Elevating Mike Buckley to goaltending coach and demoting Mike Bales — who eventually left the Penguins — on the heels of two Stanley Cups may have looked like a strange move.
But learn a little more about the depth of the relationship between Buckley and Matt Murray, and you might question what the Penguins are doing less.
A lot less.
Rewind to November or December 2014, Murray’s final year of junior with Sault Ste. Marie in the Ontario Hockey League. Buckley was hired a few months prior as the Penguins goaltending development coach and traveled to Northern Ontario for his first one-on-one visit with Murray.