Some potential drama to pass along among the Penguins coach and two key players. Pascal Dupuis was captured stirring the pot on French-Canadian television talking about Mike Sullivan, Evgeni Malkin, and Phil Kessel.
Speaking Tuesday, Dupuis said of Sullivan, Malkin and Kessel: “I’m not sure the message passes well between both players and the man behind the bench.”
There have certainly been rumors about Mike Sullivan and Phil Kessel. They ramped up this past summer with trade rumors that surrounded Kessel. I’ll say now what I said then. If true, then Mike Sullivan needs to make it right and it should be a top priority. At the professional level the best coaches will devise a game plan that gets the most out of their players, especially the best ones. Coaches are replaceable. Evgeni Malkin’s and Phil Kessel’s are not.
A lot is made about the cold stretch Malkin is going through, but if anybody cared to look up Crosby and Malkin’s most common defense linemates you’ll see an obvious difference. One gets Kris Letang and the other gets Jack Johnson. I find it hard to believe something like that would go unnoticed by Malkin (and Kessel).
Back to the Kessel stuff. The things that Sullivan probably gets upset at Kessel for aren’t nearly as important as the things Cullen does well. The ‘play the right way” mantra rings hollow when you don’t hold all players accountable. Players aren’t stupid. They can see special treatment if it exists. Also, “play the right way” usually means over commit to defense at the expense of pushing the play offensively. Not exactly playing to the strengths of this particular roster. That does leave some room for criticism of the general manager for providing this roster. Although, one would think the general manager and coach should be on the same page.
Let’s be honest about Mike Sullivan. He was the right guy at the right time when he replaced Mike Johnston. It was a breath of fresh air because of how bad Johnston had mangled things. Anything competent was going to be palatable to the players just like it was when the team went from Michael Therrien to Dan Bylsma. Creating HBK and allowing the players to play to their strengths were great things. Also being fortunate that certain players played above their heads compared to their career samples didn’t hurt either. If you give the credit to Sullivan for getting those players to elevate their game then you need to ask why couldn’t he do it the following years. Personally, I think there is an element of random luck that was combined with some of his other good choices.
Since catching lightning in a bottle in 2015-16 I don’t think Sullivan has done any more than an average job. Some choose to ignore the PDO of the 2017 championship, but I’m not going to. The second championship has formed a Teflon bubble around Mike Sullivan. Most criticisms are met with “you think you know more than a two-time Stanley Cup winning coach?”. These people can be found daily worshipping at the alter of the Appeal to Authority Church on Twitter. The “resilient” Penguins were built on a 46.15 CF%, 48.29 xGF%, and a playoff leading 101.25 PDO in 2017. They got crushed by Washington and saved by Marc-Andre Fleury. They came one shot away from losing to a bad Senators team in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Here’s something to remember about coaches. Scotty Bowman isn’t Scotty Bowman if he doesn’t coach the 1970’s Montreal Canadiens and 1990’s Detroit Red Wings. This isn’t meant to tear down Mr. Bowman, but to point out that Hall of Fame players are the common denominator in both stops. His short stop in Pittsburgh also fit this mold. The point is that players, not coaches, drive the bus. Mike Sullivan isn’t Mike Sullivan without Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Sidney Crosby, and Kris Letang. They are cheat codes for any coach (and GM).
If there is any truth to what Pascal Dupuis has said then these issues need to be resolved immediately. The only thing propping up the Sullivan Penguins this year are the better players. It might not be a great idea to drive a wedge between two of the more important ones.
Mike Sullivan responded to Dupuis’ comments
“All I can tell you is my relationship with Geno and Phil has been the same since I’ve been here,” Sullivan said. “We all go through ups and downs and challenges throughout the course of a season. I think that’s part of coaching. That’s part of being part of a team. And so that’s just part of the process. No one has more respect for those guys than me. I believe there’s a mutual respect that exists amongst us. So that’s just part of the process and us working through challenges. On his part I thought it was a pretty irresponsible comment.”
Thanks for reading!
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»