Mike Sullivan is the Right/Wrong Coach for the Penguins
Confused about my title?
Imagine how I felt trying to write the article!
To digress, I’ve been discussing the plight of our Penguins quite a bit lately with my PP colleagues, Caleb DiNatale and Other Rick, as you can well imagine. More often than not the topic of our conversation centers around head coach Mike Sullivan.
I’ll be honest. I would have dismissed Sullivan at the end of the 2022-23 season as part of the Ron Hextall/Brian Burke purge. With the Pens in full control of their playoff destiny, he was unable to guide to us to a needed victory over the lowly (and I mean lowly) Blackhawks, effectively ending our 16-year run of postseason appearances.
This on the heels of four-straight opening round postseason exits and five-consecutive series losses. Frankly, I thought he’d reached the end of his shelf life here.
Nothing that’s transpired over the past season and change has altered my opinion, not even our 8-2-2 finish last spring. A fevered run that’s looking more and more like the last dying gasp of respectability from our great championship teams.