DK’s Daily Shot of Penguins: Fire Mike Sullivan?

42 comments

1. Fire Kyle Dumbass and FSG.

2. DK you spelled Mike Tomlin incorrectly 😂

3. I see only 2 options available! Get rid of everyone and start with all new players! Or just accept losing from now on by default! Either way we lose!!!

4. A new coach could stop giving preferential treatment to the vets when it isn’t warranted. He could concentrate on defense and stop the pinching. He could stop the fast hockey because they don’t have fast players.

5. If the object of the exercise is to tank then keep Sullivan in place. No idea what the point of Dubas is.

6. Sullivan constructs this lineup, and the discipline that comes with policing their efforts from game to game. What don't you get, DK? The minute he gets replaced, we get to see some real, drastic lineup changes. If it works, awesome! If it doesn't, which we all know it probably won't, that's ok, too. A rebuild requires a breakdown of all personnel. This team needs to be rebuilt in a grittier image. We need bigger/more physical forwards and defencemen, as well as several fast, puck-moving forwards. Bring in guys like Kirby Dach for the rebuild via trade, and draft a franchise defensemen to pair with Owen Pickering like Matthew Shaefer of the Erie Otters. If he isn't available, get another physical forward like Malcolm Spence. Kids like that will recreate the Penguins brand. Teams used to fear us. They knew guys like Hornqvist and Kunitz would crush you in the neutral zone. We no longer have those guys, and teams are walking all over us. Sullivan has to go, and we need to move on from the nostalgia. I was against it at first, but after the Utah game, I'm sold. TEAR IT DOWN.

7. I am speaking from a level headed stand point. I'm not one who advocates for people to lose their jobs, but I do think all coaches in every sport do have a shelf life, especially in the NHL. I do think Mike Sullivan's shelf life with the Penguins has expired. Now I don't think he's a bad coach and he probably could succeed elsewhere with another team that better suites the system he likes to run.

   Now, I don't think he will get fired during the season for one reason

   – There was a strong chance that this team was not going to be very good this year. The offseason moves made pretty much indicated that they were thinking future and not contending. Now, that does not excuse the lifeless performances that the team has given. Had this team been tagged a legit contender and made moves to warrant them as such, then I definitely think you would see a change

   Also, if Mike Sullivan does get let go during the season, I don't think it's going to change anything you see on the ice. The reason for that is because I don't think they will hire his replacement immediately. They would just promote David Quinn or Mike Vellucci to be the interim coach for the rest of the year, and you're not going to see much change. I don't think Sullivan's replacement would get hired until the offseason. That would be the only way you would see change in the Penguins is an outside hire, should a change be made.

   I think the only way a change is made during the season, is if the lifeless efforts continue. I do expect a decision on him will be made, but I don't think it will be until after the year is over next spring.

8. Pens are following the Pirates and letting good players go
   and getting bums in return. For what? Money in their
   pockets? The old formula will not work against the same
   league teams. You have to adapt to the changes.

9. They got older instead of getting younger!! They traded our young guys for old washed up players even though there good guys

10. To me, the point isn’t whether he will make this particular team better. We need a guy who is capable of developing young players and giving them time and allowing them to make mistakes. Mike Sullivan is no longer that coach. And look this happens at every level. I’ve seen tremendous high school coaches when they quit have been asked to go down to the PeeWee level coach and they just don’t want to do it. They’re tired of developing players. That is not an insult to them or meant to be a criticism. It just happened and it happened to Mike Sullivan. It is time to move on and move forward.

11. Good morning DK, ok, I have to disagree with you about Karlsson and his improvement with a different head coach, hear me out. He clearly isn't happy, playing uninspired, lacking motivation, and remember I have had knocks on him throughout the season. BUT, when Petterson and himself got comfortable late last year, given more room to play the way he can, and then see them at the World Cup….why oh why would a coach NOT feed on that, make him the top pairing defense, allow him to run the PP, and see how much more we'd get?! Instead, Sully continues to demote him to 2nd pairing, gave him Graves, and put the restraints on him WHAT IS SULLY DOING?!?!?! Any coach would know HE is your most powerful impact full defenseman so use him properly.

12. Who is waiting in the wings to provide a spark?

13. Montgomery was hired by St. LOUIS

14. I actually think yes they would. A change is exactly what this team needs. Remember St. Louis going from last to Stanley cup a few years ago. Most coaches benches players for poor play not Sullivan

15. I've never been a fire Sullivan (or Tomlin) guy. Both are great coaches. In Sully's case, he seems to have lost the room. If coaches have a shelf life and FSG refuses to fire Sully, don't you need to completely overhaul the roster so that the guys in the room aren't stale to his message and actually fit his system? That requires young and fast guys. I'm not sure how much longer I can subject myself to the torture of watching this team.

16. The team is gutless, except Crosby.

    I know thats harsh. Any team when they are going through a rough patch will have some push back. I am not saying go out and pick a fight BUT every single game has moments when the tempers flare… do something, spark the team, show everyone you care. And dont let Crosby be that person. Boko would as would other players of his ilk. Id try getting someone like that or bringing him up and see if he can bring energy with hits or if needed a fight or two.

17. long overdue.

18. Fire Sullivan

19. this team soff

20. What are they waiting for? Every other team would have made the change by now.

21. Is it genuinely possible at this point to have Sullivan even truly be on the hotseat with Dubas and this ownership group, DK?

    Do you think Dubas really supports Sully as much as he says he does publically?

    I truly worry there's not much that can happen in terms of Sullivan's heat getting hot. There's got to be something more to this ownership group and Sullivan. Almost seems like a deep personal connection with someone within the ownership group. I don't understand how he has seemingly dodged all criticism within the front office.

    I think ownership and Dubas both were prepared for a season like this. And worry that they will continue to blame the roster. That they chalk all of this up to this "rebuild on the fly type mindset".

    I don't know. It feels hopeless at this point its even in the realm of possibility.

    Not sure how much I can take watching Neito, Acciari, Hayes playing a significant amount more of minutes than the Jessey P, DOC, Poulion/Ponomarov line.

    The other night, I believe the minute breakdown was 19 minutes for the Accriari line & 8 minutes for the DOC line…

    This clear cut favortism to old, "defensive first" minded veterans getting so much ice time makes me sick to my stomach.

    This is a 180 degree change in philosophy from 2016-2018.

    You saw all vets being scratched/benched/buried early in Sully's tenure… my favorite thing about Sully at that time was, he was always willing to put a younger guy with upside in the lineup over a vet past his prime.

    He preferred having the upside of a guy on an entry level contract over these veterans. Which I think at the time and right now. Should largely be every organization's philosophy. Especially as this league continues to move younger & faster and more willing to give young guy's, even undersized young guys a legit shot early in their career.

    Thats what people dont talk about w the back to back cup runs. It was the Mooseknucle (that I loved calling him), the Wilson's with Cullen centering them that really made that team complete.

    Idk miss the Sully who had the balls of steel, burning an entire year of Maata's entry level contract.

    The guy who punted on the "grit" idea, that the bottom 6 has to have your gritty veterans filling it up.

    There was 0 need for grit for that team. He wanted to be young and fast. And be devastating on that counter attack. He hoped that the other team would engage in grittiness non sense, as it led to more powerplays and ability for the Pens to just continously roll their 4 lines like a well oiled machine.

    That counter attack was DEADLY. And it was due to the fact, we had that youth insurgence & that speed from young guys in role playing positions.

    This Sully… that WOULD NEVER happen today. He'd never do any of these things now a days.

    Sully is not the coach you want leading a young roster… he's seemingly past the expiration date of that philosophy. That ship has sailed as early as 2019-2020

22. As they say…. You can't fire the team so fire the coach!

23. For me it's less about a new coach fixing everything instantly, it's more about not seeing things like AHL defense on the first pairing and powerplay. Not to mention the ever growing list of young players that make it out of pittsburgh and do something with the opportunity.

24. Sullivan seems to favor veteran players over rookies. That prevents the rookies from developing. Other teams don't hesitate using rookies.

25. i do not want coach fired but if the jackles have their way , Id suggest pens hire mark recchi the pens will still be bad but at least recchi will get some head coaching experience and maybe a 100% effort hall of fame player can get some positive results !

26. Isn't it obvious this team is tanking? The proof is on the ice. Sully's doing a fine job, in helping to secure a top three pick. Perhaps this is why Sid took so long to resign? Dubas told him from the beginning that they were gonna tank and Sid had to really think about it.

27. 6:23 …DK, first i love your takes on like 98% of your football and hockey stuff. However, here u say " If anyone thinks that everything's going to change…"

    DK, our last three Stanley Cups have been won "after" a mid-season coaching change. So as a fan base we do have reason and past experience that give us reasonable belief that a mid-season coaching change COULD change everything. I remember a great line from the 2009 Stanley Cup Champs Video, I believe from 29er, "it's alot easier to change one person than a whole team"…bye Therrien, hello Bylsma and Cup. Bye Johnson, hello Sullivan and two cups. Same def could happen here with this crew.

28. This is the line of thinking that let this go this far. "Well firing him won't do anything anyway so why even do it??"

    Maybe because we have to see what happens and we really don't know what would happen. We also don't want Sullivan in charge of a rebuild in any form. Sully and young players? Nope.

    The Capitals had a dreadful team in the same exact scenario and brought in a new coach that makes that team compete.

29. Can't believe there's a question mark in the title

30. it seems like only in Pittsburgh do unperforming coaches get to keep their jobs….Sully, Tomlin, and Shelton. All should be gone but here we are

31. I would fire Sullivan mostly because I think the Pens need more of a developmental head coach to transition them into the next generation. That being said … I would not give the players a pass for quitting, and I definitely do not give Dubas a pass for being the worst GM in hockey. I guess if we really want to point a finger … point it at FSG because they have created this whole mess from top to bottom.

32. It’s not about the fact that firing Sullivan is not a panacea. I think people are realistic about what this team and roster is. The issue we have is not necessarily the losses, but how they lose. The lack of will, the lack of compete, the lack of caring is what drives people nuts about this team. Then you will argue that the roster is flawed. Yes, it is, no doubt, but defending hard and trying to compete does not require skill. The lack of work ethic is what needs to change.

33. If the offense is bad, the defense is bad, and the goaltending is bad…then it's the GM's fault for putting together a bad team, not the coach's fault for coaching a bad team.

34. I think firing Sullivan would have the Jake Guentzel trade effect on the team.

35. He needs to go mike sullivan is so bad

36. Thank you DK, I just hope they solve this defensive problem sooner than later. Great show DK

37. It needs to come from Sid. Sid needs to rip these players on a new one. And Ned isn't the answer behind the net..

38. Hard times to be a Pens fan. It will be a very long time before this team is competitive again, 5 years if we get lucky, considering I have no faith in Dubas I’m thinking more like decades. For someone who became a fan in 1991 during the first Stanley cup run this is gonna be really hard, we got lucky with Sid and Geno, the rebuild could be much longer this time.😔

39. I wouldn't mind finding out if Sullivan being replaced would help. If they had a chance of being a wild card maybe I'd say keep the coach but that's not the case. I hope it happens in the offseason at least

40. This is what happens when you are victims of Hextall/Burke followed up by Dubas. You get a really crappy team overall and bad contracts. You cant fire FSG for this or fire all the players, so you fire the head coach and/or Dubas,…I suspect they will have to fire Sullivan now and Dubas at seasons end..I see lots of empty seats at home games now and that drives decisions. I have no idea what will become of 'the core' after this disaster of a season.

41. Good luck getting ANY coach to get this group of skaters to turn into an actual team. Besides Sid, Ned and Blomqvist, no one even cares.

42. The fact that no coach in the history of organized sport could get anything out of the useless waste of oxygen that Erik Karlsson is is the worst possible argument for keeping on a bad coach! My grandmother could have coached the Penguins to those 2 Stanley Cups in '16 and '17, so don't give me any of that crap about Sullivan's so-called legacy! At that time, Sid and Geno were both still in their prime and simply would not be denied! They didn't need ANY coach to win in those years! Sullivan's only legacy is the clown show of the last 3 seasons! 

    As for Erik Karlsson, he's a disgrace to hockey itself—and most certainly to the Norris Trophy! He never should have won it once! The voters that bestow that award are out of their collective minds! He never played one shift of defence in any of those 3 seasons that he was handed that now meaningless hardware! I don't care if he got 1000 points in a season! He never deserved that trophy once! And when the clowns that run the Hockey Hall of Fame eventually enshrine him there, they'll devalue that honour just as much! The only admittance that that guy should ever have to the HHoF is with a paid-in-full ticket! What an absolute joke that "player" is!!!!!