Dan Bylsma on NHL Live
by Chez on Nov 8, 2010 2:12 PM EST
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PrintFor those of you who didn't get an opportunity to listen to NHL Live interview our beloved Head Coach at 1:30pm EST, I'll attempt to provide a brief recap of what was asked and his responses.
More after the jump.
Not surprisingly, the first question asked was about the play of Marc-Andre Fleury in general. Coach Bylsma said basically that Marc had had a very strong training camp, and that the first couple games of the season, he didn't get the results that he wanted. He speculated that this might have compounded into a bit of a confidence issue for Fleury, and that the team was taking a "back to basics" approach with him, adding that Marc needed to get back to being the kind of goalie that the team knows he is capable of being, and has been in the past.
The next question was regarding the emergence of Kris Letang as a go-to defenseman. Coach Bylsma said that what we're seeing this year is "a version of the guy you saw coming out in last year's playoffs". He praised Letang's ability as a "great skater" who can also defend and play with the puck. Something I noticed was that the interviewer specifically asked if Letang had exceeded the team's expectations for him, and Coach Bylsma seemed to make it a point to not address that question directly. Speculate about that as you wish.
The conversation then turned to the Jordan Staal situation. Coach Bylsma was asked how he and his team were dealing with the emotional letdown as well as the physical absence of Staal from the roster. He didn't really have much in the way of new information regarding that situation. Something of note though was his belief that the game in Dallas in which the Pens put forth a somewhat lackluster performance could be attributed to the disappointment of Staal's reinjury on the eve of the game in which he was to return to the lineup.
Coach Bylsma then took the opportunity to say that despite finishing the road trip with only the one win, the attitude he saw from his team in their comeback attempts and refusal to quit and give up on a game was something that he felt very encouraged by. He mentioned that he could see the confidence growing in the Anaheim game to the point that "everyone on the bench believed they were going to get that tying goal" before ultimately falling just short. He said that was partly due to the strong play of the Duck's goaltender.
The last question of the day was regarding the HBO 24/7 series preview that's set to air on HBO on November 20th. Coach Bylsma mentioned that he believes the series is going to be "excellent tv", but also that he's caught himself second guessing some of the things he's done around the rink, saying "it's given me pause for thought, wondering 'would have done that if the camera was around?'". He also mentioned that the coaches have a challenge going to try and keep the profanity down while the show is going on. Each coach has to pay a dollar for every time they swear at the rink. I'd love to know who finally gets that large lump sum at the end of all this. He said that himself, along with Coach Reirden have been the biggest contributors by far, saying that Coach Granato learned pretty early to keep it in check. Coach Bylsma said that he doesn't want his son to look back in a few years and see how much his dad swore at the rink. Admirable.
That was all for Coach Dan. Overall it was an interesting interview. With all the panic you hear around the Penguins fan base, it was refreshing to hear the Head Coach exude some confidence about his team's play of late, even if it hasn't yet shown up on the scoreboard.
If anybody else heard the interview and has anything to add that I overlooked or just plain forgot, then please add a comment!
The content expressed in fanposts does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the staff here at Pensburgh.com. FanPosts are opinions expressed by fans of various teams throughout the league but may be more Pittsburgh-centric for obvious reasons.
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Cool, thanks for the recap. Found the HBO insight pretty interesting.
"Game's the same. Just got more fierce."
(whisper) You’re welcome
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Thanks for the recap.
Coach Bylsma then took the opportunity to say that despite finishing the road trip with only the one winDid Dan forget about the win in Carolina?
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by PensAreYourDaddy on Nov 8, 2010 2:45 PM EST reply actions
Easy to forget when the team went home for 3 days then traveled to Dallas.
Crazy schedule.
Formerly PensFan8725
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"One time he punched me in the face; it was AWESOME." -Matt Niskanen to his future grandchildren.
8 more goals until Sid reaches 200. 9 more points until Geno reaches 400.
I heard the interview also. When asked about Kris Letang, I’m not sure if he made a point of not answering the question about whether Letang is exceeding expectations, but rather was more rambling with his answers as he often does. I actually think that Letang is expected to play at a high level. Sometimes it is hard to follow Bylsma’s answers because he seems to go off on a tangent and gets away from questions. I was surprised that he was even asked about Letang because he often seems to fly under the radar of the media because he’s on the team with Crosby and Malkin. I think the interview will be on an NHL podcast later on this evening or tomorrow. It was interesting, but it goes so fast it is easy to miss some points that were made.
I cannot wait to see 24/7.
I should probably check and see if I have HBO in the first place though
Every day is a great day for hockey
The whole idea that the 24/7 thing is impacting the way our coaches are going about their business is a bit troubling for me. My old man cursed like a sailor, but then again he was a sailor. I don’t know what Bylsma thinks he’ll be hiding from his kids. Kids end up knowing everything anyway, right Leafer? When our team is playing .500 hockey and out of a playoff spot almost 1/5th of the way into the season, the last thing I want to hear is that our coaches are changing their style for some dumbass HBO show.
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by PensAreYourDaddy on Nov 8, 2010 10:45 PM EST up reply actions
My old man cursed like a sailor, but then again he was a sailor. I don’t know what Bylsma thinks he’ll be hiding from his kids. Kids end up knowing everything anyway, right Leafer?
Kids are the ones who curse worse than their parents.
When our team is playing .500 hockey and out of a playoff spot almost 1/5th of the way into the season, the last thing I want to hear is that our coaches are changing their style for some dumbass HBO show.
This.
However, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from watching a boatload of reality shows (I know, I know; don’t judge) it’s that it doesn’t take long to get used to the camera’s/forget they’re there. If this show really is “24/7,” we’ll be in business by the 2nd episode at least.
Formerly PensFan8725
Twitter and Tumblr
"One time he punched me in the face; it was AWESOME." -Matt Niskanen to his future grandchildren.
8 more goals until Sid reaches 200. 9 more points until Geno reaches 400.
by AllieLXXXVII on Nov 8, 2010 10:49 PM EST up reply actions
Haha reality shows? Nice, Allie :p
And I’m not so sure they’ll forget the cameras are there, to be quite honest. It’s hard for me to fathom how anyone could do that.
Then again, they’re professional athletes so they are used to cameras on the ice and for postgames off it as well. Doubt it’s that much different, or at the very least it’ll be easier to get used to.
Wait. Did I just convince myself in one setting?
by AppleSweetRose on Nov 9, 2010 2:56 PM EST up reply actions
Well, when the cameras are there all day everyday, I think it’d be pretty easy to forget about them after a couple of days.
Formerly PensFan8725
Twitter and Tumblr
"One time he punched me in the face; it was AWESOME." -Matt Niskanen to his future grandchildren.
8 more goals until Sid reaches 200. 9 more points until Geno reaches 400.
Last season, during the epic cooling off following the Pens hot start, I always found the post game recaps disturbingly interesting. If you guys will recall, they invariably seemed to first feature a comment from Bylsma that went something along the lines of “we’re making progress, we’re doing a lot of good things out there despite the loss, the effort was there but the results weren’t….etc.” Scroll halfway down said recap, and there Brooks Orpik would be saying something like “look, this is the NHL, results are what count, not ‘effort,’ and right now we’re not getting results.” Aside from making me a huge fan of Brooks Orpik, the disparity in tone also made me suspicious of DB as an NHL head coach. The comments about the impact of Staal’s injury on the team and his rose-colored assessment of the loss in Anaheim make me still more suspicious. Thing is, I agree with both of those statements, and believe that they are both probably valid, but I also think the head coach in this situation has a responsibility not to be in the habit of making excuses, however soft, subtle, and ultimately valid they may be.
When I hear Bylsma speak, the thought that always flashes through my head is that he would be so much more effective as a collegiate coach, where player development is paramount and, for lack of a better way of putting it, players need a certain amount of coddling. Or, perhaps he’d make a fine assistant coach, as they are usually called upon to be in a much more chummy relationship with the players. However, in Pittsburgh, at the NHL level, with a team that has a 3-5 year window where they should be competing for a Stanley Cup every year…well, he may not be the right guy at the right time.
And I feel like I should qualify the above by saying that I’m not trying to be a Bylsma basher. He’s still a very young and inexperienced head coach, and he probably deserves a bit of slack, especially since he did help deliver a cup to the team already. That being said, I’m not at all convinced that another month of mediocrity or worse shouldn’t lead to a change at his position. But, who’s available to replace him? Any chance we lure Scotty Bowman out of his box in Chicago and back to Pittsburgh? /pipe dream.
I dunno. I much prefer DB’s approach over a guy like Wilson (or Burke) or Tortorella. I like the idea of a guy who doesn’t bash his players in public — as long as he’s dealing with them appropriately on the ice and in the room. I do think Bylsma has a ways to go as a coach, but I appreciate the character he brings to the table, and the way he doesn’t just tear people down..
Umm ... Hockey Rocks.
Point taken, and I agree to a certain extent. By no means do I think Bylsma should get into the business of public floggings, especially when they’re personal. I think guys like John Tortorella are absolutely asinine, and obviously this team doesn’t thrive under coaches like that. I’m surprised any team does. However, I do think there is a mid-point between Bylsma and a guy like Tortorella, and guys at that mid-point seem to be the most consistently effective coaches. You rarely hear a guy like Joel Quenneville or Mike Babcock publicly chastising individual players in the media, but you also don’t hear qualifiers or subtle excuses following a loss. Obviously, Quennevilles and Babcocks don’t grow on trees, nor do they hatch as fully competent head coaches- they had to take their lumps too. Bylsma is going to get better as a head coach, and there really isn’t anyone better suited to his position available right now.
Also, my blog etiquette sucks, as you’ve inadvertently pointed out. Thank you, Chez, for a great recap.
by pensborealis on Nov 8, 2010 11:44 PM EST up reply actions
Last season, during the epic cooling off following the Pens hot start,
I’m not sure I understand this statement. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read this kind of thing before, but I still don’t understand it. Not to give you too hard of a time, but I feel like there is a lot of revisionist history out there trying to paint 2009-10 as some sort of complete failure.
Granted, the Pens started 12-3, and when that happens coming off a Cup win, I guess many people naturally assumed we’d put together the kind of season the Caps ended up having. A quick 4-game losing streak should have settled down those kinds of crazy expectations. Defending Cup champs don’t often have an easy road. They play every night with a giant bullseye on their backs.
After a hot start, they found themselves at 12-7. From that point on, they went 35-21-7. Not exactly what I’d consider an “epic” cooling off. Then they came within 1 game of a 3rd straight trip to the conference final. Again, when the Pens got out of the 1st round of the playoffs, the only top 4 seed in the East to accomplish that, and they found themselves with what appeared to be a clear shot to the final, maybe expectations went way up again so that a 2nd round exit turned into a complete and utter failure in the minds of many.
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think that a team that played through their fair share of adversity to post a 47-28-7 record, escaping the first round upset that plagued the other top teams in the conference, and then faced another huge pile of bad luck to start this season resulting in a 7-7-1 record so far, I don’t see that as cause for the coach to start shredding the team in the press.
As for Scotty Bowman, just my opinion of course, but no chance of luring him from his box in Chicago. Dude is 77 years old. He coached in his first Stanley Cup Final 42 years ago. I think he’s earned a little relaxation time, and having a spoiled, whiny fanbase (I don’t mean you) breathing down his neck after every game and especially every loss in spite of incredible success probably doesn’t qualify as relaxation.
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by PensAreYourDaddy on Nov 9, 2010 12:07 AM EST up reply actions
Epic cooling off is indeed probably a bit of hyperbole, and a 35-21-7 record after the start isn’t all that bad, true. But, their record against the top clubs in the league wasn’t too hot, and I don’t think they ever really established themselves as one of the truly elite teams last season, and I think they should have. Where I disagree with you (politely, mind you!) and a lot of other folks, is in the idea that Pittsburgh has faced more than the usual share of unavoidable adversity. Yeah, there have been injuries, and maybe a trade or signing that tanked unexpectedly, but I don’t think that is any different from any of the other teams they’re competing with, and thus can’t and shouldn’t be used as an excuse. Unfortunately, I don’t get to watch many of the games, so I’m probably less than qualified to be having too strong an opinion. I would like to hear expanded thoughts on this “huge pile of bad luck to start the season.” Aside from the injuries to Staal, I haven’t heard of much else happening that is outside the immediate control of the team.
An aside- Now that I’m in a direct conversation with you, I should admit to admiring your photographs in silence for the last two years. They’re incredible. Thanks for posting.
Also, my tongue was so far in my cheek with the Bowman suggestion it was practically poking through the other side. Dude is definitely not coming back.
by pensborealis on Nov 9, 2010 12:39 AM EST up reply actions
that played through their fair share of adversity
Just noting that I didn’t say they faced more adversity than other teams last year, just their fair share. It isn’t like all the pieces fell neatly into place and they still lost in spite of that (except for all the other top seeds losing, which was a convenient little surprise that we couldn’t take advantage of).
As for this year, I don’t pay attention to other teams’ injury situation very closely, but I’d say having guys like Staal, Orpik, Michalek, Letang (though he didn’t miss any full games) and Asham on the injury list is probably a bigger hit than the average team has faced. I welcome anyone with more knowledge on this subject to correct me if I’m wrong.
The thing about our record against the “top” teams last year didn’t mean much to me. If you’ll notice, the only one of those supposedly elite teams that we would have had to face if we could have advanced in the playoffs would have been Chicago, and they only managed to beat us 2-1 in OT so I wouldn’t have been all that scared of them.
Don’t get me wrong, you make some good points and I realize I’m probably very much in the minority in my opinions about last season. To me, the ‘09 team played great at the right time and caught some breaks and they won the Cup. The ’10 team wasn’t playing quite as well and didn’t get the breaks (see Halak) and they went out in the 2nd round. In the end, I don’t think there was a huge difference between the two teams. This year’s team has yet to show their true identify, I think.
Yeah, I caught where you were coming from on the Bowman thing, but don’t think it hasn’t crossed my mind once or twice. ;-)
And thanks very much for the kind words on the photos. It’s great to hear. Not from a “yay, me” perspective. It’s a labor of love, no doubt, but it is something I spend a decent amount of time on and outside of my very loyal fans it’s always a mystery how many people are checking out my stuff. So it’s great to get any kind of feedback, positive or otherwise.
Now, feel free to shred my comments, since at this time of night it isn’t likely that I’m making much sense anyway.
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by PensAreYourDaddy on Nov 9, 2010 1:08 AM EST up reply actions
Then it’s no wonder my cat is staring at me like I’ve completely lost my mind. Of course she only speaks the language of tuna.
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by PensAreYourDaddy on Nov 9, 2010 1:15 AM EST up reply actions
Don’t get me wrong, you make some good points and I realize I’m probably very much in the minority in my opinions about last season.
You’re not.
When you win a Cup, it’s easy to get spoiled and assume that anything but at least a trip to another Final is a failure-especially after going to the Finals for the past two years. In hindsight, being one game away from the Eastern Conference Finals is awfully good in my book.
To me, the ‘09 team played great at the right time and caught some breaks and they won the Cup. The ’10 team wasn’t playing quite as well and didn’t get the breaks (see Halak) and they went out in the 2nd round. In the end, I don’t think there was a huge difference between the two teams. This year’s team has yet to show their true identify, I think.
Yeah, there is where I disagree with you.
The ‘10 team just didn’t have the mojo, and at times, it seemed like the desire that the ‘09 team had. Of course, you always need some luck to win a Cup, but I don’t think the Pens would’ve repeated even if more of the breaks had gone their way.
Formerly PensFan8725
Twitter and Tumblr
"One time he punched me in the face; it was AWESOME." -Matt Niskanen to his future grandchildren.
8 more goals until Sid reaches 200. 9 more points until Geno reaches 400.
Like I said, the ‘10 team wasn’t playing quite as well, but in the end they lost in game 7 of round 2. The ‘09 team was a lucky bounce on Tanger’s shot away from trailing the Caps 3-0 in round 2, in which case they would have been fortunate to even make it to game 7. Instead, the shot went in and they went on to win the Cup.
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by PensAreYourDaddy on Nov 9, 2010 8:13 AM EST up reply actions
The ‘09 team was a lucky bounce on Tanger’s shot away from trailing the Caps 3-0 in round 2, in which case they would have been fortunate to even make it to game 7. Instead, the shot went in and they went on to win the Cup.
I don’t think you can look at it that way. Yeah, maybe there was some luck in that win, but, for me at least, I could just feel that win coming; you just kind of knew it was going to happen-that was the mojo part.
It was no accident that the Pens lost game 7 in ’10, they played like absolute crap. The way they played that entire series, they were lucky to even make it to 6 games.
Formerly PensFan8725
Twitter and Tumblr
"One time he punched me in the face; it was AWESOME." -Matt Niskanen to his future grandchildren.
8 more goals until Sid reaches 200. 9 more points until Geno reaches 400.
And I thought Montreal was lucky the Pens couldn’t hold a 3rd period lead in game 4 or they wouldn’t have made it to 6 games.
As for game 3 vs the Caps, yeah I felt the win coming, but I also thought I felt the win coming in game 6 of that series until Steckel (I think) had his say.
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by PensAreYourDaddy on Nov 9, 2010 1:29 PM EST up reply actions
The Pens didn’t play 60 minutes in game 6 and it cost them the ECF. I think they’re still learning to play 60 minutes this season.
Yeah, well, luckily for your feelings, a loss there didn’t mean the series wasn’t over.
Formerly PensFan8725
Twitter and Tumblr
"One time he punched me in the face; it was AWESOME." -Matt Niskanen to his future grandchildren.
8 more goals until Sid reaches 200. 9 more points until Geno reaches 400.
Welcome to the wonderful world of commenting :)
“Epic cooling off” aside, I agree with your assessment in the sense that the team did not play to its potential last year. And their early season record was kind of deceptive given the teams they were playing against. I’m still going to call them an elite team, because that’s what they are when they are playing their game, and given their personnel, it’s hard not to. Plus, if Fleury was in form, I don’t think the question of their ‘elite’ status would come up — not to mention if Staal was back in the lineup. If they lose it (or don’t get it together) this season, perhaps I’ll re-think that. But my guess is that they end up with a pretty good record by the end of the season, find (the rest of) their chemistry, and do some damage in the playoffs.
Also, now that they’re done their against-the-West road trip, things will pick up (until Christmas … when they slump a bit again …).
Umm ... Hockey Rocks.
above .500
Hopefully, we’re above five-hundred by the time staal comes back. It’s alot easier to stop geno and sid from being destructive when staal isn’t there to play a full period of time everygame.
It’s alot easier to stop sid from being destructive when geno isn’t there to play a full period of time everygame.
Fixed it for ya.
I agree with you about Staal, though.
Formerly PensFan8725
Twitter and Tumblr
"One time he punched me in the face; it was AWESOME." -Matt Niskanen to his future grandchildren.
8 more goals until Sid reaches 200. 9 more points until Geno reaches 400.
It’s alot easier to stop sid from being destructive when geno isn’t there to play a full period of time everygame.
Fixed it for ya.
I agree with you about Staal, though.
Formerly PensFan8725
Twitter and Tumblr
"One time he punched me in the face; it was AWESOME." -Matt Niskanen to his future grandchildren.
8 more goals until Sid reaches 200. 9 more points until Geno reaches 400.
Oops. Fail.
Formerly PensFan8725
Twitter and Tumblr
"One time he punched me in the face; it was AWESOME." -Matt Niskanen to his future grandchildren.
8 more goals until Sid reaches 200. 9 more points until Geno reaches 400.
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