The Pittsburgh Penguins weren’t living up to their enormous expectations and they made a coaching change as a result. As always, it’s not fair to place all of the blame on the coach when the players are in charge of going out on the ice and producing. New Penguins coach Mike Sullivan has been tasked to lead the club and he already understands that the bulk of the responsibility is on the players.
Sullivan’s quotes, via CTV News:
“I’m a firm believer that the players have to take ownership of their team. I believe it’s their team, not mine.
For me, I’ve always had an honest, straightforward approach. The only way I know how to do it is through a candid assessment of where we’re at and where we need to go. I hope that resonates with the players and I can inspire these guys to play a certain way.”
Sullivan’s quotes are right on the money. A coach is usually thrown under the bus at the first sign of trouble, but ultimately it’s on the players (and the general manager who assembled the group) to find wins. Sullivan’s task is to find chemistry and create tactics which push the players forward. If the Penguins continue to struggle, the blame won’t go behind the bench.
He briefly touched on what he has planned:
“I’m honored to have the privilege to coach this group and I have a ton of respect for their abilities. Having said that, I’m going to challenge them as their coach to grow and get their game to another level. That’s my responsibility. We have to embrace the process and if we do that we’ll have our best chance to move forward.”
It sounds like Sullivan is off to a solid start. He may need some help in patching the Penguins’ defense, but as far as a team mentality goes, Sullivan is rightfully placing the team’s future in the hands of the players.
