Wonder why the Penguins could import three minor league defensemen and hardly miss a beat? Quotes from today's PG shed some light on it. Ben Lovejoy said:
"When I first got here, I had a meeting with Dan [Bylsma]. He told me there's one faceoff play where there's a bit of a nuance from what we do down in Wilkes-Barre. It's one faceoff play, and that's it."
Nate Guenin added:
"Everything is the same, it's awesome because when you get called up and you're put in that situation, you feel comfortable because all the terminology's the same, and it makes the transition that much easier.
Organizational transparency is a big deal, it's important that teams play similiar styles, for the very reason we're seeing: when a team needs to dip into the minors, it's a lot easier for all parties if everyone knows what's going on.
The Penguins once were thought to have synergy between Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre under former head coach Michel Therrien, but that was more a result that he was promoted from WB/S, so some of his elements (and personnel) were between both places. As that faded, and as Therrien began stressing more and more defensive structure and responsibility, the schism between teams grew.
Don't expect that to happen again. Dan Bylsma and Todd Reirden (head coach of the Baby Pens) are on the same page. They worked together in Wilkes-Barre and said to have a strong professional relationship. Bylsma is a much better communicator than Therrien and seems to have made it more of a point to keep things together.
It's paid off lately, no one expects to use the #7-10 defensemen all at the same time in an NHL game, but if you have to, it's not the end of the world if you can use organizational transparency to help the transition.
