Well, not to be a **** to the Devils franchise, but let us all pray that they have trouble adjusting to the new coaching style of Deboer and that their issues at center come back to bite them.
An interesting thought; is Park considered to be a "cerebral" guy / student of the game? Even if he is it would be a good bet he'd start in Wheeling or WBS. He definitely will not displace Granato, who despite whatever flaws he's had, has head coaching and assistant coaching experience in the NHL. That trumps anything Park might have for now. Even coaching and failing and learning from that, is more valuable than a good mind who has never coached (at this level).
Also, your name is spelled incorrectly. It's "Solushun."
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I was not thinking about Park causing Granato to be kicked to the curb. I was thinking more about him getting a head coaching gig somewhere. He does have head coaching experience already. That counts for a lot in the NHL.
I need to leave my naame this way otherwise I will screw up the spelling. Pronounce it how you want.
Probably, since he already has been a head coach in the NHL before. And down in Wilkes-Barre John Hynes won't stay forever. The man is only 36, was AHL Coach of the Year in his first year as head coach, and has had a successful tenure with the US U18 program, including three medals at the U18 WC. Someone will sign him as assistant, especially with how the Baby Pens have been quite the coaching ladder to the NHL recently (Richards, Bylsma and Reirden in the last 5 years).
Hynes is another interesting candidate to move on (in the positive way). In that situation, I would guess that Nes would move into the head coaching spot. Does Guerin become the assistant coach with Park taking the development coach job? Just curious.
I hope if Hynes moves on, he takes an assistant coaching position with the Pens instead of going on and being a coach somewhere else. I would rather they kept some of their AHL coaching talent around.
There are quite a few teams in the league that have 3 assistant coaches, it's not out of the norm to have that kind of set up at all.
How much would the HFBoards hate us Pens fans if Parise signed with the Pens and the Pens didn't have to give up anyone to make room for him in the off season? Lol.
I'd love it, I'm no big dreamer either but you just never know. Parise has seen enough of the Pens, he knows what they are all about...if Shero contacted him if Parise wanted to test the market, who the hell knows? Right?
Right?
Parise, Crosby, Kennedy - this line would drive teams insane and dominate them in the offensive and defensive zone all game long.
Neal, Staal, Malkin - this line would then come out and crush their hopes and dreams after facing that top line, the final nail in the coffin for the other team.
Then,
Cooke-Letestu-Sullivan
Adams-Park-Asham get to feed on the remains
In junior, the guy was such a deadly offensive talent. Slick hands, great vision and passing ability, and while not a speed demon, it didn't appear that skating would hold him back. If anything, attitude/work ethic was the issue lacking. In the pros, however, he seems to have made a career based more on work ethic than skill (the opposite of his junior career).
Did his offensive game just not translate to the NHL?
Then,
Cooke-Letestu-Sullivan
Adams-Park-Asham get to feed on the remains
I'd be pretty pissed off if Park and Sullivan are back next year with the guys that should be replacing them in the line-up not able to do so and Jeffrey is gone and thriving elsewhere.
In junior, the guy was such a deadly offensive talent. Slick hands, great vision and passing ability, and while not a speed demon, it didn't appear that skating would hold him back. If anything, attitude/work ethic was the issue lacking. In the pros, however, he seems to have made a career based more on work ethic than skill (the opposite of his junior career).
Did his offensive game just not translate to the NHL?
It's not like he doesn't display flashes from time to time in the NHL - he doesn't have hands of stone or any lack of awareness with the puck like a lot of career 3rd liners. But then, he didn't really stick in the NHL at first. After his rookie year with us, he was basically an AHLer until he ended up in Minny. I guess he just decided that one way or another he'd be more likely to have a good pro career as a good checking guy rather than trying to be a playmaker.
Which is pretty impressive in its own right, I guess - he made a conscious decision to completely remake his game, and succeeded. Not a lot of guys can do that.
Lots of guys do well in juniors only to have that offense not translate to the NHL. Arron Asham dominated junior hockey. So did Matt Cooke. Max Talbot was a superstar (literally) in the Q. Dustin Jeffrey dominated.
And those are just a few examples of guys from last year's Pens who were prolific junior scorers but are grinders at the NHL level. That's how it goes. When it comes down to it, no matter how much people sometimes criticize the skill level of the Talbots and the Ashams and the Cookes, these are guys who were stars at the junior level. That's how good the NHL is. That's how good you have to be to get there.
Look at almost any teams third and fourth liners and you will find plenty of examples of junior stars who are checking liners at the NHL level. Park is far from unique in that regard.
Park did bloom later on in his career, the last 5 seasons or so in the NHL he's become a pretty solid contributor for a bottom 6 guy that comes at a bargain. If he earns a spot, he'll likely replace what Talbot brought to the bottom 6. Or well, hopefully.
I'd be pretty pissed off if Park and Sullivan are back next year with the guys that should be replacing them in the line-up not able to do so and Jeffrey is gone and thriving elsewhere.
No?
If Park and Sullivan are still better hockey players than the guys behind them I'd expect Park and Sullivan to be playing. I'd be disappointed that the guys behind them haven't developed how we had hoped, but I don't know what anyone would be pissed off about. Contenders put the best players on the ice to win right now. The 2006 Penguins let better players go to give the young guys a chance.
Lots of guys do well in juniors only to have that offense not translate to the NHL. Arron Asham dominated junior hockey. So did Matt Cooke. Max Talbot was a superstar (literally) in the Q. Dustin Jeffrey dominated.
And those are just a few examples of guys from last year's Pens who were prolific junior scorers but are grinders at the NHL level. That's how it goes. When it comes down to it, no matter how much people sometimes criticize the skill level of the Talbots and the Ashams and the Cookes, these are guys who were stars at the junior level. That's how good the NHL is. That's how good you have to be to get there.
Look at almost any teams third and fourth liners and you will find plenty of examples of junior stars who are checking liners at the NHL level. Park is far from unique in that regard.
But that's the crux of my original post. Park *is* unique, especially amongst the names you mention. I saw Cooke play regularly as well, and he displayed nowhere the actual puck skills or passing ability Park did. Ditto for Asham. Talbot was also more about relentless hard work and hustle mixed in with good (for junior) skills, rather than top end skills. Their skills were good enough to allow them to put up numbers in junior, but they were never so great that you thought they had a chance of putting up those numbers in the NHL.
Park, on the other hand, had the kind of skills that you figure could translate to playing in a top six role at the NHL level. He seemed to have the same top end skill that other guys around him like Daniel Cleary and Marc Savard possessed. Yet those two, to a certain extent, have been able to translate that ability to the NHL.
Obviously that didn't materialize. And I know it's probably a question that's near impossible to answer, but I don't think Park's in the same category as the guys you mention simply because those guys, despite their junior numbers, didn't have the hands or puck skills Park did.
I'd be pretty pissed off if Park and Sullivan are back next year with the guys that should be replacing them in the line-up not able to do so and Jeffrey is gone and thriving elsewhere.
No?
Sure, but he's pretty good at face-offs(which we need), and good grinder. This is a "Park" thread, so I stuck him in there.
In defense of Sullivan, he has proven he can score. Obviously, with his recent injury record, he's a big question mark. The Pens could catch lighting in a bottle, or we cut ties with him.
