Mike Sullivan has accomplished plenty in a short period of time behind the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ bench. The league certainly noticed, as the red-hot Penguins were the hottest team heading into the post-season, and have continued that momentum into their Eastern Conference Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Don Cherry has noticed, too.
Cherry praised Sullivan’s progress as an NHL head coach during Friday’s Coach’s Corner, pointing out how he’s learning — maybe even from Cherry himself — how to handle his star players on the fly.
“Now, you saw Mike Sullivan … yelling and hollering [during Pittsburgh’s series against Washington.],” Cherry explained, showing the incident on video.
“He listens to Coach’s Corner, and somebody must have talked to him,” Cherry said. “I made mistakes, believe it, when I first came up to the Boston Bruins … from the American Hockey League. It’s a lot different when you have guys in the American Hockey League and then you go up to the National Hockey League where there are long-term contracts. You have to play it smart on the bench.”
Cherry then pointed to Sullivan’s more tactful handling of the recent disagreement between captain Sidney Crosby and linemate Patric Hornqvist on the bench during Game 3.
“Now, watch what he does last game,” said Cherry. “Hornqvist is giving it to Crosby if you can believe it, and watch what he does, he just touches them like that [on the back] and now that’s enough.”
Cherry believes Sullivan could have a bright future in the big leagues.
“You know, if he keeps stuff up like that, and he learns like I did, he might even become Coach of the Year in the National Hockey League.”
