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There is a lot on the line this spring for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Expectations remain sky high while multiple variables seem to be working against them in the 2013-2014 season.
The injuries and the low cap are obvious setbacks that have impacted the Penguins season heavily. They may be reasons more than excuses, but other teams in the NHL could care less.
It might not only be the opposition that doesn’t care about those variables. The vibe that I get is that most Penguins fans don’t care either; it’s Stanley Cup Final or bust.
The man with the most on the line this postseason is probably Head Coach Dan Bylsma. The old adage is true; it is a lot easier to change one guy than 20 players.
Elliotte Friedman has one of the best hockey columns going. He mentions the Penguins and Dan Bylsma
in his latest 30 thoughts.
3. Whenever we get close to the end of a season, you hear the usual rumours about potential changes on the bench and in front offices. I try to be very careful about this stuff, because it isn't always accurate. There's a lot of it this year, more than normal. One of the difficulties with predicting change is how one dismissal affects others. There are a couple of current coaches with the potential to create a domino effect. The first is going to be Barry Trotz. If the Predators make a change, there is going to be a lot of interest. There are teams who think he will benefit from a fresh start and more offensive punch.
5. One of the toughest things coaches/executives who think they are in trouble go through is "the second round" of change. The first comes right at the end of the regular season. If you survive that, you worry about guys who lose earlier than expected in the playoffs. Coaches will be watching Pittsburgh. You can't swing a dead cat on the internet without seeing speculation about Dan Bylsma's future. If he is available at some point, there are going to be chasers.
6. The Penguins are an interesting study. They've lost 500 man-games to injury and still ran away with the Metropolitan Division. That's very impressive. But, other teams don't speak about them the way they speak about Boston. Ask about the Bruins, and you get statements like, "No weaknesses." Ask about Pittsburgh, and you get comments like, "They are not committed to team defence." Very soon, they can try to prove everyone wrong.
Should Dan Bylsma be on the hot seat if the Penguins fail to reach a certain predetermined round in the playoffs? Yes and no.
Everything in the Penguins organization should be re-evaluated at the end of the season regardless of how the year ends up, that should happen every season. Dan Bylsma should certainly be included in that.
I have a problem with setting a predetermined round the Penguins have to get to before significant changes occur. There are too many variables in play to set those kind of parameters.
What if Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang miss round 1 of the playoffs? What if the Penguins are playing good hockey and the goaltending does what it has the last two springs? What if the Penguins look good but puck luck works against them (more luck involved in playoffs than people want to admit)? What if the Penguins luck their way to the Stanley Cup Final but are an undisciplined mess? What if the Penguins lose to the Red Wings in round 1 and Detroit goes on to win the Cup?
It’s not as simple as making it to a certain round. You have to take everything into consideration.
Coaches do reach a shelf life, it’s a reality of the job. Even the best coaches of all time worked for multiple organizations.
The question to ask isn’t if Dan Bylsma can move on and still be an effective coach elsewhere, he can and eventually will. The proper question to ask is if Dan Bylsma is still an effective coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
He has done a great job in the regular season this year. There have been many things that have gone against the Penguins and Bylsma has guided the team to a divisional title and one of the top seeds in the conference.
However, his real report card will come during the playoffs. When assessing his value as a coach it is important to not stress over what round they make it to but the variables at play and how the Penguins look on the ice.
If the Penguins bow out in a blaze of failure like the 2012 Philadelphia series, it is most likely time to find a new voice. If the Penguins are battered, bruised and bow out to the Bruins, I’m not sure a change is necessary or warranted.
This is not a black and white decision making process, there are many shades of gray.
The grass is not always greener on the other side, just ask the Vancouver Canucks.
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Regardless of anybody’s personal opinion about Pittsburgh radio personality Mark Madden, he has his connections to the Penguins organization. On yesterday's program Madden said that two different people from the Penguins organization told him that Letang is still getting dizzy spells after practice. Keep in mind this is an
unconfirmed report.
If true that would pretty much end whatever chance Letang has to come back this season, huge disappointment after some initial optimism on that front.
Previously Madden had been of the opinion that Letang would play the final 3 games of the season, tomorrow’s game against Detroit will kick off that 3 game sample size.
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Pittsburgh native John Gibson played in his first ever NHL game, he earned his first ever NHL shutout, congratulations
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Jaromir Jagr sat down to answer a few questions from NHL.com’s Dan Rosen. You can find that interview
here. As always, Jagr gives great insight and makes for an interesting subject.
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Zac Rinaldo received 4 games for his headshot he delivered on Chad Ruhwedel. The 4 games given was coincidently the amount of games the Flyers have left in the regular season, not very shocking at all.
Rinaldo got 4 games but the
Hockey Hurts suspension system was not as kind to him.
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