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Coach Mike Sullivan is impact player for the Pittsburgh Penguins |
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The Pittsburgh Penguins signed coach Mike Sullivan to a three-year contract extension today and that deal is perhaps as important as the re-signing of Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby.
Sullivan's new three-year contract will kick in after the upcoming season. To appreciate his value consider that 23 of the 32 current NHL coaches were hired over the last 32 months. Ten NHL teams switched coaches this offseason.
Meanwhile, Sullivan has been Pittsburgh's coach since Dec. 12, 2015. Only Tampa Bay's Jon Cooper (hired March 25, 2013) has been with his team longer.
Since Sullivan took over, the Penguins are 297-156-24 over seven seasons, never missed the playoffs, won 52 postseason games and won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships (2016 and 2017).
Sullivan has clearly been a significant factor in the Penguins still owning the NHL's longest active consecutive-years-in-the-post-season streak of 16 years.
Cooper is the only other active coach with consecutive championships. Calgary's Darryl Sutter is the only other active coach with two Stanley Cups won as a coach. He guided the Los Angeles Kings to two championships.
Sullivan is the only American-born coach to take his NHL team to the Stanley Cup championship more than once.
You don't have the level of success that Sullivan has known in Pittsburgh without the help of some extraordinary talent. Sullivan obviously has Sidney Crosby, Malkin and Letang to do his bidding since he arrived.
But Pittsburgh fans know that having that trio has meant that the team hasn't always had the salary cap space to plug their holes.
One of Sullivan's strengths is his ability to get the best out the roster he is given. He's tough, but fair. He's demanding defensively, but understands that he must allow his skilled players to do what they do.
Sullivan has made some inferior defensive units look credible in his time with the Penguins.
Despite the high turnover of coaches, the NHL has plenty of respected coaches. But not many can match Sullivan's reputation around the league. If you polled hockey folks about the league's best coach, you would get a variety of answers. Some people like whiskey. Others prefer bourbon.
A good number might pick Cooper ahead of Sullivan. Cooper's entertaining personality might influence the judging. Sullivan comes across as mostly all-business.
But if there was a vote for the NHL's best coach, Sullivan would be heavy in the conversation.
Blogger •HHOF Writer's column on the NHL • 
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