NYR close to naming Mike Sullivan as new Head Coach UPD: Named

[KirkAlbuquerque]

I don’t understand why Sullivan’s great beginning to his career in Pittsburgh with a stacked roster somehow offsets the many more recent underwhelming years along with a totally unsuccessful earlier head coaching career. What exactly is his speciality as a coach? What are the NYR paying the big bucks for?

The Rangers seem to have an addiction to firing and then hiring the biggest name coach available as quickly as possible. I don’t understand with how often they do it and how little patience they have when it doesn’t work out that they keep going back to it.

Does the ghost of Tom Renney still haunt them?

Sully was also the assistant coach to Torts while Drury was on the team. Drury seems obsessed with getting the band back together as well

 

[Mothmann78]

Oh you think you’re slow now, Sullivan will have them playing even slower because they will need to play his system which will make zero sense to them and make them second guess every single thing they do with the puck and away from it. It’ll make you question if a player you thought skated well, was slow all along because of Sullivan.

well that isnt an issue, we already have that issue with lavi's musical chairs defensive scheme

 

[Fatass]

Oh you think you’re slow now, Sullivan will have them playing even slower because they will need to play his system which will make zero sense to them and make them second guess every single thing they do with the puck and away from it. It’ll make you question if a player you thought skated well, was slow all along because of Sullivan.

Two Cups.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

Crosby, Malkin, Letang are HHOF greats. Crosby and Malkin especially are considered two of the best ever. These level guys can have prime years that extend into their mid thirties. They were 29/30 when Sully came in and coached them to two more Cups. So yes in their primes. But they hadn’t won a Cup for nearly a decade.
The Rangers core guys are not the level of Crosby and Malkin. Not many players are. But those Ranger guys aren’t well past their primes either. They are between 28 and 32. There’s absolutely more juice in those players. Sully will squeeze the juice just like he did for the Pens.
Rangers finish top three in their division. Imo 105 points is very achievable.

They were younger actually. Crosby and Malkin were 28 and 29 when Sullivan came in. Kessel also 28.

It was also 6 years since their cup win when he came in, not a decade. And between 2010-15 Pittsburgh was #1 in the nhl in points. He didn't exactly inherit an unsuccessful team.

He was the right coach at the right time, especially after the boring Mike Johnston, but imo Rutherford's trades were more important.

 

[Fatass]

They were younger actually. Crosby and Malkin were 28 and 29 when Sullivan came in. Kessel also 28.

It was also 6 years since their cup win when he came in, not a decade. And between 2010-15 Pittsburgh was #1 in the nhl in points. He didn't exactly inherit an unsuccessful team.

Kessel wasn’t with the Pens when they won their first Cup though. The core three were there.
The Rangers have the core that win their first Cup Presidents trophy just about one year ago. Of course they still have the juice to be good. And Sully will squeeze that good out of them.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

Kessel wasn’t with the Pens when they won their first Cup though. The core three were there.
The Rangers have the core that win their first Cup Presidents trophy just about one year ago. Of course they still have the juice to be good. And Sully will squeeze that good out of them.

Sure it's possible. Just refuting the notion that Sullivan worked some miracle with an aging team. They were smack dab in their prime and were an elite team for years before Sullivan arrived.

 

[Fatass]

Sure it's possible. Just refuting the notion that Sullivan worked some miracle with an aging team. They were smack dab in their prime and were an elite team for years before Sullivan arrived.

The Pens had a core in place. That’s true. But they won their first Cup a decade before and done not much since then. Sully came in a squeezed enough extra juice to get them two more Cups. That’s why the Rangers want him. They won their first Cup President’s trophy only one season ago. It’s the same core (plus JT Miller). Sully is there to squeeze out the remaining juice in that core. Imo he gets them to 105 points and top three in their division.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Two Cups.

Two cups co-coaching with Tocchet.

8yrs after the two cups?
4 first round exits.
Arguing with players for dumb shit
Forcing dumb trades
Using players incorrectly for years
Weird idea of accountability with youth vs vets
Massive biases
1 series win.
3 straight playoff losses, also a record under the Crosby tenure.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

They were younger actually. Crosby and Malkin were 28 and 29 when Sullivan came in. Kessel also 28.

It was also 6 years since their cup win when he came in, not a decade. And between 2010-15 Pittsburgh was #1 in the nhl in points. He didn't exactly inherit an unsuccessful team.

He was the right coach at the right time, especially after the boring Mike Johnston, but imo Rutherford's trades were more important.

JR hit some magic too.

Scuds for Daley
Perron for Hagelin
Picking up Bones

I loved the Cullen signing in the off season when most didn’t on our board, always liked Cullen.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

well that isnt an issue, we already have that issue with lavi's musical chairs defensive scheme

You’ll look back fondly of Lavi’s system after you see Sullivan’s idea of defense and how to use them.

 

[Fatass]

Two cups co-coaching with Tocchet.

8yrs after the two cups?
4 first round exits.
Arguing with players for dumb shit
Forcing dumb trades
Using players incorrectly for years
Weird idea of accountability with youth vs vets
Massive biases
1 series win.
3 straight playoff losses, also a record under the Crosby tenure.

Two cups as head coach. He’s a proven winner who is able to squeeze juice from an older core, that has a history of doing well. One of Jersey, Washington, or Carolina will be fighting for a wildcard spot come season. Likely that’s Jersey.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

In the 2016 run their core was...
Crosby - 29
Malkin - 30
Letang - 29
Kessel - 28
Fleury - 30
Kunitz - 36

Then they had.......
Sheary - 24
Schultz - 26
Bonino - 29
Guentzel - 21
Hornqvist - 29
Rust - 24
Murray 22

And a bunch of other guys not in their late 30's playing significant minutes.

I'd like to know where this ageing core is he speaks of.

I'd also say that the most valuable coach in my opinion was actually Jacques Martin and how he set up and got guys to buy in to their defensive system. I've always viewed Sullivan as highly overrated hanging his hat on the two early cup wins and doing a not great job ever since.

Well yeah. Pens played older and slower under Sullivan after Tocchet, Martin and Gonchar left. I’d argue Sarge and Martin were actually the unsung heroes on D. Gonchar played a huge role with Daley and Schultz and Martin was always about stingy defense. Tocchet and Sullivan were good together, Sully needed someone that had that strong voice. But when they all left and it was time for Sullivan to prove he is elite as a coach, he just kept showing massive issues and so many took the fall for his ignorance.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Two cups as head coach. He’s a proven winner who is able to squeeze juice from an older core, that has a history of doing well. One of Jersey, Washington, or Carolina will be fighting for a wildcard spot come season. Likely that’s Jersey.

Again, it wasn’t an older core when they won. The fact that you don’t seem to understand any of what we’ve said, you really did get the right coach and I can see why you’d like him.

And no, that wasn’t a compliment mate. We’ve seen him for a decade. You read a heavily redacted Coles note version mate.

There's a reason 99% of the Pens board legitimately are happy he’s finally gone. The twitter/x crowd being sad literally says it all.

 

[Fatass]

Again, it wasn’t an older core when they won. The fact that you don’t seem to understand any of what we’ve said, you really did get the right coach and I can see why you’d like him.

And no, that wasn’t a compliment mate. We’ve seen him for a decade. You read a heavily redacted Coles note version mate.

There's a reason 99% of the Pens board legitimately are happy he’s finally gone. The twitter/x crowd being sad literally says it all.

The core in Pit won the Cup a decade before. They were 29/30. Not exactly too sure what you’re talking about, because those guys weren’t young.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

The core in Pit won the Cup a decade before. They were 29/30. Not exactly too sure what you’re talking about, because those guys weren’t young.

They were 28/29, and they had won 6 years before when he came in. You keep exaggerating lol.

 

[Fatass]

They were 28/29, and they had won 6 years before when he came in. You keep exaggerating lol.

In pro sports, except Pickle Ball (ha ha) 6 years, actually it was 8, us a lifetime.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

In pro sports, except Pickle Ball (ha ha) 6 years, actually it was 8, us a lifetime.

They won in June 2009, Sullivan joined in December 2015. Not sure where you're getting 8 years or a decade.

Crosby/Malkin were 28/29. Miller/Panarin are 32/33. By the time pens core was that age Sullivan could no longer get them out of the first round.

 

[Fatass]

What years did Sully coach them to the Cup? There it is.