I said in my opening salvo that if you were looking for me to blog about the everyday news about the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins that you were looking in the wrong place. There are paid professionals who do that or many intelligent bloggers which offer insight. With the news of today though, I had to get on here blog about it.
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced today* that Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins Head Coach Todd Reirden was named assistant coach to Dan Bylsma. Assistant Coach John Hynes was named Head Coach in WBS.
I suppose with the departure of Mike Yeo to the Houston Aeros to coach their team that Pittsburgh needed a new Assistant. Reirden was their man.
NHL jobs, just like playing spots in the NHL are earned, never given. It’s obvious that brass in Pittsburgh sees something in Reirden to name him Assistant. You can debate amongst yourselves whether this is a good move or not. There are two sides. The ones who think that Reirden should have been fired as Head Coach of WBS and the ones who say that NHL is top priority and coaches, just like players, are developed in the AHL.
As for myself, I don’t get paid to make these decisions. But I will say that I would rather this move happen 8 weeks before the season starts versus 8 weeks into the season.
Also, Wilkes-Barre re-signed enforcer Jesse Boulerice yesterday.
*= I refuse to link the Pittsburgh Penguins’ news release. Not that I am anti-Pittsburgh, but because I am totally against the “Baby Penguins” brand classification.
WBS News
As a WBS fan, I’m happy to see Reirden move on — because I didn’t care for him too much. It wasn’t a personal thing, I just didn’t find him to be the greatest head coach. He was way too passive to coach in the minors. He is a better fit for an assistant position.
Hynes has a proven track record when it comes to being a developmental coach. I’m biased because of his history with BU, but I think he’s going to do a good job in his new role.
Pittsburgh rarely puts in the work to find someone outside of the organization to grab a new spot (at least in recent times), so it was easy for them to go with Reirden. Plus, Bylsma has already worked with him.