Penguins coaches and management dined together last Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio. After everyone went back to their rooms, general manager Jim Rutherford and coach Mike Sullivan stuck around the hotel lobby to talk.
"I said, 'Boy, this has come a long way in a matter of one year.' " Rutherford recalled Monday. "It's been a lot, but it's been all well-deserved by the job he's done."
Rutherford and the Penguins officially recognized the exemplary job Sullivan has done coaching the team by signing him to a three-year contract extension that runs through the 2019-20. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The deal should not come as a surprise, especially when you consider Rutherford's assessment of Sullivan's work thus far.
"He's really been the top coach in the league since he's come in," the general manager said.
Whether it was getting the Penguins' best players to flourish, instilling a sense of resilience or, most important, winning the Stanley Cup, Sullivan has done it all.
Not that he's willing to look past some financial security and a formal pat on the back from his employer.
"I'm grateful for the opportunity that I've been given here to coach this team," Sullivan said. "It's a great organization to work for. I love the people that I work with, both our management and players. I've coached a lot in this league in different capacities. To have the opportunity to be part of a first-class organization like the Penguins and the way they operate, for them to show a vote of confidence in me like they have, it's very fulfilling."
The extension, Rutherford said, has been in the back of his mind since the offseason, when he started to get to know Sullivan's agent a little more.
They connected in Toronto on Dec. 17-18, and Rutherford pretty much figured, why wait?
"We're not that many months away from him being a year away from his contract being up," Rutherford said. "We'd be looking at it then. He's done a terrific job here.
"He connects well with the players. He communicates well. He holds them accountable. He has a good system that's worked. Makes sense."
Part of what has worked so well has been the relationship between Rutherford and Sullivan. Neither has much use for beating around the bush.
They're honest guys, on or off the record, and especially around each other. That relationship, both men said, has created a special work environment, one conducive to a lot of winning.
"We've been through a lot within the last year, trying to move this team in the right direction, to challenge for the Stanley Cup at the end of last season and ultimately to win the Stanley Cup," Sullivan said. "I think when you go through those experiences, I think it's galvanizes the group. I really do. And I think my relationship with Jim is something that I will cherish for long years whenever we retire from this game. I think we've developed not only a working relationship but a friendship."
Rutherford has been around pro hockey since playing junior in the late 1960s in Hamilton, Ontario. He even won a Stanley Cup with another coach, Peter Laviolette, in his former life as GM, team president and part-owner of the Carolina Hurricanes.
While he isn't ready to discount his relationships with any other coaches, Rutherford also acknowledges that his relationship with Sullivan is, what Mike Tomlin might call above the line.
"I've had good relationships with other coaches, but it's fair to say I have a special relationship with him," Rutherford said. "That comes with winning, of course. But we're also a lot alike in a lot of ways. Maybe the big difference between us is he talks a lot more than I do. I don't say that in a bad way. I'm more on the quieter side. He's more of a communicator. Other than that, we are a lot alike in how we approach things."
