Pittsburgh Penguins Head Coach Receives The Kiss Of Death By Gm Kyle Dubas

Dubas, however, took a different stance, expressing confidence in Sullivan and refuting the notion that he's the issue.

«As soon as a team doesn't reach its potential, it seems that right away the attention shifts to coaching... What I would say to that is, with Sully, I had my impression of him coming in and my respect for him coming in - being with him every day and not only seeing his attention to detail on the systems, but also his attention to detail with the players and coaching them individually and personally, I think we're very fortunate to have Mike. And so, do I think that he's the right person for this job now and far into the future? I absolutely do."

While Dubas' support for Sullivan sounds promising, it echoes a sentiment often heard from NHL GMs just before making coaching changes—a proverbial "Kiss of Death" we've seen time and again.

The Penguins, with an 11-12-3 record, sit just two points ahead of the struggling Columbus Blue Jackets at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division. If the team doesn't turn things around, changes are inevitable, and history suggests the coach is usually the first to face the consequences.

Source: Bladeofsteel