CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Mike Sullivan always tells his players to “block out the noise,” his friendly reminder that criticism from fans and media shouldn’t infest a hockey player’s thoughts.
What about when the noise is circulating around the head coach?
NHL organizations fire coaches with outrageous regularity and Sullivan, despite boasting consecutive championships on his resume, is under fire from a segment of the fan base that believes his expiration date has come and gone in Pittsburgh. The fact of the matter is, the Penguins have missed the Stanley Cup playoffs in each of the past two seasons. At the quarter pole of this season, they’ve been one of the NHL’s worst teams.
Sullivan sat down with The Athletic to discuss his job security, the plight of his Penguins and more.
One thing about Sullivan is very, very clear: He won’t resign or retire from the Penguins anytime soon. If Penguins’ ownership no longer wishes for Sullivan to be their head coach, so be it. But he’ll go down with the ship simply because he believes the ship will rise again, and he wishes to keep his job all the way through. Sullivan has two seasons on his contract following this one.
“I’m invested in the Pittsburgh Penguins,” Sullivan said. “I care very, very deeply about this organization. I care deeply about the group of guys who have been in that locker room for a very long time. I love this organization with all of my soul. This organization and so many people associated with it have changed my life in so many ways. And so, for me, the challenge of trying to move this team forward and transition this team, it’s a different kind of challenge, but it’s one that I am welcoming.”
Sullivan was asked if he’s concerned about losing his job.
“I’m not concerned about it, no,” he said. “I’m well aware of what I signed up for. It’s the nature of the business. My main focus is trying to do what I do every day, applying a certain process I’m comfortable with to win games. I’ll bring everything I can to the table every day to help this team win, until such time when someone tells me otherwise.”
There is little question this season has affected Sullivan. He is known around the Penguins’ players and front office members for his legendary competitive streak. No one likes losing, but Sullivan hates it with a particular passion.
His team has been doing a lot of losing this season.
“I think I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t bother me,” Sullivan said. “I take a lot of pride in what I do.”
Sullivan is sensitive to the idea that he never makes adjustments. That, he said, is anything but true.
In terms of lineup deployment, Sullivan has been doing everything in his power to ignite his once-great team. At one point, Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang were both removed from the top power play. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were placed on the same line for a two-week stretch, something Sullivan has never done. The lineup has been different almost every night.
And then there are the strategic adjustments.
“There has been a narrative in Pittsburgh that there haven’t been adjustments to our team game or our tactics,” Sullivan said. “It’s quite the opposite. I won’t bore you with details. But there’s been a whole lot of change in how we’ve approached the way we do everything, from details to how we play in all three games, on both sides of the puck.”
Sullivan doesn’t appear to have lost his locker room. His players routinely praise him, on and off the record, and that hasn’t changed.
“He’s been great,” Marcus Pettersson said. “He’s so steady, so honest with us. He’s so direct. Tells you what you need to do better, what you’re doing well. We have total respect for him.”
Sullivan knows the clock could be ticking on his time in Pittsburgh, simply because this is the NHL. Penguins general manager and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas and Fenway Sports Group ownership have publicly and privately offered nothing but belief and loyalty to Sullivan.
Still, the coach sounds prepared for anything, but hopeful of being in Pittsburgh for a long time.
“That’s the reality of pro sports,” Sullivan said. “I’ve been in this business for a long time, long enough to understand that.”
Sullivan said he has consistently questioned himself and his staff, leaving no stone unturned in attempting to figure out what can help his team rebound.
“I ask hard questions of myself and my staff all the time,” he said. “I wouldn’t be doing my job if I wasn’t asking those questions. Now, do I doubt myself? The answer is no. I have a strong belief in how I go about my job every day. I have unwavering belief in that process.”
Sullivan will keep doing things his way, critics be damned.
“I think it’s important as an individual in our business to have strong convictions,” he said. “If I don’t have strong convictions, then I’m not deserving of being in this seat. I understand when a team doesn’t have success, then the critics are going to come out. That’s what we all sign up for and that’s OK. But if I were to read every time that happened, we’d be all over the place with respect to how we go about our day-to-day work. So, I do hold myself accountable. That never changes.”
Sullivan said he will continue to hold himself and his team accountable. He doesn’t know any other way and he believes that, if he and his players remain on the same page, everything will turn around in Pittsburgh.
“I know he believes that and we believe in him,” Rickard Rakell said. “We’re all in this together and no one is happy right now. But we know we have a great coach.”
He’s a coach who is aware of the noise.
“It’s my job to get this team going,” Sullivan said. “I tell my players all the time to lean in, dig in. That’s what I’m doing as a coach, too. I’m trying to show them through my own actions that we’re going to turn this around.”
(Top photo: Winslow Townson / Getty Images)
