Pens fire Olczyk and staff

[MadDevil]

Penguins fire Olczyk, call on Therrien

TSN.ca Staff
12/15/2005 12:10:57 AM

In the wake of last night's 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues, the Pittsburgh Penguins have fired head coach Ed Olczyk and his assistants, Joe Mullen and Randy Hillier.

Michel Therrien, who had been coaching the Penguins AHL farm team in Wilkes-Barre, will take over the coaching duties. Sources told TSN that Therrien's entire staff at Wilkes-Barre will join the big club.

An official announcement is expected on Thursday, and Therrien will lead the team's practice.

Owner Mario Lemieux and General Manager Craig Patrick have been intensely loyal to Olczyk and firing the coach is not something they wanted to do, but the pressure mounted and they had to do something to get the Penguin team pointed in the right direction. The Penguins have a home-and-home with the Buffalo Sabres on Friday and Saturday.

Expectations for this team soared in the off-season when Pittsburgh won the Sidney Crosby lottery and then signed a bevy of free agents, pushing the payroll far beyond what anyone anticipated the Penguins would do. But they haven?t been getting the results on the ice - Pittsburgh ownership budgeted to make the playoffs this season -- and something had to give.


Link (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=146965&hubname)

Can't say as this surprises me much, although I think management has nobody to blame but themselves for the moves they made this offseason.

[Canadian26]

It is early enough in the season that they might be able to turn it around. But mangment couldnt have realistically hoped to get into the playoffs over night. They have talented players on they're team, maybe with the new staff they can get something going with them. Its not just the coaching staff thats the issue...

[Mel]

A bunch of high-profile veterans imported during the offseason + high expectations = pressure and scrutiny that can potentially consume and destroy the team.

Don't we know it here in New York.

[bluemeanie]

I think a new coach is exactly what these guys need to turn it around. Like Can26 said, it's not too late. Olczyk was getting too soft knowing that this was in the cards for him... I think he was just grateful that Mario let him stick around this long.

[Yoata]

I think a different coach can make a big difference, especially one that puts emphasis on defense, although I don't think it will be enough to overcome their lack of defensive players

[wildboy26]

Actually I remember how many shots Montreal gave up, and also how few shots they were able to take, when Therrian was their coach compared to when Claude Julien became their coach. The only reason Montreal made the playoffs that year was Theodore plays lights out, miles ahead of anything he has done since, despite still being one of the elite goalies in the game. I dont think this move will help them one bit.

[charlio lemieux]

A new coach, with a promise of more changes to come, if things don't improve.
So who wants Lemieux?;)
In all reality there are only three untouchables on the Pens, Lemieux, Crosby and Fleury. Lemieux only because he's an owner, I'm sure there would be some kind of "conflict of interest" if he played for another team. With assets like LeClair, Palffy, Recchi, Gonchar, Malone and Tarnstrom, you would think they could rebuild rather quickly. However in the New NHL with the cap system the returns for top level tallent are proving to be less than desirable. If they can't win with the players they have, they won't get much, if any, better through trades, unless they are the team eating the salary. Since they are already complaining about losing money, I don't see them increasing payroll by very much. Hopefully Michel Therrien can teach these guys to win. Otherwise dismantle the team for role players and prospects, and go for another high draft pick to go with Fleury, Crosby and Malkin.

[Iced Tea]

Michel Therrien, who had been coaching the Penguins AHL farm team in Wilkes-Barre, will take over the coaching duties. Sources told TSN that Therrien's entire staff at Wilkes-Barre will join the big club.So what happens to Wilkes-Barre? Do they bring up the entire staff from the ECHL affiliate, Wheeling Nailers, does Olczyk coach the farm team or do the Pens hire another former player with no experience to ruin the farm team?

I can see why the Pens would bring up Therrien and his entire staff. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins is number one in the AHL with 25 games played, a record of 21 wins, 1 loss, 2 overtime losses, 1 shootout loss for 45 points and a 0.900 winning percentage. Really sweet numbers.

I wonder though what will happen to the AHL Penguins now that the entire coaching staff is gone.

[Mel]

From Mullett's Corner...

Olcyk not to blame

There is no worse job in the world than being the coach of a losing team. No matter what you do, it's the coach's fault. That's all people see.

After the Pittsburgh Penguins' lowly start, something had to be done. And in those situations, you either make a trade or you fire the coach. In this case, Ed Olczyk was the choice -- the easier choice given that it's easier to get rid of one person instead of five.

With a player like Sidney Crosby, the Penguins should be winning more games.
But make no mistake about it -- the players cost Olczyk his job. The players have the most responsibility, the players are the ones out there playing. The team can sit around Thursday, talking about how tough it is that the Penguins let Eddie go, but the players are the ones that got him fired. They got him fired because they didn't play well.

The team started out the season with so much hope. Sidney Crosby came to town, ticket sales were up, attendance was up. The Penguins looked like a potential playoff team. But all Pittsburgh has done, especially considering its lineup of Crosby, Mario Lemieux, Sergei Gonchar, Zigmund Palffy, John LeClair and Dick Tarnstrom, is underachieve.

This team should be winning.

Lemieux hand-picked Eddie for the coaching job, but maybe it was inexperience that hurt Olczyk. I was a much better coach in my fifth season than I was in my first. You can't really have on-the-job training in the NHL. And when you lose, it's impossible not to take it home with you. Maybe Eddie will be an assistant somewhere, where he can gain more experience before taking on another head coaching position.

For now, the Penguins turn to Michel Therrien. It's a natural progression. Therrien knows the organization, he has been an NHL coach before and the move makes the most sense for Pittsburgh.

But Therrien has a tough task ahead of him. On paper, the Penguins are still a good hockey club. But they have to start playing with fire and -- I know it's a cliché -- they have to take it one game at a time. The team has to buy into Therrien's disciplined system, but this won't happen overnight.

After those disastrous losses to Minnesota and St. Louis, the Penguins can only go up from here.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=melrose_barry&id=2259983

[Yoata]

There is no worse job in the world than being the coach of a losing team.

Hmm, that's funny, I could hardly think of a better job, winning or losing, what a stupid opening line, do these guys even think before they type this sh!t?

[TimmyTabasco]

Oh well. The pens are the pens

Therrien is a tough coach, and expects alot from his players. He was decent with the Habs, and should be a good relief coach for the Pens

However, I don't think it will change the picture all too much

[THE HACK]

Too bad for Eddie O but I think Craig Patrick should look in the mirror because he's done a lousy job as gm.Fleury playing in the minors just so the Pens can save some cash shows what a crappy organization the Pens have and to put all the blame on the coach and make him a scapegoat is wrong.And to think this is the team that got Sidney Crosby makes me want to puke!

Cheers

[KB in Kelowna]

Too bad for Eddie O but I think Craig Patrick should look in the mirror because he's done a lousy job as gm.Fleury playing in the minors just so the Pens can save some cash shows what a crappy organization the Pens have and to put all the blame on the coach and make him a scapegoat is wrong.And to think this is the team that got Sidney Crosby makes me want to puke!

Cheers

There are a few GM's and Owners who should look in the mirror. Eddie O never should have been put in this position in the first place. He should have had more support on the ice and on the bench. The Pens are being outplayed and out scored, part of the blame is his, part is Patrick's and a large chunk is Mario's.

[THE HACK]

Eddie O never should have been put in this position in the first place.

Eddie's lack of coaching expierience defintely hurt him and Mark Osbourne(Eddie's former linemate) was saying the same thing last night on "The Score".The team needed defensive help badly so what does Patrick do,he goes out and spends $5 mil a year on Gonchar when he could have gotten Adam Foote.Patrick should be reminded his team plays in the defensive minded Eastern Conference and not the West.

Cheers

[KB in Kelowna]

Hiring guys without coaching expereince is risky. It didn't work for the Av's with Granato and they replaced him with Quenville and demoted Granato to an Assistant coach. Gretzky was at least smart enough the Barry Smith who had apprenticed with Scotty Bowman as his associate coach this year. The Pens didn't or couldn't give Eddie that type of back up resource. So that is why I blame Patrick and Mario.

[Yoata]

Hiring guys without coaching experience allows certain high-profile player/owners to run every aspect of the team without being too obvious about it.

[charlio lemieux]

How are you supposed to call out the owner of the franchise. As a coach you just can't do it. The only way this franchise will ever win this year is if Mario removes himself from either ownership or the team, or Mario does the coaching himself. Therien has inheritted a headache that won't go away until Mario does. I label thee Coach Killer:D

[Newfie John]

I think the reason Olczyk is gone is because of his mentality. When he first came into the job he knew his team sucked. The attitude is, "They're better then us, but lets try and win anyway". I think the mistake he made is keeping with that same mentality, with a team that could make the playoffs.

[Iced Tea]

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins announced on their website that Rick Kehoe and Joe Mullen will serve as interim coaches for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, taking over for Michel Therrien and Mike Yeo, it was announced today by Chief Executive Officer Jeff Barrett.Link (http://www.wbspenguins.com/News/121505_Coach2.asp)

That answers my question. I hope the AHL team can continue winning.