Mike Sullivan will be in an unaccustomed spot, on the visitors bench, Saturday night when his new team, the New York Rangers, faces the Pittsburgh Penguins, the club he coached for the past 10 years at PPG Paints Arena. He’ll undoubtedly receive a video tribute and plenty of applause for his time with the Pens – a decade that included back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and 2017 but ended with three straight non-playoff seasons.
However, he said after the morning skate that his eyes are on the future, not the past.
“When I saw the schedule in the summertime, I hoped you wouldn’t see us until March,” he joked, drawing laughter from the assembled media.