X-Terminator
09-30-2013, 09:31 PM
Three days after his Penguins (http://triblive.com/sports/penguins/) were swept from the Eastern Conference final, general manager Ray Shero met with owners prepared to pitch a plan of staying the course.
He never had to sell Mario Lemieux or Ron Burkle on anything.
“They believed in what we were doing, and who we were doing it with,” Shero said. “So that was a short conversation. Then we started talking about what to do next.”
Coach Dan Bylsma is aware that “next” — at least in the view of everybody outside the organization — is the Stanley Cup, or the Penguins will have failed.
“The reaction to losing when we did last season showed that,” Bylsma said. “But I want that pressure. We all do.”
Bylsma — rewarded in the offseason with a two-year extension, a raise and new contracts for longtime assistants Tony Granato and Todd Reirden — is probably wise to embrace the Penguins' unique expectations.
Shero also does not deny the obvious.
“When you have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, a lot of people think you should win every year,” Shero said. “It's not that easy to win once. Trust me. But those two are great, great players, and I believe in this group around them, and our coaches, and here is why:
“There are a lot of good teams in this league. How many teams have gone to the Conference final three times in (six) years?”
The list consists of the Penguins (2008-09, 2013) and Blackhawks (2009-10, 2013).
Last summer, following another disappointing playoff defeat, those Blackhawks resisted any urges to eviscerate a proven philosophy of staying steady, kept coach Joel Quenneville to lead its nucleus — and the reward was a hard-won second title last June.
Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/penguins/4791824-74/penguins-season-coach#ixzz2gQwOpiQi
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter (http://ec.tynt.com/b/rw?id=d-D-nM8emr4ALpacwqm_6l&u=triblive) | triblive on Facebook (http://ec.tynt.com/b/rf?id=d-D-nM8emr4ALpacwqm_6l&u=triblive)
He never had to sell Mario Lemieux or Ron Burkle on anything.
“They believed in what we were doing, and who we were doing it with,” Shero said. “So that was a short conversation. Then we started talking about what to do next.”
Coach Dan Bylsma is aware that “next” — at least in the view of everybody outside the organization — is the Stanley Cup, or the Penguins will have failed.
“The reaction to losing when we did last season showed that,” Bylsma said. “But I want that pressure. We all do.”
Bylsma — rewarded in the offseason with a two-year extension, a raise and new contracts for longtime assistants Tony Granato and Todd Reirden — is probably wise to embrace the Penguins' unique expectations.
Shero also does not deny the obvious.
“When you have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, a lot of people think you should win every year,” Shero said. “It's not that easy to win once. Trust me. But those two are great, great players, and I believe in this group around them, and our coaches, and here is why:
“There are a lot of good teams in this league. How many teams have gone to the Conference final three times in (six) years?”
The list consists of the Penguins (2008-09, 2013) and Blackhawks (2009-10, 2013).
Last summer, following another disappointing playoff defeat, those Blackhawks resisted any urges to eviscerate a proven philosophy of staying steady, kept coach Joel Quenneville to lead its nucleus — and the reward was a hard-won second title last June.
Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/penguins/4791824-74/penguins-season-coach#ixzz2gQwOpiQi
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter (http://ec.tynt.com/b/rw?id=d-D-nM8emr4ALpacwqm_6l&u=triblive) | triblive on Facebook (http://ec.tynt.com/b/rf?id=d-D-nM8emr4ALpacwqm_6l&u=triblive)