Head coaches Jon Cooper and Mike Sullivan
TSN: Darren Dreger and Jay Onrait on Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper and Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan.
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Onrait: “Talking about coaches, a lot of interesting talk last week Dregs about a few top coaches, maybe, maybe on the way out of their current situations.
Got Mike Sullivan in Pittsburgh. “
Dreger: “Yes.”
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Onrait: “You have Jon Cooper going into the last year of his contract in Tampa. Can you tell us something about these two coaches? Is it possible that they can't continue?”
Dreger: “Well, in the sense that it's media speculation, right? Julien BriseBois, general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning acknowledged, you know, John Cooper's future there and said, Look, he still has time left on his contract.
So I think this is again, more media fodder than anything else. Can we appreciate why Jon Cooper thinks his future is what it is? I mean, he's done some great things with the Tampa Bay Lightning, but they still have a lot to offer there.
So it's not just Cooper. It's (Steven) Stamkos. What are they going to do with (Victor) Hedman? BriseBois, you said those things to the media.
Now he's looking at Mike Sullivan and the Pittsburgh Penguins. And again, I understand why the connection is made there. Tom Fitzgerald, the general manager of the New Jersey Devils is good friends with Mike Sullivan. You know, and Mike Sullivan is a very decorated coach.
And you know the New Jersey Devils are in that situation. Do they keep Travis Green? They are looking for more experience but I can tell you that the Penguins recognize that Mike Sullivan is a solid development coach. So they went through a transition in Pittsburgh. Anything can happen but it seems unlikely that he will leave.”
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The Pittsburgh Penguins: The Penguins fired their coach Todd Reiden.
Wes Crosby: Penguins manager Kyle Dubas: “Mike Sullivan and I have spent time over the past two weeks evaluating the coaching staff, and while these decisions are not easy, we agree that this change is in the best interest of the team moving forward.”
Kevin Weekes: “According to my tweet the other day, @penguins they have released Associate Coach Reirden, and are curious to see what other changes may happen to their staff. Although they have not given permission to HC Sullivan's teams, if they agree on his departure, it may be through a trade.”
Frank Seravalli: “There was tension in Pittsburgh, where as we reported, coach Mike Sullivan was very resistant to making changes to his staff. Now that GM Kyle Dubas has fired assistant coach Todd Reirden, is that the reason to replace Sullivan? We'll see.”
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