Day: April 30, 2017

General manager Ron Hextall was feeling pretty good about it on Saturday. “I’m hoping this is a turning point for some of that to be turned around. First, the Flyers are not your typical team picking at the very top of the draft that is full of holes and is basically starting over from scratch.

There are several reasons a general manager fires an assistant coach the way Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman whacked Mike Kitchen this week, and almost none of the fallout is good. One reason is to threaten the head coach with his job if a particular assistant isn’t canned after a bad event, such as a top seed getting swept by the last team in the playoffs, even if that head coach is a three-time Stanley Cup-winner and sure-fire Hall-of-Famer. Another reason is to prompt the head coach to resign after his usual control of assistant coaches is usurped. Another is that it was a necessary move that the head coach was too close to properly evaluate. Yet another reason is for the GM to cover his backside

There are several reasons a general manager fires an assistant coach the way Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman whacked Mike Kitchen this week, and almost none of the fallout is good. One reason is to threaten the head coach with his job if a particular assistant isn’t canned after a bad event, such as a top seed getting swept by the last team in the playoffs, even if that head coach is a three-time Stanley Cup-winner and sure-fire Hall-of-Famer. Another reason is to prompt the head coach to resign after his usual control of assistant coaches is usurped. Another is that it was a necessary move that the head coach was too close to properly evaluate. Yet another reason is for the GM to cover his backside

There are several reasons a general manager fires an assistant coach the way Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman whacked Mike Kitchen this week, and almost none of the fallout is good. One reason is to threaten the head coach with his job if a particular assistant isn’t canned after a bad event, such as a top seed getting swept by the last team in the playoffs, even if that head coach is a three-time Stanley Cup-winner and sure-fire Hall-of-Famer. Another reason is to prompt the head coach to resign after his usual control of assistant coaches is usurped. Another is that it was a necessary move that the head coach was too close to properly evaluate. Yet another reason is for the GM to cover his backside

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Pittsburgh Penguins took a commanding 2 game lead against the Capitals in the second round of the NHL playoffs on Saturday night. The Penguins faithful gathered outside the steps of the National Portrait Gallery, which is opposite of the Verizon Center, to celebrate the win and trolled the Capitals with an absolutely savage banner. Brutal. The Capitals haven’t made it past the second round of the NHL playoffs since 1998, a fact that they’re very well aware of. The Capitals and Penguins meet again in Game 3 on Monday night.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Pittsburgh Penguins took a commanding 2 game lead against the Capitals in the second round of the NHL playoffs on Saturday night. The Penguins faithful gathered outside the steps of the National Portrait Gallery, which is opposite of the Verizon Center, to celebrate the win and trolled the Capitals with an absolutely savage banner. Brutal. The Capitals haven’t made it past the second round of the NHL playoffs since 1998, a fact that they’re very well aware of. The Capitals and Penguins meet again in Game 3 on Monday night.

So I wonder who the clown is here: the charismatic player who dances a little jig during a playoff pregame warm-up, or the suit in the general manager’s chair who trades 21-year-old Roberto Luongo in order to select Rick DiPietro first overall in the draft instead of Marian Gaborik or Dany Heatley? Hint: It is not P.K. Subban, the Spirit of 76, who is one of the handful of charismatic players in the NHL worth the price of admission. It has been a while since Mike Milbury, the party of the latter part who often can be seen with the floppy shoes and big, red nose on the set of the staid national crew that works NHL games for the NBC networks, has said anything, well, clownish enough to land in this space.

So I wonder who the clown is here: the charismatic player who dances a little jig during a playoff pregame warm-up, or the suit in the general manager’s chair who trades 21-year-old Roberto Luongo in order to select Rick DiPietro first overall in the draft instead of Marian Gaborik or Dany Heatley? Hint: It is not P.K. Subban, the Spirit of 76, who is one of the handful of charismatic players in the NHL worth the price of admission. It has been a while since Mike Milbury, the party of the latter part who often can be seen with the floppy shoes and big, red nose on the set of the staid national crew that works NHL games for the NBC networks, has said anything, well, clownish enough to land in this space.

So I wonder who the clown is here: the charismatic player who dances a little jig during a playoff pregame warm-up, or the suit in the general manager’s chair who trades 21-year-old Roberto Luongo in order to select Rick DiPietro first overall in the draft instead of Marian Gaborik or Dany Heatley? Hint: It is not P.K. Subban, the Spirit of 76, who is one of the handful of charismatic players in the NHL worth the price of admission. It has been a while since Mike Milbury, the party of the latter part who often can be seen with the floppy shoes and big, red nose on the set of the staid national crew that works NHL games for the NBC networks, has said anything, well, clownish enough to land in this space.