[Jemison] J’ai demandé à Blake Lizotte comment Dan Muse l’avait aidé cette saison. Il a donné une réponse assez intéressante :
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bi_and_busy
@Penguins de Pittsburgh
[Jemison] J’ai demandé à Blake Lizotte comment Dan Muse l’avait aidé cette saison. Il a donné une réponse assez intéressante :
—
bi_and_busy
22 Comments
We sure have been learning a lot about sully this season
I’m not sure why people are surprised about a lot of the news that came out, I know he’s his own man and has his own system but Sully worked under Torts, if you don’t think he picked up some things from him idk what to tell ya. Super happy with the fresh voice in the room getting career years out of so many guys, it’s nice to enjoy watching this team.
None of the players have had any issue throwing shade at Mike. Of the players that have thrown shade, none of them were a part of the back to back cup teams.
Blake Lizotte is the lynchpin of this entire team. So glad they re-signed him.
Oof…the « huge difference between this year and last year » maybe didn’t need to be added, but seems to have been added with intention.
Lizotte has been rockstar this entire season no doubt. Easily one of the best pieces of this team and I’m so glad we locked him up.
I think the more interesting thing about all these pointed comments towards Sullivan is that they have been pretty freely given.
None of them were because a reporter was probing or trying to get an inflammatory quote. Just pretty standard “how are things with the new coach?” or “what do you attribute your improved play to?” questions with the players choosing to give more direct answers.
It’ll be interesting to see how Sully is involved on Saturday for the 10th year cup anniversary.
He can say whatever he wants about Sully, the coach gave us back to back cups. At the end of his Penguins coaching era, he seemed to have lost the magic but we can’t forget 16/17
We’ve only had him for like 5 months but I’d fucking die for Muse. He’s got the boys ready to run through a brick wall for him.
cough sully cough
I think there will always be a rift between Penguins fans as to what the changes were from last year to this year. I am definitely in the camp that getting rid of Sullivan, as great as he was for many years, was the catalyst needed, and that Muse has stepped up in the right way.
The thing is, other fans will keep pointing to our roster changes, and there’s no doubt Dubas made some great moves the past two years, and guys like Kindel and Chinakhov are killing it(I would add Wotherspoon is making huge plays too).
This will be the chicken or the egg year, but the thing is, if we make a deep run, it will never matter. I think the whole Pens organization wants Sid AND Geno in the playoffs. Obviously Sid has shown he deserves it, but now Geno is showing he could play deep into the playoffs and give us great hockey. I hope this team keeps doing what they’re doing. Best year of Penguins Hockey in a long time.
Man, it sounds like Sully created a real pressure-cooker environment. Nearly to a player, there has been a similar sentiment of being freed from a weight bearing down on you at all times.
Yikes express, man. It was way too long. But, at least we got our guy. I think Muse seems to be playing all the right notes.
It’s cyclical, right?
Therrien took over after Olczyk and Kehoe. Neither of those coaches seemd to have structure on or off the ice. He really tightened the discipline and instilled great habits… but that got old.
Bylsma took over and let the players play. GREAT initial results… Sorta let things go, and then they went to Johnston who just seemed completely out of his depth.
Sullivan came it… More structure, alpha personality, good systems that fit the roster… But that got old and lost it’s effect.
Muse is more trusting of players, seems to have a good gameplan and works well with the roster. At some point (hopefully many years) down the road, that won’t be the case, and they’ll probably turn back to a tougher coach.
I was going to just built off of the comment of u/jawnquixote, but thought it would be better suited for a main comment. Their thought was the catalyst though, so credit where credit is due.
I think a lot of comments by the players could say more about Muse that in talking trash about Sully.
There are a lot of coaches in the league who push their system and restrict what the players are best at. The coaching philosophy for a lot of guys, not just Sully, push that mistake free hockey mantra. Comments from other fans about coaches like Tocchet, Berube, Hiller, Cronin, or Evason point to this exact tendency. Players who don’t want to make mistakes play scared, more passive, or slower as a consequence.
Most of the comments by the players have been about how unrestrictive Muse has been, and how letting guys play like they are comfortable has made them better. Muse being unique here is the better takeaway. This mentality is unique in a lot of ways.
Obviously the parallels aren’t exact, but this mindset reminds me of some of the things I have read about Mitch Korn and Dominik Hasek. A lot of goalie coaches look at what is working for other goalies and try to instill that into their guy. What set Korn apart is he let Hasek play like Hasek and just helped Hasek tweak his unorthodox style as opposed to forcing him to play like Roy or Brodeur. It seems like this is what Muse is doing, just finding how the guy plays and tweaking things a bit to fit it with the rest of the team.
Point being, I think these quotes say more about Muse and his mindset then just bashing on Sullivan.
I definitely think there’s something to that. The team definitely feels more loose, and can make a mistake without sitting for a few games. We’ve seen a lot of improvement with our depth players because of that. Our D has looked worlds better because of “letting them play” to a degree. EK has generally been fantastic, not to mention Wotherspoon and Shea, two guys that were in and out of the lineup for their respective teams in recent years, have thrived given a fuller responsibility and the knowledge that one or two mistakes won’t doom them to the press box.
Remember Wotherspoon’s delay of game penalty that cost us the Ducks game? Fairly certain under Sullivan he would have benched him for a game or two.
Muse has definitely shown some growing pains so far, and it’s maddening that it really seems he hasn’t “earned” some calls from the refs, but overall he’s shown a breath of fresh air, and some good signs that he can be a very good coach at this level
I think that’s part of how teams ossify under coaches who have been there too long. The coaches fall in love with guys who are not very good but always go to the right spots.
Meanwhile, the players who have better hands, better hockey sense, and more ability who make one mistake sit for 3 games or go back down to the AHL.
You wind up with a bottom six of « system guys » who can’t actually contribute to the team to save their lives, but always stand in the right place on the ice.
Shots fired at Sully. And deservedly so.
I 💛 Lizzo forever
Bang. Pretty sure that echo is being heard in New York.
Whatever else Muse has done, he’s taken 3 kinda « meh » players overall and let them play to create one of the best 4th lines in the league
1) FUrh
2) We NEVER would’ve had a « kid » line, much less see them taking shots in the S/O
3) FUrh
4) Letang was the most overt about the change in coaching, however, EK65, and RG27 have both said similar, albeit not quite as harsh as KL58
5) FUrh
6) As an aside, sure is interesting how the Pens, who, two years ago, had few prospects and even fewer draft picks (FUrh) now have a loaded or at least serviceable cupboard, draft picks AND cap space. Unlike GMKD previous employer who (obviously) handcuffed him in a lot of ways.