Kris Letang: Penguins have a 'different atmosphere,' a 'new voice,' a 'different vibe'

Critics of the Pittsburgh Steelers often say that the franchise should move on from head coach Mike Tomlin because “things have gotten stale.” Or they suggest that “it’s just time for a change” because “the message is getting old” and the organization “needs to hear a new voice.”

After eight years without a playoff win, it’s not a difficult case to make.

Defenders of Tomlin dismiss those points as empty cliches that sound meaningful but don’t have true substance. They are just things spoiled fans and hot take media members say to call for a coach’s head when records and resumes tell a different story.

For the last seven years, the same debate was waged about the local hockey coach. The difference is the Pittsburgh Penguins decided to part ways with Mike Sullivan — despite his two Stanley Cup rings — after last season ended without a playoff berth for a third straight year. During the summer, the club hired Dan Muse as a first-time NHL coach.

After Tuesday’s convincing 5-1 victory over Vancouver, the Penguins are off to a 5-2 start in what was predicted to be a rebuilding, non-playoff season.

If you listen to one of the Penguins veteran stars who helped Sullivan hoist those Cups, those cliches about a different message from a new coach aren’t so empty after all.

“It’s a different atmosphere than it used to be,” defenseman Kris Letang said. “A lot of guys are on deals that they have to prove themselves. So there are a lot of guys who play hungry every single night. It’s also a new voice. Guys are coming to the rink, and they want to get to know that system, and they want to thrive in that new environment. I just think it’s just a different vibe in this room.”

That “vibe” Letang is describing would never have existed under one more year of Sullivan, even if the roster did change as substantially as Letang is describing. The “atmosphere” he referenced would’ve been the same old musty sense of faded glory, suspended evolution and austere malaise that we have felt since the team was eliminated in the first round of the 2019 playoffs.

No one is going to confuse Muse with some sort of hybrid personality of Ted Lasso dipped in Jim Valvano and rolled in Yogi Berra. Outwardly, he doesn’t present himself as quote machine or an electric ball of personality.

Frankly, after wins anyway, he comes off a heckuva lot more like Sullivan than I expected. So this doesn’t appear to be a case of what happens with most coaching changes, when general managers tend to hire a personality type 180 degrees different from the guy they just fired.

That goes for scheme, as well. Muse’s approach seems to be one of more structure (or “connectivity” as we frequently hear around that locker room these days) than what Sullivan was looking for. But he’s not exactly restrictive and choking the fun out of the game for the players so far, either.

I mean, over the last three years, did it look like the players were having a barrel full of laughs anyway, regardless of how much Sullivan wanted the skaters to attack and how much he wanted the defensemen to activate and engage?

It sure didn’t appear that way.

“Guys are closing space a little bit quicker in the D-zone, getting stops. There were some times, especially in the third period (Tuesday), where it was definitely better,” Muse said of his team’s improvements since the season started. “Same thing on the offensive side. I wouldn’t pinpoint one particular thing. At this point in the year, we want to just see that there are steps being taken.”

Captain Sidney Crosby expressed a similar opinion after the win.

“We’ve just found different ways to win. I think there have been games where we haven’t played as well, where goalies have bailed us out. Special teams have helped us,” Crosby said. “Timing of goals. It was 1-1 (Tuesday night) for a long time, and we got goals in bunches there. I don’t know if it’s been one consistent thing. I think that we’ve found different ways, and that’s how you have to do it.”

While the on-ice part of it has varied, the intangible, behind-the-scenes elements that Letang mentioned have been constant. He’s not the only one to have said words like that. But on the record, with his veteran standing — and with five wins in seven tries — they resonate significantly.

Over the next seven games, the Penguins might come back to earth and go 2-5. Then we can go back to checking on Gavin McKenna’s stats at Penn State.

For now, though, sometimes just being different can be good. And sometimes good can come from just trying something different. That seems to be the case at PPG Paints Arena these days.

I wonder if they’ll ever have the same awakening at Acrisure Stadium.