Penguins Coach Mike Sullivan held a remote news conference yesterday, answering questions for more than twenty minutes on a variety of topics, ranging from his thoughts on resuming the season when the Covid-19 crisis eases, to the impact of getting back injured players such as Jake Guentzel, to the coronavirus pandemic itself.
With Sidney Crosby having said last week that he believes the best approach to resuming the season is to go straight into the Stanley Cup playoffs, Sullivan was asked how he believes it will go, and said there is still too much unknown to predict how the NHL will decide to resume the season.
The coach says it will not be a matter of jumping right into game action when players are able to get back on the ice.
Reflecting on Covid-19, Sullivan said he’s been proud of the way the country’s front-line coronavirus warriors have responded.
The Penguins have not played since a 5-2 win at New Jersey on March 10th. Sullivan says that win was an indication that the team was beginning to emerge from a slump that had seen them lose eight games out of their previous ten.
The coach says the return of Jake Guentzel from shoulder surgery would be a big difference-maker for the Penguins, as will the continued recoveries of defensemen Brian Dumoulin and John Marino, who both returned just before the season was suspended.
SIDNEY CROSBY
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has been named the NHL’s “most complete player” and “the one player you would want on your team if you needed to win one game” in the annual poll of nearly 600 players from all 31 clubs by the NHL Players Association.
Complete results are available at www.nhlpa.com/player-poll/2019-20.
The Penguins also showed up in other results of the survey:
- Which player isn’t on social media, but should be ?- Sidney Crosby(No. 1 with 26% of player votes)
- Who is the best forward? – Sidney Crosby (No. 2 with 15% of player votes) Edmonton’s Connor McDavid was voted #1.
- Of all players past and present, who would you pay to see play? – Mario Lemieux was number 3 behind Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr.
- Who is the best golfer in the NHL? – the Pen’s Justin Schultz was #3
- Which team/arena has the best visitors dressing room? – PPG Paints Arena is number 4 behind Edmonton, Vegas, Detroit)
The NHLPA Player Poll is an annual survey conducted by the NHL Players Association, surveying current players on 20 hockey-related questions. This year’s poll was conducted prior to the NHL season’s suspension of play.
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