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Mike Sullivan (ice hockey)

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For other uses, see Michael Sullivan.

Mike Sullivan
Sullivan in 2018
Born (1968-02-27) February 27, 1968 (age 56)
Marshfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Center
Shot Left
Played for San Jose Sharks
Calgary Flames
Boston Bruins
Phoenix Coyotes
Current NHL coach Pittsburgh Penguins
Coached for Boston Bruins
National team  United States
NHL draft 69th overall, 1987
New York Rangers
Playing career 1990–2002
Coaching career 2002–present

Michael Barry Sullivan (born February 27, 1968) is an American professional ice hockey coach and former player who is the head coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the fourth round, 69th overall, by the New York Rangers in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft. Sullivan has also played for the San Jose Sharks, Calgary Flames, Boston Bruins, and Phoenix Coyotes. Internationally, he represented the United States twice, including at the 1997 World Championship.

Sullivan turned to coaching upon his retirement in 2002 and served two seasons as the head coach of the Boston Bruins between 2003 and 2005. He formerly served an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers, and Vancouver Canucks, and subsequently in player development with the Chicago Blackhawks for one year. After serving as head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, he took over as head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins in December 2015, and led the team to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships becoming the only American-born coach to win the Stanley Cup more than once.

Sullivan was named head coach of the United States men's national ice hockey team for the 2022 Winter Olympics, but with the NHL withdrawing from the Olympics due to a COVID-19 surge, David Quinn, former head coach of the New York Rangers, was named as his replacement.[1][2]

Early life

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Sullivan was born on February 27, 1968, in Marshfield, Massachusetts[3] to Irish-American[4] parents George and Myrna.[5] Sullivan is their second youngest child and played hockey growing up under the tutelage of his father.[6] While Sullivan and his brothers played hockey, his two sisters Kathie and Debbie figure skated.[7]

Playing career

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Sullivan played high school hockey at Boston College High School and college hockey at Boston University where he scored a game-winning goal in the Beanpot Tournament. He was drafted 69th overall by the New York Rangers in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft. He elected to remain at BU to finish school, and in 1990, he began an 11-year National Hockey League career in which he accumulated 54 goals, 82 assists, 136 points and 203 penalty minutes in 709 games.

Coaching career

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Sullivan raising the Stanley Cup in 2017

Sullivan began coaching professional hockey during the 2002–2003 season, when he became the head coach of the Providence Bruins of the AHL. In his only season, his team had a 41–17–9–4 record.

Sullivan was hired as the 26th head coach of the Boston Bruins in 2003 by then-general manager Mike O'Connell. His first season with the Bruins was highly successful, as he led them to a 41–19–15–7 record, 104 points and a first-place finish in the Northeast Division. However, they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Montreal Canadiens. After the lockout, Sullivan and the Bruins struggled to win in the new NHL, as they ended the 2005–2006 season with a dismal 29–37–16 record, missing the playoffs and finishing last in the Northeast Division. He was subsequently fired by the incoming general manager Peter Chiarelli on June 27, 2006, and was replaced by Dave Lewis.[8]

Sullivan served as an assistant coach of the U.S. Olympic hockey team at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.[9]

On May 31, 2007, he was named assistant coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning.[10] He was then promoted to associate coach the following season.[11] On July 16, 2009, he was named assistant coach of the New York Rangers.[12]

On July 3, 2013, he was named assistant coach of the Vancouver Canucks.

On January 20, 2014, Sullivan was named interim head coach of the Canucks, while head coach John Tortorella served a six-game suspension. On January 21, in his first game as acting head coach, the Canucks would go on to record a 2–1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.[13][14]

On May 1, 2014, Sullivan, along with head coach John Tortorella, were relieved of their respective duties in the Canucks organization. Sullivan subsequently joined the Chicago Blackhawks as a player development coach.

On June 18, 2015, the Pittsburgh Penguins named Sullivan as the new head coach of their American Hockey League affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.[15]

He was named head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins on December 12, 2015, upon the firing of then-head coach Mike Johnston.[16]

On June 12, 2016, Sullivan became just the sixth head coach in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup after being hired mid-season. He did so when the Penguins defeated the San Jose Sharks in the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals.[17] Sullivan joined both Scotty Bowman (1992) and Dan Bylsma (2009) as the third coach in franchise history (and the sixth in NHL history) to win the Stanley Cup following a mid-season coaching change.[18] Sullivan is also the first coach to lead the Penguins to consecutive Stanley Cup championships with their victory over the Nashville Predators in the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals,[19] and is the only American-born head coach to win the Stanley Cup multiple times.[20]

On December 16, 2017, he recorded his 100th career win with the Penguins becoming just the fourth coach to do so for the organization.[21]

On July 5, 2019, Sullivan signed a four-year contract extension.[22]

After a 5–2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on October 16, 2021, Sullivan became the winningest coach in the Penguins history, surpassing Dan Bylsma's record with 253 wins behind the Penguins bench.[23]

On April 12, 2023, with the New York Islanders victory over the Montreal Canadiens, the Penguins missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2005–06 NHL season.[24]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1985–86 Boston College High School HS–Prep 22 26 33 59 — — — — — —
1986–87 Boston University HE 37 13 18 31 18 — — — — —
1987–88 Boston University HE 30 18 22 40 30 — — — — —
1988–89 Boston University HE 36 19 17 36 30 — — — — —
1989–90 Boston University HE 38 11 20 31 26 — — — — —
1990–91 San Diego Gulls IHL 74 12 23 35 27 — — — — —
1991–92 San Jose Sharks NHL 64 8 11 19 15 — — — — —
1991–92 Kansas City Blades IHL 10 2 8 10 8 — — — — —
1992–93 San Jose Sharks NHL 81 6 8 14 30 — — — — —
1993–94 San Jose Sharks NHL 26 2 2 4 4 — — — — —
1993–94 Kansas City Blades IHL 6 3 3 6 0 — — — — —
1993–94 Saint John Flames AHL 5 2 0 2 4 — — — — —
1993–94 Calgary Flames NHL 19 2 3 5 6 7 1 1 2 8
1994–95 Calgary Flames NHL 38 4 7 11 14 7 3 5 8 2
1995–96 Calgary Flames NHL 81 9 12 21 24 4 0 0 0 0
1996–97 Calgary Flames NHL 67 5 6 11 10 — — — — —
1997–98 Boston Bruins NHL 77 5 13 18 34 6 0 1 1 2
1998–99 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 63 2 4 6 24 5 0 0 0 2
1999–00 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 79 5 10 15 10 5 0 1 1 0
2000–01 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 72 5 4 9 16 — — — — —
2001–02 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 42 1 2 3 16 — — — — —
NHL totals 709 54 82 136 203 34 4 8 12 14

International

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Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
1988 United States WJC 6 0 2 2 14
1997 United States WC 8 1 2 3 2
Junior totals 6 0 2 2 14
Senior totals 8 1 2 3 2

Head coaching record

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NHL

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Team Year Regular season Postseason
G W L T OTL Pts Finish W L Win% Result
BOS 2003–04 82 41 19 15 7 104 1st in Northeast 3 4 .429 Lost in conference quarterfinals (MTL)
BOS 2005–06 82 29 37 — 16 74 5th in Northeast — — — Missed playoffs
BOS totals 164 70 56 15 23     3 4 .429 1 playoff appearance
PIT 2015–16 54 33 16 — 5 71 2nd in Metropolitan 16 8 .667 Won Stanley Cup (SJS)
PIT 2016–17 82 50 21 — 11 111 2nd in Metropolitan 16 9 .640 Won Stanley Cup (NSH)
PIT 2017–18 82 47 29 — 6 100 2nd in Metropolitan 6 6 .500 Lost in second round (WSH)
PIT 2018–19 82 44 26 — 12 100 3rd in Metropolitan 0 4 .000 Lost in first round (NYI)
PIT 2019–20 69* 40 23 — 6 86 3rd in Metropolitan 1 3 .250 Lost in qualifying round (MTL)
PIT 2020–21 56 37 16 — 3 77 1st in East 2 4 .333 Lost in first round (NYI)
PIT 2021–22 82 46 25 — 11 103 3rd in Metropolitan 3 4 .429 Lost in first round (NYR)
PIT 2022–23 82 40 31 — 11 91 5th in Metropolitan — — — Missed playoffs
PIT 2023–24 82 38 32 — 12 88 5th in Metropolitan — — — Missed playoffs
PIT totals 671 375 219 — 77     44 38 .537 7 playoff appearances
2 Stanley Cup titles
NHL totals 835 445 275 15 100     47 42 .528 8 playoff appearances
2 Stanley Cup titles
  • Shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2019–20 season. Playoffs were played in August 2020 with a different format.

AHL

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Team Year Regular season Postseason
G W L T OTL Pts Finish Result
Providence Bruins 2002–03 71 41 17 9 4 104 1st in North Lost in Conference quarterfinals (MTB)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 2015–16 23 18 5 — — 41 — Promoted to Pittsburgh

References

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  1. ^ "Mike Sullivan Named Head Coach of the 2022 U.S. Men's Olympic Hockey Team". July 28, 2021.
  2. ^ "Beijing Olympics 2022: David Quinn named head coach of U.S. Men's hockey team". December 28, 2021.
  3. ^ "Mike Sullivan". hockeydb.com. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  4. ^ MacKey, Jason (August 21, 2017). "Five things we learned at Mike Sullivan's Stanley Cup party". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  5. ^ MacKey, Jason (September 15, 2018). "Mike Sullivan loses his first and best coach — his dad". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  6. ^ MacKey, Jason (August 18, 2017). "Mike Sullivan on his dad: 'He was my first coach, and he's still coaching me'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on December 4, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  7. ^ Dipaola, Jerry (December 25, 2017). "Sisters of Penguins make their marks in sport". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  8. ^ "Bruins split with Sullivan". The Berkshire Eagle. June 26, 2006. Retrieved March 25, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Mike Sullivan - Assistant Coach". teamusa.usahockey.com. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  10. ^ "LIGHTNING NAME MIKE SULLIVAN ASSISTANT COACH". nhl.com. National Hockey League. May 31, 2007. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  11. ^ "Mike Sullivan named associate coach of Tampa Bay Lightning". nhl.com. National Hockey League. November 25, 2008. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  12. ^ "Rangers name Sullivan as assistant coach". nhl.com. National Hockey League. July 16, 2009. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  13. ^ Ebner, David (January 20, 2014). "Canucks coach John Tortorella suspended for six games". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  14. ^ "Without ironman Henrik Sedin, Canucks send Oilers to 5th straight loss". ESPN. January 22, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  15. ^ "Mike Sullivan Named Head Coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins". Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  16. ^ "Mike Sullivan Named Head Coach of Pittsburgh Penguins".
  17. ^ Satriano, David (June 12, 2016). "Penguins join select group of champions". NHL.com. NHL. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  18. ^ Wysocki, Mike (October 12, 2016). "Can Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan avoid a Stanley Cup hangover in his second season?". Pittsburgh City Paper. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  19. ^ Werner, Sam (May 27, 2017). "Mike Sullivan, Peter Laviolette make Stanley Cup final history". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved December 17, 2017. Mr. Sullivan is also now the first to lead a team to the Cup final in back-to-back seasons
  20. ^ @PR_NHL (June 12, 2017). "Mike Sullivan (Marshfield, Mass.) became the first American-born head coach in NHL history to win the #StanleyCup multiple times" (Tweet). Retrieved April 20, 2021 – via Twitter.
  21. ^ Kasan, Sam (December 16, 2017). "Snap Shots: Pens 4, Coyotes 2". NHL.com. Pittsburgh Penguins. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  22. ^ "Penguins and Head Coach Sullivan Agree to a Four-Year Contract Extension". NHL.com. July 5, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  23. ^ "Mike Sullivan Becomes The Winningest Head Coach In Pittsburgh Penguins History". pittsburgh.cbslocal.com. October 16, 2021. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
  24. ^ Wyshynski, Greg (April 12, 2023). "Islanders claim final playoff spot; Penguins' 16-year streak ends". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
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Preceded by Head coach of the Providence Bruins
2002–03 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Head coach of the Boston Bruins
2003–06 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins
2015–present 		Incumbent
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