Follow me on twitter Follow @GunnerStaal
The Pittsburgh Penguins had two candidates they felt strongly enough about to name them their new head coach. Problem is that both the candidates did not want Pittsburgh. That breeze through Pittsburgh is the gust from the two big swings and misses that saw Bill Peters choose Carolina and Willie Desjardins almost certainly choosing Vancouver.
Peters went with Carolina who has poor depth and high priced forwards who have underwhelmed with their offensive output. Desjardins seemingly will go to the Canucks who you could argue are the future self of the Penguins. Older, poor depth, bad drafts with limited prospect pool, and high expectations.
Let me preface the rest of this blog by saying that I believe there are many coaches with untapped potential that could have the same exact traits as both Peters and Desjardins. It's not like the coaching pool is full of methane gas with everything killed off inside of it. However, the optics of new candidates actively choosing to go to other franchises, who on the surface appear to be further away to a Stanley Cup, is not good.
With the Penguins being rejected by two guys with no NHL head coaching experience I am slightly concerned that they will shift their focus to recycled NHL coaches who are desperate to get back into the game. I can't imagine some of the egos in the Penguins hierarchy would like to stomach another "nobody" turning them down.
The shine has worn off from the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise. What was once a "model" franchise is now seemingly plowing through one PR blunder after another.
Having Crosby and Malkin in their prime would seem like such a drawing card but in reality it also comes with sky high expectation. The mantra in Pittsburgh is Cup or bust. What first time head coach wants to be viewed upon as a failure in their first major gig? First time head coaches don't always get a second chance. If a first time NHL coach has multiple options they need to choose the one that gives them the best opportunity for perceived success. There is no doubt that Peters and Desjardins took that into consideration.
Also troubling for any potential candidate is the fact that the GM is a lame duck even before he is one season in on the job. It is a weird setup. The new coach will also have like 500 bosses, and that is if they don't hire another assistant GM this week. I could see candidates feeling like there are too many cooks in the kitchen for their liking and understandably so. Who wants to take a job when from day 1 you don't feel like you ever have full control or even close to it?
Then there is the David Morehouse factor, just how invasive has he been on this process?
While the process has dragged the Penguins brand through the mud the only thing that actually matters is the end result. If the Penguins make a good coaching hire it will be easy to forget how everything went down during the search. If they don't make a good hire it will have the same impact if the search went smoothly.
Lastly, if the Penguins were reluctant to hand out longer term coaching contracts to their candidates because they want to chase the Mike Babcock ghost, shame on them. You can't make major organizational decisions hoping that somebody becomes available one day.
Regardless of the Penguins choice of coach they now have an insurmountable amount of bad PR to overcome. My how the mighty have fallen.
Thoughts from around the twitterverse don't paint the Penguins in a bright light:
Not sure I’m on board with the Pittsburgh Penguins plan to just go coachless until Mike Babcock is available.
— The Royal Half (@theroyalhalf) June 20, 2014
Last team standing without a coach: Likely Pittsburgh. Last coach standing without a team: Likely Dan Bylsma.
Hmmmm.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) June 20, 2014
Willie Desjardins choosing to coach the Canucks over the Penguins is stunning. Maybe Sidney Crosby can be their player-coach next year.
— Adam Proteau (@Proteautype) June 20, 2014
GMJR said the coaching search was coming to an end and that he had his guy. Then he publicly admitted he didn't get the guy he wanted...
— Adam Gretz (@AGretz) June 20, 2014
... if he's here to "groom" Botterill for the job, hopefully Botterfill isn't paying attention.
— Adam Gretz (@AGretz) June 20, 2014
watch Tom Fitzgerald become an "interim" coach this upcoming season during BabcockWatch. Then Babock goes to Buffalo or something
— Adam (@TPBadam) June 20, 2014
It feels like the Penguins are being run by a focus group right now.
— Ryan Hamner (@Ham0nRy) June 20, 2014
Thanks for reading!
Follow me on twitter Follow @GunnerStaal