#TBT: Former Pens head coach, Michel Therrien, once fired the team’s ‘omelette guy’ because the Penguins started off their season slow

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(Scroll to 5:30 – 6:35 for the full Michel Therrien story.)

At this point in time, you can basically almost come to expect that one of my weekly #TBT blogs each month is going to involve some sort of old Pens content courtesy of the Spittin Chiclets boys (or former Penguins, Paul “BizNasty” Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney, to be specific).

Back in December, I discovered the story about Mario Lemieux once telling former Pens’ head coach, Eddie Olcyzk, to pound sand whenever he tried making the team bag skate after a practice. Then, in January, I recounted their story about Colby Armstrong’s first-career pro hockey fight (hint: it didn’t go well). And now, they’re back again this month for another classic tale about former Pens head coach, Michel Therrien.

The video of the entire story can be found above; however, for those of you unable to watch it because you’re locked up in your prison cell of a cubicle/office/janitor’s closet at work (fuck work, btw), here’s the CliffsNotes version:

Things were on the up-and-up in Pittsburgh after the team made it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2008 after a 16-year hiatus from the game’s biggest stage. Expectations were high, the team was slowly transitioning into a juggernaut again – this time under the helm of a new dynamic duo in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and by golly, the team began employing an omelette maker inside of the team’s facilities!

High Society, indeed!

How about a pinch of spinach with a little ham, peppers and onions? No problem!

Well, at least not if you’re in the business of winning hockey games, which the Penguins were not doing to start the 2008-2009 regular season. In fact, after a slow start to the season (the Penguins started off the month of October with a pedestrian record of 5-4-2), Michel Therrien felt enough was enough with his “spoiled” hockey team so he decided to can their fancy omelette guy.

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That’s it. Not winning games, you entitled bunch of pro athletes? Get the fuck out of here omelette guy!

So how long did omelette guy go unemployed, you ask? Well, as soon as Michel Therrien got canned himself a few months later, omelette guy made his triumphant return! And then, a few months after that, the Pens went on to win the Cup.

So what’s the moral of the story here?

Fancy eggs = Stanley Cups.

Oh, and Michel Therrien remains a permanent asshole.

P.S. – This video will never not be funny to me no matter how many times I watch it.

God, I miss him so much.

Go Pens.

@PeepsBurgh

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