Then David Morehouse took the podium and announced that the Penguins have officially relieved Ray Shero of his duties. Jason Botterill, the assistant GM, will take over the duties on an interim basis. Alright, that part of it wasn't necessarily surprising but the next part was: nothing was said about Bylsma. It took about 8 questions before the Trib's Dejan Kovacevic asked the question everyone was wondering, "Does Dan Bylsma still have his job?" "Yes. The coaching staff is still intact." replied Morehouse. Which has left everyone not just in Pittsburgh, but in Pens Nation across the world wondering just what in the hell is going on in that building?
I would not have held it against Dejan if he replied "Seriously?" to Morehouse's response. I could never do that job as a 23 year old because I would've stood up and yelled, "Your yanking our chain right Dave?" NO ONE expected this. Everyone is having trouble wrapping their heads around this. Mark Madden is shocked, that is saying something! It has been 5 hours since the press conference, and every writer, blogger, radio host and sports anchor is still trying to figure out what exactly is going on.
I'm flabbergasted. I cannot wrap my mind around this quite yet and I don't think I'll be able to until the whole situation plays out. I do not understand how Dan Bylsma is still the coach. Now, don't get me wrong, I really like Dan Bylsma. I think he is a good coach and a hell of a nice guy. That being said, his time is done. He has to go. If he has in fact "loss the room," he simply cannot stay. 48 hours ago, management wanted him gone. But today, it's only Ray Shero with a pink slip.
There are theories abound as to what is going on with the coaching situation, and with the organization in general. When asked by Jason Mackey of the Trib, I told him this is like the Kennedy Assassination, theres 5000 theories and each one makes some kind of sense. The only people who know what is going on on the corner of 5th and Washington are Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle. And give Kovacevic credit, he tried to get answers out of them this afternoon but I left reading that interview even more confused by the ownership (and that is no fault of Dejan's writing).
Where do the Pens go from here? If you can figure that out let us all know. If you can figure it out, you deserve a Nobel Prize for it. Everyone is stunned. Everyone's jaw is on the floor wondering what the hell happened between 10am and 1130am that Byslma is still the coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Stay tuned, stories don't get much crazier than this.
To read Dejan Kovacevic's transcript of the Lemieux/Burkle interview, follow this link: http://blog.triblive.com/dejan-kovacevic/2014/05/16/exclusive-interview-mario-lemieux-ron-burkle/