It’s a question that has been on the minds of Penguins fans since Jim Rutherford abruptly resigned seven games into the 2020-21 season. It’s also one the team’s former general manager has been considering himself more and more lately.
Why?
“I guess, if I give a short answer to it, everybody is gonna keep asking more questions, and that’s not something I want,” Rutherford was telling me by phone on Thursday from Vancouver, where he’s now the Canucks’ president of hockey operations, a job he’s held since Dec. 10, 2021. “But I do think at some point I should say something about it.”
It didn’t take long for Rutherford to get there, as he continued the conversation by peeling the curtain back on a decision that shook PPG Paints Arena and led to Ron Hextall taking over as general manager and the Penguins hiring Brian Burke to be their president of hockey operations.
The first thing to understand, Rutherford said, was COVID-19. Given his age — he turned 73 in February — Rutherford worried about the ramifications of the virus, so he, his wife, Leslie, and son, James, hardly left the house once the pandemic started.
That took a toll. Confined to his home office, Rutherford didn’t let his work suffer, but he said his “mental toughness” became a problem. Pressures inherent to the job — things he’d either internalize or shake off — gnawed at him. Rutherford said he didn’t feel at all like himself.
“I don’t want to suggest I had mental health issues,” Rutherford said. “The way I would describe it is I wasn’t mentally as strong as I should have been to be myself and continue to do that job. I was starting to react to things differently than I normally would, which led to where I got to.”
There have been all sorts of theories tossed out there about Rutherford’s strange disappearance. A big trade involving Evgeni Malkin or Kris Letang that he wasn’t allowed to make. The firing of his longtime assistant Jason Karmanos. Even Rutherford wanting to shift into a role like the one Burke eventually got.
“See, exactly what I said — it’s gonna lead to more questions,” Rutherford responded when I asked whether he and former Penguins president/CEO David Morehouse ever butted heads. “Now, it’s already led to another question. But it did not have anything to do with Morehouse.”
It’s also not something Rutherford plans on discussing again. COVID-19 caused a change. Rutherford reacted. As far as he’s concerned, this is the one and only time he’ll address it.
“They can ask all they want,” he said. “I think most people will understand what I’m saying.”
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I’ve gotten to know Rutherford pretty well over the years, starting with my first year covering the Penguins in 2014. We started Thursday’s conversation — which actually took place at Saint Vincent College — by chatting about the Steelers and the struggles the Pirates have endured against his Red Sox.
Later in the chat, Rutherford joked about the Chinese food we’d eat across the street from PPG Paints Arena and said to look him up if I was ever out in the Pacific Northwest.
“The restaurants here are phenomenal,” Rutherford said. “Any kind of food. We found an Italian place in our neighborhood last night. Man, it was really good.”
I told Rutherford that if he ordered sweet and sour chicken — his go-to dish at China Wok — in a Vancouver restaurant, I would walk out.
“I still order it,” Rutherford said, laughing. “It’s made a little different here than it is in different places.”
The point to all that: Rutherford normally is as easygoing and friendly as they get. But like many of us during that crazy time, he wound up in a rather frustrated place. I can also say that, as someone who has grown accustomed to the pace and excitement of covering pro sports, that knob instantly turning to zero isn’t easy.
Add up the pandemic, the urgency the Penguins have felt to find postseason success and then strip away something that was probably good for Rutherford and helped balance him out, it’s not hard to see how someone might develop a short fuse.
“James didn’t go to school or play hockey,” Rutherford said. “I was one of the higher-risk people at the time. We didn’t have vaccines. We didn’t have anything to treat COVID. It was a tense time. As a family, we didn’t leave the house for 10 or 11 months.
“I was working on a regular basis, just as hard as if I was in the office because I was on the phone every day. But at the same time, that period of my life and my family’s life was difficult. It certainly had an effect on me — had an effect on all of us, but had an effect on me that led to my decision.”
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Rutherford was hugely complimentary of his time in Pittsburgh — praising the ownership group under which he worked of Ron Burkle and Mario Lemieux, as well as Morehouse, for how he was treated. Several times, too.
“I have nothing but good things to say about them,” Rutherford said.
But he didn’t deny emotions ran hot as everyone pushed for ways to advance past the first round of the playoffs.
“Again, you’re getting into more details,” Rutherford said when I asked about blowups and disagreements with other decision makers. “I think I covered that by saying that I did not handle situations the way I normally would.
“But I can tell you, I’m not mad at anybody. It’s actually the opposite. I’m thankful for the way I was treated by Mario, Ron and David. It’s not a hard-feelings thing from my point of view.”
Nor should it be. Rutherford is a Hall of Famer, a three-time Stanley Cup champion and one of the great characters in hockey — an old-school general manager with a riverboat gambler’s mentality. There will likely never be another one like him, in any sport.
It’s also hilarious to me that his coach in Vancouver is Bruce Boudreau, who actually scored his first NHL goal against Rutherford. Those two have never met a conversation they couldn’t have, a notebook they couldn’t fill.
At the same time, give Rutherford credit: The Canucks on his watch have made a couple of smart, forward-thinking hires. He brought Patrik Allvin over from the Penguins to be his general manager, hired former player agent Emilie Castonguay as an assistant GM and added Olympic gold medalist Cammi Granato to oversee Vancouver’s player development and amateur and pro scouting departments.
“It just goes to show Jim’s vision to sort of diversify, get different voices, get different people’s experience and draw them together,” Granato said at the time.
Rutherford doesn’t really see another way of doing things. Hire the best person for the job, regardless of age, sex or race.
“It’s part of the reason I’m still in this business,” Rutherford said. “If you don’t stay current, everything passes you by. I’m a believer in the things that we’re doing. I, quite frankly, think it makes our job easier.”
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The new role has also agreed with Rutherford’s system. He’s around more for James’ hockey practices and soon-to-start school time. It’s also been enjoyable — though something of a challenge given how much he still loves the job — to peel back and cede more day-to-day stuff to Allvin.
“Patrik does the general manager’s work,” Rutherford said. “He’s making calls. He does the grunt work on contracts or player trades or things like that. In my role, I’m here to support him and give guidance.”
This route was one of two Rutherford saw for himself after leaving the Penguins. To stay in the game at his age, it was either this or become some sort of adviser, which Rutherford didn’t want. So, he’s grown comfortable seeing the ice from a higher perch.
The Canucks are surely better for it. I’m also skeptical about the manifestation of that role here, GMJR becoming president of hockey ops. Rutherford insisted it wasn’t something anyone would consider — yet Burke became that guy as soon as Rutherford left.
“It was just something that I had suggested a few times and was told there wouldn’t be that role with the Penguins,” Rutherford said. “But it had nothing to do with my departure. I have no issues over it.”
Another part of the new gig Rutherford loves — in addition to calling one of the most beautiful places in North America home — is working in a Canadian market, something he never got to do as a GM. The pressure is higher. There’s more attention paid to hockey. Vancouver fans want the Canucks to win, like, yesterday. But Rutherford wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I love the way of life in Canada and Canadian people,” said Rutherford, who grew up in Beeton, Ontario, outside of Toronto and still maintains an offseason home in Raleigh, North Carolina. “Most things come natural to me here, which makes it easier, although changing things over from one country to another — something as simple as getting a driver’s license — is not as simple as it should be.
“Thankfully, we’ve worked through that, and we’re pretty normal now.”
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While our conversation was mostly focused on his new job and finding out why the heck he left his old one, Rutherford and I also chatted about Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang re-signing with the club, as well as the worst trade he made and the one thing he regrets.
Easiest one first.
“As much as I love Pittsburgh and the Penguins, these jobs are hard enough without having the person who was there prior to the new people commenting on what they’re doing,” Rutherford said. “But I will say that I’m happy it’s worked out for Geno, Tanger and Sid — the Big Three — to be able to play together their whole careers. I was happy to see that got worked out.”
Rutherford also didn’t need long to identify the worst trade of his tenure here.
“I like to think about what I’m doing tomorrow, not what I did yesterday,” Rutherford said. “But I can answer that one pretty quickly — [Derick] Brassard. That’s not one I have to sit and think about.”
And the regret? It was a trick question.
“Not one thing,” Rutherford said. “I absolutely loved Pittsburgh. Still do. It’s a great sports town. People know what they’re talking about. Just a special, special place.”
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Many Penguins fans who think of Rutherford’s tenure will circle back — after the two Cups, hopefully — to the GM’s bumpy first year: Mike Johnston’s forgettable tenure, a bunch of signings that didn’t work out and Rutherford leaving the roster with five healthy defensemen for a stretch.
It wasn’t a particularly enjoyable time for Rutherford, and I remember him once talking about being one and done, about leaving Pittsburgh after the season and going home to Raleigh for good. We laughed about it Thursday because Rutherford said he was venting that day more than anything.
“I think I was just blowing smoke and talking out of frustration, not really in reality,” he said.
That was the difference between Rutherford circa 2015 and when he shockingly stepped away from his post: the ability to rebound from the stresses of the job. Rutherford has also been around long enough to know sometimes things happen for a reason.
Perhaps he needed a fresh start, a different role and a shift in priorities, even if it required nearly a 3,000-mile trip to get there.
“I got away from the game and got away from the pressure,” Rutherford said of his time before accepting the Canucks job. “We spent time in Pittsburgh, then we ended up moving back to Carolina. Just got rejuvenated because we got back to normal as a family. We got out. We started doing what we normally do, and things got back to normal. I started to feel better about everything.
“[Canucks owner] Francesco [Aquilini], when he came and met with me, it was just a good meeting. He really did a good job on selling me on why this would be a good fit in Vancouver, and that’s what it has been. It’s been a real good challenge.”
