Replacing Therrien for the Long Term

Anyways, the question now beckons who will be the long term replacement for the departed Therrien.  Here's a quick look at some possible candidates that General Manager Ray Shero may be considering.

Dan Bylsma - Bylsma is currently holding the interim tag for the Flightless Birdies.  He made his NHL coaching debut yesterday as the Pens lost to the New York Islanders 3-2 in a shootout.  Bylsma comes to the club via their farm club the Baby Penguins.  He had been serving as that club's head coach.  Given that, he is more than familiar with some of the talent on the parent club.  I did like his post game interview where he emphasized the need for the Penguins to play to their strengths, i.e. speed, and also to get pucks to the net.  The Penguins did set their season high water mark for shots on goal against the Islanders.  Overall I don't think Bylsma is the leading candidate for the job but if the Flightless Ones do get on a roll and make the Stanley Cup Playoffs he may force his name onto the short list.

Todd Richards - Currently an assistant with the San Jose Sharks, Richards also coached for the Baby Pens.  With San Jose riding a crest of success this season their assistants will surely be looked at closely for any vacancies that do arise.  Richards is in charge of San Jose power play which is ranked second in the league.  He certainly has the credentials and the handling of the power play is a plus.  One thing the Penguins have sorely missed this season is a power play with some teeth.

Pierre McGuire - Yes that Pierre McGuire, former head coach of the Hartford Whalers, now annoying commentator for TSN and NBC.  All I can say to this one is; please God don't let this one happen, Amen.

Kevin Constantine - The former Penguins head coach may not be a media front runner but I for one would love to see him return to the club.  Constatine has been criticized for his hard nosed handling of players but I think he may be the perfect choice for this group of players.  He has meticulous attention to detail backed up by hard evidence, a relentless evaluator of video evidence to improve performance.  At present he is coaching the AHL's Houston Aeros and I think the club would improve immensely under him, I am just hoping he gets consideration.

Shero's list may not even resemble the above one, it's derived mainly from media speculation which is all we as fans can really go on for the time being.  I do believe that Shero will take his time in getting whom he thinks is the correct man for this position.

Steel TownDraft Pick

283 days ago

Score 2

Pat Quinn is a name that has been thrown around a lot, but I don't know if Shero is as interested in that scenario as the media is. I would also like to see John Tortorella get a look. The idea of Richards if very intriguing.

Permalink | Reply

Pittsburgh GunnyMajor Leaguer

283 days ago

Score 1

I was thinking of putting Quinn on the list but his name didn't seem to surface right after the firing of Therrien. Quinn's name seemed to rise into it's ascendence right after the World Juniors when there rampant speculation of Therrien's departure but has since lost some momentum, at least in my view.

Tortorella is a name I have not heard linked to the Penguins but he may be a viable candidate, good idea on that one ST.

Permalink

DeutscherRed-Shirting

283 days ago

Score 0

Dont even list McGuire what if he got hired? you would only have yourself to blame. Old Shero better pull a rabbit out of his ass and find the perfect coach for the Pens. C'mon Shero your guys are one and two in the points race and your out of the playoffs YOU should be fired.

Permalink | Reply

Steel TownDraft Pick

283 days ago

Score 0

What was Shero to do, if you think he should be fired. The offseason came. He went after Malone and Hossa. Malone knew what he would get on the open market and said "no love" when he saw what the Pens were willing to pay. Then he went after Hossa. He thought he was close when Hossa's agent asked him to make the contract for 7 years instead of 5. Then Hossa shocked us all when he went to Detroit. After Hossa left Shero's options were limited in free agency. So in the end, Shero was able to lock up the core of the team with two forwards and two defensmen, similar to the setup both Detroit and San Jose have. All the while he didn't overpay for Malone. Shero could have made a trade to save the season. But, is it worth it to trade the future to save a season? Unless it is for a cup run I say no. In the end, I think Shero was looking at the big picture.

Permalink

DeutscherRed-Shirting

283 days ago

Score -1

You are defending him for not doing this year EXACTLEY what he did last year and left the Pens in this mess. He gave up way too much to get Hossa and even Hossa could see the team had no depth or hope for the next year. There where plenty of opportunities for Shero to get a goalie, not to replace MAF but to give him competition and make him play better which he has to do. He did nothing and now you get to hang out the lightning and Islanders of the league. Don't bother comparing the setup the Pens have to Detroit it looks more like Tampa Bays, relying on two guys to score the goals and losing a lot of games.

Permalink

DeutscherRed-Shirting

283 days ago

Score 0

Joel Quenneville, is he working? Why not for the Pens?

Permalink | Reply

JuTMSY4Legend

283 days ago

Score 1

I know he's in calgary right now, but whenever somebody needs a coach, they usually just go out and get Mike Keenan... try that for a few years...

Permalink | Reply

Pittsburgh GunnyMajor Leaguer

283 days ago

Score 0

Keenan!? I think I would rather turn the coaching reigns over to Satan himself, and not Miroslav Satan but the big ugly red one with horns and pitchforks and all sorts of nasty things.

Permalink

CheezerAll-Star

283 days ago

Score 1

I can sympathize with the use of the cell phone. Mrs. Cheezer and I use the intercom system that came with the three extension land-line in our house.(/threadjack)

Permalink | Reply

Pittsburgh GunnyMajor Leaguer

283 days ago

Score 0

Mrs Cheezer sounds like a fine lady as well.

Permalink

Steel TownDraft Pick

283 days ago

Score 0

Since when is making a deadline deal to make a cup run the same as making offseason moves to assemble your team for the year. The Hossa deal, wheather you agree with it or not, was made to put a final piece in place for a run at the cup. Satan and Fedotenko were signed to fill holes in the roster with the hope they could produce. Unfortuneatly those were the best two players available at the time. I am sure Shero could have traded some prospects for a solid forward, but you really can't make that move unless you are confident that you will make a cup run. So no, he didn't trade the farm to save one year. Instead he signed two fill-ins for one year. I challenge you to find a quote where Hossa says he left because he saw the team had no depth. Otherwise you are just putting words in his mouth to support your opinion. As far as my comparison to Detroit. You may not like it, but here are the facts:

from hockeytraderumors.com
"The Pens have 26.4 million in cap space taken up between their top 2 forwards (Crosby/Makin - 17.4 million) and their top 2 d-men (Gonchar/Whitney - 9 million).

The Wings have 26.2 million in cap space taken up between their top 2 forwards (Datsyuk/Zetterberg - 12.7 million) and their top 2 d-men (Lidstrom/Rafalski - 13.5 million).

In that scenario, Id give the Pens the edge in offense and the Wings the edge in defense.

If one team can manage to build a contender around a big cap hit on 4 players, why cant another? Oh wait .. dont use the wings as an example? Ok.

San Jose has 25.2 million in cap space taken up between their top 2 forwards (Thornton/Marleau - 13.9 million) and their top 2 d-men (Boyle/Blake - 11.7 million).

The Pens have a whopping 200K more than the Wings taken up in the top 4 and 1.2 million more than the Sharks."

Permalink | Reply

DeutscherRed-Shirting

283 days ago

Score 0

Hossa-"It's all about Winning", then he signs with Detroit. Now without putting words in his mouth may I infer what his actions and words are saying? He didnt feel that the team the Pens had in the offseason would be enough to win the cup. The Pens weren't the only ones that where willing to give him whatever he wanted and get shot down.

All I'm trying to say is the Gm gave up too much and left himself in the hole come the offseason. You get the cup final one year then the next year your losing to the Isles. Not a good sign and falls like that are very difficult to dig yourself out of. Like the Bolts and the 'Canes. They won the cup and then nothing...they had a good group of players but thanks to poor GM moves its all been pissed away.

I hope the Pens can come back next year stronger and wiser with a new coach they respect and listen to but something is wrong in Pittsburgh and until they figure it out I don't have a lot of hope for them.

Permalink

JuTMSY4Legend

283 days ago

Score 2

Like the Bolts and the 'Canes. They won the cup and then nothing...they had a good group of players but thanks to poor GM moves its all been pissed away. not exactly...those teams still won it all...

Permalink