Pittsburgh Hockey Insider has no direct affiliation to the Pittsburgh Penguins, NHL or NHLPA
Mike Sullivan Fires Up Penguins with Passionate Statement After Calling Out Recent Struggles
Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan is doing everything he can to rally his team, including his latest speech.
The Penguins are at the bottom of the Eastern conference, only ahead of the Buffalo Sabres in the standings.
Unfortunately, the team continues to trend in the wrong direction as well, dropping their last four games in a row and going 3-6-1 over their last ten.
The team has dropped all three games since coming back from the Four Nations break, including an embarrassing 8-3 loss to the Capitals and another rough 6-1 loss to the Flyers.
General manager Kyle Dubas was hoping that the team could turn things around after a late surge last season, but it now seems rather clear that that will not happen.
Regardless, the organization continues to put on a brave face, as made evident by head coach Mike Sullivan's recent comments he made to the team.
"We're going to dig in, we're going to fight, we're going to get better. We're going to take the game in front of us. We're going to try and put our best game on the ice and see where it goes.
The good news about that is that is all completely within our control. That's a conscious choice we make when we come to the rink every day. That's the conversation we have with the group, and quite honestly, that's what the expectation is."
The good news about that is that is all completely within our control. That's a conscious choice we make when we come to the rink every day. That's the conversation we have with the group, and quite honestly, that's what the expectation is."
Sullivan and the Penguins can keep saying all the right things like this, but at the end of the day it is pretty obvious to the rest of the league that this team simply is not good enough anymore.
Sidney Crosby is still leading the team in scoring, but like Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Erik Karlsson, even he is past his prime.
It is only a matter of time before this team becomes a proper draft lottery favorite whether they like it or not.
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 26 | 330 ANSWERS Mike Sullivan Fires Up Penguins with Passionate Statement After Calling Out Recent Struggles Do you think Kyle Dubas should fire Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan? | ||
| Yes | 140 | 42.4 % |
| No | 153 | 46.4 % |
| Unsure | 37 | 11.2 % |
| List of polls | ||