Should Bylsma be fired? Why is this even a question?
Posted 4:42 PM ET | Comments 0
Anyone who has paid significant attention to the Pittsburgh Penguins since their most recent Cup win knows full well that there are several reasons that Head Coach Dan Bylsma ('HCDB') should be behind a different bench next season.
Bylsma lucked into a Cup win in 2009 following an entire 2 months of experience as an NHL head coach. When a harsh, strict disciplinarian (Michel Therrien) who stifles his players is replaced by a more easy-going coach, the talent often gushes forth for a while and it surely did in 2009.
Byslma's cliched "get to our game" philosophy seemed like words of wisdom back in those days, and the players were delighted to be able to forecheck for a change instead of playing the boring Therrien style. But that was 4 seasons ago, and we didn't know then that "get to our game" was all HCDB had as far as coaching philosophy. We didn't bother to ask what happens when another team doesn't let us "get to our game". But we found out.
HCDB has basically been 'Bruce Boudreau 2.0' (but with a better personality)-- take a team with oodles of talent, cut through the regular season like a bulldozer trough a kiddie's sandbox, then fold up in the postseason.
That postseason record is hardly "just one bad series" vs. Boston as those with short memories have claimed.
Up 3-2 on Montreal in 2011 -- choked. The power play was useless after a spectacular game 1, we ran into the mystical "hot goalie" (Halak) and made no adjustments after an easy game 1 win even though things got much tougher in games 2 through 7.
Up 3-1 on Tampa Bay (even with #87 and #71 injured) in 2012 -- monster choked as Coach Scarface embarrassed HCDB. We made another non-entity of a goalie (Roloson) look like Georges Vezina, and were beaten in the deciding contests by the likes of Sean Bergenheim and Dominic Moore.
The Philly series from last season hardly requires a recap.
The problem with the prototypical easy-going coach is generally two-fold:
1. The players take advantage of Mr. Nice Guy and the inmates start running the asylum.
I don't ever want to see John Tortorella coaching the Penguins, but he would not stand by calmly with arms folded while Kris Letang -- who may be the dumbest player in the NHL, as well as one of the most physically skilled -- makes one incredibly stupid decision after another. Torts wouldn't tolerate Evgeny Malkin's disastrous giveaways in his own zone or his chronic "I can beat 5 defenders by myself" crap.
2. The easy-going coach is rarely the sharpest knife in the drawer.
A semi-trained monkey could coach this team to a .600+ winning percentage in the regular season. But when things get tough in the playoffs, HCDB is either too clueless, too stubborn, or both, when it comes to making systematic adjustments.
It was a miracle that he actually benched Le Sieve and got Tommy V. in there during this postseason. If he hadn't, we probably lose to NYI and nobody is asking whether HCDB should get the ax; it would already have been done.
The Pens had no answer for Montreal's defensive system in 2010, Tampa Bay's trap in 2011 or Boston's clutch-grab-tackle approach (thanks to the Sergeant Schultz referees out there) in 2013. We tried to out-goon the dirtiest team in hockey in the 2012 playoffs and that didn't go too well (plus, we were playing without a goaltender or a PK unit).
Bylsma's handling of Simon Despres has been a disgrace and at this point nobody in his right mind would argue otherwise. Is this the coach we want making decisions on Maata, Poulliot, Dumoulin, Hutchinson, or any forward prospects we might eventually come up with?
At least we won't have to worry about Bylsma ruining Agostino, Hanowski, Joe Morrow, and whoever we would have taken with this year's #1 pick -- thanks a lot, Ray.
What this team needs -- NOW -- is a coach like Dave Tippett who will instill some discipline and an actual honest-to-God system and hold his players accountable, without being a raving madman like Tortorella.
Bylsma lucked into a Cup win in 2009 following an entire 2 months of experience as an NHL head coach. When a harsh, strict disciplinarian (Michel Therrien) who stifles his players is replaced by a more easy-going coach, the talent often gushes forth for a while and it surely did in 2009.
Byslma's cliched "get to our game" philosophy seemed like words of wisdom back in those days, and the players were delighted to be able to forecheck for a change instead of playing the boring Therrien style. But that was 4 seasons ago, and we didn't know then that "get to our game" was all HCDB had as far as coaching philosophy. We didn't bother to ask what happens when another team doesn't let us "get to our game". But we found out.
HCDB has basically been 'Bruce Boudreau 2.0' (but with a better personality)-- take a team with oodles of talent, cut through the regular season like a bulldozer trough a kiddie's sandbox, then fold up in the postseason.
That postseason record is hardly "just one bad series" vs. Boston as those with short memories have claimed.
Up 3-2 on Montreal in 2011 -- choked. The power play was useless after a spectacular game 1, we ran into the mystical "hot goalie" (Halak) and made no adjustments after an easy game 1 win even though things got much tougher in games 2 through 7.
Up 3-1 on Tampa Bay (even with #87 and #71 injured) in 2012 -- monster choked as Coach Scarface embarrassed HCDB. We made another non-entity of a goalie (Roloson) look like Georges Vezina, and were beaten in the deciding contests by the likes of Sean Bergenheim and Dominic Moore.
The Philly series from last season hardly requires a recap.
The problem with the prototypical easy-going coach is generally two-fold:
1. The players take advantage of Mr. Nice Guy and the inmates start running the asylum.
I don't ever want to see John Tortorella coaching the Penguins, but he would not stand by calmly with arms folded while Kris Letang -- who may be the dumbest player in the NHL, as well as one of the most physically skilled -- makes one incredibly stupid decision after another. Torts wouldn't tolerate Evgeny Malkin's disastrous giveaways in his own zone or his chronic "I can beat 5 defenders by myself" crap.
2. The easy-going coach is rarely the sharpest knife in the drawer.
A semi-trained monkey could coach this team to a .600+ winning percentage in the regular season. But when things get tough in the playoffs, HCDB is either too clueless, too stubborn, or both, when it comes to making systematic adjustments.
It was a miracle that he actually benched Le Sieve and got Tommy V. in there during this postseason. If he hadn't, we probably lose to NYI and nobody is asking whether HCDB should get the ax; it would already have been done.
The Pens had no answer for Montreal's defensive system in 2010, Tampa Bay's trap in 2011 or Boston's clutch-grab-tackle approach (thanks to the Sergeant Schultz referees out there) in 2013. We tried to out-goon the dirtiest team in hockey in the 2012 playoffs and that didn't go too well (plus, we were playing without a goaltender or a PK unit).
Bylsma's handling of Simon Despres has been a disgrace and at this point nobody in his right mind would argue otherwise. Is this the coach we want making decisions on Maata, Poulliot, Dumoulin, Hutchinson, or any forward prospects we might eventually come up with?
At least we won't have to worry about Bylsma ruining Agostino, Hanowski, Joe Morrow, and whoever we would have taken with this year's #1 pick -- thanks a lot, Ray.
What this team needs -- NOW -- is a coach like Dave Tippett who will instill some discipline and an actual honest-to-God system and hold his players accountable, without being a raving madman like Tortorella.