Penguins Update: More Random Thoughts About Mike Sullivan
Hey all. Still trying to wrap my brain around today’s news concerning Mike Sullivan.
To digress, anyone who’s read PenguinPoop for any length of time knows I haven’t always been Sullivan’s staunchest supporter. I think my dissatisfaction with our former coach reached its peak during the Covid playoffs of 2020, when a small ‘n’ speedy Penguins team built to his specifications got muscled aside with ridiculous ease in the Qualifying Round by the 24th-seed Canadiens.
Still, I can’t help but feel for the two-time Cup winning coach.
While it’s tempting to blame the team’s slow, inexorable slide since those back-to-back Cups on Sully, IMHO that would be a gross miscarriage of justice.
Beginning with the Derick Brassard deal back in 2018, faulty or flawed roster construction contributed to the black-and-gold failures. Particularly during the latter stages of the Jim Rutherford era and again the past couple of seasons.
The two postseasons we had the best shot of advancing? We were largely undone by goaltending issues. First in the form of an ultra-shaky Tristan Jarry against the Isles in ’21.