(Pittsburgh) Ron Hextall, Pittsburgh Penguins. Yes, it might take a little while to get used to it.
Posted on February 10, 2021 at 6:48 p.m.
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Yet Sidney Crosby has referred to the team leaders’ decision to hire Hextall – long associated with the Philadelphia Flyers, their great rivals in Pennsylvania state – as general manager as proof that the League National Hockey League is, in fact, a big family.
“It’s fun when you think about it, because it’s not something you anticipate,” Crosby admitted on Wednesday, 24 hours after Hextall was appointed to replace Jim Rutherford, who abruptly resigned. last month.
“I think that’s something you find yourself saying a lot in hockey, that it (hockey) finds a way to bring people together under different circumstances. ”
Hextall spent 11 of his 13 seasons in the NHL as a goaltender with the Flyers, with whom he regularly battled against Mario Lemieux, the Penguins superstar in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, who will henceforth be his boss.
Hextall also spent four years as general manager of the Flyers, where one of his main tasks was to build a club capable of toppling Crosby and the Penguins.
Now his tenure will be to surround Crosby and Evgeni Malkin with players talented enough to orchestrate a long playoff adventure.
Attracting an old rival to build a winning club isn’t necessarily new to Pittsburgh.
In February 1992, as they headed for a second straight Stanley Cup win, the Penguins acquired forward Rick Tocchet from the Flyers.
Tocchet added two Stanley Cup rings as an assistant coach in 2016 and 2017.
Work to be done
If the tone was in the right mood Wednesday morning, Hextall and Brian Burke, who has been named president of hockey operations, won’t have the privilege of enjoying a honeymoon.
Usually, changes in the leadership of a team occur during the off-season. Not this one.
Rutherford’s astonishing exit came two weeks after the start of a 56-game sprint. There will be no time to test the waters; it will be a trial and error learning period in one of the most competitive sections in the NHL.
However, in making these hires, the Penguins have regained an element that they lacked in the past month: a semblance of normalcy.
The team built a 5-5-1 record despite numerous injuries to defensemen, a five-a-side attack that in the majority of cases was ineffective, and a messed up schedule following a COVID outbreak -19 for the New Jersey Devils.
The Penguins have only played one game in the past week, a situation that has both good and bad sides.
Some players were able to heal their injuries. This is the case of defender Marcus Pettersson, who trained on Wednesday and is approaching a return to the game.
The deadline also gives coaches a chance to address issues that have recently arisen.
The long break also allowed a painful 4-3 loss to the New York Islanders last Saturday to marinate longer in their heads.
Add to that the arrival of new leaders, and that’s a lot to assimilate at the same time.
In this regard, head coach Mike Sullivan disagreed with the thesis that developing new relationships mid-season is a challenge. According to him, it is more of an opportunity, a term he has used more than once.
“These men are smart people,” Sullivan said.
“I think the goal is the same, which is to win the Stanley Cup with the core we have here. And for my part, my work does not change. I will lead this team to the best of my knowledge. We are going to lead this team to the best of our ability to give them the best chance of winning night after night. ”
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