playoffs, and failed to meet their goal, again, once I realized what was going to happen this winter.  Shero loves his “communication” skills to the point that he wanted Bylsma to coach the Unites States in the upcoming Olympics.  Once the Winter Games in Sochi is complete, I have to think Shero’s undying loyalty for Bylsma will fall off somewhat, otherwise, Bylsma’s shortcomings will cost Shero his job.

However, if Shero believes that Bylsma is his man to win another championship, then he’s going to have to do something that’s going to be unpopular, both with fans and Bylsma.  He’s going to have to blow this team up.  Now, that doesn’t mean trading Crosby or Malkin, but it could mean moving Letang before his contract kicks in next season.  It could mean dispatching players like Craig Adams, who’s a Bylsma favorite, and who clearly has lost a step.  And it certainly means that some of those pieces Shero likes to stockpile on defense will be on the move.

The Penguins did one smart, albeit risky move in the offseason by bringing back Rob Scuderi.  Scuderi was brought back to be a leader, and because he is a stabilizing influence on younger players.  Scuderi is a steady, unflashy player who does his job quietly.  He doesn’t run people over with big hits or show up on the score sheet.  But he does his best to keep pucks out of the net, and the Penguins could use more people like that.  Hell, it was long assumed that they had one, in Robert Bortuzzo.  Bortuzzo can be a steady player, but he’s also got a mean streak in him, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but he also rarely cracks the lineup with Bylsma in charge, who doesn’t trust him enough to learn on the job, but does trust Deryk Engelland, who’s proving he’s a far better fourth line winger this season than he is a defenseman.

The Penguins have long gone on about how they would like to acquire somebody who’s not a rental this season.  Doing so means that they have to give up something of value, and here are a few names that the team could look at.

Blake Wheeler, F, Winnipeg.
Wheeler made the US Olympic team that Dan Bylsma is coaching.  He’s a dependable player and one who’s a proven goal scorer, so don’t think for a minute this doesn’t double as an audition for Shero/Bylsma about maybe joining the Penguins.  Wheeler is 6’5” and is 27 years old.  Winnipeg is currently in last place in Central Division, so they might wind up being sellers nearing the NHL trade deadline, and that’s the good news.

With that said, he’s tied for the team lead in points at the moment, so he’s not going to come cheaply.  Plus, he signed a 6 year deal last season that pays him slightly more than James Neal is currently making.  Not throwing Kris Letang in here now, the starting price to even open the door is likely going to be Simon Despres if not top prospect Derrick Pouliot, plus a roster player (think more Joe Vitale than Chris Conner) and a 1st Round Pick – and that’s just to start talks.
That said, Winnipeg also employs two other guys the Penguins could look at: F Michael Frolik and F Devin Setoguchi, neither of whom will cost the bounty Wheeler will, but also aren’t quite as good as Wheeler is.

Jordan Eberle, F, Edmonton.
Edmonton is an awesome team, on paper.  Sadly, they can’t put it together on the ice like they should.  Jordan Eberle is one of the many first round picks Edmonton has had over the last few years.  He’s got a lot of potential, and he’s not even hitting his stride yet.  He’s not very big, but then neither is Sidney Crosby.  Eberle is second on the Oilers in points this season, but Edmonton’s biggest weakness is defense, something the Penguins certainly have to spare.

If I’m Ray Shero, if Eberle is the guy I decide I have to have, I have multiple conversations with Oilers GM Craig McTavish about making this a major deal involving a few players.  I ask Edmonton for forwards Ryan Jones and Boyd Gordon.  Jones, who’s a physical player, would do great on the 3rd line alongside Brandon Sutter, not only as a physical presence, but a threat to score as well.  Gordon is a physical penalty killer, who can set the pace for the Penguins on penalty kills, plus he can take faceoffs and not be seen as a defensive liability on the fourth line – you know, should Bylsma decide to remember that he can roll four lines in the playoffs, and not just to spell his overworked top three lines for more than 30 seconds at a time.  Also, Gordon should move Craig Adams to the press box on most nights, so there’s that.

In return, I offer Edmonton Kris Letang and Jussi Jokinen – and maybe throw in somebody like Andrew Ebbett as well.  By himself, Letang is worth more than Eberle – but not by much – and even though Letang has his shortcomings, he is a Norris Trophy finalist.  Jokinen has done everything the Penguins have asked of him, but his biggest contribution is his faceoff ability and his ability to score goals when he’s needed to.  Hoping the Penguins get healthy in time for the playoffs, one would hope Jokinen would find himself in the press box more often, and thus serves more of a purpose here.  Gordon should offset any faceoff woes losing Jussi would cause, and well, they’d be getting Eberle as well.  Ebbett is more or less a throw in to help off-set the loss of two Edmonton forwards, but if it helps sweeten the deal, I wouldn’t blink.  Of course, Edmonton will also try it’s best to get rid of perennial underachiever Ales Hemsky, who’s currently on injured reserve, but when healthy can be an offensive force… provided that he’s focused on doing so.

Ray Whitney, F, Dallas.
Unlike Eberle or Wheeler, who would be acquired for the long haul, Ray Whitney likely would not.  For the ageless wonder, it wouldn’t be the first time somebody suggested the 41 year old in the same breath as Pittsburgh.  Whitney is smallish, at 5’10” and he’s in the year of his contract.  He can still put up points, but it’s clear he’s lost a step.  While not somebody the Penguins should devote a lot of time or resources to, Whitney is a veteran, and if he knows he’s being brought in for that reason, might not be the disaster that Brendan Morrow was last season for the Pens.  For one, Whitney would know what his role would be, voice of reason, leader, and replacement for the injured Pascal Dupuis playing alongside Sidney Crosby.

At 41, Whitney wouldn’t cost a lot for the Penguins to send to the rebuilding Dallas Stars.  A mid-level prospect or a mid-to-high level draft pick should do the job.

Honorable Mentions…
A lot of names have been mentioned.  One, is former Penguin (prospect, at least) Matt Moulson.  Moulson wound up becoming a player that the Pens never thought he would.  He’s signed to a reasonable contract, and is in the last year of it.  Buffalo has come to peace that although he’s been terrific, he can net a pretty good return for the team to build on in the future.  The problem is that Moulson is in charge of his own destiny – and I’m sure he doesn’t forget that Pittsburgh once gave up on him, and a lot of teams want him.  Pittsburgh doesn’t have the cap space to accommodate him long term without moving out some salary (cough* Kris Letang *cough) first.

Another player long mentioned to go to the Penguins is Florida forward Brad Boyes.  Boyes is a friend of Sidney Crosby, and although he’s never lived up to the potential we saw from his time in Boston, might be an adequate top six forward for the Penguins.  He’s in the last season of his contract, but likely would agree to a contract in the 3 – 3.5 million range for a few seasons.  Florida hasn’t had a good season either, so the price to acquire him would likely be a mid-level prospect – maybe Phillip Samuelsson and a draft pick, considering that he, like Moulson, has a reasonable contract and no shortage of teams that will be bidding for him.

Another Florida player, Scottie Upshall is one the Penguins should be familiar with from his time in Philadelphia.  Upshall isn’t a big time power forward in the mold of say Milan Lucic, but he can be a pest, and the Penguins should know the value of a pest after getting their fill in recent seasons of Brad Marchand.  Upshall, if paired with a Brandon Sutter, can wreck a lot of havoc on that 3rd line.  He can stifle and infuriate teams.  Upshall has another year left on his contract at 3.5 million, but again, the Penguins would need to clear cap space to take him on.  Upshall would likely cost a good prospect (Simon Despres) and a draft pick.

Unless, the Penguins can get a handle on limiting their mistakes, and past history tells us that they won’t unless something major manages to grab their attention, that they’re doomed to repeat the same recipe for failure as they have in the past few seasons.  That means a major roster shakeup or changing the coach.  Since Bylsma is likely here for a bit longer, that only leaves one real option if the Penguins want to break their recent post season slump.  Otherwise, they’ve just squandered yet another season in the ever closing window of being a Stanley Cup favorite.

It’s A New (Pre)Season, But Old Questions Remain

Take a moment and think about the last few months in sports for Pittsburgh.  The Pirates have their first winning season in 21 years, a feat that quite honestly, I wasn’t sure I’d ever live to see.  The normally mighty Pittsburgh Steelers are headed for an abysmal season, in which I’ll be stunned – completely stunned – if they win more than 5 games.  The Pittsburgh Penguins didn’t win another Stanley Cup, and if you’ve been watching since they skated away from the post-game handshake with the victor Boston Bruins, they’re made a few moves that will leave you scratching your head.

Sure, they’ve played two pre-season games and they’ve not looked particularly good in either of them, but I’m far less concerned about the Penguins than I am say the Steelers.  But I’d like to take a look at three issues I believe the Penguins will be forced to face before the puck drops next year.  Yes, I’m looking at things a year from now…

The removal of Dan Bylsma as coach

If you follow me at all, you know I wasn’t in favor of bringing back Dan Bylsma after last season’s epic collapse against the Bruins.  But Ray Shero convinced owners Ron Burkle and Mario Lemieux that Bylsma should be retained.  The only way it made sense to me at the time was if the guy Shero wanted wasn’t available.

After a few months of thinking about it, a few things have become clear to me.  One, he may have been given an extension, and even a public endorsement from Shero and company, but the one thing he wasn’t given was the all clear sign.  If you want further proof, on August 9, the Penguins hired former NHL head coach Jacques Martin, who’s a known disciplinarian and defensive minded coach, to be an assistant to Bylsma.

On the surface, Shero and Bylsma also have the side gig of leading Team USA into the Olympics in Sochi, Russia.  Bylsma has no experience leading a team against international competition, and can glean advice off Martin in a number of areas to help him there.  Martin can also be a voice that will command respect in a dressing room, so if Bylsma gets overwhelmed at some point, chaos shouldn’t ensue into an all-out meltdown.

But more telling is that for the first time since Ray Shero installed Michel Therrien at Wilkes-Barre Scranton in 2005 as his bail out button for the inevitable Ed Olczyk firing, Shero has an option in house should Bylsma cave under all of this pressure and need to be removed as the head coach of this team.  I know Tony Granato is also there and has experience leading a team, but Martin plays the style that I think Shero feels this team should play, that Bylsma has moved away from.

I strongly believe that Shero wanted Bylsma as head coach for Team USA, and after Brian Burke was fired in Toronto, wanted to ensure Bylsma got that opportunity.  Shero likes Bylsma, but I think Shero also knows that the shelf life for Bylsma can be counted in days, and not years.  Bylsma knows that this is it for him.  Sochi and Team USA aside, if the Penguins make the playoffs 5 straight years and get bounced before reaching the Cup Finals, especially if they lose to a lesser team in another complete meltdown, Bylsma can’t be retained and I think he knows it.

As far as the contract extension, I certainly didn’t agree with it at the time, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense.  Before Shero made the official announcement that Bylsma would be back, a number of places were reporting that should Bylsma be let go, that he would go to the top of list for teams looking for a head coach.  When Bylsma is removed as coach, teams are going to want him.  I believe the Penguins can leverage his contract as a means to extract an asset.  Some team might be willing to give up a 3^rd Round Pick or some other asset to talk to a former Stanley Cup winning coach with the intention of hiring him.  Otherwise, unless he is fired outright which seems unlikely, Bylsma would simply be forced to sit around (or work in a different capacity) until his contract runs out, which seems unlikely.

The failure to acquire the right kind of talent

This failure falls directly on Shero.  And while I think this year he is operating within the confines of what Dan Bylsma wants his team to look like, Shero is in direct contradiction to what he says every year about his team needing to be bigger and stronger.  Douglas Murray, who some might argue could be timed in a speed skate with a sundial, will be missed from a physical standpoint.  Matt Cooke wasn’t very big, but his heart made him seem like he was 6’2” 210lbs. at times.  Tyler Kennedy, who also wasn’t very big but could be fast and physical if motivated properly will also be missed, at least the version of him when he was properly motivated.

At the deadline last season, after Shero acquired Iginla, he talked about how it helped address the team’s size and toughness issues.  The team as it happens to be comprised this year?  It’s missing a lot of grit, and a lot more size.  That was noticeably on display when I watched the Penguins get man-handled by Detroit in a pre-season game last night.  Crosby was stepping up in the middle of scrums to defend himself.  Really?  Has this team learned nothing?  Or do they just suffer from Alzheimer’s until the trading deadline, when Shero has an epiphany about his team needing to get tougher.  Every year, this team is somehow not nearly as strong or big as the team they finished with, and every year, fans worry about Crosby as he sees fit to stand up and defend himself if nobody else will, and yet every season, it’s addressed too little, too late.

Jussi Jokinen and Matt D’Agostini, who are both guys who can score and put up points, but on this team, they’re relegated to the third line, likely with Brandon Sutter as the center.  Sutter plays with an edge, but it’s very seldom you’ll see either Jokinen or D’Agostini throw a check.  This team isn’t built to be tough.  If given the opportunity, they might put up 6 goals a night and bury you in shots, but they’re not going to be able to physically answer many bells.

At the moment, the Penguins are over the salary cap, a line they have to be under prior to the start of the season.  Everybody, including myself, figured Matt Niskanen would be the party shipped out, but I’m starting to feel as though Shero might have to do something creative.  Unfortunately, one of the most likely sought after guys is going to be Brooks Orpik, who’s a free agent at the end of this season.  I feel more strongly now than I did at the end of last season that Orpik, not Niskanen, will be moved prior to the start of the season.  And that makes this team even weaker to play against.

The eventual retooling of the Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins have been lucky, their defense has held up well the last couple of years with all of the prospects they have.  In some cases, those guys are being shipped out for players elsewhere, as was the case with Joe Morrow going for Brenden Morrow last season.  But a lot of this team is getting older, and maybe, just maybe, when the eventual removal of Dan Bylsma comes, this team is going to have a bit of a different look to it.

At first glance, the forwards over 30 are Craig Adams at 36, Pascal Dupuis at 34, Chris Kunitz at 33.  The other forwards over 30 are Steve MacIntyre at 33, Andrew Ebbett at 30 and Jussi Jokinen at 30.  The number of players isn’t bad, considering only four are likely to see substantial NHL time this season, but the quality is alarming.  The most valuable to the Penguins are Adams, who is one of the only guys Bylsma trusts on the penalty kill, and although his game has deteriorated over the past few years, the Penguins don’t have anybody to replace him.  Kunitz and Dupuis are Sidney Crosby’s linemates.  Sure, they’re extremely productive, but do you think that is going to carry over for another 3 years?  Kunitz is a wrecking ball at times, but his injuries are getting more frequent as his body starts breaking down.  Other than Beau Bennett, and maybe the just signed with the ink on the paper not yet dry Jean-Sebastien Dea, don’t have anybody suited for eventual top six forward duty.  That’s awful.

What’s worse is the forward prospects the Penguins do have suited for 3^rd or 4^th line duty is numerous, except that most of them aren’t ready to play every day in the NHL yet.  The closest are Adam Payerl and Harry Zolnierczyk, who was acquired earlier this offseason.  Guys like Zack Sill, Tom Kuhnhackl, and Dominik Uher will be in the NHL eventually, and one hopes sooner than later.  Player development, outside of top prospects, is and remains suspect for this team.

Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has to feel downright unwanted at this point.  He played in parts of just 5 games this past playoff run, and has lost the support of the fans.  Even with Shero and Bylsma both giving him a vote of confidence, Fleury knows his time here is coming to a close, and the Penguins have emphatically given him reason to feel that way, signing Eric Hartzell and drafting Tristan Jarry.  One of those two will be the future netminder going forward.  But Fleury will likely be kept around for the remainder of his contract to buy them time to develop, and then allowed to leave, although I wouldn’t put it past Shero to move him if he feels he can at some point before that, although if he moves him now Fleury’s value is at an all-time low, so not much would be coming back.

Defensively, oddly enough is where there’s reason for some concern.  Newly returning Rob Scuderi, coined “The Piece” by fans and media after he helped the Penguins win their last Stanley Cup in 2009, signed a 4 year deal to return at the age of 34.  That means he’ll be 38 by the end of his contract here.  Scuderi is a defensive defenseman, a guy who’s not going to join the rush very often, and is incredibly dependable in his own end.  He’ll be part of a shut-down paring with somebody, rumored to be Brooks Orpik provided Orpik isn’t moved prior to the start of the season.  Orpik is the team’s only dependable physical defenseman, and he’s in the last year of his contract, with it looking like he won’t be retained.

Paul Martin finally proved last season he was worth 5 million a season, except his contract expires at the end of next season.  Kris Letang, defensive short-comings and all, is signed for 8 more seasons.  This is the last year of Matt Niskanen’s contract, and while he’s proven to be dependable, he hardly strikes me as a guy who can’t be replaced.  Deryk Engelland is a nuclear deterrent, who does his best to play a simple game and not hurt his team with his play, but Engelland doesn’t have the speed or the skill to be a regular part of this defensive corps, no matter what Dan Bylsma believes.  He’d be better suited for spot duty in games against more physical teams.

Simon Despres looked like he could be a top four defenseman for this team for years to come last year, when Bylsma didn’t keep him on the shortest of leashes and let him learn from his mistakes.  Robert Bortuzzo looks like he’s going to make the top six this year, and will take the minutes Mark Eaton had last season.  Bortuzzo is more physical than Eaton, and like Despres, if he’s allowed to make mistakes and grow, should be hands down a better defenseman than Eaton, and maybe a candidate for a shutdown role in the future.

Brian Dumoulin and Scott Harrington are next up in the pipeline, and it can be argued should be good enough to crack the NHL roster this year.  Both are solid two way defensemen, with Harrington in particular looking like Scuderi 2.0 at times.  Harrison Ruopp, who was acquired last year from Phoenix in the Zbynek Michalek deal, is a big physical defenseman, and maybe the eventual replacement for Brooks Orpik.  Philip Samuelsson is also a guy who should get to see some NHL action this season.  He’s a two way defenseman, and is starting to embrace his “inner Ulf” with more gritty play.

Derrick Pouliot and Olli Maatta, both drafted in the 1^st Round in the 2012 NHL Draft, look to be at least a season or two away, but Pouliot looks a lot like a young Brian Campbell, offensively dominant at times and still needs to work a lot on his defensive game.  Maatta plays a non-flashy game built around strong defense, but is a very mobile skater.

The problem therein is by the time Pouliot and Matta, or even Ruopp and Samuelsson make the NHL roster, guys who could have shown them the ropes and helped them develop on the NHL level, Paul Martin and Brooks Orpik, might be long gone.  The Pens have a solid defensive corps, but they’re either really young or on the wrong side of 30.

In Closing

The Penguins aren’t quite the superpower they were heading into the playoffs last season.  They don’t have the salary cap space to go out and make any more of those big, splashy moves, not for a while at least.  They should still make the playoffs, but with the way their division is now set up, I’m not sure they’ll be able to win their division.

It’s going to be a tougher road.  Columbus is a much improved team, and playing in the east will only help them.  They’re starting to figure it out.  Philadelphia should be improved, and the Islanders gave the Pens a handful in the playoffs last year.  The Rangers and the Penguins always seem to be in a bit of a dog fight, and now Washington is in the mix as well, and that always seems to bring out the worst in the Penguins.  Again, even with the new setup, I feel they should make the playoffs.  Don’t discount that Detroit is now in the East as well, even if they’re not in the Penguins division, they’re now conference competition.

I don’t think Dan Bylsma will be the coach at this time next year, but then, I felt he wouldn’t be the coach now, so my opinion obviously is my own and wasn’t shared by senior Penguins management and ownership.  At the least, I feel Jacques Martin will be the interim coach upon Bylsma’s dismissal, and if Bylsma is dismissed after the Penguins lose in the playoffs, Martin might be the next coach period.

Time will tell, but I’m glad hockey is back on the horizon.  I miss it in the off-season, so I love this time of year, the excitement and the hope it brings.  How do you feel hockey fans?  Did you miss it too?

FIRST DOMINO HAS FALLEN ON PENGUINS OFF-SEASON

There is a joke from comedian Lewis Black that I’m fond of and that I recall in times like this.  He tells a joke of how in Texas there is a Starbucks directly across from another Starbucks, and promptly calls it the “End of the Universe.”  It’s not the best quality, but you can listen here at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENGUYeiGtNk if you would like to.  Why do I reference a Lewis Black joke today?  If you’ve been listening to sports call in shows or reading forums about the Penguins in the last few days, you too might think it’s the end of the universe.

The first official domino of the Penguins off-season seems likely to have dropped yesterday.  The Penguins traded Alex Grant, who has seen most of his time with the team on the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins roster to Anaheim for NHL 4^th liner / AHL roleplayer Harry Zolnierczyk (pronounced Zol-nur-chuk).  On the surface, the move seems to have given a fresh start to two players who likely needed one.

Grant, who had injury trouble early in his Penguins career, has a hard shot, but doesn’t play the quick moving style that Pittsburgh wants it’s defenseman to have.  He’s also been surpassed by a few players on the depth chart over the years, and wasn’t likely to get much of a look with the team for the remainder of his tenure here.  Instead, he moves to an Anaheim team that loves it’s defensemen to shoot the puck, and seems to have done wonders with another former Penguins defenseman in Ben Lovejoy.  Grant will have a chance to make the team, or at least be among the first call-ups should an opportunity present itself.

In Zolnierczyk, the Pens get a pest in the Steve Downie, Cal Clutterbuck mold – or you know, Matt Cooke circa 2008, before his reputation warranted him the most hated man in hockey and forced his style of play to change.  Zolnierczyk is a former Philadelphia Flyer, who was traded in April to Anaheim for Jay Rosehill.  Zolnierczyk however was sent down to the AHL where he was not summoned again this past season.  His primary attributes are his speed and his physicality, two things that will fit in well for the Penguins third or fourth lines.

Normally, this kind of move wouldn’t get attention, except Zolnierczyk has a bit of an unsavory background.  He was suspended this past season for a brutal on-ice hit of Ottawa defenseman Mike Lundin, the kind that you used to see out of Penguins forward Matt Cooke on a regular basis.  From what I’ve seen of him, he’s not an exceptional fighter by any means, though.

Personally, he was arrested in 2007 for (directly from Wikipedia):

On February 14, 2007, Zolnierczyk was arrested and interviewed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for his role in the production and distribution of a pornographic video involving an underage girl. While Zolnierczyk’s then Alberni Valley Bulldogs teammate Brad Harding engaged in consensual sex with the underage girl at the home of Harding’s billet family in November 2006, Harding’s computer webcam transmitted the images to Zolnierczyk who saved and distributed the video to teammates. After showing the video to friends of the victim, RCMP was alerted and with Harding already being interviewed by police, Zolnierczyk was arrested. After pleading guilty to two counts of electronic voyeurism, Zolnierczyk was sentenced to a three-year conditional discharge on June 6, 2008. Following the completion of his three-year sentence, Zolnierczyk was left with no permanent criminal record.

It’s not hard to get a little queasy after reading that.  In doing a little checking, it seems like Harding was only a year or two older than the girl at most, and while she was under the legal age of consent, it was consensual, although the video taping of the event certainly was not.  This strikes me as a couple of teenagers doing something stupid that they didn’t think out.  To say it was foolish is probably putting it very mildly.  Everybody makes mistakes – it just so happens that this one was newsworthy and makes people uneasy.  So even if Harry Zolnierczyk deserves a clean start, he’s probably never going to get that completely.

The problem is that a lot of Pens fans remember a man by the name of Billy Tibbetts, who was signed to play here out of jail in 2000.  Tibbetts was convicted of the statutory rape of a 15 year old girl when he was 17, and then convicted of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (a BB gun) and witness intimidation.  Tibbetts though, went on to make a number of mistakes in his “second chance” that left a lot of Penguins fans with bad memories of the experience.  For the most part, I think most Pens fans would have been happier letting an opportunity like this fall through the cracks.

Putting the story behind the story to rest for the remainder of this post, this move would seem to indicate that GM Ray Shero has a plan to put into motion.  And although it’s not exactly a big domino to fall, it might be a very telling one regarding the Penguins off-season.

First thing is that Ray Shero seems to be admitting his NHL Trade Deadline acquisitions didn’t fall within the strengths of the team.  Make no mistake, if you acquired Douglas Murray, Jarome Iginla and Brenden Morrow, you’d have high hopes for a Stanley Cup win too.  But the Penguins game plan is to be hard to play against, and create problems using their speed and skill.  While their skill is unquestioned, nobody is going to mistake any of those three for being “fleet of foot.”

Zolnierczyk is fast on his skates, and plays with a built in tenacity.  I see the move as Shero trading a guy who wasn’t going to get a realistic shot of making the team for one that will.  Plus, the Penguins have a few questions on their third and fourth lines.  As of this morning, Shero has gone on record as saying he will qualify Tyler Kennedy.  Personally, the move is a head scratcher for me.  Kennedy made 2 million last season, and was invisible for a large part of the season.  But Kennedy’s game is built around speed, and although I think sometimes he thinks of himself as better player than he really is, his play style does fit in with the Penguins modus operandi.  You know who else play’s back there and is scheduled to be a free agent?  Matt Cooke.

Cooke has been with the Penguins for a few years now, but as I pointed out in my last post, he’s getting up there, and although Shero has said the Penguins want him back, the Penguins might think their money might be spent in better places.  Cooke has a stigma about him from all the years of those borderline dirty plays have given him a reputation.  Sometimes in the playoffs, Cooke was called for a penalty simply because he doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt, it doesn’t matter if the call is bogus or not.  Though he’s a hell of a penalty killer and a good player, the Penguins might be getting tired of having that stigma attached to them.  While it won’t stop all the bogus calls against them, it might remove a reason for the referee’s to call them without question.  Most telling is that like Pascal Dupuis, who’s also 34 and is negotiating with Ray Shero or a 3 or 4 year deal, Cooke also wants at least 3 years to return, and I don’t see the Penguins offering that.  Cooke made close to 2 million last season, so the writing may be on the wall there for him to leave.

If Cooke is out, the Penguins may have a spot on the third line for Dustin Jeffrey.  Jeffrey, who’s been the Pens 13^th forward for the past few years, possesses some skill, although not much sandpaper.  Conceivably, the Pens third line at the moment would be Kennedy on the right side, Brandon Sutter at center and either Jussi Jokinen or Dustin Jeffrey at left wing, although I can also see Jokinen getting time on the top two lines, especially since Malkin isn’t exactly dynamite on face-offs, and in light of the growing rumor that the Penguins will trade one of Chris Kunitz or James Neal.

I’ll admit, I didn’t put a lot of stock into the rumor of either Kunitz or Neal getting traded until a few days ago, when I talked to another fan and we came to the following conclusion:  Chris Kunitz plays the game Dan Bylsma wants him to play, he’s fast and he’s physical, but he’s getting older.  James Neal was once considered a power forward, but he rarely plays that way, and plays awful with anybody not named Evgeni Malkin.  It wasn’t all that long ago that Neal signed for 5 years at 5 million per season.  Yes, he’s 25, but if you can move him for a potential top four prospect defenseman and a top six prospect forward and a first round pick, all of who might fit in with the team better in another season or two, would you make the move knowing he’s not the same player without Malkin?  We both decided the answer was yes, which is why I suddenly get the growing talk of such a move.  If you’re the Penguins, you take a risk in removing a successful player, but the return might be worth it.  If you’re another team, you get a proven scorer at a great length and contract, and you can prove that it wasn’t all Malkin.  It’s a risk/reward for both teams.

Shero learned his lesson from 2008, when the Penguins lost to Detroit in those finals.  His team wasn’t tough enough to play against.  It’s clear he was reminded of the lesson again, when his team was thoroughly undone at the hands of the Boston Bruins, who played as a team consistently.  Boston bought in, they all played defense as one, were physical as one, and you saw no signs of anybody trying to break the mold.  Love it or hate it, they won and lost as a team – no individualism there.  I think that’s the lesson Shero learned for the upcoming season.  Zolnierczyk, unlike Kennedy, doesn’t have an inflated sense of self-worth.  He’s going to be given a job and he’s going to do it.  James Neal is great at scoring goals, but Evgeni Malkin will do anything to win, including fight Patrice Bergeron in a needless battle.  Neal didn’t show much of that intensity, didn’t score much either, so therefor, makes an easy target for Shero to make a statement with.  He wants players who all play a team first game, with speed and grit, who buy into the system that he and Dan Bylsma believe in.  Trading guys like James Neal and Kris Letang also send a big message to the rest of the locker room; we draw up the game plan, you execute, and if you don’t, you won’t play here anymore, regardless of your star potential.

Sunday marks the NHL Draft, and unlike previous years, this one is all one day.  The Penguins don’t have many picks to make at this point, having shipped a good many of them out in deals earlier this season.  Though somehow, I expect that the Penguins will again be busy, and I would anticipate that they’ll make at least one move at the draft, possibly more.  The first domino might have fallen on their off-season, but nobody thinks it will be the last.  Ray Shero has a plan, and while I’m still not sure I agree with Dan Bylsma staying on as coach, Shero has earned my faith.  Let’s just see what he has in store for us this year before we circle the wagons again.

Finally, congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks on winning the Stanley Cup.  It’s rare that the best team during the regular season actually wins the championship that same season.  Chicago played outstanding this season, and they deserve the utmost respect.  They won the Stanley Cup, and they should enjoy the moment for as long as they can.  For the rest of us, we turn our attention to next year, when we hope that it’s our team that wins it all.

PENGUINS OFF-SEASON PREVIEW

We’ve now all had more than a week to digest the Penguins stunning four game exit against the Boston Bruins.  I initially had this broken up into three previews, however due to the number of things that have come out in the past week I decided to condense it into one big preview.  Also, perhaps it’s better to have a little time to think about perspective.

This first thing that came out of last week was that Dan Bylsma still has a job, and that he got a 2 year extension.  I don’t agree with decision or the rationale, but Shero is convinced he’s the guy.  I think that’s more because Shero didn’t like what was available.  Short of bringing in a coach like Lindy Ruff or John Tortorella – coaches who are demanding and often not very popular – easily could have cost Shero his job in the long run.  That said Bylsma and his staff know the writing is on the wall.  He needs to show progress in certain areas, otherwise he’s out.

I’ll also say this – it’s come out in the last week that it’s not that Bylsma doesn’t game plan for teams, it’s that his game plan is very complex.  In that case, he needs to simplify.  If your plan comes apart at the seams because one aspect of it fails, it’s a poor game plan.  Boston didn’t deploy this radical ideology to beat Pittsburgh it did so on fundamentals and a simple defensive approach – they clogged up the neutral zone, took away the passing lanes in front of Tuukka Rask, and waited for the Penguins to come to them, instead of the other way around.  Bylsma needs to rip up the plan and start over, and this time, he needs to keep it simple.

Another thing that came out before the Bylsma announcement was his support of Marc-Andre Fleury as the franchise netminder going forward.  This struck me as hollow.  The reason Bylsma likely still has a job is because of Tomas Vokoun.  If Bylsma didn’t make the switch, the Penguins likely don’t make it out of the Islanders series, and Bylsma is fired.  To just write Vokoun off after he was literally the best player on the ice for about 90% of the playoff games the Penguins played in is absurd.

That said, there is logic in what Bylsma said, and what Shero echoed in the days that followed.  Like the coach, if you don’t have a good enough option to turn to with a goaltender, you need to stay the course.  Vokoun played well enough to be a starter, but Pittsburgh by and large has done an awful job of grooming goaltenders.  Just look for a quick second at the last two goaltenders for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton that had strong ties into the NHL Penguins, Brad Thiessen and John Curry.  Both signed contracts with the Penguins as undrafted free agents, and both figured at one point to stick in Pittsburgh as a backup goaltender to Marc-Andre Fleury, yet both never got more than a cup of coffee with the Pens during their time here.

The Penguins haven’t had much luck with drafting goaltenders either outside of Fleury.  To me, that would spell out an organizational weakness as a failure to develop talent.  The most recent goaltender signed as an undrafted free agent, Eric Hartzell, formerly of the Quinnipiac Bobcats, played a large role in the most recent Frozen Four in Pittsburgh.  I have to figure with Hartzell, the Penguins likely signed him in the hope that he would be more than a backup, even if recent history says otherwise.  Hartzell should be given a season or two to get acclimated to the speed of the game in Wilkes-Barre, before getting much time in the NHL, but one has to think that the Penguins end goal is for Hartzell to play a large role going forward.

So, Fleury and Vokoun will return again next season, with them again likely splitting the games pretty evenly.  Don’t be so quick to write off Fleury as done.  Eric Meloche, who’s been an on-again, off-again assistant with the Penguins for years, is set to resign and take another role within the organization.  Meloche is a man who knows a lot about the game, but one can’t help but think that maybe a change is for the best.  It’s quite possible that Fleury might have gained as much knowledge as he can from Meloche, but one can’t deny the mental breaks this guy has in the net, and some of the criticism should fall on Meloche.  Look for the Penguins to get Fleury a goaltending coach to work on some of his fundamental issues, and maybe even having Fleury visit with a sports psychiatrist, seeing as a lot of his issues seem to be of the mental variety.  Even if you don’t think he deserves it, Fleury is still a world class goaltender, but make no mistake though, this is it for Fleury.  The organization loves him, but it’s about winning games and no matter how nice a guy is if he can’t put his team in the best position to do that, he’s going to be out of a job.

Looking ahead, the Penguins will likely look very different defensively to start the 2013-2014 NHL season.  For starters, the team will likely be without Norris Trophy candidate Kris Letang going forward, as Letang is set to ask for at least 7 million a season going forward, for the next 5-8 years.  Letang simply isn’t worth that price on this team.  Letang was exposed badly in the playoffs, and although he’s an incredible offensive talent, the Penguins feel he’s not an adequate power play quarterback, nor good enough of a defender night in and night out to justify that kind of salary.  The good news is that moving Letang should net the Pens an incredible return.

One rumor has the Pens trading Letang to Anaheim in return for Pittsburgh area goaltending prospect John Gibson, defenseman Luca Sbisa, and a first round pick.  I would argue that if the Penguins are serious about giving Fleury a chance to iron out his issues and keeping Eric Hartzell in mind for their future in the net, the Penguins should turn down a deal like this.  Gibson is going to be a good goalie in the NHL, but you only make a move like that if Fleury has requested a trade or you intend to move him, something I don’t believe the Penguins are bluffing on – they want to keep him if they can.  At the same time, I can easily see Letang getting dealt to a team like Colorado, who just installed Patrick Roy as their new coach, who wants to make an impact right away, in a larger package deal for somebody like Erik Johnson and the number one pick.  Suffice to say, whatever it winds up being, I don’t think Letang will be on the Penguins roster before the start of free agency.

Not returning to the Penguins for next season will be Douglas Murray.  Say what you will about “Crankshaft” being a fan favorite, Murray didn’t fit into the Penguins style of play.  For as big as he was, his speed was often to the detriment of the team.  Although he will cost the Penguins a 2^nd round pick this season and next, the price was one that Shero was willing to pay.

Matt Niskanen and Deryk Engelland might have played themselves off the roster as well.  Engelland, though he’s a good teammate, can often times be looped into the Douglas Murray discussion.  In the regular season, having a nuclear deterrent is a good idea, but one that’s rarely used in the playoffs.  Bylsma loved him enough to make him a top six defenseman more often than not, and that needs to change.  Engelland should be no more than a number 7 on this team, and frankly, I’d easily trade him off the roster if his spot was replaced by a Mark Eaton, a guy who is scheduled to be a free agent, but clearly doesn’t hurt the team defensively.

Niskanen played a lot like Letang in the playoffs, which is to say he was largely ineffective and made his share of mistakes, and exposed as a poor top four defenseman candidate.  It wouldn’t surprise me at some point to see Niskanen moved to a team that lacks a puck moving presence on the blue line.  He won’t command anything near the return Letang will bring, but he himself should allow the Penguins to net either a prospect or a draft pick, unless it’s for another roster player.

Returning should be Paul Martin, who was unquestionably the best defenseman on the roster in the playoffs and Brooks Orpik, who remains the vocal leader in the clubhouse.  Simon Despres should finally be ready to hold down a steady top four defensive spot, and with a pending trade of Letang, will be counted on for some offense.  Robert Bortuzzo should be anchoring no worse than the 5^th spot on the defense, as he’s more likely the heir apparent to Mark Eaton.

The Penguins will likely not want to go with more than two younger players on the roster on defense, so that will allow Brian Dumoulin  and Scott Harrington some additional time in Wilkes-Barre to refine his game before joining the team full time next season.  That means that free agent additions are likely to happen.  If Niskanen is moved, expect the Penguins to go after someone like former Penguin and current Bruin Andrew Ference.  Ference, who might prove to be too pricey to retain in Boston, would add a level of toughness that has been missing from this team in recent incarnations, plus Ference is known as an extremely good teammate.

Also, expect the Penguins to go after somebody to fill a bottom 6 defensive role, like a Ryan O’Byrne.  O’Byrne was mentioned a few times from Colorado prior to the Penguins acquiring Murray and himself being moved to Toronto, but he plays a similar game to Brooks Orpik.  O’Byrne wouldn’t have as much trouble keeping up as Murray did, but also could fill in for the top four every so often, while adding a level of toughness on the blue line that the team needs more of.

While I’ve talked about the goaltending and the defense, the one area that will change from last season are the forwards.  Though I was in favor of the acquisitions of Brenden Morrow and Jarome Iginla, it’s hard to argue that they worked out to the Penguins advantage, although a large part of that was Bylsma not having any remote idea on what to do with such players.  Iginla was so misused during his time here, that it isn’t funny.

Although I think Iginla is at least open to returning on the surface, I think the Penguins will offer a cursory contract offer to gauge his interest, and then I think they’ll ask him where he wants to finish his career.  I’ve read several reports that point to him finishing his career up where it started, in Dallas (although he was dealt as a prospect to Calgary), and another pointing at Los Angeles, a team that will have cap room and will be looking for additional scoring going forward.  No matter, I would expect Iginla to be dealt once more to a team of his choosing, with the Penguins recouping likely a 2^nd or 3^rd round pick for his rights.  Iginla, you’ll recall, has a no trade clause, so he would need to be involved in those talks.  The same could be said of Morrow, who never wanted to leave Dallas, but now that the management has changed hands there, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Morrow go back and finish his career there.

Tyler Kennedy, who is a prototypical Dan Bylsma player, is also a free agent, but his last contract was worth two million a season, and for as invisible as he was for most of the season, never mind his added focus in the playoffs, I don’t think he’ll be back.  Craig Adams, who was picked up on waivers a few years ago has been a consummate professional and an excellent penalty killer, is a free agent, and he proved that he can still bring it in the playoffs, but one has to wonder if Adams isn’t better suited for a reduced role going forward, maybe as 13^th forward.  Questions have lingered for some time about his speed and effectiveness during even strength play.  Personally, I don’t figure he’s high on Ray Shero’s priority list, but if he’s still available late in July or early August, I can see the Penguins bringing him back one more year.

Pascal Dupuis I figure will be back.  He made 1.5 million for the past two seasons on a discount, and loves the team and the city.  I figure he’ll double that number to 3 million a season, provided the Penguins reward him with a 3 or 4 year contract.  If Shero agrees to 4 years, which is unlikely, I think the number will be 3 million a season.  If it’s 3 years, I can see it being between 3.25 and 3.5 per season for 3 years.  Dupuis over the last two seasons has aged like a fine wine, and I see this as completely fair, in spite of his age.

One player I’m just not sure about is Matt Cooke.  Pittsburgh stuck by him when he was everybody’s favorite villain (and still is in Ottawa and Boston), and he gives his all when he plays and is an excellent penalty killer, but I can see the Penguins moving on from him.  The Penguins have Joe Vitale, a guy Dan Bylsma seemed dead set against playing more during last season, who I see as a younger version of former Pen Max Talbot, albeit one that’s also much less polished.  They also have Zach Sill playing in Wilkes-Barre Scranton, who plays a physical game very effectively.  Choosing either as a successor to Cooke would allow the Penguins to save money and get younger, something I have to think they will consider moving forward.

Evgeni Malkin signed a new 8 year deal that becomes effective one the playoffs end, and Sidney Crosby signed one of the last grandfathered salary cap friendly deals last year for 12 years, effectively locking up the Penguins 1-2 punch at center.  Although there have been rumors, I doubt you see the Penguins trade one of the wingers for those two, either James Neal or Chris Kunitz, but I could see Kunitz finally joining Neal and Malkin on the second line if the Penguins can find a player capable of playing with Crosby and Dupuis.  Beau Bennett who will play in a top six role this season, could be that guy, but he could just as easily play with Malkin and Neal with Kunitz staying alongside Crosby.

The Penguins should retain Jussi Jokinen, who was picked up at the trading deadline.  Jokinen will provide a much needed go-to faceoff guy for this team next season, an area the Penguins are routinely weak.  I could see the Penguins using a third line of Jokinen-Brandon Sutter-Dustin Jeffrey, if they want to implement a little more scoring on the third line, but will urge that line to be defensively responsible.  One thing that line shouldn’t be expected to be is physical – save for Sutter, which might be a problem for the Penguins.

The fourth line should change as well.  The Penguins have Tanner Glass around for one more season.  It took Glass most of the shortened season to find his game in Pittsburgh, but he should play better next year in that role.  If the Penguins decide that Joe Vitale is better suited elsewhere on the team, like at wing, look for the Penguins to go out and get a physical fourth line center that is capable of playing a role on the penalty kill and being strong on faceoffs.  A guy like Boyd Gordon would fit that role perfectly, but the Penguins will likely have to chase him a bit as he’ll be sought after, and won’t come cheaply, which could turn the Pens away from him.

I would expect the Penguins to look more closely at the third and fourth line this off-season.  If you let guys like Adams and Cooke go, you need to find replacements.  The Penguins need to go out and get a little more grit on their bottom two lines, guys capable of dropping the gloves but not necessarily inclined to do so.  Guys like Mike Rupp, who was a great teammate during his time here, would be the type of guy I’d have in mind.  Somebody who isn’t counted on to play 20 minutes a night, but won’t embarrass you either.  As a team, the Penguins need a little bit of a new identity, a tougher team to play against isn’t the worst identity in the world with the high offensive talent on this team.

Say what you will, this will and should be a transition year for Pittsburgh.  If they let go of the former mantra that Dan Bylsma was inclined to use the past few seasons, which is to play veterans in most situations over younger talent – something that can’t happen again this season, they will need time to grow into a stronger team, but that can be done as a longer season goes along.  But if Bylsma makes the same mistakes he has over the past few seasons, I’d say a change will need to be made before the playoffs, just like it was in 2009 when the team had to be rescued from floundering with Michel Therrien at the helm.  The window for this team is closing, and each year removed from their last Stanley Cup victory, this team finds a way to look worse than it did the previous year.  It’s time the Penguins grab a hold of their destiny and learn how to win as a team again, instead of as individuals.

FOR PENGUINS, CHANGE IS INEVITABLE, NECESSARY

You have to believe at some point in the last 36 hours Mario Lemieux has walked into a room and closed the door with Penguins GM Ray Shero.  I would imagine the conversation was hardly threatening, given that Shero has the full backing of ownership, and most certainly proved his worth over the last few years.  But I would imagine the conversation, however brief, went something like this:

Lemieux: “Ray, this is the fourth year in a row this team has completely collapsed in the playoffs.  About Dan, are we sure he’s the right coach going forward?”

Shero: “Mr. Lemieux, I believe in Dan.  He’s an excellent coach, and he’s won a Stanley Cup for us in the past five years.  I’m not sure there’s a better qualified coach for us.”

Lemieux: “Ray, that’s what I want you to find out. Quietly look at some names that might be available, and please get back to me.  The way we were outplayed is unacceptable.”

If you don’t think a conversation like that has happened already, you’re probably not looking at the Penguins coaching situation with a clear sense of objectivity yet.  The Pittsburgh Penguins, winners of the NHL Trade Deadline that brought the likes of Jarome Iginla, Douglas Murray, Brenden Morrow, and Jussi Jokinen, fell flat in the playoffs… again.  Even with that all-star roster they had composed, they couldn’t find a way to work together as a team.  After dispatching teams without a lot of Stanley Cup experience in the Islanders and Senators, the Penguins ran into the ultimate definition of a team in the Boston Bruins.  Boston lived and breathed as one, and they dispatched the Penguins in four games, allowing only two goals in four games.  That’s incredible.

It’s also the epitome of the Penguins last four playoff runs.  They don’t just lose – no – they lose in an epic meltdown.  And I believe, five years after Dan Bylsma replaced Michel Therrien in the middle of a season, to lead this Penguins team to a Stanley Cup win, that it’s time he is shown the very same door that his predecessor was shown.  Make no mistake, this isn’t entirely on Bylsma’s coaching ability, the players themselves should shoulder a lot of the blame, but I believe it should be the call after looking at the following:

1. Bylsma’s refusal to make changes to his game plan.

Make no mistake; Bylsma was outcoached in these playoffs.  Bruins coach Claude Julien made him look pedestrian, but so did Jack Capuano of the Islanders and Paul MacLean of the Senators, the only difference was that Julien had the roster and the experience to win, because if Capuano or MacLean had more of either or both, Pittsburgh might not have escaped either round.  Capuano knew how to beat Pittsburgh, he just lacked the veteran support and his players weren’t ready for the fight that had to be done.  On that note, the Penguins had the experience and the firepower that they could sit back and take advantage of the mistakes the Islanders made to make them pay.

The same could be said of MacLean.  Even though the Senators only won one game against the Penguins, it can be said that Pittsburgh owned most of the breaks, if a few more had fallen Ottawa’s way that could easily be a seven game series.  Penalty trouble allowed the Penguins to dispatch the Senators much like it did the Islanders.  That wasn’t good game planning, as much as risk taking and hoping that you come out on top.  For the Penguins, it worked, but it could have easily gone the other way.

The problem was it was an easy road for the Penguins.  At no point did this team come together; it was Crosby’s team, and he was augmented by the likes of Iginla, Morrow and Murray.  Shero, maybe to his discredit, refused to shake up team chemistry, and didn’t deal off any roster players.  Initially, this could have been viewed as a good thing as every team wants and needs depth.  It seemed like a great idea, except that nobody had a clearly defined role.  Left to Bylsma’s devices, Morrow and Iginla played all over the place.  They couldn’t gel with potential line mates, and as a result, were treated no differently than the Tyler Kennedy’s or Matt Cooke’s of the world, but I would argue that strategy played against the Pens as much as it originally appeared to be a great idea.

The Penguins needed some bloodletting.  Remember the trades of the first two Stanley Cup wins for Pittsburgh?  Major trades sent good players out in order to bring good players in.  John Cullen had to go for Ron Francis to come in, and so on.  The teams were forced to grow together, and in the playoffs, they had to rely on each other in order to win.  That didn’t happen here, and it should have.

Bylsma was content to not waste a second thought on game plans.  He was like a child developing motor skills, continually pounding a square peg into a round hole, and not quite ever grasping the concept that maybe he wasn’t doing it right.  Rather than try for matchup advantages, to keep Crosby or Malkin away from key players, Bylsma continued to throw them out there, in the hopes that something would work.  That, my friends, is the very definition of insanity; doing the same thing over and over in hopes that it yields a different result.  It also brings me to my second issue on why Bylsma has to go…

2. He clearly doesn’t have control of his hockey team.

The Penguins players are going to give Bylsma a vote of confidence.  Nobody should expect anything less.  Bylsma is a player friendly coach.  He’s not Michel Therrien or Kevin Constantine, a guy who forces his players to play to the best of their ability all the time, and thus work to get better.  In approach, he’s the Charmin toilet paper to their respective sandpaper.  Nobody wants to get rid of a boss who has fun with you, and lets you get away with murder sometimes.  Nobody’s any different in that approach.  The problem is Bylsma spent too much time this season and previous seasons stating the following: “We just didn’t play our game tonight” or “We just didn’t get to our game plan fast enough.”  That is nothing more than an excuse.

You can get away with saying that once in a while, but honestly, if you have to parade it out after just about every loss, somebody should honestly start asking “why”?  If the team truly bought into Bylsma’s system, you’d think that wouldn’t come up so much.  The truth is that the Penguins have tuned their coach out.  You think Bylsma told them to go out and lose their cool in game 2 of the Boston series, the very defining point of why the star studded Penguins team failed in these playoffs?  How about the fight in game 1 with Malkin and Bergeron?  Think Bylsma wanted to be without Malkin for five minutes?  The truth is, the Penguins played just like their leader does; he’s got tremendous skill, but isn’t above getting frustrated and doing something stupid in a fit of rage.  Oh yeah, and he wears an 87 on his back.

Crosby is the leader of this team – unquestioned.  And just like the superstar that preceded him (you know, the legendary owner of the franchise) he gets to call the shots.  People said for years that Lemieux carried similar pull when he played, but I’m thinking after Lemieux the owner saw his players do that in game 2 of the Boston series, that he might have realized that employing a coach whose demands mean little to the players might not be the way to go in the future.  Lemieux isn’t going to overstep his bounds and force Shero to do something he doesn’t want to do, but I’m guessing the mere suggestion is probably enough for Shero to see the writing on the wall: Dan Bylsma’s future as Penguin coach is coming to a close.

3. Roster changes are coming. Accountability is needed.

Perhaps one of my biggest pet peeves with Dan Bylsma is his misuse of talent.  Bylsma prefers to go with veterans rather than rookies or younger players.  Players like Robert Bortuzzo and Simon Despres should have been playing in these playoffs.  They can bring more to the table than the Deryk Engelland’s and Mark Eaton’s of the world.  Whoever the coach is for next year’s training camp, will have a few noticeable changes to deal with.  The days of playing veterans over younger players should be over, especially given how the salary cap is going down.  Engelland is an ideal 7^th defenseman, and he’s OK to put out there against a team like Philadelphia or when one of their players needs a game off due to injury, but he should in no way be one of the top six defenseman.  Bylsma loves him, played him regularly in the playoffs, even when Engelland took costly penalties or was just too slow to be effective out there.  If Bylsma won’t evolve, you have to find somebody who can and will.

Of everybody acquired at the deadline, the only player with a remote chance of coming back (other than Jokinen, who’s still under contract) is Jarome Iginla.  In spite of Bylsma’s misuse of him, Iginla wants a cup, and realizes Pittsburgh presents as good an opportunity as anybody in order to do so before the end of his career, but Iginla staying likely means that one or more of the Penguins forwards who are unrestricted free agents, guys like Pascal Dupuis, Matt Cooke or Craig Adams likely won’t be back.  Dupuis loves Pittsburgh, but even if he takes below market value again to return, Iginla’s presence could mean decreased ice time.  Let’s not forget Beau Bennett is also due for a full season in Pittsburgh, and he should primarily play a top six role.  And suddenly, you begin to see the problem that Ray Shero faces.  So much talent, and not enough places to put them, and some popular Penguins might not be coming back.

Plus, you need a coach who can call BS when it’s needed.  Evgeni Malkin is one of Bylsma’s favorite players, and Bylsma lets him have free reign a majority of the time.  For as good as Malkin is offensively, he can be just as good defensively, he just needs somebody to make him think that way, all the time.  It’s not going to be Bylsma, which is why you see Malkin make costly turnovers a lot in crucial situations.  Malkin is an elite talent, and there are times when he’s every bit Sidney Crosby’s equal, but he dangles far too much, and without Crosby’s discipline.  Crosby knows when to pull it in.  Malkin knows he should, but sometimes he wants to help so much that he does too much, and the Penguins get into trouble with him.  A good coach will work with Malkin and set up the parameters for Malkin to improve upon in the offseason.  I’m betting Bylsma hasn’t done a lot to grow Malkin’s defensive abilities lately, not as much as conditioning coach Mike Kadar has done for Malkin’s conditioning, anyway.

4. To the victor goes the spoils, and the loser, the spoilage.

Rest assured, even if Shero gives Bylsma a vote of confidence, and Bylsma returns for another season, the unwavering support is gone.  It has to be.  Mario Lemieux knows, and so does Ray Shero.  Shero isn’t going to make any snap decisions, and nor should he.  But Bylsma’s failed four times with his teams since taking Therrien’s team to win the Stanley Cup.  Every offseason, the collective from the fan base gets louder; Dan Bylsma is nearing his expiration date as the coach of this team.

If you hold onto him past that date, you run the risk of him spoiling more of the franchise.  If Shero gives him one more year, then next year, the fan base might look at Shero as part of the problem if Bylsma fails to succeed again.  That’s the risk, but what about the players?  You also want somebody who’s setting goals for this team to improve upon.  Malkin is a key example as I stated above, but every player should have a clear cut goal that the coaching staff wants of them.  You want somebody who cultivates a team and makes it strive for more.  If you’re not doing your job, you sit, and figure out how to improve for the next game.  This team is burning their prime years being adequate.  This isn’t a hockey team that’s built to be adequate.  It’s built to be a juggernaut, one of the best teams in the East, and a perennial Stanley Cup contender, but it’s shortcomings are numerous and their claim of being the best has taken another shot.  At this point, the team is merely good.

Some fans might wonder why Bylsma can do so well in the regular season, and so poorly in the playoffs.  The solution I think is simple: game planning.  In the regular season, you might have as little as 24 hours to prepare for your next opponent, and teams rarely face the same opponent often enough to really come up with a specific strategy to beat them.  Bylsma can trot out a team that’s got enough firepower that it can win most of those head to head matchups, not because they’re that much better, but because nobody has the time to develop a strategy to shut down Pittsburgh on most nights.  In the playoffs, teams spend hours breaking down your weaknesses to turn them into advantages for their team.  Bylsma is easily outclassed in the playoffs because somebody can come up with an effective game plan, and Bylsma can’t efficiently counterattack.  I really think it’s that simple.

My guess is we should know by the end of week of this week about the fate of Dan Bylsma, likely by Thursday or Friday.  Whatever Ray Shero decides, the fan base should back him.  But if his decision is to keep Bylsma, it should only be because the candidate that he wants isn’t available… yet.  Make no mistake, if the Penguins don’t replace Bylsma, and they suffer a similar fate next year, everybody has to be held accountable – Shero for not identifying a change was necessary and Lemieux for not forcing one.  It’s not because the Penguins can’t get back to the Stanley Cup, it’s because of the way that they’re losing.  There is no disgrace in losing like the Penguins did in the final two games of the Boston series.  Tuukka Rask was unstoppable.  Boston’s team defense was smothering.  They lost to a team that was simply better, no matter if anybody wants to hear it or not.  It’s because of games like game 2 against the Bruins, where the Pens tuned out coaching and imploded.  Those games say a lot about the character of their team.  I’m guessing neither Ray Shero nor Mario Lemieux liked what it said about them.  Here’s hoping they don’t stay silent about it.

THOUGHTS AFTER ECF GAME 1

Normally, I would have a thought out message that I’d blog about here, but I decided to change the format a little bit and go ad hock after getting a few hours of rest after game 1 of the Penguins vs. Bruins series.  A little rest does wonders for perspective.

The first thing I want to say is that the Penguins played well enough to win – but it’s just that Tuukka Rask played that much better.  In the playoffs, you need a goalie to steal you a win now and then, and that’s just what Rask did last night.  Make no mistake, Boston came into the game with a plan and executed it very well – a game plan that Philadelphia used effectively last year as well.

I’ve made mention before of Pittsburgh’s Achilles Heel being their lack of focus when things start to deviate from the game plan.  Boston outworked them for the first goal, the bounces went the Bruins way, a few bad calls and good defensive plays later, and the Penguins were frustrated.

Matt Cooke got thrown out on a bad call – yes it was a dangerous hit, but Adam McQuaid put himself in that position knowing Cooke was coming, and then stayed down to buy a call.  The moment the whistle blew, he jumped right back to his feet and skated off.  I understand no further penalty will be assessed to Cooke, and that’s the right call to make.

Boston had a game plan.  After that, the Penguins became slowly unhinged.  Read their comments after the game all you want, it wasn’t that second goal that did them in, it was the Cooke penalty.  Later, Boston resident pest Adam Marchand hit James Neal in a nearly identical play, and got two minutes.  Cooke got a game misconduct and a five minute major, Marchand got two minutes.  The Penguins had a right to be angry, the officiating wasn’t consistent and was downright deplorable, but you can’t lose your cool on that.

At the end of the game, the Penguins found themselves embarrassed on home ice, losing 3-0.  Good.  The Penguins have been playing in these playoffs like spoiled children with an embarrassment of riches.  I saw one good solid game against the Islanders and two against the Senators in the first two rounds respectively, but other than that, they just had more talent to simply overtake their opponent, and gave a half-hearted effort most nights.  That shouldn’t happen this time, and it can’t if they want to advance.

Boston can’t match the Penguins skill wise, but they have the size that they won’t be pushed around, and Claude Julien is a much better matchup guy vs. Dan Bylsma.  Bylsma is going to be outcoached in this series.  His job is to ready his players to stick to the plan and execute it.  It’s been an ongoing problem for the Penguins for most of Bylsma’s campaign – lack of focus when adversity starts to increase.

That said this is a perfect time for everybody to buy in to Bylsma’s plan.  The Penguins, for the first time in these playoffs, find themselves down in a series.  Past incarnations of the Pens would have found themselves easy to frustrate, and thus, easier than expected to eliminate.  Look no further than last year’s slugfest with the Flyers.  This round has to be about buy in for Pittsburgh.  Overlooking Boston for a moment, do you think Los Angeles or Chicago is going to go lightly in the Finals?  That series will be extremely difficult, no matter the opponent.  Boston?  They’re a stepping stone, the last test for Pittsburgh.  If the Pens overlook them, it’s over, but if they fail to buy into the strategy Bylsma uses anyway, it’s already over, isn’t it?  Win as a team, lose as individuals.

Thus, Pittsburgh needs to find its focus and its desperation.  Boston has home ice advantage now, the Penguins squandered that last night.  They need to come out on Monday with that focus.  No more rolling with patchwork lines because you’re trying to throw off Claude Julien.  No more sitting Jarome Iginla on the bench during a power play.  Come out and be prepared to hit everything that moves, and play a defensively responsible game.  Again, Boston can’t match up with Pittsburgh’s fire power – Rask played out of his mind, but suckering Boston into taking stupid penalties (ala what they did to Pittsburgh tonight) can easily be their undoing.  Craig Anderson was a pretty good goalie too, no?

Boston can’t beat Pittsburgh without a little help from the Pens themselves.  They got that last night.  I see no reason to give them that advantage again.  Game 1 is over.  Game 2 is on Monday.  Now we begin the real test.  You have to win four games to win a series.  That’s why they play 7 games (if need be).