[News] Mike Johnston expected to be named Penguins Head Coach

[sureLoss]

Bob McKenzie @TSNBobMcKenzie
PIT and Portland GM-coach Mike Johnston are finalizing a deal that will make him Pens' next head coach. Not quite done yet but expected.

[saXon]

After having 2 interviewees decline the Pens' offer and opting to go to Carolina and Vancouver, you have to wonder if this franchise is entering some dark years ahead.

[Point Blank]

Originally Posted by saXon

After having 2 interviewees decline the Pens' offer and opting to go to Carolina and Vancouver, you have to wonder if this franchise is entering some dark years ahead.

As long as they have generational talents in Crosby and Malkin, they may still not live up to expectations, but it definitely won't be darker than Vancouver or Oilers.

[saXon]

Originally Posted by Point Blank

As long as they have generational talents in Crosby and Malkin, they may still not live up to expectations, but it definitely won't be darker than Vancouver or Oilers.

Obviously no comparison to the Oilers or Van, but darker than their fans have been used to since '04. They've had a stellar run over the last few years. They've been the golden franchise that everyone loved, talked about, and wanted to work for. 2 preferred guys on their list stiffing them for franchises such as Van and Carolina is a pretty big blow to their ego.

Stephen Brunt had a very insightful interview on the Fan960 this morning regarding the Pens. Hopefully it's up later.

[sureLoss]

Darren Dreger @DarrenDreger
I'm hearing Mike Johnston has agreed to a 3 year contract to coach the Pens. #TSN

[Point Blank]

Originally Posted by saXon

Obviously no comparison to the Oilers or Van, but darker than their fans have been used to since '04. They've had a stellar run over the last few years. They've been the golden franchise that everyone loved, talked about, and wanted to work for. 2 preferred guys on their list stiffing them for franchises such as Van and Carolina is a pretty big blow to their ego.

Stephen Brunt had a very insightful interview on the Fan960 this morning regarding the Pens. Hopefully it's up later.

Agreed, and honestly I hope it happens. They've always somehow managed to land all the generational talents right when their bandwagon of a fanbase was about to give up on the team. Too many breaks to call it "luck". Pens is like the Oilers, only thing is Oilers wasn't lucky enough to land 1st overalls when generational talent was on the table.

I know I sound jaded but I'll be happy to see the Pens in perennial mediocrity despite having the two current best players in the world.

[bubbsy]

ya i think the pens may have a bit of a lull (moreso than they have been in for the past few years). Is rutherford a proven GM? Getting a WHL coach to coach a team that isn't "young" and learning, but a team that has conference/stanley cup final or bust expectations year in and year out?

jokinen/niskanen going to test the UFA market...

could get ugly.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by saXon

Obviously no comparison to the Oilers or Van, but darker than their fans have been used to since '04. They've had a stellar run over the last few years. They've been the golden franchise that everyone loved, talked about, and wanted to work for. 2 preferred guys on their list stiffing them for franchises such as Van and Carolina is a pretty big blow to their ego.

Stephen Brunt had a very insightful interview on the Fan960 this morning regarding the Pens. Hopefully it's up later.

For those of us stuck in cubes, what did Brunt say?

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by saXon

After having 2 interviewees decline the Pens' offer and opting to go to Carolina and Vancouver, you have to wonder if this franchise is entering some dark years ahead.

If Mike Johnson can do at the very least an average job managing his team in the playoffs it will be an improvement over Blysma.

[saXon]

Originally Posted by habernac

For those of us stuck in cubes, what did Brunt say?

-Talked about how the Pens may have overplayed their hand in a few key moves of firing Shero before firing Bylsma, stringing Bylsma along until after Rutherford was hired, and then firing Bylsma. How things went down could potentially scare other coaches away.

-Questioned whether Rutherford was up to the task of managing the Pens franchise and their specific needs in a short amount of time. Aka, their deadlines and his remaining tenure in the NHL before he retires.

-Mentioned how most would think any coach would love to have 2 of the best players in the world on their roster in Crosby and Malkin, yet could be a reason why coaches are shying away as high caliber players have a history of dictating who coaches them. Usually the superstar player wins in a Coach/Player dispute.

-Also mentioned that the deadlines and timelines of what the pens are looking to achieve could be too daunting of a task, and the interviewees opted to take the other positions as they have room to adjust to the game and the new team. Pens expect a win now situation.

That's about all I can remember. Not exactly word for word, but pretty much the key points.

[Erick Estrada]

^^^
Yep that's pretty well it for the most part. I believe he also mentioned that they were not willing to overly commit long term to any coach due to Rutherford's limited tenure which was a major stumbling block. Mario should be embarrassed for letting things play out like this.

[OzSome]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

ya i think the pens may have a bit of a lull (moreso than they have been in for the past few years). Is rutherford a proven GM? Getting a WHL coach to coach a team that isn't "young" and learning, but a team that has conference/stanley cup final or bust expectations year in and year out?

jokinen/niskanen going to test the UFA market...

could get ugly.

Rutherford had success hiring young head coaches in the past. Paul Maurice and Peter Lavoiette. Penguins' last 3 HC was pretty much rookie coaches as well with Ed Olczyk, Michel Therrien(coaches in Montreal) and Dan Blysma. Maybe they are thinking they will have success with Mike Johnston as well. The guy was pretty good coach for Portland for last few seasons.

[19Yzerman19]

So they get their 2nd choice GM and their 3rd choice coach. This should go well.

[Machiavelli]

nm

[Enoch Root]

big jump from junior to the NHL (never mind having a couple superstars to manage)

[Komskies]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

big jump from junior to the NHL (never mind having a couple superstars to manage)

He's already used to coaching superstars, like Sven Baertschi for example.

[bubbsy]

can't tell if you're being sarcastic

[Komskies]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

can't tell if you're being sarcastic

It was tongue-in-cheek, but one can dream...

[chummer]

When I think of mike Johnston I think of the stunned look on his face when Marty Gelinas scored the OT goal in 04.

[Red John]

Strange things happening in Pittsburgh. They can Shero and purposely let Bylsma flap in the wind. Then offer the job to Pierre McGuire who turns them down because they only offered a short contract. Then turn around and offer it to retread Jim Rutherford, who offers the coaching job to Willie Desjardins who turns down the offer to coach Crosby because they only offered a 2 year deal. But then turn around and offer a 3-year deal to Mike Johnston.

Johnston's teams don't play defense. It's going to be interesting watching them try and gun their way to a Cup...with Marc-Andre Fleury hung out to dry.

Don't feel sorry for their spoiled fanbase one bit to see this franchise finally going through years of dysfunctional management...but can't understand why a smart guy like Mario Lemieux would let this happen under his watch.