PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It’s one thing for fan or the media to rip the Penguins play, especially Tuesday against Philadelphia, it’s another when a Stanley Cup champion is calling out players on this current Pens team.
“We want to see some compete, some dog in those boys,” Tyler Kennedy said with The PM Team on 93.7 The Fan. “They have it, it’s just they got to get it going here boys. We can’t just lay down.”
“I’m prideful to be a Pittsburgh Penguin. There is that standard. It’s tough to see right now.”
Specifically, the conversation is about what happened in Philadelphia on Tuesday night. After giving up 13 goals in a pair of losses to division foes Washington and the Rangers, the Pens dropped a 6-1 game to the Flyers. A game where afterward even head coach Mike Sullivan mentioned a lack of effort.
Kennedy said with Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller, and then again the next day with Pomp and Joe, it’s not as much the score as the lack of hitting. Seemingly a lack of emotion while you were getting your noses rubbed in it by Philly.
“Sean Couturier, their captain says, we had our way with the Penguins,” Kennedy said. “It was a good game, easy game. Boys have a good night.”
“When their captain says they had their way with the Pittsburgh Penguins, I’m ready to throw my phone through the window.”
Kennedy said this wasn’t the way he was taught coming up through the Penguins organization. This isn’t the example of how the Pens play.
“If you are a third or fourth-line guy or a fifth or sixth defenseman and a team is up by three goals, you are fighting someone,” Kennedy said. “You are running someone. You are trying to put them through the third row. They are up by four goals and you don’t even see a hit? I don’t know what to say.”
Kennedy said it’s not just on the players, but the coaches and general manager. They need to preach an example of what is needed and its things guys can control. It’s not talking about a lack of talent, it’s about playing with an effort.
In conversations recently with former Penguin Ryan Malone, Kennedy said Malone told him he would run through a wall playing with Mario Lemieux. He respected him so much, he would do anything to support or defend him.
“I’m calling out the guys that are young on that team,” Kennedy said on 93.7 The Fan. “You have a guy that is a generational player. A guy like Sidney Crosby and you are not doing anything. It’s a shame. Who is going to set the tone?”
His message is if you aren’t playing for the jersey, you should at least be playing for one of the sport’s all-time greatest players. Kennedy called out the coaches by not telling the players to mix it up. Or if they are unwilling, then put out players on the ice that show effort and try to set a tone that way. Kennedy said if he was on the bench, he would be ‘going bananas on my players’.
“It’s really frustrating,” Kennedy said. “I love the Penguins. I love Sidney Crosby. I love those guys, but boys we got to get going. I know it’s a transition. I know where we are at.”
“We want to see some compete, some dog in those boys. They have it, it’s just they got to get it going here boys. We can’t just lay down.”
You could tell it’s not easy for Kennedy to say, but he felt on multiple shows on 93.7 The Fan, that it needed to be said. I’m sure other former players feel the same way. What is going to be done about it by those currently on the roster?