Four games into his career as an NHL head coach, Mike Johnston is breathing new life into the Pittsburgh Penguins. The team is off to a solid 3-1 start while leading the NHL in power-play efficiency and goals per game.
It's no easy feat to improve a club that has won back-to-back division championships, made eight straight playoff appearances and won the 2009 Stanley Cup.
The sample size is small so far, but it looks like Johnston's approach is breeding on-ice success and an improved team culture.
Before joining the Penguins, Johnston established a high-scoring, puck-possession playing style with the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League, who have become a perennial WHL powerhouse over the last four seasons.
"Our template is puck possession," Johnston told The Hockey News' Ryan Kennedy of his Winterhawks two months before he was hired by Pittsburgh. "Skating, uptempo play. We want to play with pace from our defense to our forwards."
Though he didn't know it back in April, Johnston could have been talking about the style he'd deploy this season with the Penguin ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Carol Schram
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