Showing posts with label Mike Sullivan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mike Sullivan. Show all posts

Saturday, July 06, 2019

PITTSBURGH GIVES COACH MIKE SULLIVAN A HUGE VOTE OF CONFIDENCE


By Ryan Kennedy
https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/pittsburgh-gives-coach-mike-sullivan-a-huge-vote-of-confidence
July 5, 2019

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In announcing a four-year contract extension for coach Mike Sullivan, Pittsburgh Penguins GM Jim Rutherford thrust a delicious paragraph out into the hockey world, ripe for dissection:
“To win back-to-back Stanley Cups in this era speaks volumes of him as a coach,” Rutherford said. “His instincts in managing the inter-workings of our team both on and off the ice has been impressive.”
The first part is pretty straight-forward: Yes, Sullivan is the only coach in the salary cap era to win two straight titles and that is, indeed, quite an accomplishment. But the second part, about the inter-workings of the team? Well, that’s interesting.
It’s no secret that the Penguins had a failure to communicate between Sullivan and right winger Phil Kessel on their hands and the situation was not going to get better. With Kessel traded to Arizona recently in a package that saw center Alex Galchenyuk head to Steeltown, it is now abundantly clear who Rutherford sided with, if it hadn’t already been so before.
Because make no mistake: the Penguins gave up the best player in that deal. But if Kessel wasn’t fitting into Sullivan’s structure and the wins weren’t coming anymore, something had to give. It’s usually easier to just fire the coach then trade away a point-per-game player, but Rutherford and the Penguins made the decision to not only retain Sullivan, but to give him long-term job security.
Pittsburgh is in a fascinating position right now, because the Penguins still employ two of the best centers in the NHL in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. They also have a young goaltender with two Cup rings in Matt Murray, who unfortunately has also been bitten by the injury bug often and is looking more mortal to shooters than he did as an unknown star not so long ago. The defense is a little dodgy and the depth up front looks a little better right now compared to the end of the season, but it’s not great. All those years of going for a title depleted the prospect pipeline and the 2019 draft was the first good one Pittsburgh had in many years.
But you can’t fold up shop, right? Crosby is still too good, as are Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang. So you hold on to what you know and hope the subtraction of Kessel makes a positive difference. Sullivan brings the consistency and familiarity to steer the ship and potentially wring one more great playoff run out of the Crosby-Malkin epoch.
It’s also worth noting just how volatile the coaching market is. We love the idea of new blood coming in, but it was pretty muted this summer. Ralph Krueger and Dallas Eakins deserved second chances and it will be interesting to see what D.J. Smith can build in Ottawa, but where were the Scott Sandelins or Rikard Gronborgs? There is still a lot of conservatism at the highest end of the sport and that favors a known quantity such as Sullivan. If you can find a bench boss with his credentials these days, you jump on him. Rutherford clearly knows this.
One more point of interest here involves another recent organizational hire: Mike Vellucci. Coming in from Carolina, where he led the AHL Charlotte Checkers to their first Calder Cup championship, Vellucci will be helming the Baby Pens in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton next season. At the time, I assumed this was a move designed to have a successor should Sullivan and the Penguins falter early in 2019-20, but that’s certainly not the case now that he is armed with a four-year contract. I have no doubt Vellucci will get his own NHL bench someday soon, but it’s less likely to be in Pittsburgh now. Of course, if Sullivan can keep the Penguins competitive for the next four years, that won’t be an issue for management anyway.
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Monday, April 22, 2019

Are Penguins’ Mike Sullivan, Jim Rutherford really on same page?


By Tim Benz
April 21, 2019
Mike Sullivan and Jim Rutherford speak to the media April 18, 2019
It had to be on purpose, right? Head coach Mike Sullivan and general manager Jim Rutherford standing side-by-side during the Penguins’ season-ending media availability. Sharing the podium. Answering questions in the presence of each other.
There must have been intent behind the execution of the 2019 season-ending news conference last week. It was a unified front with joint themes in the wake of the club’s embarrassing sweep at the hands of the New York Islanders.
That’s opposed to last May when Sullivan and Rutherford had divergent messages on the way out of 2018 following a playoff series loss to Washington. They seemed to have a different view as to how much injury impacted Phil Kessel’s rotten postseason.
They also weren’t exactly on the same page when it came to explaining why Derick Brassard didn’t pan out after he was acquired midseason. Rutherford pinned most of Brassard’s failures on injury. Sullivan pointed at Brassard’s struggles to fit into that role after being more of a top-two-line player in Ottawa.
That day, Rutherford also declared Daniel Sprong would be “a regular” with the Penguins in 2018-19. Sullivan obviously didn’t share that opinion based on how little Sprong was elevated before Rutherford eventually traded him to Anaheim in December.
All of that isn’t to mention some other disconnects between Sullivan and Rutherford that had nothing to do with breakup day 2018.
For instance, remember the acquisition of Ryan Reaves the previous offseason? The bulky, fighting forward was a player Rutherford wanted as protection for the Penguins’ star players in the wake of physical beatings they endured at the hands of playoff opponents in the Stanley Cup run of 2017. But that was completely counter to Sullivan’s speed-oriented attack and “just play” mantra that had worked so well en route to back-to-back championships.
Reaves never seemed to find a steady spot in Sullivan’s rotation and was eventually moved to Las Vegas as a way to help facilitate the Brassard trade.
There has never been any public discord between Sullivan and Rutherford. No signs of discontent between the two. At all times in front of the media, Rutherford defers to Sullivan’s role as coach to deploy the lineup as he sees fit.
Meanwhile, Sullivan never misses a chance to praise Rutherford’s attempts to make the roster better.
During Thursday’s news conference, though, the attempt to present the optics of those two men tugging on the same rope was brought into question. They were asked about the state of their working relationship in terms of talent evaluation.
Rutherford characterized the give-and-take between the two as “extremely good,” and he claimed, “I don’t make any trades on my own and say ‘Hey, Mike, there are going to be a couple of new guys in the room tomorrow. Figure it out.’ Our staff is always together and 100-percent in on any final decision I make on players that are brought in.”
Predictably, Sullivan echoed Rutherford’s comments when he answered the same question, referring to his working relationship with Rutherford as “great” and calling Rutherford “a good communicator.” Sullivan also elaborated to the point of insisting that he and his general manager “share the same vision on how to play stylistically in order to maximize the group.”
“He encourages our input and feedback,” Sullivan said. “In all the discussions that we’ve had since we have been together, we tend to see the game a similar way.”
Big picture, sure. But those examples cited above suggest Sullivan and Rutherford aren’t hand-in-glove 100 percent of the time, as Rutherford stated.
They did, however, seem to be in sync with their message Thursday: The players were to blame for that Islanders sweep.
Not the roster construction. Rutherford vigorously defended that angle by pointing to how he thought acquisitions of Nick Bjugstad, Jared McCann, Marcus Pettersson and Erik Gudbranson helped the team this year.
Rutherford also torched some in uniform — without naming names — for getting too comfortable after Stanley Cup success and not coming together enough from a chemistry standpoint.
Meanwhile, Sullivan put the team on blast for a missing commitment to “playing the game the right way.” Specifically, the coach pointed to the players having a “lack of discipline on both sides of the puck.” And he faulted the skaters for being unable to understand “it’s not all about scoring goals.”
Hey, don’t look at me for an argument. I agree on all fronts.
But if that’s all true, then it’s time for Rutherford to trade away some of those undisciplined, fat-and-happy players, while getting proper return. Or Sullivan needs to implement a structure that doesn’t allow those players to freelance, and he needs to bench them when they do. Sullivan used to draw wild praise from fans and media for “always pushing the right buttons” with his roster and reaching this talented, but stubborn, group in ways other coaches haven’t been able to do.
Where did that trait go this year?
Whether Sullivan and Rutherford are two peas in a pod as much as the team wants us to think is up for debate. What isn’t arguable is that they both agree the shortcomings of 2019 are to be pinned on the players.
Now their task is to fix the players. Or change the roster. Or both.
Otherwise, ownership may look at them if this team doesn’t have a deeper playoff run next year.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@tribweb.com or viaTwitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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Saturday, April 20, 2019

Coach Mike Sullivan must steer Penguins in new direction


By Mark Madden
April 19, 2019
Mike Sullivan of the Pittsburgh Penguins handles bench duties against the New York Islanders in Game One of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on April 10, 2019 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

In 1997, Mario Lemieux retired for the first time. The 1996-97 Penguins had finished second in the Northeast Division at 38-36-8.
Eddie Johnston had been dismissed as coach with 20 games remaining and replaced on an interim basis by general manager Craig Patrick. When the 1997-98 season dawned, Kevin Constantine was the new coach. Constantine was structured and systematic to the point of blunt force trauma. His video sessions didn’t dissect, they humiliated.
It worked.
The Penguins won the Northeast Division that season, going 40-24-18. They scored 57 fewer goals but allowed 92 fewer. In the midst of all that system and structure, Jaromir Jagr collected 102 points and won the scoring titlBye by 11 points.
Jagr bought in. There were anxious moments. Jagr’s hand needed held every step of the way. But Jagr recognized the path to success, even if he didn’t lovingly embrace it.
That could work again.
I don’t want to replace Mike Sullivan, let alone with Constantine or any facsimile of his tyranny. He got fired by the Penguins early in his third season, coaching only briefly in the NHL after that. Constantine’s style wasn’t made for the long haul.
But, having won Stanley Cups with speed in 2016 and ’17, the Penguins find themselves aging and slower. Not old and slow, but aging and slower.
The Penguins still have a ton of talent. But it needs steered in a different direction. Sullivan has to see that. Then he needs to make his players see it. He also needs to make his stars see they can be productive within context, like Jagr in ’97-98.
Would today’s Penguins buy in?
Early returns suggest not, courtesy of defenseman Kris Letang.
Letang got testy when asked about adjusting his style to take less risk: “You don’t want me to make mistakes? I’ll try that. Next year, I’ll try to make no mistakes at all.
“Maybe next year, you’re going to say, ‘Hey, (Letang) doesn’t do anything offensively.’ So now you’re going to rip me apart because I don’t produce anything.”
There’s sense to what Letang says. The fans and media (ahem) always will find something to complain about. Unless Letang makes no mistakes at all.
Letang shouldn’t change his game. He’s needed to lug the puck out of danger when the Penguins are bottled up. He’s needed to get the puck to Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin quickly and precisely. He’s needed to make plays offensively.
You want exactly what Letang does 95 percent of the time. He will err, sure. But there is no replacing him. Trading Letang shouldn’t be even a remote thought.
But it’s reasonable to ask Letang to be judicious.
Focus has been put on a play Letang failed to make in Game 4 of the first-round series against the New York Islanders.
Jake Guentzel staked the Penguins to a 1-0 lead just 35 seconds into the game. But the Islanders tied the score 94 seconds later when the Islanders got the puck past a pinching Letang, then Jordan Eberle converted a two-on-one break.
Before criticizing Letang, realize he did exactly what Sullivan wants. The Penguins’ system mandates the defensemen pinch. The mistake wasn’t pinching, it was letting the puck by. It was compounded by no forward rotating back to cover.
The Penguins should have played it safe for a few shifts after their dream start. Making the Islanders finally play at a deficit for a while would have been interesting. Their system is better when they lead. (Find one that isn’t.)
But the Penguins pressed for another goal. That’s their way. It went bad. That, too, was very often their way. That’s why they got swept.
Asking offensively talented players on a team that’s won championships to be judicious won’t work. They won’t err on the side of caution. They will err on the side of what’s worked and what they always have done. They won’t address their limitations.
So don’t provide options. Be rigid. Install a tighter system. If it works, you can build in more leeway at a later date. (Or promise to do so, anyway.)
Sullivan and GM Jim Rutherford’s post-elimination comments suggest the Penguins never found their identity. That’s because their old identity died of natural causes. Positive change can happen organically. In this case, it won’t.
Don’t ask. Demand.
Don’t replicate Constantine. But learn from what he did. It worked.
Categories: Sports | Penguins | Top Stories
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Sunday, June 24, 2018

Phil Kessel should be grateful, not angry


By Mark Madden
http://triblive.com/sports/columnists/markmadden/13790597-74/mark-madden-phil-kessel-should-be-grateful-not-angry
June 23, 2018
Related image

What a summer: All Kessel, all the time.
The latest installment in the Phil Kessel saga came Friday, when Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said his relationship with Kessel is fine. Sullivan looked mad when he said it, too. Yikes. Better not write or talk about it anymore. (By the way, what else is Sullivan going to say?)
The sympathy pendulum in this reality series is swinging Sullivan's way, because the question begs: Why is Kessel always angry?
Kessel is, you know. He's not happy unless he's unhappy. Kessel doesn't like Sullivan. He won't ever like any head coach. Kessel and Rick Tocchet were close when Tocchet was Sullivan's assistant in Pittsburgh. But if Kessel went to Arizona, where Tocchet is head coach, he'd hate Tocchet inside a week. (That possibility was discussed, incidentally.)
That's just how Kessel is. It doesn't make him a bad person or a bad player. Pittsburgh has embraced him as a cartoon-character anti-hero, and here's guessing the perception of Kessel in the locker room isn't far from that.
But Kessel is decidedly a pain in the backside.
Kessel was selected fifth in the 2006 draft. The four players selected above him have been traded once between them. Kessel got traded twice before he turned 28. His quirkiness tags him with a sell-by date.
Kessel will stay in Pittsburgh, for now. GM Jim Rutherford either can't find a trade partner or has concluded that replacing Kessel's 92 points and excellence on the power play would be difficult. Probably both.
Kessel should be thankful.
Kessel had a career year last season. He complains about Sullivan — that is most certainly true — but the coach apparently deployed him in reasonably effective fashion. Using Kessel, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on separate lines to artificially create balance didn't always work, but still: 92 points.
It's fashionable to tiptoe around Kessel. The Penguins staff does. The media does. The latter group harangued Kessel in Toronto, and some of it was unfair.
But much of the criticism aimed at Kessel is fair and true.
He doesn't practice hard or work hard off the ice. He does the minimum.
He doesn't hit or block shots.
His consecutive-games streak (now at 692) has kept him in the lineup when he's hurt. If Kessel was injured in the playoffs — nobody can agree on that — maybe missing a few games late in the regular season would have helped. But Sullivan didn't scratch him. (That's an example of the tiptoeing.)
As noted, Kessel is a complainer. Consider his campaign to skate on Malkin's line. (Has anybody asked Malkin what he wants?) Kessel was correct to fancy that and often was on Malkin's right.
But how much can you logically kvetch when you're on your way to 92 points? Players often get 92 points (or more) without being a migraine. Crosby and Malkin have done it frequently.
Kessel and the Penguins need each other, but maybe the terms should change.
Kessel is 30. It's time for the hand-holding to stop.
Kessel is fifth on the Penguins' totem pole in terms of importance, trailing Crosby, Malkin, Matt Murray and Kris Letang.
The Penguins hadn't won the Stanley Cup in six years before Kessel arrived. Kessel performed well and the Penguins won two Cups, so Kessel lived up to his part of the bargain and then some.
But the Penguins fixed Kessel.
Before Kessel got to Pittsburgh, he was the butt of jokes. He was the fat schmuck who ate too many hot dogs. Right or wrong, that was the perception. Ask the average hockey fan, and that's what he knew about Kessel.
Since then, President Obama has called Kessel a Stanley Cup champion. President Trump cracked wise about Kessel's sister, Amanda, being a better player. Kessel is a nice guy, tries hard and loves the game. A T-shirt says so. Total makeover.
Kessel has done a lot for the Penguins. But playing for the Penguins has done just as much for Kessel and probably more.
Kessel needs to get past angry and move on to gratitude. At the very least, let gratitude temper that anger.
He won't. Kessel will do what he likes, say what he wants and play as he prefers. Sullivan's relationship with Kessel will remain “fine” as long as the coach works within those confines.
Mark Madden hosts a radio show 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WXDX-FM (105.9).
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Wednesday, May 30, 2018

A warning to help Mike Sullivan avoid Dan Bylsma's fate


By Mark Madden
http://triblive.com/sports/columnists/markmadden/13701347-74/mark-madden-a-warning-to-help-mike-sullivan-avoid-dan-bylsmas-fate
May 29, 2018

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In the "Miracle on Ice" game at Lake Placid in 1980, Soviet Union coach Viktor Tikhonov pulled goaltender Vladislav Tretiak after one period with the score tied 2-2 against the United States.
It wasn't Tretiak's best period. He leaked in two questionable goals. But he was arguably the world's top goalie and definitely the best goalie at those Winter Olympics. Tretiak was replaced by Vladimir Myshkin, who didn't stink but allowed one goal too many. The U.S. won 4-3.
Since then, many Soviet players claim that Tikhonov pulled Tretiak to flex his muscle and not to win. To indulge his power.
Fast-forward to 2009. Dan Byslma replaced Michel Therrien as coach of the Penguins. Bylsma's primary qualification: He wasn't Therrien, whose iron fist and sharp tongue had thoroughly wearied the players.
The Penguins felt unshackled under Bylsma, and the result was the franchise's first Stanley Cup win in 17 years.
But Bylsma's ego quickly swelled.
He never embraced the Penguins' star power, which enabled the team's success much more than he did.
Bylsma never had a Plan B: "Get to our game" became his mantra of underachievement.
A decision was right simply because he made it. That led to decisions being less carefully considered and to some lousy decisions.
Bad things happened: Bylsma clearly lost control of the Penguins during a 2012 playoff loss to Philadelphia. He got Jarome Iginla, who had scored each of his 438 NHL goals at right wing, and tried to make him a left wing. This was after Iginla was lured to Pittsburgh at the 2013 trade deadline by the prospect of skating on Sidney Crosby's right wing.
Bylsma was dismissed by the Penguins in 2014. After winning the Stanley Cup championship in 2009, Bylsma never got the Penguins back to the final.
Winning even one Cup title is rare and shouldn't be undervalued. But Bylsma's tenure was nonetheless disappointing given his resources.
That brings us to Mike Sullivan, the Penguins' current coach.
Sullivan's time in Pittsburgh has been amazing: two Cup championships in three seasons.
Sullivan has a knack for having his finger on the Penguins' pulse on a moment-by-moment basis. His line-shuffling is impeccable, especially during games. He keeps his players motivated without being clichéd or oppressive. (Phil Kessel might disagree, but he just doesn't like coaches.) But a few cracks have showed. Are they early signs of "Bylsma's disease?" ("Disco fever" might be a catchier name.) There's evidence of a disconnect between Sullivan and GM Jim Rutherford.
Rutherford signed defenseman Matt Hunwick, but Sullivan dressed him only 10 times after Jan. 1 and not for a single playoff game.
Rutherford traded for enforcer Ryan Reaves by way of protecting the Penguins' stars. Sullivan used him sparingly. Reaves ultimately was sent to Vegas. He got the tying goal that helped lead to Vegas' win in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Rutherford acquired center Derick Brassard at this season's trade deadline. Brassard was the fourth-line center in the playoffs, somehow below Riley Sheahan on the depth chart.
Rutherford and Sullivan are by no means at each other's throats. Quite the opposite, in fact. Rutherford lets Sullivan use the players as he sees fit.
But Rutherford didn't acquire those players to fill such minuscule roles. Players get what they earn under Sullivan. But Sheahan over Brassard smacks of the absurd, especially when Sheahan is centering Kessel.
The Kessel situation is a test for Sullivan. The Penguins will try to trade Kessel this offseason. That's because Sullivan is unhappy with Kessel. It would be silly to pretend there's any other reason.
Kessel is no joy to coach. His quirks and annoying habits are well documented. But he just racked up a career-high 92 points.
Sullivan's job would be easier without Kessel. But it's not supposed to be an easy gig. Sullivan needs to put personal feelings aside. Would the team be better minus Kessel? No, not unless Rutherford gets unexpectedly high return. They weren't lining up to trade for Kessel in 2015 and still aren't.
So keep Kessel and use him on Malkin's line.
Sullivan didn't like doing that this past season. But it's what Kessel wants, and it is a big source of the friction between him and Sullivan.
Sullivan thinks Malkin and Kessel on the same line leads to defensive problems. A) Tell the left wing to back-check like crazy. (See Errey, Bob.) B) Malkin has done fine defensively for the latter part of his career. C) Since when are the Penguins built on defense?
Washington had an alarming number of odd-man breaks in the playoffs despite Malkin and Kessel rarely playing together five-on-five.
The quest for balance, no matter how contrived and artificial, is where Sullivan indulges his stubbornness. Putting Crosby, Kessel and Malkin on different lines doesn't necessarily equal balance. Not when Dominik Simon is on Crosby's line, and Sheahan is centering Kessel.
The best players should play on the top two lines. The third line, with Brassard, will still threaten. Sheahan can anchor the fourth.
It's not important to realize a certain vision. Who the coach likes and dislikes isn't important, either. It's important to win.
This isn't meant to excoriate Sullivan. He's an excellent coach. It's meant to provide a vaccine for "Disco fever." There isn't much difference between "Get to our game" and "Play the game the right way."
If that's not enough warning, Sullivan should remember: The Penguins aren't a coach's team. They're a players' team. Even the legendary Scotty Bowman had to learn that, and he did so the hard way.
Mark Madden hosts a radio show 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WXDX-FM (105.9).
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Friday, August 18, 2017

Mike Sullivan shows off the Stanley Cup at his home rink

By Jason Mackey
August 17, 2017
Paul and Jen Reissfelder of Plymouth, Mass., hoist their 12-day-old daughter, Evie, into the Stanley Cup as Penguins coach Mike Sullivan looks on Thursday at The Bog Ice Arena in Kingston, Mass.
(Jason Mackey/Post-Gazette)
KINGSTON, Mass. — Apparently Evie Reissfelder wasn’t willing to miss this.
Her parents, meanwhile, were more than happy to do their part.
Little Evie, born premature at 6 pounds, 2 ounces just 12 days ago, provided one of the highlights of Penguins coach Mike Sullivan’s public viewing of the Stanley Cup Thursday afternoon at The Bog Ice Arena.
“She came a week early and very fast,” Evie’s mother, Jen, said. “She was determined to come out.”
Paul, Evie’s father, coaches girls hockey at Duxbury High, the school closest to Sullivan’s home. He had never met Sullivan but had heard from a couple friends about his approachable nature.
Those impressions were backed up Thursday. After shaking the coach’s hand, the group posed for a picture, placing the tiny baby in the Cup.
“Looking back, when she gets older, she’ll be like, ‘All right, I was in the Stanley Cup.’ ” Paul said. “That’s everyone’s dream.”
Sullivan relished the experience to share the Cup with the community, inside the rink where he once stood behind the bench for his own kids’ games.
“I feel like it’s our responsibility. I think all of our players feel that way,” Sullivan said. “I think that’s part of the hockey culture, regardless of which team wins it. Hockey players never forget where they came from. They always want to share in their successes. This is one way that we can do it.”
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Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Mike Sullivan is already the greatest coach in Penguins history


By Dave Holcomb
August 14, 2017
2017 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Six
Head coach MIke Sullivan of the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrates with the Stanley Cup trophy after defeating the Nashville Predators 2-0 in Game Six of the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Final at the Bridgestone Arena on June 11, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee.
(Frederick Breedon/Getty Images North America)


Two years ago, Mike Sullivan was preparing for his first season in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization … as the head coach of the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Pittsburgh hired Sullivan in June 2015, and before that, he wasn’t behind any bench, holding the title of player development coach with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Now heading into just his second full season as bench boss of the Penguins, Sullivan is already the greatest coach in franchise history.
Many will probably argue its too early to make such an outlandish statement, and in a way, they are correct. Sullivan is tied for ninth on the franchise’s all-time wins list. He needs to lead the Penguins back to the playoffs four or five more times to usurp Dan Bylsma for the No. 1 spot.
And it’s not as if Pittsburgh hasn’t seen other great coaches such as Scotty Bowman, Bob Johnson and Michel Therrien walk through its doors. Bowman has 250 more victories than anybody else in league history while Therrien, Johnson and Bylsma have combined to win nearly another 1,000 games.
But Sullivan has something that none of those coaches do — multiple Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh. Johnson could have done that had he not died after the 1991 title, but he didn’t get a chance to lead the team to its second championship in 1992. Bowman could have as well, but after the huge upset playoff loss to the New York Islanders in 1993, he bolted for Detroit.
Coaching in Pittsburgh longer than either of them, Bylsma had more chances to become the first Penguins coach with multiple rings. But while talented, his teams were mentally weak. Inferior opponents routinely got Pittsburgh off its game during the postseason, and it led to early exits. The Penguins blew two 3-1 series leads during the playoffs in a four-year span under Bylsma, and the second one led to his dismissal.
It’s hard picturing a Sullivan team squandering a 3-1 series lead. They nearly did against Washington in the second round this past spring, but then put together an epic 2-0 road victory in Game 7. Under Sullivan, the Penguins have lost three games in a row (without getting a point) just once since January 2016, and never in the playoffs.
Furthermore, Pittsburgh has lost consecutive games in the postseason just three times in two years. What’s the best recipe for Stanley Cup playoff success? Have a coach who knows the pulse of his team so well that every adjustment he makes is correct one, which leads to a 14-3 postseason record following a loss.
And being better prepared than any team heading into the series too. Pittsburgh is 5-3 in Game 1s under Sullivan.
As much as anything, that combination is why the Penguins are back-to-back champions. The team that loses Game 1 has no way to win the series without stringing together at least two consecutive wins. That’s hard to do against the Penguins in large part because of Sullivan’s ability to adjust after losses.
And not enough can be said about the mental toughness he has provided Pittsburgh in his two years. The Penguins were routinely outshot and looked beaten and tired at various points on their latest run. Yet, like they did in Game 7 versus Washington, they always responded following a bad game.
When it mattered most, the Penguins were never out-willed during the 2017 postseason. Pittsburgh has an extremely talented roster, but make no mistake, without Kris Letang and Matt Murray for a half the run, not to mention the numerous other injured players missing games or playing hurt, Pittsburgh grinded its way to a second title. The Penguins even had to play a game without Sidney Crosby, yet they still found a way to beat the best regular-season team in the NHL.
It all points to outstanding coaching.
Now, that’s not to say Sullivan is ahead of Bowman is terms of all-time best NHL coaches. Bowman remains king there, but not enough of Bowman’s success came in Pittsburgh for him to be the No. 1 Penguins coach of all-time. Actually, he lasted just two years with the team, so he only coached 28 more games with Pittsburgh than Sullivan.
And again, the Penguins have seen a coach maintain long-term success, but it’s hard not to think Sullivan is only getting started in the Steel City.
If Sullivan leads the Penguins to three more playoff series victories, he will own the most postseason victories in franchise history. Should Sullivan last four more years in Pittsburgh, and win about 42 games per season, he will also have the most regular-season victories for the Penguins.
It will take him a few more years to accumulate those totals. But while the numbers might not suggest it just yet, the two Stanley Cups and Pittsburgh’s newfound playoff mental toughness say Sullivan is already the greatest Penguins coach there ever has been.
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Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Penguins follow Mike Sullivan's way to another Stanley Cup win

By Kevin Gorman
http://triblive.com/sports/
June 12, 2017
Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan hoists the Stanley Cup as Bryan Rust (17) watches after defeating the Nashville Predators 2-0 in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final, Sunday, June 11, 2017, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)  (Associated Press)

When it comes to mantras, Mike Sullivan's “Just Play” forever will be associated with the Penguins' successive Stanley Cup championship runs.
Only because “Just Win” was already taken.
If Sullivan is responsible for the way the Penguins play, he deserves credit for their historic run to a second consecutive Cup championship.
“I think we'll keep him for another year,” Penguins co-owner Mario Lemieux said, with a sly smile. “He's a great coach. He knows how to handle all situations. He knows how to adjust, which is a big part of us winning the Stanley Cup. If you don't adjust game to game, you're going to get beat.
“But this guy can do it all.”
If Dan Bylsma did what Michel Therrien couldn't in leading the Penguins to a Cup championship, then Sullivan has done what Bylsma couldn't in leading them to back-to-back Cup titles.
Sullivan joins Steelers coach Chuck Noll, who won four Super Bowls, and Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh, who won two World Series, as the city's only coaches to win multiple world championships.
“I don't know if it's any more satisfying than the previous one,” Sullivan said on the ice after the Penguins' clinching Game 6 victory at the Nashville Predators. “They both have their own storylines. We're proud of both accomplishments.”
Sullivan likes to say world championships aren't won with the absence of character, and the Penguins proved to be the personification of their 49-year-old coach with a thick Boston accent who preaches about focusing on the process.
The players echo his message, whether it's Just Play or Play the Right Way, in the way they talk.
Those words were designed to challenge the competitive nature of a talented team whose resiliency and resolve repeatedly were tested in this playoff run.
“We try to find little catchphrases that try to be reflective of how we want to play, and so these phrases end up taking on significant meaning with our team, and more so than probably the outside of our locker room,” Sullivan said.
“We're trying to define with this group of players a certain identity, a certain style of play, a certain attitude that we think gives this group the best chance to be successful. We've come up with a few in our room that have caught on with this group of players. And, you know, this coaching staff is so appreciative of how receptive they are to what we're preaching, and I think it starts with our leadership.”
Where Sullivan leaned on his veterans, he also provided guidance by adapting to injuries involving key players and showing conviction to stand by decisions.
The most controversial, of course, was his move to replace Marc-Andre Fleury with Matt Murray in goal. Murray was motivated to reward Sullivan's trust, and did so by recording shutouts in Games 5 and 6.
Sullivan repeatedly said during the Stanley Cup playoffs that these Penguins were “a privilege to coach.”
“This coaching staff is so appreciative of this group of players and what they go through,” Sullivan said. “We push them hard. You know, it's not always warm and fuzzy, and so we push them hard to try to get the best out of them, and these guys embrace every challenge we give them.”
The Penguins accepted every challenge Sullivan gave them, whether it was to Just Play or Play the Right Way.
They did both, Sully's way.
Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at kgorman@tribweb.com or via Twitter @KGorman_Trib.
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