Pretty much all of this. Classy's post wasn't worth reading from the first sentence, since it was beyond obvious to anyone who actually pays any attention to the Pens that the team had utterly stagnated under Bylsma to the point where they were a regular season monster that everyone knew would collapse, crash and burn emphatically in the postseason, when grit and heart becomes just as (if not moreso) important than sheer natural talent.End of Line;1662578 wrote:Yeah, no. He should've been gone after the meltdown against Philly in '12 and in '13 after the collapse against Boston. A real defense? You do realize the only thing defensive about Bylsma was zone and a fucking stretch pass. The team as a whole is better than it was last year and the defensive depth is better. Don't give me losing Orpik and Niskanen was terrible either. Orpik was hot garbage and Niskanen would've been redundant on this team. Getting Ehrhoff to replace him was a incredible move as he is a better offensive defenseman than him. Also, finally letting the kids play unlike Bylsma will payoff as well.
Now onto Detroit. Detroit is going backwards, and fast. Datsyuk is just about done and Zetterberg is close as well. Time is ticking on them and they both miss chunks of the season due to injuries every year. Howard is overrated and Holland won't let his top prospects play on the top team until they're about 24-25. No top FA's want to go there anymore either. They missed out on Niskanen this year and they offered more than Washington did but didn't want to play there. Imo Detroit's days as an elite team are on done.
They needed someone new to try to get more out of that talent. As to if the new regime is the right "someone", only time will tell that, but anyone with a brain knew they needed to make a change.
