Pittsburgh Penguins Fire Coaching Staff

[MrPsychic 1]

Penguins to fire Olczyk

Therrien is expected to take reins today after his successful stint at Wilkes-Barre; fate of current assistants is unknown

 

Thursday, December 15, 2005

By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

 

The Penguins are expected to fire Eddie Olczyk as coach today and replace him with Michel Therrien, coach of their American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre.

 

The Penguins have been one of the major disappointments in the NHL this season, and have lost eight of their past nine games to slip to 8-17-6.

 

The Baby Penguins, on the other hand, have been the top team in the AHL, compiling a record of 21-1-2-1.

 

Team officials declined to comment on the coaching situation last night, and Olczyk could not be reached for comment. It is not known if Olczyk is aware of the impending change; early last evening, he still was planning for practice today.

 

The fates of assistant coaches Randy Hillier and Joe Mullen are not certain, although it is believed that they will be fired, too.

 

The Penguins had been expected to make a major change -- either with personnel or the coach -- in the wake of a 3-0 loss in St. Louis Tuesday. Their next game is tomorrow, when Buffalo visits Mellon Arena at 7:08 p.m.

 

This will be Therrien's second stint behind an NHL bench. He replaced Alain Vigneault in Montreal during the 2000-01 season, and was replaced by Claude Julien in 2002-03.

 

Therrien, 42, will represent a major change in style from Olczyk, who has been one of hockey's most player-friendly coaches.

 

Therrien is an in-your-face coach and has shown a willingness to criticize his players publicly, something Olczyk almost never did. While in Wilkes-Barre, Therrien has demanded a strict adherence to the team's system; whether he'll give more latitude to some of the Penguins' skilled forwards remains to be seen.

 

Olczyk leaves the Penguins with a record of 31-68-14 in nearly 1 1/2 seasons behind the bench.

 

Well, I expected them to fire Olczyk, but not the whole head coaching staff and pull up their AHL coach. It'll be interesting to see how that works out. The WBS Penguins are the best in the AHL, lasting 2 months before losing in regulation.

[Jack_Bauer 1]

Well, I suppose this was inevitable, but it is a minor issue in the problems currently facing the Penguins. They are predicting a loss of $7 million provided they sell out most home games and make it to the second round of the playoffs. That is looking mighty unlikely.

 

Prediction: The Penguins are in Winnepeg within the next three years. At least it better be Winnepeg, maybe Quebec City. No Vegas, no Portland, no Houston, and ABSOLUTELY NO KANSAS CITY!

 

The thing that really bothers me is that we lost a season to prevent things like this and they are still happening. Gary Bettman needs to wake up and realize that the NHL is going to have to sacrifice a few teams (or move them to stronger markets (not picking on Pittsburgh it is a hockey town but the Penguins are not well treated by their state. They were supposed to have a new arena by 03, didn't happen. But every other team in Pennsylvania has gotten a new building in the interim) to make this league healthier.

[Takara_Soong 4]

That's too bad. Eddie Olczyk is a classy individual. When he was a player in Winnipeg he was very well liked and respected by the fans. I wish him well in future endeavours.

[Krissy Phaserman 0]

Well, I suppose this was inevitable, but it is a minor issue in the problems currently facing the Penguins. They are predicting a loss of $7 million provided they sell out most home games and make it to the second round of the playoffs. That is looking mighty unlikely.

 

Prediction: The Penguins are in Winnepeg within the next three years. At least it better be Winnepeg, maybe Quebec City. No Vegas, no Portland, no Houston, and ABSOLUTELY NO KANSAS CITY!

 

The thing that really bothers me is that we lost a season to prevent things like this and they are still happening. Gary Bettman needs to wake up and realize that the NHL is going to have to sacrifice a few teams (or move them to stronger markets (not picking on Pittsburgh it is a hockey town but the Penguins are not well treated by their state. They were supposed to have a new arena by 03, didn't happen. But every other team in Pennsylvania has gotten a new building in the interim) to make this league healthier.

 

 

Are you just refering to Hockey, Jack? Or also to other sports? I know that in recent years, the Steelers moved out of 3 Rivers Stadium and into Hienz Field, and the Iggles left Veterans Stadium for Lincoln Financial Field.

[Takara_Soong 4]

Are you just refering to Hockey, Jack? Or also to other sports? I know that in recent years, the Steelers moved out of 3 Rivers Stadium and into Hienz Field, and the Iggles left Veterans Stadium for Lincoln Financial Field.

I believe he is referring to all professional sports. Besides those on your list, Krissy, the Pirates' new park opened in 2001, the Phillies' new park opened in 2004 and the Flyers and 76ers building is about 10 years old. Meanwhile, the Penguins play in the Mellon Arena which was built in 1961 and was last renovated in 1993.

Edited December 15, 2005 by Takara_Soong

[Jim Phaserman 0]

There is nothing wrong with "old" Sports Centers, if they have some history to them. Lambeau Field, for example, was built over 40 years ago, and is still a great place to watch a football game, or even to play one. And they didn't make the mistake Chicago did when the Bears had Soldier Field renovated. If there is no history to the place, though, then be gone with it.

[Jack_Bauer 1]

Are you just refering to Hockey, Jack? Or also to other sports? I know that in recent years, the Steelers moved out of 3 Rivers Stadium and into Hienz Field, and the Iggles left Veterans Stadium for Lincoln Financial Field.

I believe he is referring to all professional sports. Besides those on your list, Krissy, the Pirates' new park opened in 2001, the Phillies' new park opened in 2004 and the Flyers and 76ers building is about 10 years old. Meanwhile, the Penguins play in the Mellon Arena which was built in 1961 and was last renovated in 1993.

I did mean all professional sports. Of all the teams in Pennsylvania (Flyers, Penguins, 76ers, Eagles, Steelers, Pirates, and Phillies), the Penguins are the only one without a new building in recent years. I've never been there but I believe it would have to be one of the oldest and smallest arenas in the league, and it is clearly not adequate for the Penguins, if selling out every game is a requirement for a $7 million loss.

[Takara_Soong 4]

There is nothing wrong with "old" Sports Centers, if they have some history to them. Lambeau Field, for example, was built over 40 years ago, and is still a great place to watch a football game, or even to play one. And they didn't make the mistake Chicago did when the Bears had Soldier Field renovated. If there is no history to the place, though, then be gone with it.

History doesn't mean a thing if you can't generate enough revenue in a building to run a team. Jack is correct when he says that Mellon Arena is the oldest and smallest in the NHL. From what I could find out the Mellon Arena capacity is 17,537 for hockey with 56 luxury suites and 1,696 club seats.

 

To be honest, as much as I would love to have the NHL back in Winnipeg, I'm not sure whether the Phone Booth (the nickname for the MTS Centre - for those who don't know MTS is our phone company) is big enough. It's capacity for hockey is only 15,015 with 936 club seats, 46 luxury suites and 2 party suites.

[MrPsychic 1]

As long as Lemieux is in charge of the Penguins, he'll never move it. They almost got a deal through for the stadium across the street, where the Penguins have their practices. However, it failed to meet zoning laws and the deal fell through. I would suggest an arena just outside of Pittsburgh, there's a lot of farm area out there, trust me, I've been there before :blink:

[Jack_Bauer 1]

To be honest, as much as I would love to have the NHL back in Winnipeg, I'm not sure whether the Phone Booth (the nickname for the MTS Centre - for those who don't know MTS is our phone company) is big enough. It's capacity for hockey is only 15,015 with 936 club seats, 46 luxury suites and 2 party suites.

Its a little small but quite frankly, selling that out every night (as I think Winnipeg could do), you'd get better crowds than most teams draw now. Not to mention all the merchandise revenue.

 

But if not Winnipeg, Quebec City. Can you imagine Sidney Crosby playing in the NHL in Quebec? That would be crazy.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

I saw this topic and was shocked. I thought to myself... "The Steelers fired Bill Cowher?!?!" :blink:

[Jack_Bauer 1]

I saw this topic and was shocked. I thought to myself... "The Steelers fired Bill Cowher?!?!" :blink:

Yeah, we really should change it to Penguins fire coaching staff. I'll do that if no one objects.

[MrPsychic 1]

I posted it as Pittsburgh just so people would see it :blink: You can change it

[Takara_Soong 4]

As long as Lemieux is in charge of the Penguins, he'll never move it. They almost got a deal through for the stadium across the street, where the Penguins have their practices. However, it failed to meet zoning laws and the deal fell through. I would suggest an arena just outside of Pittsburgh, there's a lot of farm area out there, trust me, I've been there before :blink:

Lemieux has been widely reported as saying "he is doubtful that the team will remain in Pittsburgh after its Mellon Arena lease expires in 2007. He cited a lack of progress on a new arena as one of the main reasons."