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Yea but look at Whitneys stats from the following game. It obviously did something...

I agree with malkinfan71...sometimes tough love is needed. In Whitney's case he responded well, and even joked the next night that "maybe Coach should call me out like that after every game."

As to switching up the lines--that, sometimes is also needed. With how many injuries the Pens have had in the past few weeks I'm amazed at the great job Therrien did holding the core group of playes together.

I don't think he needs to go at all, I feel he's the key factor in this team performing so well.

I'm also with malkinfan71 and sidandgenorule. Whitney played a poor game which resulted in Therrien's comments calling him out in the media. I think that was the right move. Coaches say so much in the locker room trying to get their team ready and to get them to play the best they possibly can. If he had just simply called him out in the locker room behind closed doors, it may not have been taken as seriously. The fact that it was said in the media and that it was common knowledge that Therrien called him out, Whitney took that as, wow I really need to step it up, because now its not just Therrien that's expecting more from him its all the Pittsburgh fans as well.

Yeah, lets replace a coach that has taken a team from worst to first in 2 years, as well as, last year had the best point turn around in history. Wow this guys sucks!

glad you will settle for first round playoff exits...i only settle for the best....he only can turn teams around, cant lead them to the cup...thats why i want a new coach

Agreed, especially with your first point about line changes and such. There was a point where he was pulling names out of a hat as to who would be playing on Crosby's line, are you serious? He has arguably the most talented player on his team, yet he doesn't care who his linemates are?

He's an instinctive coach, too much so actually. He always calls out players and like you said follows hunches instead of stats. He's the coach you hire to light a fire under a team, and then fire a few years later when his message gets old. (See his tenure with Montreal as an example)

Fire Michel Therrien? YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING! I wish these alleged Penguin "fans" would step back and take an honest look at things.......
What other team could sustain the losses, injuries, and illnesses that the Penguins have had and still be making the run that they are! Crosby, Eaton, Roberts, Fleury, Kennedy, etc
"Randomly choosing who he should start in goal"? Are you mad?! What rock have you been under? Conklin is the man until the coach decides otherwise. How can you even think of pulling out the hot hand?
"Fans" complaining about the line changes? Where would the team be if Therrien had not instituted these constant changes PRIOR to everyone getting hurt or sick? By doing that it gave all players a chance to play on the same line and gain that experience. Again, where would the team be without that experience. Not in first place!
"Fans" complain about it but also don't like to acknowledge the fact (or are they even aware of it) that Therrien and the Wilkes-Barre coach decided prior to the season to run the same cycling offense. Wow! What a concept: if we have to call players up then they would be able to fit in perfectly with the system the Penguins are using because they (Wilkes-Barre) have been playing it all along.
Oh, by the way "fans", while you're at it, also fail to acknowledge that Therrien also coached the majority (if not all) of the players he has called up from Wilkes-Barre. And just look at their impact!
Calling out Whitney? This isn't kids T-ball. If you are not doing the job..own up to it and accept the call out. It's called accountability. Look at the game in question (and the game against Ovechkin): no sticks in the passing lane, defenders with their backs to the offensive players, no one hitting at the blue line (just let them skate in), and no one clearing the front of the net. Players standing on straight legs and not ready to play. Offense not crashing the goal for rebounds and clean ups.
Are you also not aware that the Penguins are averaging MORE points per game than they had been with Crosby?! This team had every reason in the book to hang their head, make excuses, give up, and start pointing fingers. But, no, they are in FIRST PLACE and the man responsible for all of it is being called out to lose his job? What a bunch of turn-coats. You are NOT fans at all. You should be encouraging and giving credit where it is due. But you don't...you bunch of whiners! Save it for the next 15 years of the "rebuilding phase" of the Pirates and leave THERRIEN alone! You also whined and moaned when a COUPLE Steelers got hurt and then lost the play-off game in the midst of your "what could have been's if so-and-so played.
You have a coach who is doing an awesome job with half of Wilkes-Barre on the team and you want him FIRED?! There is NO other coach who could do what he is doing. Instead of stabbing him in the back you should be on the bandwagon giving him the credit he is due!

THERRIEN ROCKS! EXTEND HIS CONTRACT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Fire Michel Therrien? YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING! I wish these alleged Penguin "fans" would step back and take an honest look at things......."
--don't call me out. I am probably the biggest Penguins fan on this site...but at the same time, I can step back and look at the things with a fair mind and not the homer mentality you possess.

"What other team could sustain the losses, injuries, and illnesses that the Penguins have had and still be making the run that they are! Crosby, Eaton, Roberts, Fleury, Kennedy, etc"
--Exactly, you made my point, it's the players, not the coaches

"Randomly choosing who he should start in goal"? Are you mad?! What rock have you been under? Conklin is the man until the coach decides otherwise. How can you even think of pulling out the hot hand?
--Why did he start Sabourin on January 21st at home against Washington? Sabourin did just come off a 2-0 shut out against Montreal on the road, but he was only giving Ty a break for that game. Sabourin is 2-4-1 at home and 7-4 away. Why did he give Sabourin back to back starts especially knowing that Sabourin plays poorly at home? What resulted? 4 Goals allowed in 28 minutes.

"Fans" complaining about the line changes? Where would the team be if Therrien had not instituted these constant changes PRIOR to everyone getting hurt or sick? By doing that it gave all players a chance to play on the same line and gain that experience. Again, where would the team be without that experience. Not in first place!
--no, it ruins chemestry when you aren't playing with the same people. What results is sloppy play and passes to no one due to the fact you aren't accustomed to playing with the same people

"Fans" complain about it but also don't like to acknowledge the fact (or are they even aware of it) that Therrien and the Wilkes-Barre coach decided prior to the season to run the same cycling offense. Wow! What a concept: if we have to call players up then they would be able to fit in perfectly with the system the Penguins are using because they (Wilkes-Barre) have been playing it all along.
--i like the cycling, but what does that have to do with Therrien? Any other coach can teach the cycling offense, (even our minor league team is according to you)

Oh, by the way "fans", while you're at it, also fail to acknowledge that Therrien also coached the majority (if not all) of the players he has called up from Wilkes-Barre. And just look at their impact!
-- Again, when you put high draft picks together, it doesnt matter what coach they have. Therrien is great at developing talent, but he doesn't know what to do with a superstar. Why is Crosby getting so much icetime than the other stars in the league? Therrien is used to gettin the best out of mediocre players and is hurting his stars.

Calling out Whitney? This isn't kids T-ball. If you are not doing the job..own up to it and accept the call out. It's called accountability. Look at the game in question (and the game against Ovechkin): no sticks in the passing lane, defenders with their backs to the offensive players, no one hitting at the blue line (just let them skate in), and no one clearing the front of the net. Players standing on straight legs and not ready to play. Offense not crashing the goal for rebounds and clean ups.
--there is a time and a place to call out your players...calling them out to the media is not the place

Are you also not aware that the Penguins are averaging MORE points per game than they had been with Crosby?! This team had every reason in the book to hang their head, make excuses, give up, and start pointing fingers. But, no, they are in FIRST PLACE and the man responsible for all of it is being called out to lose his job? What a bunch of turn-coats. You are NOT fans at all. You should be encouraging and giving credit where it is due. But you don't...you bunch of whiners! Save it for the next 15 years of the "rebuilding phase" of the Pirates and leave THERRIEN alone! You also whined and moaned when a COUPLE Steelers got hurt and then lost the play-off game in the midst of your "what could have been's if so-and-so played.
You have a coach who is doing an awesome job with half of Wilkes-Barre on the team and you want him FIRED?! There is NO other coach who could do what he is doing. Instead of stabbing him in the back you should be on the bandwagon giving him the credit he is due!
--settle for a first round playoff exit, I won't. The reason why the Pens are playing better without Crosby is because Therrien's system isn't for stars. Having Crosby means we have to get a coach who can get the most out of him. Therrien's system is for guys like armstrong and talbot and malone to excell in. But Crosby is where our present and future is.

THERRIEN ROCKS! EXTEND HIS CONTRACT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
--i see you are new...which second account is this?

"Homer mentality"? Translation: I back up my team and my coach....not badmouth them.

"Therien's systems isn't for stars"? Translation: So you're telling everyone that Malkin and Gonchar aren't stars? And the rest of the team is just mediocre?

WOW! The Penguins are in FIRST PLACE with a bad coach and mediocre players and a system that any coach and any bunch of players can learn! The rest of the NHL should be ashamed!

Therrien is one of the few people around since Shero cleaned house, and for good reason. You cry about the line changes? The players being able to play with everyone has been a benefit this season, especially with all the injuries. He knows how to push buttons and isn't afraid to call out or bench a vetern that has poor play. I see alot of similarities b/w Therrien and Bill Cowher. Passionate, hard nosed, yelling at refs and players. Therrien is probably the best coach the team has had since Kevin Constantine. With Shero, Therrien, and this core group of players we will see the cup in Pittsburgh soon.

Hey, DurkDiggler!

I totally agree with you! Therrien rocks! It just isn't right when Therrien is doing such a great job and not getting the credit he is due. I mean, really, a line-up with all those injuries and they are still on a tear in first place.......

I just thought it was humorous that someone could actually imply that a "bad coach", "mediocre players", and "an offense that anyone can learn" would be in first place. Without a great coach it doesn't matter who is on the teeam...it won't win. We have a great coach and we are winning.

" I see alot of similarities b/w Therrien and Bill Cowher"
so do i....never being able to win the ones they are supposed to. always leading teams to the playoffs but rarely winning the big one. and in the end, thats all that matters. i'm glad you will settle for first round appearances and losses...

"Without a great coach it doesn't matter who is on the teeam...it won't win. We have a great coach and we are winning."
-- exactly - it won't win in the PLAYOFFS!!!! we are winning in the regular season which is meaningless and we are winning despite having a coach that doesn't fit our system

well lets put it this way....i'm sure we all agree that the pens are probably one of the top 2 teams in the eastern conference - so if we do not at least reach the conference finals - who is to blame?

This fan's blog is a disgrace to the Penguins, their management, and Penguin fans everywhere, particularly because it links directly off of a national, reputable sports magazine's team page. First off, where do you get off saying that you are the biggest Penguin fan on this site? How dare you make any such assumption...you have no idea to what degree or with what passion the rest of us follow this team. As for the others who have, put called you a "fan" - as tempting and understandable as it is to want to disassociate yourself with fans like this, the truth is that one cannot rightly question this dude's fanaticism - I mean he seemingly believes he can influence the outcome of games when I says: "I will not settle for first round appearances and losses." What are you going to do? - Practice harder? - Come up with more elaborate pre-game rituals? - Write more impassioned fan blogs and bend the organization and its management to your will? YOU ARE PATHETIC!!! You will accept whatever happens because you have no other choice.

Now for actually addressing your criticism. You seem to make three points: 1) Therrien changes his lines too much. 2) He shouldn't have called Whitney out in the media. 3) He can only coach mediocre players up and is not successful at coaching superstars. Starting from the beginning, he does change the lines alot (too much for many peoples liking), but as others have noted before this has seemingly proved beneficial given all the injuries, and maybe more importantly, he has shown that he is willing to stick with a line if it is working well. Case in point Malone-Malkin-Sykora. I know that just last night he swapped Malone of Talbot, but that was after losing two lackluster games and for the stated intent of jump starting the Staal's line. (It seemed to work: 4-1 Pens win). The second point is even more absurd. After calling Whitney out in the media (after he by his own admission played poorly and let his team down the previous night) Whitney came back the next game and scored 4 points - seems like pretty good coaching to me. Finally, saying that Therrien can only coach mediocre players up and that he squanders his superstars, well, that is wrong on so many levels I don't know where to begin. First off, Crosby lead the league in scoring (ie won the Art Ross) last year and he won the Hart (MVP) and the Pearson (most-outstanding player) awards. Not a shabby showing for a 19 year old superstar. Moreover he was leading the league in scoring (or tied, or really close - its been a month so I don't quite remember) before he got injured, so he was doing pretty well this year, too. What else do you want? - I mean we would all like to see him reach 200 pts and win a dozen Stanley cups, but let the kid legally drink a beer in the US before we start calling MVP seasons that doesn't end with him drinking from Lord Stanley a utter failure. Also, since Crosby has gone down, Malikin (a legit super-star) has skyrocketed to the top of the scoring race, after, I might add, a lengthy and candid discussion with Therrien. So in my opinion Therrien has done just fine coaching his stars. And frankly, there is nothing wrong with coaching up mediocre players; in fact any hockey fan worth their salt will tell you that it is these 2nd and 3rd liners who will actually propel a team on a long post season run (not necessarily the super-stars). Plus, should a superstar be able to perform relatively independent of a coaching system; I mean a great player is a great player because he can impose his will on the ice; he doesn't necessarily need set plays, or fawning attention from a coach to get the job done. That doesn't mean stars are to be neglected, but rather, true stars are few and far between - no team has more than a couple - and I guess if I were given a choice between a coach who can reach the 1 or 2 stars on a team, and a coach who can improve and get the most out of the 16 guys, well I guess by this point in time my choice is clear.

Great job Mike!!! and LETS GO PENS

so are people making up profiles to attack my ideas? the guy above me is another one of those profiles created on the day of the comment and their only activity is on this blog...it's a bit suspicious

Can you say Coach-of-the Year?!!!! Way to go, Big Mike!

Hey, Pens Fans! (Or any other team's fans who would like to comment.) Do you think the Pens need to trade or are we solid with Roberts, Crosby, Fleury, etc coming back soon?

OK, OK. Ignore the above.