The Penguins have elected to “part ways” with associate coach Todd Reirden. A nice way of saying he was dismissed or axed, whichever you prefer.
The announcement was made today by Pens POHO/GM Kyle Dubas.
It was pretty much a given that the 52-year-old Reirden, whose contract expires at the end of the current season, would not be re-upped. In addition to coaching the problematic black-and-gold defense, Reirden was in charge of the power play, which ranked a woeful 30th in conversation rate (15.3%) and 28th in goals (40) while yielding 12 shorthanded goals…tied for worst in the league.
In short…the unit was an unmitigated disaster. A black hole that more often than not sucked the life out of the team instead of providing a boon as expected or hoped.
In Reirden’s defense, I’m sure he didn’t instruct his charges to stand around and pass the puck around the perimeter, with an occasional risky, point-to-point pass mixed in. It’s almost as if some of our veterans were using the man-advantage as an active rest period to catch an on-ice breather between their regular shifts.
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