Reply To: Articles

[hockeygod]

Time to recognize Bylsma

Sean Gordon, Globe and Mail, Feb. 08, 2012

With apologies to Bill Maher, let us define a few New Rules this morning.

Rule the first: in any discussion about pro hockey’s cleverest men, Penguins coach Dan Bylsma must be among the first three names mentioned.

Not only because he has managed to keep his team among the conference elite despite a raft of injuries that would make many grown men cry and consign lesser teams to a season of misery and bottom feeding – like these guys, for example.

No, Bylsma’s true genius is in getting the most out of marginal players (Dustin Jeffrey? Joe Vitale?) and creating an environment that has enabled a couple of the best young players in the game to mature and flourish.

Evgeni Malkin, who people tend to forget is only 25 years old, has blossomed into the Crosby-less NHL’s best player this season, and Bylsma deserves some of the credit.

Look no further than Tuesday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, a cagily-played affair that saw centre Tomas Plekanec and defensive pair Josh Gorges and P.K. Subban in Malkin’s socks for much of the game.

Byslma had said prior to the game that Malkin and his linemates have gotten used to special treatment from the opposition, and hinted that he’d try and exploit situational mismatches to get them some more room out there.

So it was seven minutes into the third period, when Bylsma called his second line – who had been matched up with Gorges, Subban and the Habs’ top line – back to the bench and threw Malkin’s group out.

The Habs managed to get Plekanec and his linemates on the ice, but by then Subban and Gorges had gone for a breather and the defensive pairing was Hal Gill (who doesn’t do well against speed) and Yannick Weber (who is just flat out brutal in his own end).

Presto, James Neal scored the 2-2 equalizer after Malkin’s feed from behind the net was deflected into his path by Plekanec.

Malkin then scored a swanky spinarama goal in the shootout, which the Pens would eventually lose (Plekanec scored the decisive goal, and appears to be emerging at last from his season-long lethargy).

But without Bylsma’s quick thinking, it’s an open question whether they get that overtime point, which allowed Pittsburgh to keep pace with New Jersey, who have one less regulation win (this could matter in deciding the final seedings).

Good teams get something out of games they have no right to win – and after Lars Eller's no-look goal, it looked like the hockey gods were going to side with the Habs.

Another key factor in the Pens’ recent run of success: the presence of 24-year-old defenceman Kristopher Letang, who gives them another dimension on the back end, and who has also bloomed under Bylsma’s tutelage.

The Pens are 6-2-1 since Letang returned to the lineup, and have put together a 9-2-1 string since Jan. 11.

Speaking of Letang, aren’t the criticisms leveled at him when he was younger (cocky, mouthy, selfish, mistake-prone) pretty much exactly the same ones leveled at another 22-year-old defenceman we know?

A couple of years later, and Letang is in the conversation for the Norris trophy, or he would be had a concussion not interrupted his season.

Disco Dan knows what he's doing, gang, and has single-handedly removed the injury bug as an excuse for under-performing in the NHL. We're big fans of the job he's done.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."