Baby Penguins Banter: Todd Reirden Promoted to Penguins Asst. Coach

Welcome to Baby Penguins Banter, a column that will run periodically (probably once a week) during the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins season.

The WBS Penguins are the AHL affiliate to the Pittsburgh Penguins. They have been playing in Wilkes-Barre since 1999 and will be starting their 12th season in the fall.  

Now, I was hoping to start this column a little later, but some breaking news within the Pittsburgh Penguins organization has prompted me to start sooner.

This afternoon, the Penguins announced that they promoted Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach Todd Reirden to the position of Pittsburgh Penguins assistant coach.

Reirden came to the Penguins organization as the WBS assistant coach to Dan Bylsma during the 2008-2009 season.

When Bylsma was promoted to Pittsburgh, Reirden took over as head coach. The Baby Pens finished with a record of 49-25-3-3 and went to the second round of the playoffs.

This year, things were a little harder for Reirden. A lineup made up mostly of rookies and some below average veterans brought WBS a record of 41-34-2-3. They made it to the playoffs, but were swept in the first round by the Albany River Rats.

Now, I don’t want to say that Reirden isn’t a nice guy or anything, but I do want to give you an honest background of his AHL coaching career and skills.

I don’t think Reirden deserved his promotion.

When Byslma initially went to Pittsburgh, the Baby Penguins were on a long winning streak. If I remember correctly, it was at least seven or eight games. The Pens also won the last game he served as head coach in, a February home match-up against the Worcester Sharks.

Not long after he left, the team’s winning streak ended. It was bound to sometime, but the team went downhill after that. They became very inconsistent and lost to weaker teams they should have beat, such as Norfolk and Philadelphia. Two of their last three home games of the season were against Norfolk, and the Pens got beat each time, including in one game where they blew a significant lead.

In the playoffs, the Penguins drew the mighty Hershey Bears in the second round. Hershey quickly jumped to a 2-0 series lead, but the Penguins won the next three at home to take the series lead, leaving the Bears shaking in their skates.

Many of us thought the Pens could beat the Bears. They looked confident and were lighting up Hershey’s goalie like he was still in a pee-wee league.

Instead, the Penguins dropped the next two games and were eliminated in seven games. To make it worse, they were shut out in both games. 

Even though I realize the coach can only do so much, it just seemed like he really didn't do anything at all to prepare them for the last two games. He surely had some part in the season ending on such a sour note. Our team had some very talented offense, and there is no excuse for zero goals in two games. 

This season was a fresh start, but the team struggled. Several problems highlighted the first half, including a few losses that were so embarrassing that the Pens were booed off the ice at home. They also dropped two three-game series to finish with no points in three games, which is completely unacceptable.

By February, the fans were showing their disdain with Reirden. Many were calling for him to be fired. The thought that he could even coach Pittsburgh was a joke in many minds.

Fast forward about six months with another humiliating playoff exit in the rearview mirror, and this news just doesn’t seem to make sense.

How does a coach who basically ruined the AHL team which he was put in charge for get a promotion to the NHL? Is it really that easy? Why was he put up here before doing anything to prove he could really coach?

I think part of it is his friendship with Dan Bylsma. Everybody knows the saying “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. Could this be the case with Reirden? Was this promotion really based on the fact that Bylsma knew him and not what he could do?

Because if it was based on abilities, then I have a really hard time believing that Reirden has the skill to be on an NHL bench.

He never even appeared to be engaged in the game. When I observed him on the bench a couple times, he was just standing there staring into space, and he barely communicated with the players. How is that an effective coaching strategy?

Furthermore, this seems a little too convenient for the Pens. Not only do I not believe that Reirden was the most qualified, but the Pens didn't look on the outside at all? What is wrong with some fresh blood once in awhile?

The promotion of coaches to Pittsburgh from Wilkes-Barre has gone well for the most part. Michel Therrien turned the Pens around from cellar dwellers to Eastern Conference Champions. Bylsma brought a Stanley Cup.

I can’t imagine Reirden being able to help do either.

Sorry, Pens fans. I told you this assessment would be honest.

I hope I am proved wrong in 2010-2011, but for now, I just can’t stop shaking my head at this.