Penguins Hold Team Meetings, Leaders Answer for Losses, ‘Feel Like Crap’
CRANBERRY, Twp — It was not a pleasant experience for anyone involved. The fans booed loudly at the end of the first period Monday after the Pittsburgh Penguins gave up six goals for the first time in franchise history. Never before had the team yielded that many on home ice, and anyone who witnessed the hockey slaughter will attest it could have been worse.
The Penguins were indeed that bad in the 7-1 loss to the Dallas Stars, and they had a team meeting or meetings to discuss it.
“Anybody has a bad night or something like that, we have to stick as a team and stick with each other. It’s just a question of attitude. Obviously, it didn’t go our way in the first few minutes (against Dallas),” said Kris Letang Tuesday. “We have to limit the damages. We feel like shit, but you have to shake it off and go back to work, and you have to go back to basics. So that’s what we mainly discussed.”
As goalie Alex Nedeljkovic admitted Monday night, the Penguins did indeed have meetings Tuesday morning with video sessions, and it was not pleasant. The team was late to the ice Tuesday, and coach Mike Sullivan held an extended meeting at center ice after practice. Sullivan wouldn’t divulge the contents of the meeting, nor did Evgeni Malkin, other than admitting part of the message was an acknowledgment that everyone was hurting. No one was happy, but things needed to move forward.
Read More: Malkin Apologizes to Fans; Penguins ‘Need to Stop Looking at Each Other’
Watching goal after goal … after goal could not have been pleasant. The mistakes piled up, as did the apathetic play. Tuesday, Bryan Rust was clearly energetic at practice–a tough feat considering the beatdown administered the night before.
“You’ve got to take your lessons. Sometimes, you’ve got to take it on the chin and move forward. Obviously, (Tuesday) wasn’t the most exciting day because you had to kind of face that (Monday) night sucked,” said Rust. “And I think the only way to get out of things like that is to get the energy back, come back out here, and work hard. Sometimes, if you’re not feeling the greatest or things aren’t going great, you have to fake it until you make it. And I think the more you try and get that contagious attitude throughout the room, throughout the ice, I think that just helps us kind of climb out of this hole.”
It has become a thing for the Penguins. The team leaders have had to answer for blown leads and previously weak performances, but things hit rock bottom already Monday. The situation may not improve, but it surely cannot get worse than a historical beatdown in the opening 20 minutes. Not even the 1983-84 Penguins, which were built to be historically bad so the team could draft Mario Lemieux, were as pathetic as the Penguins’ performance Monday.
Lest one thinks the team let it roll off their back, that would be a mistake. The loss hit home, and no one dodged the questions about the impact, mental and physical, though Sullivan’s talk at center ice after practice will remain private.
“Those discussions stay within the context of our team. It was a discussion of the experience we went through yesterday,” Sullivan said.
Letang was particularly hard hit by the game. He was a team-worst minus-4, and his game has suffered with the Penguins’ rising and falling tide. Rust has battled multiple injuries since the beginning of training camp. And much of the lineup has largely been ineffective since the first few games of the season.
It’s been a dark night, but the sun seemed to peak over the horizon last Friday when the Penguins stomped the Washington Capitals for a 4-2 win. Optimism ticked upward. Players spoke of building on it and using it to turn the season around. All of that only made the crashing thud of their optimism even more difficult.
Letang indicated it wasn’t a top-down meeting. The floor was open.
“Everybody has a voice, and it doesn’t matter if you have a letter or you’re a coach. Every single player has to be able to say what they think. And if they have ideas of how to fix things–that we’re not we’re not really good at right now–we can voice them. So it just needs to be an open conversation between each other,” said Letang. “We all feel like crap after a game like that … At the end of the day, you have to look at what we’ve done and how to fix it, find ways to do it, and maybe get back to basics, just try to play as a team, play for the guy next to you and we’ll build off that.”
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“hurting”…? How about angry? Embarrassed? Motivated? Sigh. Seems like I’ve read those comments before too.
If things don’t change, things don’t change. If the leaders of the group really think they are close, but they are not, they will never get closer. That means Sully, Sid, Geno, Tanger and company need to face the reality that it isn’t working and they need to try something different. Geno got it right, the something different is move. If you watched the movement in the power plays by our opponents in the last few games, there is no standing around. If you watch ours, there’s a ton. Also, play smarter. Not just EK and Mattie G. Against Carolina,… Read more »
Enough with the talk and all the feelings sharing. Just go out on the ice and play hockey like a team, not like a bunch of unorganized beer league also rans.
Do I expect playoffs? Nope! I do expect hard effort and showing up like you want to be there!
I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but I think I’ve heard this before. I expect to see improved play for a few games with everyone playing hard and back checking, then the bad habits will invariably creep back into the game. Players not making the simple play and having turnovers at both blue lines by not getting the puck deep and chasing it down or making low percentage passes to get the puck out of the D zone. I hope I’m wrong and an embarrassing loss like that stays with them for the remainder of the season.
Maybe Sullivan should show the lowlight clips from the Dallas game every day as a reminder.
There’s nothing wrong with these geezers that a Way Back Machine wouldn’t cure. I mean, this isn’t an NHL team. It’s a dinosaur exhibit.
They are always gonna build off that…but never do…
.ugh…
I wonder how many other teams will meet the price of other Pens not named Crosby. Could see Letang going before Malkin; Don’t want to see that happen but if I’m playing Devil’s Advocate. Agree Eller was worth a second round pick. I guess 3round + 5round = 2round
This has been a sinking ship for awhile now.No amount of team meeting or lip service is going to stop it.The Pens have kept this team together for nostalgia’s sake to the detriment of the future.It sucks but that’s where they are at.Years of mortgaging the future for winning now has caught up and Im totally okay with that.They’ve given us some great memories and a blast for how long it has lasted.But it’s way past time to dismantle and start over
You forgot the one we’re trying to find our game? been playing the game all there lives and every year they are looking to find their game?
Sadly all of this sounds like so much of what we have heard time and time again. If you keep doing what you’ve always done you’ll keep getting what you’ve always gotten.
I’m going on the record to say I expect Poulin to be a productive middle 6 DUDE. It’s being reported he is officially 6’2″ and 227lbs. Admittedly he’s been to hell and back with his health issues, but he’s a badly needed big body, strong on the puck, and could be a load in the opposing crease if he’s told to park himself there and create havoc. After being waived earlier, he has to know this is his last shot. Willing to bet he does whatever it takes to seize this opportunity and run with it.
For the love of God, please trade Sidney Crosby. It would be good for a league that needs a shot of adrenalin in the states.
My apologies, but I hope you’ll understand my hesitation to go all in, because I will not—how many times now have we been down this road, only for things to fall back into the same old pattern? That level of consistency is not possible with this group.I am not sure everyone in this group knows who Wimpy is, but his famous catch phrase was, “I’ll gladly pay you tuesday, for a hamburger today!”. As Lynyrd Skynyrd once said, ‘Tuesday’s Gone” There are no more hamburgers or promises that will save them, sadly.
Shocked and appalled to see the “s” word used here. Can you at least post a warning about graphic language for the kids who read these stories and the parents who allow for it?
The F word is the only one we censor here.
I love how everyone is discussing this like the team needs an attitude change. They don’t have very good players. They are bad.
Yeah Sullivan should go. Also – it doesn’t matter if you hypnotize these guys or give them amphetamines – they are not going to win hardly any games against good teams. They have the worst point differential in the NHL. Their power play was historically terrible last year. They have had the worst finishing in the league for like 3 years straight. The. Players. Are. Not. That. Good. Anymore.
Get rid of the CANCER on the TEAM! #65 needs to go!
If Sullivan goes maybe Dubas should go first..Jake …they need to go ask Mario what’s wrong ..