Mike Sullivan (ice hockey)

Michael Barry Sullivan (born February 27, 1968) is an American ice hockey coach and former player. He is the current head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was a fourth round selection, 69th overall, by the New York Rangers at the 1987 NHL Entry Draft and played 11 NHL seasons with the San Jose Sharks, Calgary Flames, Boston Bruins and Phoenix Coyotes. Internationally, he represented the United States twice, including at the 1997 World Championship.

Mike Sullivan
Sullivan coaching the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2018
Born	February 27, 1968 Marshfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Ice hockey coach, player
Coaching career
Position	Head coach
General manager	Patrik Allvin
Team	Pittsburgh Penguins
Previous team(s)	Boston Bruins
Stanley Cup wins	2016, 2017
Years as NHL player	1990–2002
Years as a coach	2002–present
Years as an NHL coach	2003–present
Years with current team	2015–present
Ice hockey career 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 National team  United States NHL Draft 69th overall, 1987 New York Rangers Playing career 1990–2002

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 has formerly been an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers, and Vancouver Canucks, and subsequently served in the department of 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.

Playing career

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 NHL career in which he accumulated 54 goals, 82 assists, 136 points and 203 penalty minutes in 709 games.

Coaching career

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 incoming general manager Peter Chiarelli on June 27, 2006, and was replaced by Dave Lewis.

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

On May 31, 2007, he was named assistant coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

On July 16, 2009, he was named assistant coach of the New York Rangers.

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.

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.[1]

He was named head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins on December 12, 2015, upon the firing of then-head coach Mike Johnston.[2]

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 Final.[3] Sullivan joined both Scotty Bowman (1992) and Dan Bylsma (2009) as the third coach in franchise history to win the Stanley Cup following a mid-season coaching change.

Sullivan is also the first coach to lead the Penguins to multiple Stanley Cup championships with their victory over the Nashville Predators in the 2017 Stanley Cup Final.[4]

On December 16, 2017, he recorded his 100th career win with the Penguins becoming just the fourth coach to do so for the organization.[5]

On July 5, 2019, Sullivan signed a four-year contract extension.[6]

Personal life

Sullivan and his wife, Kate, have three children, daughters Kaitlin and Kiley and son Matthew. He is cousins with baseball executive Jared Porter.[7]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				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 Terriers	HE		37	13	18	31	18		—	—	—	—	—
1987–88	Boston University Terriers	HE		30	18	22	40	30		—	—	—	—	—
1988–89	Boston University Terriers	HE		36	19	17	36	30		—	—	—	—	—
1989–90	Boston University Terriers	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
1999–2000	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

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
Senior totals				8	1	2	3	2

Head coaching record

NHL

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
BOS	2005–06	82	29	37	—	16	74	5th in Northeast	—	—	—	Missed playoffs
BOS total		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
PIT	2016–17	82	50	21	—	11	111	2nd in Metropolitan	16	9	.640	Won Stanley Cup
PIT	2017–18	82	47	29	—	6	100	2nd in Metropolitan	6	6	.500	Lost in Second Round
PIT	2018–19	82	44	26	—	12	100	3rd in Metropolitan	0	4	.000	Lost in First Round
PIT	2019–20	69*	40	23	—	6	86	3rd in Metropolitan	1	3	.250	Lost in Qualifying Round
PIT total		369	214	115	—	40			39	30	.565	5 playoff appearances 2 Stanley Cup titles
Total		531	284	161	15	63			42	34	.553	6 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

Season	Team	Regular season							Post season
		G	W	L	T	OTL	Pct	Division rank	Result
2002–03	Providence Bruins	71	41	17	9	4	.669	1st, North	Lost conference quarterfinals
2015–16	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins	23	18	5			.783

References

• Career statistics: "Michael Sullivan player card". National Hockey League. Retrieved December 16, 2013.

1. "Mike Sullivan Named Head Coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins". Retrieved July 6, 2015.
2. "Mike Sullivan Named Head Coach of Pittsburgh Penguins".
3. Satriano, David (June 12, 2016). "Penguins join select group of champions". NHL.com. NHL. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
4. 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
5. Kasan, Sam (December 16, 2017). "Snap Shots: Pens 4, Coyotes 2". NHL.com. Pittsburgh Penguins. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
6. "Penguins and Head Coach Sullivan Agree to a Four-Year Contract Extension". NHL.com. July 5, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
7. Joyce, Greg (December 16, 2020). "Mets GM Jared Porter could have had an NHL career". New York Post. Retrieved December 18, 2020.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database