The New York Rangers named Mike Sullivan their new coach on Friday.
Sullivan, 57, joins the Rangers four days after he and the Pittsburgh Penguins parted ways. Sullivan spent parts of 10 seasons with the Penguins, logging a 409-255-89 record and two Stanley Cup championships. He’ll now coach their Metropolitan Division rival, which won the Presidents’ Trophy last season but missed the playoffs this season.
“Mike Sullivan has established himself as one of the premier head coaches in the NHL,” Rangers GM Chris Drury said in a news release. “Given his numerous accomplishments throughout his coaching career – including two Stanley Cups and leading Team USA at the international level – Mike brings a championship-level presence behind the bench.”
The Rangers fired coach Peter Laviolette on April 19. Their coaching search lasted just under two weeks.
“As we began this process and Mike became an available option for us to speak with, it was immediately clear that he was the best coach to lead our team,” Drury said.
Sullivan was an assistant coach with the Rangers from 2009-2010 to 2012-2013, when John Tortorella was the bench boss. The Rangers even drafted him as a player in the fourth round of the 1987 NHL draft. He ended up playing 709 career NHL games for the San Jose Sharks, Calgary Flames, Boston Bruins and Phoenix Coyotes.
Sullivan coached Team USA to second place at the 4 Nations Face-Off, and he was an assistant coach for the Americans at the 2006 Winter Olympics and 2016 World Cup of Hockey. He was also named Team USA’s coach for the men’s hockey team in the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Rangers defenseman Adam Fox spoke about Sullivan’s coaching style at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
“He wants to give us kind of a semblance of the structure,” Fox told Taylor Hasse of dkpittsburghsports.com. “But at the same time, it’s not being too hands on, and letting us play hockey. (Sullivan has) been great.”
Fox and the Rangers finished fifth in the Metropolitan Division this season, five points ahead of the seventh-place Penguins and six points out of a playoff spot. Their 3.11 goals-for per game ranked 12th in the NHL, while their 3.11 goals against per game ranked 19th. The 17.6 percent power-play success rate was fifth-worst in the league, while the 80.3 percent penalty-kill rate ranked 11th.
Get the
latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by
subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below
the article on THN.com.
Read the full article here
