Anyone who’s read PenguinPoop for any length of time knows black-and-gold coach Mike Sullivan doesn’t receive a whole lot of love on our blog.
I’ve personally been critical of his work on occasions too numerous to count. I’ve called for him to be fired at least twice. The first time, following the 2022-23 season when we let an all-but-assured playoff berth slip through our grasp. The second, earlier this season when the Penguins seemed to be disintegrating before our very eyes.
I had issues with his system, his personnel decisions, his perceived bias against kids and physical players, not to mention his seeming reluctance to adjust his philosophy to fit the talent on hand. To say nothing of his inability to solve problems, such as coughing up leads and odd-man breaks, that had run unchecked for the better part of two seasons.
Frankly, I thought he’d grown stale. I thought we needed to make a change. Somebody, anybody else. Just not Sully.
I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. As the Pens sank to the Metro basement, he began to take heat from other sites both locally and nationally.
