The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have hired Mike Sullivan to be their head coach, filling the vacancy created when John Hynes left for New Jersey. He has worked in various capacities with five different organizations during his 13 year coaching career.
Sullivan got his start as the head coach of the AHL’s Providence Bruins in the 2002-03 season after retiring from an 11-year NHL career. He led the team to first in the division before being transferred to the NHL late in the season to serve as assistant coach with the Boston Bruins. He was named head coach of the Bruins for 2003-04 and finished first in the division before an upset loss in the opening round of the playoffs.
When they returned for the 2005-06 season following the lockout, the Bruins finished last in the division and failed to qualify for the playoffs. It was during this time that Sullivan coached Penguins assistant general manager Tom Fitzgerald, during Fitzgerald’s final season. It would prove to be Sullivan’s last year in Boston as well, as he was relieved of his duties. He spent the next year with USA Hockey and served as head coach at the 2007 World Championships, where the team failed to medal.
He returned to the NHL to serve as an assistant coach under John Tortorella with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2007-08. After a disappointing finish — last in the division — Tortorella and his staff were fired. Sullivan was asked to come back to Tampa Bay as associate coach under Penguins assistant coach Rick Tocchet after he took over as bench boss during the 2008-09 season. That season he coached Penguins player development coach Mark Recchi as well as Gary Roberts, who will be working with the Penguins practice facility.
For 2009-10 Sullivan rejoined Tortorella as assistant coach with the New York Rangers and remained in that capacity for four seasons. Tortorella and his staff were fired after the 2012-13 season, but both Tortorella and Sullivan were hired by the Vancouver Canucks so that 2013-14 became the sixth and final season they worked together. After Tortorella and his staff were fired by the Canucks, Sullivan took a break from working behind the bench. He served as one of four player development coaches with the Chicago Blackhawks during the 2014-15 season.
Sullivan has had ups and downs over the years, experiencing the heights of success as well as the agony of defeat. When he started out in Boston he was described as a player’s coach and there were complaints of him being too friendly. Perhaps it was the sting of being fired, or maybe his new mentor rubbed off on him, because he changed as he got older.
Larry Brooks of the New York Post commented: “Truth is that Sullivan, who only reinforces Tortorella’s us-against-the-world mentality, had alienated more Rangers by the end than the head coach.” That wasn’t an isolated occurrence either, as David Ebner of the Globe and Mail said of his time in Vancouver that “Sullivan would constantly berate Edler when mistakes were made, which apparently, didn’t do much to help build Edler’s confidence or turn around a struggling season for one of Vancouver’s top defensemen.”
Sullivan has been described as focusing on an aggressive play style, quite the opposite of the defensive systems of Hynes that saw WBS lead the league with the fewest goals against during four of the past five seasons. He also mirrors the personality of his mentor, according to Chris Block of The Third Man In “Sullivan is well-known to be a gruff, drill instructor type, an approach that hasn’t crossed well with some players he’s coached.”
Sullivan was a forward who served as depth grinder during his playing days, while his coaching career saw him running the defense and an all-too-often anemic power play. Here’s to hoping that a year away from Tortorella and exposure to Chicago’s coaching philosophy has allowed him to turn a new leaf.
