43 years after watching his team make their first mid-season coaching change General Manager Jim Rutherford presides over the most recent move. In the years since salary cap was implemented after the 2004-05 lockout the Pittsburgh Penguins have gone through five different coaches. All but one of the four coaching changes were mid-season replacements in which the AHL coach was promoted to replace his predecessor.
The Sidney Crosby Era Ed Olczyk took over as Head Coach during a very dark time for the Penguins. He began in 2003-04 with the team finishing at the bottom of the standings and having missed the playoffs for three straight seasons. Then they lost a year due to the lockout, and when they returned he began the 2005-06 season with an 8-17-6 record. He was fired on Dec 15, 2005 and Michel Therrien came up from the AHL to replace him. Therrien lost four straight, although did get two overtime points, and had two wins and three OT points during his first seven games. He ended the season 14-29-8, finishing fifth in the Atlantic Division and missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.
Therrien improved over the following seasons, leading the team to back-to-back playoff appearances. However after making it all the way to the Stanley Cup finals the previous year he began the 2008-09 season with a 27-25-5 record. On Feb 15, 2009 the Penguins were in danger of missing the playoffs at fourth in the Atlantic Division and 10th in the Eastern Conference. Dan Bylsma was brought up from the AHL and lost his debut in a shootout but he went on with win five of his first seven games in addition to that OT point, finishing the year 18-3-4. The Penguins ended up second in the Atlantic Division and won their third Stanley Cup.
Bylsma continued to dominate the regular season but the team was never able to repeat their playoff success, so he was replaced by Mike Johnston last summer. Johnston led the team to their ninth consecutive playoff appearance last season but the team was unhappy with their position as a Wild Card team. Johnston was fired on Dec 12, 2015 after posting a 15-10-3 record. At the time the Penguins were fourth in the Metropolitan Division and eight in the Eastern Conference, right in the thick of things in the battle for the Wild Card playoff spots. Mike Sullivan was brought up from the AHL and lost his first four games with the team before getting a win in his fifth. They have fallen further behind and are currently sixth in the Metropolitan Division and 12th in the Eastern Conference. If the trend continues it will be the first time they finish below .500 since Crosby was a rookie.
Coaching History Sullivan certainly knows a lot about coaching changes. This is his second stint as an HC at the NHL level, and both times he was brought up from the AHL as a mid-season replacement. In 2002-03 he was brought up to the Boston Bruins after Robbie Ftorek was fired. He was officially an Associate Coach under GM Mike O’Connell but he was largely responsible for running the team. He lost his first match but won two and earned an addition two OT points during his first seven games, going 3-3-3 on the year and losing in the first round of the playoffs. Sullivan ran things for the next two seasons and was fired after failing to make the playoffs in 2005-06.
After that much of his career was tied to his mentor John Tortorella. He joined him with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the 2007-08 season and they were both fired after failing to make the playoffs. The following season when Tampa Bay fired Barry Melrose mid-season in 2008-09, new HC Rick Tocchet asked Sullivan to come back to join him as an AC. In 2009-10 Sullivan chose to rejoin Tortorella serving as an AC with the New York Rangers until they were both fired after the 2012-13 season. He next traveled to the Vancouver Canucks, once again serving as an AC under Tortorella and once more getting fired after failing to make the playoffs following their lone 2013-14 campaign.
Sullivan took a year away from the bench last season, serving as a Player Development coach for the Chicago Blackhawks. This season was his first return to being an HC since being fired by the Bruins. It remains to be seen what his future holds in the Penguins organization.
