At roughly 11:45 am eastern time, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced that they had relieved head coach Mike Johnston and assistant coach Gary Agnew of their duties. Johnston and Agnew have been part of the Penguins coaching staff since the start of the 2014-15 season. Other assistant Rick Tocchet was retained today.
Tocchet will remain the assistant coach of the Penguins, while Wilkes-Barre head coach Mike Sullivan is promoted to the top job behind the Penguins bench. Jacques Martin, who has been with the club since 2013 will return to the bench and be the Penguins other assistant coach.
Out with the Old...
Let's face it, the Penguins we have seen for the last calendar year, are not the same team we saw in the first months of the 2014-15 season. They have been boring, lack-luster and often, downright awful.
Mike Johnston dug his own grave this season however. Last year, he could play the injury card. This year, he only has himself to blame. The Penguins did not play a system that complemented the roster it had. With the likes of Crosby, Malkin, Kessel and Letang in toe, the Penguins have played a dull, defensive minded system that caters more to the likes of Matt Cullen than to Sidney Crosby. That just cannot be the way with this team, not only because it doesn't work, but that's never been the way the Penguins play. There haven't been 13 scoring titles over the last 30 years because they play defensive.
Besides Johnston's system, it was his clear reluctance to use the right players. Rob Scuderi played nearly every game, while he should have often been the scratch. Daniel Sprong, the rookie with a ton of talent, had only seen more than 10 minutes in one game this year and had been a #PressBoxHero on many nights. GM Jim Rutherford wanted to see Sprong and Adam Clendening in the lineup, instead, he got Scuderi and aging, unproductive veterans. The retirement of Pascal Dupuis earlier in the week opened room for Sprong, but he played a combined 11 minutes over the last two games. Clendening has yet to see the ice after Rutherford's calling for more ice time last week and Rob Scuderi has been in games and been atrocious at that.
It was simply the time to make this move. Mike Johnston probably isn't a bad hockey coach. He probably would find better success if he was coaching, say the New Jersey Devils, but he was simply the wrong coach for this team and organization. The Penguins did themselves and him a favor by cutting their ties this morning.
...In With The New.
Mike Sullivan, 47-years-old, has over 13 years of coaching experience in the National Hockey League. Sullivan has spent the majority of his NHL coaching career as an assistant to now Blue Jackets' coach John Tortorella. From 2003-2006, Sullivan was the Boston Bruins head coach and took them to one playoff appearance in his tenure (2 Seasons). More recently, he had served as the Providence Bruins coach, Boston's AHL affiliate, before taking over the helm of the Wilkes-Barre Penguins this past summer.
Sullivan is a great fit for this team and a solid option by JIm Rutherford. Sullivan has the experience, but more importantly he is still young enough to relate to many of his players. He spent 11 years as an NHL player before finding his spot behind the bench.
He is a hard-nosed, demanding coach. Before you jump, no, he is not as demanding as John Tortorella, but he has some similar characteristics that this team could really use. He will not be as intense as Torts, but he will get in these guys faces when they aren't doing their jobs. He will hold them accountable, something the Penguins could use in my opinion.
Besides the fact that he is experienced and he is more of a hard-ass than a softy, Sullivan has found success in his stops as a coach. He helped the majority of Tortorella's teams be contenders, and as an AHL head coach he has lead his teams to the post season. In Wilkes-Barre this year, he has them on a torrid pace that many hope will be replicated in Pittsburgh. The Baby Pens were 18-5-0 this season under Sullivan. They have had no trouble scoring while still playing outstanding defense. The proof is in the pudding, as they had a plus-49 in just 23 games under Sullivan.
Final Thoughts
The Penguins under Mike Johnston were going no-where. They would've likely been a marginal playoff team that would have considerably underachieve the rest of the season if he remained. He was not utilizing his players to their styles and he was misusing many of his players in regards of ice time as well. He sunk his own ship the moment he began losing faith in his players to play his "original system."
This move give the Penguins a chance to turn this season around. They will have roughly 4 months under Mike Sullivan to figure out their style and identity and be ready to make a playoff run with a solid plan. I think Mike Sullivan can make that happen. He is a demanding coach that will not stand for lackadaisical nonsense and underachieving. The Penguins under Sullivan will install a system that will play to their stars strengths, instead of the strengths of their grinders.
Also, the addition of Jacques Martin will boost the defense. Agnew was alright, but Martin will make this corps even better. I also believe this move will help Rick Tocchet as well. I don't think he had full control of the power play and the system under Johnston and now he will get his chance to prove he wasn't the solely to blame for the offensive struggles.
It is a new age for the Penguins today. Let's hope it is similar to the move the Penguins made in 2009 by replacing Therrien with then Baby Pens coach Dan Bylsma.