Stanley Cup Final 2016: Sharks vs. Penguins Highlights and Top Reaction

The Pittsburgh Penguins seemed out of the playoffs in December. Despite the presence of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and a slew of other top talents, the Penguins were a listless bunch and appeared to be going nowhere.

Head coach Mike Johnston was just a guy behind the bench, and the Penguins appeared to be a rudderless ship. This was not the way general manager Jim Rutherford envisioned his team, and he fired Johnston in December, replacing him with Mike Sullivan.

Sullivan was a hockey lifer who had been coaching the Penguins' minor league team. He had been a head coach with the Boston Bruins, but that had been 10 years earlier. He served as an assistant with the New York…