Pittsburgh Hockey Insider has no direct affiliation to the Pittsburgh Penguins, NHL or NHLPA
Mike Sullivan Shares His Feelings on Returning to Pittsburgh as a Member of the New York Rangers
Photo credit: The New York Times
New York Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan shares his true feelings ahead of his 1st game back in Pittsburgh since being let go by the Penguins after nearly 10 years on the job and 2 Stanley Cups.
Pittsburgh Penguins GM Kyle Dubas decided that a change in leadership was necessary after his team failed to make the playoffs for the 3rd straight year, which is now the longest in the careers of longtime franchise mainstays Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang.
He terminated head coach Mike Sullivan, who had been on the job for nearly 10 full years and brought 2 Stanley Cups to Pittsburgh. In his place, he hired former New York Rangers assistant Dan Muse and also hired former Stanley Cup winning Penguins forward Nick Bonino as an assistant.
Ironically, Sullivan soon resurfaced as the head coach of the Rangers after they made a change themselves with the firing of Peter Laviolette.
The Rangers will play the Penguins for the 2nd time in a week, but this time, it will be at PPG Paints Arena, the building Sullivan called home for almost a decade.
Before the game, he shared his true thoughts on making his return to Pittsburgh for the 1st time since being let go.
It's a lot different, obviously, being on the opposite side. It's not something that I've given a whole lot of thought to, quite honestly. But obviously, I'm so grateful for the opportunity that I had here and to coach the Penguins for the amount of time that I was able to do it. We had a lot of good memories, and I'm grateful for that.
-Mike Sullivan
-Mike Sullivan
Sullivan won 409 games as coach of the Penguins.
The Penguins beat the Rangers and Mike Sullivan 3-0 earlier in the week
Sullivan's 1st game against his old team didn't go so well, as he and the Rangers were shutout by Pittsburgh 3-0 at Madison Square Garden earlier in the week.
But Sullivan got his 1st win as Rangers head coach with a 4-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres days later, and now hopes to move to 2-1 in the Big Apple with what would be a satisfying win over the team that let him go.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 11 | 82 ANSWERS Mike Sullivan Shares His Feelings on Returning to Pittsburgh as a Member of the New York Rangers Did the Penguins make the right call by firing Mike Sullivan? | ||
| Yes | 69 | 84.1 % |
| No | 13 | 15.9 % |
| List of polls | ||