PITTSBURGH — His season began with COVID-19, which forced him to miss five games in November.
"It hit me pretty hard," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan was saying last week. "It was a tough few days."
It continued with the NHL's decision to skip the Beijing Olympics in February, denying him the chance to live out his dream of coaching the U.S. hockey team.
"That was really disappointing," Sullivan said. "I was looking forward to that opportunity to compete on that stage with that caliber of player. There is something special about the Olympics. There is something special about representing your nation."
Finally, it ended with the Penguins' sudden exit from the playoffs in a seven-game, first-round series against the New York Rangers.
"I feel the losses way more than the wins because we're so invested in trying to help this team have success," Sullivan said. "When you don't reach your ultimate goal, it stings. It makes a mark."
Sullivan spoke on those topics and many others during a 75-minute interview Thursday at his office at team headquarters in Cranberry, Pa. He talked about the perception the Penguins aren't tough enough to win in the playoffs. He talked about his relationship with the team's new ownership group and his job security after the Penguins' fourth consecutive first-round exit. And he talked about the team's future, which might not include free agents Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Bryan Rust, all players he would love to keep.
"I feel good about this team moving forward," Sullivan said. "When your captain is Sidney Crosby and he plays the way we all know he's capable of playing and he leads the team through example the way he does, he represents the standard. He is all about winning."
There were plenty of highs for Sullivan this season, to be sure. The Penguins went on a 17-2 run that helped them make the playoffs for the 16th consecutive year. Sullivan set franchise records for regular season wins (297) and postseason wins (44). He became the second-longest tenured NHL coach behind Tampa Bay's Jon Cooper after Winnipeg's Paul Maurice resigned in December and Detroit's Jeff Blashill was fired in April.
But none of that eased the hurt from that series loss to the Rangers. Despite wasting a 3-1 edge in the series and leads in each of the final three games, Sullivan believed the Penguins often were the better team and easily could have won. He believed the same thing after their six-game loss to the New York Islanders in 2021.
"Never once did we feel like we were getting outplayed," Sullivan said. "There were so many aspects of our game that we liked. We felt like, in a lot of instances, we were carrying the play. We had three opportunities to close it out. We put ourselves in pretty good spots to do so. We just couldn't seem to get the next goal or be able to weather a momentum swing that would change the outcome. That's the fine line between winning and losing. We were playing against a real good opponent. ...
"I'm really proud of this team in so many ways. Through all the adversity, I think we managed to have a pretty strong season. We fell short of our ultimate goal and that's never easy. We all have to take responsibility for that. But this group of players, I just think they're so driven. They were so much fun to go to work with every day and to compete with every night."
Sullivan didn't want to hear that the speed game he prefers no longer is working, that his team needs to be more physical.
"I don't think we lost to the Rangers because we weren't tough enough, if that's your question," he said. "Do we endure a certain level of physical play? Yeah. But it's been that way my whole time here. It was that way in 2016 and 2017 when we won the Cup. So we were built the right way then, but we're not now?
"I believe we have a significant amount of toughness on our team. For me, the most important thing is tactics don't deter our willingness to play a certain way. The fundamental question that I always ask, with the personnel group that we have, are we playing a game that gives us our best chance to have success? We're trying to dictate the terms out there so that we can play to our strengths and insulate our weaknesses. We're going to fight the fights we know we can win. I think we're a team that's built to play between the whistles, not after.
"When you look at the best teams in the league, show me one that's slow. All the teams that remain in the playoffs have a speed dimension to their game. We never claimed to be the fastest team in the league or that we have to be the fastest to win. But speed is an essential aspect of creating a competitive advantage. Do I think we could add an element of physical play and toughness to our team? For sure. If we have the ability to do that, I'm sure we would. I'm all for hard hockey, clean body checks, physical play."
The Penguins were undone against the Rangers by a series of unfortunate events. The high hit on Crosby by Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba midway through Game 5. Evan Rodrigues' selfish retaliatory penalty in Game 6. Marcus Pettersson's helmet loss late in regulation of Game 7 and then Brock McGinn's turnover in overtime.
Sullivan clearly didn't like the Trouba hit on Crosby, which forced the captain to miss the rest of Game 5 and all of Game 6. The Penguins led 2-0 at the time of Crosby's injury and appeared ready to close out the Rangers.
But Sullivan stopped short of blaming the series loss on that play. He also wouldn't blame Tristan Jarry's late-season injury and Casey DeSmith's injury in Game 1 that forced the Penguins to turn to third-stringer Louis Domingue in goal.
"That's a hypothetical world," Sullivan said. "I don't live in that world."
Sullivan does live in a world where good coaches often get fired. It just happened with the Islanders' Barry Trotz.
"I was really surprised," Sullivan said. "I thought, like everybody else, it wasn't deserved based on his performance and his accomplishments. It's hard to win in this league."
Sullivan is safe with the Penguins despite those four first-round exits and the fact they went 6-15 in those series. He is signed through the 2023-24 season. He also has those Cups from 2016 and 2017 on his resume. He is one of just 19 NHL coaches who have won at least two Cups.
But the people who hired Sullivan no longer are with the Penguins. President/CEO David Morehouse is gone. So is general manager Jim Rutherford.
There also is new ownership. Boston-based Fenway Sports Group bought the Penguins from Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle in December.
"I've had my fair share of getting fired over the years," Sullivan said. "I know what it feels like. It hurts. When you care so much about something and you pour your heart and soul into trying to have success or help a group have success and you fall short of your goals and ultimately get fired, it's an empty feeling. But I also understand it's a part of what we sign up for. I don't really give it a lot of consideration, quite honestly. The reason is I really can't control it. I spend the majority of my time trying to figure out how to move this team forward and have success. My hope is that the new ownership group and the new management team recognize the work and effort we put into trying to be the best coaching staff we can be."
Sullivan said he doesn't believe his message to his team has gone stale.
"I don't believe that at all. I feel like I have a good relationship with these players. I feel like they're receptive to me. It's not all apple pie and ice cream, but it's an honest relationship. There are honest conversations. This is a hard business."
Sullivan, who is from the Boston area, said he hadn't met Fenway Sports Group owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner before they bought the Penguins.
"I've had a number of conversations with them since. They've been great," he said. "They've been overwhelmingly supportive of our team and me as the coach. They're really excited. Their enthusiasm is tangible."
So is Sullivan's, even if the wounds from the loss to the Rangers still are fresh. The Penguins lost Game 7 last Sunday night. He was back at work Monday morning, looking back, sure, but certainly looking ahead.
"I'm going to do everything I can to help this team and these players succeed," Sullivan said. "We had an amazing ride [in 2016 and 2017]. Winning is the most incredible feeling in the world. You can't get enough of it. I want that again for these players and this organization."
