Coach Calls for More ‘Physicality’ From Penguins
Mike Sullivan has his own definition of 'physicality' and is hopeful the Pittsburgh Penguins will improve in that area.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are six games into the 2023-24 season and are yet to find themselves in a good place.
Currently ranked last in the Metropolitan Division, the Penguins will have an uphill climb for arguably the next few weeks of the season.
While depth scoring and goaltending have been early problems, there is another situation that is constantly brought up around this team; are they a physical enough team?
According to head coach Mike Sullivan, that depends on how you define ‘physicality’ in hockey.
Some people may think of physicality and jump straight to heavy hitters or guys who aren’t afraid to drop the gloves.
The Penguins don’t really have anyone on the roster who does that sort of thing on a regular basis; sure, Marcus Pettersson has taken two fighting majors this season, but that’s not his game.
Sullivan believes his definition of physicality is being ‘competitive on pucks’ or ‘fighting for the blue paint on both ends of the rink,’ and does think the Penguins need to be better in those areas.
“Those are areas we’re trying to push the guys to get better,” Sullivan said. “Just raise the awareness and compete level in those areas.”
The net-front game is a huge reason for the Penguins’ early season struggles; a number of players have been beat pretty easily around the goal crease and it’s led to multiple goals against.
That lack of winning battles around the net could be a reason for the early lineup changes, especially on the bottom pairing.
Sullivan is hoping to see his Penguins team improve with his definition of physicality.
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