Johnston Out as Penguin Coach

Johnston Out as Penguin Coach
By Michael Dell, editor-in-chief

It's an old truism in sports. When things are going bad a club can't change all the guys involved, so it always changes just one... the coach. Thus is the fate of Eddie Johnston.
The Pittsburgh Penguins relieved Johnston of his head coaching duties on Monday, March 3, with the club having lost four straight games and eight of its last nine. The Penguins, who were once living the good life at the top of the Northeast Division, have now fallen nine points behind Buffalo for the division lead and are showing no signs of stopping their fall from grace. GM Craig Patrick will take over behind the bench for the remainder of the season. It will be Patrick's second tour of duty as Pittsburgh's coach. When he first came to the Penguins in 1989-90, Patrick handled the roles of both coach and GM for the remainder of the season while he became familiar with the personnel. There has been no talk of bringing in someone from the outside to fill the job. That is a decision that will be made during the off-season.
Johnston, 61, originally coached the Penguins from 1980-1983, before then becoming the club's GM through 1988. After spending one more year as an assistant GM in Pittsburgh, Johnston moved on to become the Vice President and GM of the Hartford Whalers from 1989-1992. Once cut loose from the Whale, EJ returned to coach the Penguins at the start of the 1993-94 season. He had an overall record of 153-98-25 during his second stint with the club and improved in the playoffs after each season, losing in seven games to the Florida Panthers during last year's playoffs.
The announcement came as a total shock. There were no rumors of an impending move and Johnston has always been a popular coach with the players, especially Mario Lemieux. Johnston and Patrick are also very close friends, so the decision to make a change was one of the hardest in the GM's career. Which leads many to speculate that the order to fire Johnston came from on high. In other words, owner Howard Baldwin had EJ whacked "Goodfellas" style.
There's no truth to the rumor that EJ had a run-in with Baldwin and Patrick at a local night spot the night before. It was reported that EJ told Baldwin to "go home and get your f*****' shine box." At which time Baldwin erupted with anger and stormed out of the bar, leaving Patrick behind to cool things off. When EJ asked Patrick if he had insulted Baldwin, Patrick responded "little bit... you insulted him a little bit." Patrick then tried to calm the situation by telling EJ that "drinks were on the house." Aw, it's all just a joke. Relax.
"Our ship is definitely off course," explained an obviously saddened Patrick at the news conference. "We've got to roll up our sleeves and get to work."
Johnston will stay on with the organization as an assistant GM. Johnston's strength has always been talent-evaluation and scouting, so he should be a tremendous asset to the team in the front office.
"I want to thank Craig and the organization for allowing me to spend four great years here. I've really enjoyed it," offered Johnston. "Unfortunately, we haven't been going too well since the All-Star Game. For whatever reason, after those five days off, the chemistry never came back to us."
One of the nicest guys in the game of hockey, Johnston was often criticized for being just that. He was perceived by many to be too much of a player's coach, not willing or able to drop the hammer on the boys when things went sour. However, blaming EJ for the Penguins' current struggles is absolutely ridiculous. This move isn't really a result of anything EJ did or didn't do. It's more of a last ditch effort to try and spark a talented team that too often fails to show any determination or emotion. Perhaps having the GM standing behind them on the bench will inspire better efforts from some of the less-reliable performers. Fear is a great motivator.
Pittsburgh has seemingly had three distinctive seasons this year. The Birds opened up the campaign going 2-9-0, looking uninterested and sleepy along the way. Fans were calling for EJ's head, yet Patrick stood behind his buddy and soon made numerous trades to change the chemistry of the club. The Pens responded to the arrival of such players as Darius Kasparaitis, Stu Barnes, Jason Woolley, Fredrik Olausson, and Alex Hicks by rolling up an amazing 20-2-4 record from November 22 to January 21. Along the way they found a goaltending phenom in the form of 22-year-old rookie Patrick Lalime and forged one of the greatest lines in recent memory with Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, and Ron Francis all skating together. Everything looked all good in the Burgh.
Then things went nutty. Since January 23, the Pens have gone 5- 11-0, reverting back to the lifeless team that stumbled through the first few weeks of the season. Exhausted from starting 18 of 19 games and routinely facing 35+ shots a night, Lalime has cooled off and barely resembles the goaltender that was named the rookie of the month for December and January. Lemieux, Francis, and Jagr have all been slowed by injuries the past month and it looks like Jagr could miss the remaining of the regular season with a severe groin strain.
And really, injuries are what cost EJ his job. If Lemieux, Francis, and Jagr were all healthy, they'd still be dominating with ease and the team would still be winning hockey games. It's no coincidence that the club started winning after EJ put the trio together in Hartford on November 22 and started struggling once Jagr first injured his groin shortly before the All-Star break.
Obviously the team needs more balanced scoring and just can't rely on the top line to get the job done every night, but apparently the correlation between the Penguins' problems and the health of the big line has gone unnoticed by many in the Burgh. The Johnston firing has set off a wide-spread panic around the city, with many questioning whether or not this team can compete in the playoffs.
Since when did the Penguins become a great team? Why are people so surprised that the club is having problems now that its three superstars are banged up? It's always the same story with the Pens, they'll only go as far as Lemieux, Francis, and Jagr will take them. They should just weather the storm, rest up the Big Three, and then take their shot in the postseason. All this panic is rather silly.
How bad have things gotten? Well, Lemieux was asked by a local reporter point blank if he thought the team had enough talent to win a Stanley Cup. Lemieux, the man this team depends on for leadership and inspiration, responded with a wry smile and a "No comment." That's trouble when the man questions his teammates. But really it's the truth. This club doesn't have the scoring depth to be considered a favorite to win the Cup. After the Big Three, Petr Nedved is the only legitimate scoring threat up front.
However, that doesn't mean this club, as currently comprised, can't win the Cup. After all, last season the Pens made it to within one game of the Stanley Cup Finals boasting a blue line with the likes of Sergei Zubov, Dmitri Mironov, and J.J. Daigneault, not to mention a group of forwards including such winners as Kevin Miller, Brad Lauer, and Bryan Smolinski. This year's club is improved at every position and could make another run as long as the Big Three are healthy. If they aren't, the Birds are cooked and it doesn't matter who's behind the bench or on the second and third lines.
Patrick was forced to make so many trades early in the season that he basically painted himself into a corner. Making another player transaction now would be a difficult task since there aren't many guys left to trade and any possible shock value from such a move would be lessened because of the prior changes. And with New Jersey and Washington both engineering major deals in the past week that should put them ahead of Pittsburgh in the pack of Cup contenders, something had to be done. So switching coaches was really the only option management had to try and spark the team and to send the message that the club is serious about having a successful postseason. It's just too bad Eddie Johnston had to take the fall. Now it's Patrick's job to try and see that the switch pays off. LCS wishes him good luck. Because unless Jagr returns soon, he's gonna need it.

A Tribute to EJ

Before we leave the subject, LCS would like to pay tribute to Eddie Johnston. Yeah, sure, a lot of people rip on him, including some in our own LCS family. But EJ is just a swell guy. It's really hard to believe anyone could hate this man. Granted, citizens of Hartford were angered when as GM of the Whale he traded away Ron Francis. But he did get Johnny Cullen, LCS hero and the idol of millions from eight to eighty, back in return. Puts things in a different light, doesn't it? That's what I thought. Anyway, here are three things that LCS will always remember about EJ and his time as Penguin head coach.
1. EJ vs. the Capitals: Eddie had several memorable moments last Spring against the Washington Capitals. First, EJ got so upset with Caps coach Jim Schoenfeld after he felt Washington sent out its goons late in a game to rough up some Penguins, he got involved in a shouting match with Schoenfeld and the two men went nose to nose at the glass divider between benches. EJ was scrappy like that.

Artist's rendition of puck striking EJ

Then a few games later, with the Penguins trying to hold onto a lead late in regulation, then-Penguin defenseman Sergei Zubov fired a clearing attempt that sailed into the Pittsburgh bench. The puck struck EJ right in the melon, opening up a nasty cut that bled like a chimp. Refusing medical attention, EJ simply held a towel to his head for the remaining minutes of the game until the time expired and his team left the ice with the win. There was EJ all loopy from the blow to the head and clutching a now crimson towel staggering off the ice to the applause of the fans. Oh, how quickly they forget.
2. The Wacky Tie: EJ was famous for wearin' this zany tie every time the Penguins hit a lull. It's tough to explain exactly how kooky the tie was, but I'll give it a shot. Okay, the top part was light blue. Nothin' real wacky yet, but it gets better. The bottom half of the tie was all gold and featured a design that looked like a harp with the space between the strings colored in and then a set of airline pilot wings on the top. Words really can't do it justice. It was some wild, wild stuff.

We'll miss you, EJ

3. Drag Racing with Herman: LCS will never forget the time EJ came to the rescue after his son-in-law Herman got a little in over his head in a drag race. EJ's grandson, Eddie, told all the kids at school that his pop was the best driver in the world and entered Herman in a drag race competition. Herman got all dressed up like Marlon Brando in "The Wild Ones" and did his best but ended up losing the family car in a bet with a fellow racer. That's when EJ saved the day, winning back Herman's car while driving the Dragula, a motorized coffin on wheels that EJ built in his spare time. Except the only problem was that EJ's car was so fast that he couldn't stop it. Herman had to grab on to the backend of it and drag his feet while the car skidded all over the race track in hopes of slowing it down. Aw, that was great, that was fun.
Yes, Eddie Johnston's time as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins is over, but he left behind a memorable legacy. Oh, EJ, we hardly knew ye...