Crosby Owner Therapy Thread

[pmorrow]

So...who else is pretty disgruntled by his start? Or his second half of last year?

What should we read into it? Obviously he isn't as bad as his start indicates, but....what does the future hold?

All thoughts welcome.

[gooding74]

The Penguins' power play is currently 27th in the NHL. Yes, that power play. Watching some of their game against the Blue Jackets tonight, the Pens' power play didn't look like it had it. And at 0 for 6, it clearly didn't.

I'm not saying give up on Crosby, but I sort of did. I exchanged him for Tyler Seguin in the Dobber pool, because I think Seguin will outscore him ROY.

[rataylor22]

Simple. Expect a lot of this until Mike Johnston is gone. And then after that expect Sid to be Sid. It really is that simple.

[Dano85]

Read somewhere on twitter hes registered 0 points in over 43% of his games under Johnston...Which is obviously not good...

at 10-6 why would they fire the coach though? cause his system doesnt translate well to fantasy hockey? (note I really dont like him and would actually like to see him fired, Bourdreau too)

[P-Giddy]

Yeah, I think Johnston may be the problem. With Sid, Malkin, and Kessel, the Pens' lack of offense is unacceptable.

[Axeman33]

Their powerplay was a weakness for them last year, and continues to be a sore spot this year; something has to give. You bring in more offense in Phil Kessel and it's still stinking up the joint.

I don't have much faith in Jim Rutherford making smart choices so I expect the woes to carry on for a bit yet.

[Front89]

This is not really a new trend...Crosby certainly was much more consistently productive prior to the last few years, but it is not like this season he suddenly became less productive. Last season he went through bad stretches as well and has not done much in the playoffs for several years.

I think it is a mixture of:

The new coach/scheme
The new GM who has made some poor trades for win-now purposes
Bigger focus on and need for defensive responsibilities
Mediocre defensive transition game due to lack of talent and injuries (Letang, Maata)
Crosby's inability to consistently click with line mates of any caliber (Kessel being latest example)
Over-passing on the PP
Crosby's own injury history that has made him skittish about doing the dirty work and made him play more of a perimeter game

Once the Pens are sold/Mario is out, the new owners will likely clean house and proceed down a different strategic path to building a team. Whether or not that comes soon enough for the core of Crosby/Malkin/Letang/Fleury to still be the productive foundation for such a new team is unknown, but there is a chance.

[mooseknuckles]

I just made a preliminary offer too another manager in my lease to get Benn, Eichel + for Crosby ++. Maybe I'm crazy but I thing it may be time to move on... Not saying he's no longer fantasy relevant because he always will be. I just don't see the coaching style changing anytime soon which is ludicrous with the amount of firepower on the team... Between Crosby, malkin and Kessel they have a potential for 120-150 goals and they're pissing it away with the coaching style. They weren't exactly big on defence when they won the cup. They were run and gun.. The other team had to try and keep up but they don't appear to realize that now!

[Front89]

But, to be fair, the league has changed since then. Run and gun no longer works long term IMO. Dallas may prove this wrong this season, but the vast majority of the elite teams are very sound in the net, on defense and on special teams (especially the PK) with just enough offense spread throughout their four lines to compete. Those teams also manage the cap smartly, have good prospects coming up regularly and do not overspend on FA or trades too many times.

Pens have been somewhat schizophrenic in their response to those changes; they have mega $$ spent on the F, a very good G, but a mediocre D, a weak farm system and are pretty much salary capped out. If the F and G carry them, it could work and usually does enough to make the playoffs, but their D and weak depth usually kills them off eventually.

[ShawneePanthers]

I don't expect the coach to be fired anytime soon. The penguins are smack dab in the middle of the eastern conference and they are showing that they can win 1 goal games which is an important attribute for a team to have to go far in the playoffs.

[rataylor22]

Read somewhere on twitter hes registered 0 points in over 43% of his games under Johnston...Which is obviously not good...

at 10-6 why would they fire the coach though? cause his system doesnt translate well to fantasy hockey? (note I really dont like him and would actually like to see him fired, Bourdreau too)

Because they're playing terrible and only winning because of Fleury playing similar to Price's Vezina form last season. Any regression from Fleury and they are going to start losing a lot. Look what happened to them against Calgary when Fleury wasn't on top of his game.

[Dennis4022]

Simple. Expect a lot of this until Mike Johnston is gone. And then after that expect Sid to be Sid. It really is that simple.

I agree, Crosby doesn't like to play for Johnston, there were rumors about that last season already and Crosby said in an interview that he is sad that Bylsma had to leave.

[Dennis4022]

at 10-6 why would they fire the coach though?

You could just have a sex doll on the bench, it would probably have the same record. Johnston is a junior coach, he was just the only one last summer, who wanted the job. He was like the 4th or 5th guy who they offered the job. That alone should say it all.

I know it is weird to fire a coach who is winning games, but let's be honest, the Penguins don't want to be a bubble team that has to fight 82 games to even make the play-offs.

Today Johnston gives another reason to be fired. He splitted up Crosby and Malkin again on the power play. What a joke!

[sLeePickeR]

Watching most of the games this season, it's obvious from Crosby's body language that he is beyond frustrated. He is definately not enjoying the system or the coach. The offense looks out of sync and the defense is terrible. There has been so many games that if Fleury did not make acrobatic saves they would have lost. There is a sense unlike previous years that if they fall behind in the score they will not be able to mount a comeback. That is what I'm getting from watching the games.

[ShawneePanthers]

I don't know - all this is speculation about how crosby feels based on the way he's playing or looking on the ice. Pittsburgh is not having an awful year and at the end of the day it's often a numbers game - more important than Crosby's numbers are Pittsburgh's numbers