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Greg Vicehenky
New York – Mike Sullivan coached Pittsburgh Penguin For 10 seasons, they lead them to the two Stanley Cup Championships. On Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, he saw him ruining his debut New York RangersThe latest head coach.
Sulivan admitted that it was a strange feeling Sydney Crossbie, Evgeny Malkin, Chris Letang And others he suddenly became his opponent of coaching in Pittsburgh.
“I mean, obviously it’s different. It is different. I knew that it was going to happen,” he said after Pittsburgh 3-0 win 2025–26 early night of NHL season. “But I am excited about the group that is in front of us in front of us. I am eager to work with this group.”
Rangers were closed by goalkeeper Arters Silovs (Saves 22) and looked forward Justin Breeso Score two goals in penguin win. They were out of 15–5 in the third period and could not do anything aggressively at the beginning of Sulivan.
“I think my first observation is that we have to go a long way to become a team that we want to be. Some of this I think we can do iron, but of course we have found a way to go,” Sulivan said, which will coach the team USA in the 2026 Winter Olympic Men’s hockey tournament in Italy. He said, “I am not going to finish it. This is a game. We have got a lot of hockey to play,” he said. “So is it disappointing? Yes. We are going to see what we can take from it. We have to move forward.”
Sulivan and Penguins agreed to participate in April despite being subject to contracts through the 2026–27 season. Performed in 2015-16, Sulivan was the most successful coach of the franchise with a 409 win, the only 14th coach in NHL history, who won 400 games with a team. Pittsburgh won the back-to-back Cup with Sulivan in 2016 and 2017.
After days, after leaving the penguin, Sulivan was hired by Rangers to replace the coach Peter Lavilett, signed a five -year contract, which made him the NHL’s highest paid coach. 57 -year -old Sulivan had earlier worked as an assistant coach with New York from 2009 to 2013, during which he coached Rangers GM Chris Druuri as a player.
Penguin captain Crossbie admitted that it was a different feeling that is Sulivan behind the Rangers bench.
“I just go out and compete, but it is always strange that a little bit,” he said.
For Crossbi, it was not just looking at Sulivan while coaching opponents. Sulivan brought former Penguin assistants David Quin and Ty Hanes with him to New York.
While Sulivan faced defeat against his former team, the new penguin coach Dan Musa won against him. Music was an assistant coach under Laviolette for two sessions in New York and was allegedly interviewed for vacancy before Sulivan was hired. Crossbee was happy to win.
“Every team will tell you, especially at the beginning of the season, it is not going to be right. You are just trying to be as much as possible on the same page. And I think he has prepared us well to start the year,” Crossbee said.
Pittsburgh had three players in their initial lineups, Crossbie, Malkin and Letang, in the Penguin team since 2007.
“We had three people who have been playing together for 20 years, and I thought it was important to meet them to start the game,” the museum said.
