Respected Penguins reporter issues shocking statement on Mike Sullivan joining the New York Rangers
Dan Kingerski is quite familiar with Mike Sullivan's success, as he covered his tenure in Pittsburgh through SiriusXM/SportsNet. Now, he offers some insight into Sullivan as he is poised to bring the Rangers back to their winning ways.
While every NHL coach has their up and down swings, Sullivan could be the one to take the Rangers out of the mess they're in.
After two seasons of mixed results, the former two-time Stanley Cup-winning coach is experienced with taking underperforming teams and delivering above expectations.
He took over the Penguins in 2015 and oversaw a renaissance in Pittsburgh hockey.
«That was Sullivan's great challenge taking over the Penguins in December of 2015, they were an absolute unmitigated disaster at that point. There was even legitimate talk of Sidney Crosby leaving. Things were that bad,» Kingerski told Forever Blueshirts on the RINK RAP podcast. «But Sullivan very quickly, within a couple months of taking over, changed the systems, changed the mindset, changed everything to a platform that suited his team very well.
«If he can get back to that part of his coaching acumen, I would think that he is the perfect coach for the Rangers to sort out some of these problems.»
«If he can get back to that part of his coaching acumen, I would think that he is the perfect coach for the Rangers to sort out some of these problems.»
He'd replace Coach Mike Johnson only two months into 2015-2016. The lineup would feature many core pieces around today, some retired. That included Marc-Andre Fleury, Sidney Crosby, Evgenii Malkin, and Kris Letang.
Though he'd have to pick up the pieces from the devastation left before him.
Sullivan would find a way to get the team to the promised land in 2016 against the San Joe Sharks in the Stanley Cup finals. And would replicate the success only a year afterward.
«Sullivan is not the gregarious team builder, family sort of guy. He is a tactician, a disciplinarian - with some players. And he really is just a coach who is forever prepared,» said Kingerski, who covers the Penguins for Pittsburgh Hockey Now. «Having said that, any negativity is handled behind closed doors. He doesn't alienate most players, certainly the core players. But players on the periphery, he has no problems putting them in the doghouse for mistakes often far less than those of his core players. He gets his buy-in from his main guys and lets it spread from there.»
Kingerski believes the situation in New York is similar to his time in Pittsburgh. Though he'll have to find a way to coax the best hockey out of players like Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, and Adam Fox when it comes to the import parts of the season.
He has experience finding a way to get players to produce in ways that other coaches couldn't. In the case of Phil Kessel in 2015, we could hope he could find a way to bring out Artemi Panarin's best game and buy-in from the regular season to the playoffs, should the Rangers be so lucky.
«Going back to when Sullivan was able to squeeze some juice out of Phil Kessel (from 2015-19) when other coaches really couldn't and he figured out a way to get what he needed,» Kingerski explained. «In that case, I see kind of the same thing playing out with Artemi Panarin, where he'll figure out a construct to get what he needs there.
Sullivan will bring a wealth of knowledge and two Stanley Cups' worth of experience to the Blueshirts.
Previously on NY Hockey Insider
| POLL | ||
MAI 30 | 1040 ANSWERS Respected Penguins reporter issues shocking statement on Mike Sullivan joining the New York Rangers Is Head Coach Mike Sullivan of the New York Rangers capable of bringing out forward Artemi Panarin's full potential? | ||
| Yes | 818 | 78.7 % |
| No | 222 | 21.3 % |
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