PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Pens President David Morehouse said he found out Jim Rutherford resigned Tuesday night, the team found out after practice Wednesday. Now comes the sometimes difficult task of focusing on a game this evening in Boston with a major potential distraction hanging over them.
“It’s hard,” said head coach Mike Sullivan Thursday. “We are all human who build relationships over time.”
“Obviously, we all have so much respect for Jim. I’m happy for him that he’s going to make the decisions that are best for him and his family. We are going to control what we can with the hockey team and are going to do our best to make sure the focus is where it needs to be.”
“I think you address it,” said Captain Sidney Crosby. “You just have to continue to move on. These things do happen, whether it’s trades or signings or movement. There is a lot of that within a season, not typically a general manager per se.”
“Things like this, they come up. That’s part of hockey that you learn to understand that these changes, they do happen. You have to continue to move forward.”
Sullivan said his job doesn’t change just because his immediate boss has. He’s going to bear down on the job at hand, even without a friend working with him.
“Jim and I have developed a great relationship in the time that we’ve worked together,” Sullivan said. “We’ve been through a lot together. We were very much in sync on how the day-to-day operations ran.”
“Jim is a great communicator. He’s a great listener. He’s a great mentor. His resume speaks for itself. I think he’s the best general manager in hockey. Obviously, he made the decision that he thinks is best for him and his family. We are going to do our best to put this team in the best position to win.”
Crosby said he will continue to have a great relationship with Rutherford and has respect for him. Is the face of the team worried about the Penguins future after the GM just quit?
“No, it’s a great organization,” Crosby said. “There are so many people that make it great. The commitment has always been to winning. You’ve seen people move on from the organization and have great success in other places. That’s always a great sign. It’s never easy in a situation like this, but there are some great people here that will continue to do great work.”
Crosby met interim GM Patrick Allvin a few times. Sullivan a few more than Sid, but he’s already had a number of conversations with him in the aftermath and says they will continue to build on their relationship moving forward.
“He’s a really smart guy,” Sullivan said of Allvin. “He has a wealth of experience in different aspects of the game. I think he’s a great personnel guy as far as his evaluation and assessment of players and how they might fit into our team to help us win.”
Now with a fifth defenseman lost to injury and new defenseman Yannick Weber unavailable tonight because he’s stuck in the snow. Sullivan will get his players ready to do what he believes teams can do in these situations.
“We have an opportunity to rally around one another,” Sullivan said. “And make sure that we utilize the game as a means to stay focused and to accomplish what we set out to accomplish.”
“Right now our mindset is on the game tonight. We are not going to look beyond it. We are not going to worry about the things that are outside of our control. We are anticipating the drop of the puck and we are looking forward to competing tonight.”