Did you actually listen to coach Mike Sullivan at his season-ending news conference two weeks ago?
I would imagine, as a fan, you wanted some outrage. You wanted the fiery Sully that arrived in Pittsburgh all those years ago, the drill sergeant who put the stars in their place and seemingly did not smile once until the Penguins won it all.
That Sully might have stepped to the podium, after missing the playoffs for the second straight season, and begun by telling fans — the real audience at those types of gatherings — that he was beyond disgusted and would exhaust every last ounce of energy to make it right. That Sully might have said something like, “This is unacceptable, and it begins with me. Given our talent, our good health and the golden opportunity our opponents gave us, missing the playoffs again is simply intolerable. We failed. I failed. This cannot happen again.”
Instead, we got this from a kinder, gentler Sully: “I’ve said on a couple of occasions we’re proud of the group for the performance down the stretch. ... There were a lot of excuses out there to go in a different direction, and they chose not to. And I think that speaks volumes for the character of the people in the room, the leadership we have, the professionalism of the group and their care factor. And we couldn’t be more proud of the effort and the investment they all put in to drag ourselves back in the fight. ... I can’t say enough about the character of the people in our dressing room.”
Come again? Isn’t trying hard the least a professional athlete can do? And why did the Penguins leave the fight in the first place? Oh, and where was the “care factor” when the team basically quit upon learning longtime teammate Jake Guentzel would be traded? The night the Penguins found out, they lost at home to the Capitals, 6-0, and remained in a funk, basically costing themselves a playoff spot. I don’t think that speaks volumes for the “professionalism of the group,” quite frankly, although at least defenseman Kris Letang told the truth after the Capitals debacle.