After yet another early exit in a disappointing postseason, the Pittsburgh Penguins have reportedly fired Dan Bylsma on the day the team is expected to announce the hiring of Jim Rutherford as its new general manager.
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According to TVA Sports, Bylsma was let-go from the Penguins despite the fact that the team chose to keep him on after it fired GM Ray Shero last month. It is unclear at this time if the decision is one that team brass made or if Rutherford has decided he would like to shake things up if he took the job.
It would seem that if team ownership wanted Bylsma gone, they would have initially gotten rid of him when they ousted Shero last month. Bylsma guided the Penguins to the Stanley Cup in 2009 after taking over at the helm midway through the season, but the team has been a postseason flop since and hasn't gotten back to the Stanley Cup Final since hoisting the Cup that year.
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Bylsma has posted a 252-117-32 record in the regular season and earned the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's best coach back in 2010-11, but the team's futility in the postseason has led to his dismissal.
Dan Bylsma has been fired. #Penguins
— Louis Jean (@LouisJean_TVA) June 6, 2014
The Penguins made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, but were swept out by the Boston Bruins in four games. Aside from last year, the team has had two Round 1 and two Round 2 exits in the five years since it has won the Stanley Cup.
The Penguins have dealt with many injuries to key players, but after being billed as a Cup favorite heading into this postseason, the team wavered in an opening round matchup with the Columbus Blue Jackets that saw it blow lead after lead before winning in six games.
Pittsburgh followed up that performance by taking a dominant 3-1 series lead over the New York Rangers in Round 2.
It was all downhill from there, as the Rangers rallied back and won three straight games -- including a Game 7 road triumph at Consol Energy Center -- and ousted the Penguins from the playoffs in the first series win for the Blueshirts over the Pens in franchise history.
The Rangers are now in the Stanley Cup Final while the Pens navigate through the aftermath of an epic collapse.
There was speculation that the players had grown tired of Bylsma, but captain Sidney Crosby, who largely speaks for the pulse of the locker room, said he didn't feel a change was necessary when talking to Pens TV following the Game 7 loss to the Rangers.
"Honestly, I don't think it's necessary," he told the affiliate. "It's not something that's happened and I don't feel like I need to talk about [making a coaching change] right now. I'm not going to predict the future, I don't know what's going to happen. I'm well aware of all the questions, but we're in this together, whether it's coaches or players."
As of Friday, Bylsma and his former players are no longer in this together.
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