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And the next head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins is …
Posted by jtopper (1600 days ago)
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Bill Cowher. No, not really, but maybe it should be. You can’t fire the team, as the saying goes, and even though Michel Therrien signed a contract extension prior to the season, something’s gotta change or the team will be on the outside looking in come playoff time. The Penguins have won only two of their last 10 home games (2-7-1), and have gotten routed by the Maple Leafs and shut out by the Lightning. The power-play well has run dry. In fact, it’s actually gotten worse since Ryan Whitney has returned – no goals on 24 tries in the last six games. Opposing teams have more short-handed scores than do the Pens have scores on the man advantage. The sample size might not be great, but Pittsburgh’s hit rock bottom at the Mellon Arena and something has to change.

Captain Sidney Crosby might not ever score again. He’s becoming the Adam Oates of this generation, passing whenever possible rather than shooting. He’s become so easy to defense, teams pretend to respect his shot but prepare for the pass. Miroslav Satan was a bad fit from Day 1. Every second he’s on the ice and not scoring – which has more and more become the case – he’s a negative for the team. He doesn’t hit, doesn’t play in the corners, doesn’t stand in front of the net. He’s the ultimate cherry picker. Why GM Ray Shero signed him I’ll never know. Addition by subtraction might be best for the Penguins with Satan. Just cut him.

Speaking of Ray Shero, what has he done lately? Thank goodness Marian Hossa didn’t accept the Pens’ $50 million offer. With the cap likely going down after this year and for who knows how long, the Pens would have been paying the 30-year-old Hossa (as of Jan. 12) $8 million plus into his mid 30s. In other words, he would’ve become a bigger drain on the team’s shrinking available money as he reached 33, 34, and 35. I’d rather take my chances on another trade, free agency, Europe, whatever, than pay Hossa.

There are plenty of other issues to be sure, like letting Ty Conklin go to Detroit for just $750, 000 (in favor of Dany Sabourin), but right now the Penguins are playing like they won’t even make the postseason after coming within two games of the Cup last year. The smart money might be on some assistant coach from Nashville’s organization (where Shero came from) becoming the Pens’ next head coach if things don’t soon change.

Wingman432 commented 1597 days ago
www.fantasysportstown.com

tbonegeorge1000 commented 1591 days ago
No, They should get Kevin Constantine back. Constantine was one of the best coaches that every coached for the Penguins and was forced out of the organization by Jagr who didnt want to work hard. A new coach is needed, preferably one who speaks english but they surely need some wingers too. Fedotenko and Satan are just not the power the need this year. I believe they need to add someone like a Bill Guerin or Keith Tkachuk and also someone to play along side Malkin. They need Bruisers after losing so many players in the off season.

jtopper (Blog Author) commented 1589 days ago
Tbone: I think Constantine was a good system coach. Remember when Eddie Olczyk came out of the booth to coach. The only system he knew was the emergency broadcast system -- Gonchar's game improved markedly as soon as he got the boot. Guerin and Tkachuk would be nice rentals -- Tkachuk's already used to that. The Pens definitely could use players like Adam Hall; should make for an interesting deadline.

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