Live from the World Championship in Sweden and Denmark, Team Canada's captain Sidney Crosby held an interview with Josh Yohe of The Athletic, in which he opened up on many hot topics surrounding the Penguins' crucial offseason.
He did note that Sullivan played a big role with the team over the past 10 years and highlighted that it's a long tenure for an NHL head coach. He ended by saying he is grateful for all the memories they made together through the years.
In his own words:
"I wouldn't say I'm surprised by anything that happened, to be honest. I understand it. I've played long enough now to know that there's always going to be some kind of change when you don't get the results that you want.
And we haven't gotten the results that we've wanted for a while now. That's part of losing. That's the part of things that makes losing so difficult."
"He did an unbelievable job with us. If you really think about it, 10 years is an incredibly long time to coach a team in the NHL. We're fortunate that we made so many great memories with him as our coach."
Sullivan and the Penguins failed to reach the playoffs for the past three consecutive years, which is too long for a team with that much talent on the roster.
The next coach in Pittsburgh will have a lot of pressure to win, but in the end, President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Kyle Dubas holds the fate of his team in his hands, as he will need to hire the right person for the job and make a few acquisitions before the start of the next season to make sure the team is in the best possible position to win soon.