CRANBERRY TWP, PA (93.7 The Fan) – Pens general manager Kyle Dubas said he thought about replacing head coach Mike Sullivan during the year, but after an end of season talk last week, decided it was now time.
Dubas met with Sullivan last Tuesday and spent a few days pondering what was said between the two. As Dubas thought about it more, and the team’s future, there was just one outcome. He flew up to Boston to meet the organization’s all-time winningest coach and told him they were moving on.
“Two things can be true, that someone can be a head coach and that they’ll move on to become a great head coach on their next head stop,” Dubas said Monday at the UPMC Lemieux Complex in Cranberry Township. “And it can also be time for change here. That was the conclusion that I had come to. It was something on my mind during the season. I have great respect for (Sullivan) and just wanted to see it through the end of the year then have a discussion with him at the end of the season.”
Dubas described the conversation as amicable. He said Sullivan means a great deal to the community and left a truly incredible mark on the franchise. It wasn’t as much about now overhauling the style of play either.
“I think with the right personnel; (Sullivan’s) style of play has proven to be very effective here,” Dubas said. “Obviously, there are two banners that hang because of the way Sully coaches.”
The Pens GM also put it on him and, without saying it, previous management in saying they have to find more competitive players and they need to become more talented and skilled. That is their focus as well as finding a new on-ice leader over the next few months.
Bringing in a new head coach was referred to by Dubas as putting together a partnership. He believes the franchise is in a better place now than he found it. However, it’s going to take a coach who understands how to deal with a time of transition. How to maximize some great players at the end of their careers, while also developing youth already on and about to come on the NHL roster.
“I think when you have the same coach for a long time, you get ingrained in a way of doing things each day. I think a fresh person coming in may be able to spur them in the right direction. And it might have the opposite effect on some guys, frankly.”
But I think it’s a great opportunity. You’re coming into a group of players that have accomplished a lot, accomplished a lot together and they still have, as you see on the ice, a lot to give to the game. In combination with the younger players that are going to come along. I view it as a great opportunity.”
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“If we didn’t have some of those younger guys who came up and played, I would say it’d be a little more daunting. But it goes back to what I said last week about
feeling a little better about where we’re at right now.”
It will start with virtual interviews over the next month, followed by in-person interviews at the end of May and the hope is to have a decision early in June. Dubas said they will not only consider long-time head coaches, but coaches from junior, from college and even coaches in Europe. Wherever they can find the right person.
Sid thoughts
Dubas said he did talk to 20-year Pens captain Sidney Crosby, someone who loves his routine, before the decision became public. He actually talked to Sid before he met with Sullivan just so he was in the loop. Dubas said it was a five-minute conversation, but didn’t get very in-depth.
“I have to do what I think is best for the organization,” Dubas said. “Every single player, if you poll that room of players, you’re going to largely have probably seven of them that love the coach; seven of them that hate the coach; and seven that are indifferent. The same applies to management. Same applies to the remainder of the staff as well. So, I think polling players on their feeling of the coaches is not always the greatest thing to do when you’re trying to make that change.”
“I had to take all the information from the last two years and do what I think is best.”