![\"8945093_web1_gtr-sully-100825\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/8945093_web1_gtr-Sully-100825.jpg\"\/ "\\"8945093_web1_gtr-sully-100825\\"")
<\/p>\nMike Sullivan was never cursed with a strong attachment to sentimentality.<\/p>\n
He was brief anytime he was asked about his time as a bottom-six center for the expansion San Jose Sharks in the early 1990s.<\/p>\n
And discussions about his brief two-year tenure as head coach of the Boston Bruins in the mid-2000s did not require a great deal of labor in transcribing.<\/p>\n
Reliving the good old days was something Sullivan rarely did during his nearly decade-long appointment as head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins.<\/p>\n
Saturday, he made something of an exception following a morning skate at PPG Paints Arena with his current employer, the New York Rangers.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo grateful for the opportunity that I had here to coach the Penguins for the amount of time that I was able to do it,\u201d Sullivan said in a blue tracksuit against a Rangers backdrop near the visiting dressing room, approximately 200 feet from the home team\u2019s facilities. \u201cWe had a lot of good memories and I\u2019m grateful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s game between the Penguins and Rangers will be Sullivan\u2019s first venture as a visitor in Pittsburgh after he left the Penguins on April 28 in what was termed as a \u201cmutual parting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Four days later, Sullivan was hired by the Rangers, a team he was drafted by (but never played for) and previously worked for as an assistant coach.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I saw the schedule in the summertime, I was hoping we didn\u2019t (play the Penguins) until March,\u201d Sullivan quipped. \u201cBut it is what it is. It\u2019s something that I can\u2019t control. It\u2019s an inevitability. It\u2019s just part of the process. When the puck drops tonight, it\u2019s going to be a hockey game. We\u2019re going to do everything we can to try to win it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited about the group of players we have in New York. They\u2019re a great group of guys. I\u2019ve really enjoyed the time that I\u2019ve had to work with them until this point and our coaching staff as well. We have a lot of enthusiasm around our team right now, and we\u2019re excited about what we can potentially do moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sullivan\u2019s methods of steering the Rangers don\u2019t appear to be all that different from how he guided the Penguins.<\/p>\n
Rangers forward Conor Sheary spent parts of four seasons with the Penguins and was a key contributor to the 2016 and 2017 Stanley Cup titles the franchise won under Sullivan\u2019s watch.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis message is very similar,\u201d Sheary said. \u201cThere might be things here or there throughout his tenure that he changed within the system to adapt with the game and the times. But his message has kind of been the same for as long as I can remember. He\u2019s kind of stuck to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Getty Images <\/p>\n
The New York Rangers hired Mike Sullivan as coach on May 2.<\/p>\n
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The details of Sullivan\u2019s departure remain unclear, at least publicly.<\/p>\n
On April 28, Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas offered something of a timeline.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast week, when (Sullivan) and I spoke about a lot of the same stuff we\u2019ve talked about the whole year, it just became clear to me that it was probably time for a change and to move on,\u201d Dubas said. \u201cI went yesterday and met with (Sullivan) and sat down with him in Boston (Sullivan\u2019s hometown), and just kind of went through that with him.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes there\u2019s disagreement when you have those conversations, and other times there\u2019s agreement. I don\u2019t want to speak for him and how he views it, but I would say (it) was very amicable.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Sullivan politely declined to discuss the topic.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great question,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cBut that\u2019s probably better for another day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sullivan\u2019s days in Pittsburgh were mostly triumphant. In parts of 10 seasons, he became the franchise\u2019s winningest coach with a 409-255-89 record.<\/p>\n
Hired as head coach of the Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League on June 18, 2015, he replaced Mike Johnston as head coach of the NHL club on Dec. 12.<\/p>\n
Before joining the Penguins, he was something of a lost soul as far as his coaching career was concerned. Following a single and unsuccessful season as an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks in 2013-14, he spent the 2014-15 campaign as a development coach with the Chicago Blackhawks, working with that franchise\u2019s prospects.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe experience and the opportunity that I was given here in Pittsburgh changed my life in so many ways from a career standpoint,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cWhat we were able to accomplish as a group was a career-changing experience. As I said, I\u2019m so grateful for that opportunity that I was given here to work with that group of players.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose relationships last a lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n
His relationship with Pittsburgh seems as if it will endure as well.<\/p>\n
In May, Sullivan took out advertisements on several billboards throughout the area to express his feelings for the region. <\/p>\n
\u201cI just thought it was important that I express my own gratitude for myself and my family on behalf of us,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cI am and will continue to be so grateful for the opportunity that I got to work here for 10 years. I thought it was appropriate that I express that to the people of Pittsburgh and how receptive they were to me and my family during my time here.\u201d<\/p>\n