Deck stacked against Johnson

PITTSBURGH — The deck was stacked against Mike Johnston from the start.
He was given the responsibility of changing the culture with the Penguins, a veteran group that had just tuned out Dan Bylsma after a long stay.
Sometimes the message isn’t the only issue. There’s also the question of who is delivering it.
Despite his experience as an NHL assistant, Johnston was perceived as a junior hockey coach.
Is that going to fly with a team that includes NHL superstars?
We know the answer to that. Johnston didn’t even make it to Christmas in his second season. General manager Jim Rutherford, who settled on Johnston after better candidates were not available, sent Johnston packing over the weekend.
The team was turned over to Mike Sullivan, freshly promoted from minor league duty at Wilkes Barre.
This is a classic move. Make a change, and the replacement is the direct opposite type. Johnston was a professor. Sullivan is a drill sergeant, a no-nonsense guy with a booming voice who has the additional credibility of a long NHL playing career.
That’s the way it works. When Michel Therrien’s hard-driving style chafed on the players, the replacement was Blylsma, who had a much more laid-back approach.
That transition worked. Freed from the tension that Therrien caused, the players relaxed, played to their capabilities and won a Stanley Cup.
Rutherford is hoping the switch brings a similar result this time, because the onus is now on the GM.
The Penguins are spending up to the salary cap every year to compete for the Stanley Cup. It hasn’t worked. The team hasn’t been to the Final since they won the Cup in 2009.
Sidney Crosby isn’t “Sid the Kid” any more. He turned 28 in August. The clock is ticking on this group.
The Penguins are no longer perceived as one of the NHL’s elite teams.
Sullivan’s mission is to get them back to that level. Based on what he said at his introductory news conference, he doesn’t have any revolutionary ideas.
He wants effort and accountability. Johnston did, too, but he had no idea how to make that happen.
Sullivan said he wants a power play that focuses on maximizing opportunities rather than trying to make highlight reel plays. He might the 10th Penguins coach to say that.
The Penguins are at a strange place in their history. The present owners are trying to sell the franchise, so how committed are they to the day-to-day details?
The GM is almost at retirement age, with a bevy of assistants jockeying for the job he’s expected to vacate.
Superstars rule the locker room, yet there doesn’t seem to be strong leadership from the players.
It’s virtually guaranteed there will be a game when Sullivan closes the locker room doors and verbally blasts his team. There will probably be a few punitive practices, where the players work on boring drills to pay the price for not working hard enough in games.
The players haven’t had that kind of rough treatment since Therrien was on the job.
One more thing: One of the biggest factors in Johnston’s dismissal was the failure of the power play. The only assistant coach retained is Rick Tocchet, who was responsible for the power play.
That doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense, nor does it seem smart to saddle a new coach with a top aide he may not want.
But that’s the way things are going with Team Dysfunction these days.
Good luck, Mike Sullivan. He’s going to need it.