Having two coaches face-off against one another, each with a Stanley Cup under their belt, should make for a great match up. Add that they used to coach together and they remain good friends – despite the hilarious stare-down they shared in Columbus five months ago – and you may just have the storyline of the series.
Coming in halfway through the season last year, Mike Sullivan didn't have many expectations heaped upon him in Pittsburgh. His assignment was to let all of the skill he had run free and show what it could do when released from tight defensive shackles. He ended up with a Stanley Cup for his troubles. Was that the players he has been given or the coach elevating his personnel?
Embattled coach John Tortorella had to overcome adversity and perception to return to the NHL and after one year, he another team headed to the playoffs.
Who has the advantage when it comes to the coaches behind the bench? That's the question as the teams prepare to do battle Wednesday night.
Columbus Blue Jackets
It is amazing what perception can do to someone's career. Not long after John Tortorella won a Stanley Cup in 2004 with the Tampa Bay Lightning, his reputation went from genius to outright bully.
His time with the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks showed him at his worst. His confrontations with New York Post beat writer Larry Brooks routinely made headlines while coaching the Rangers. Everyone remembers the dust up he had with former Calgary Flames head coach Bob Hartley, where he tried going into the opposing team dressing room to for who knows what.
After being fired by the Vancouver Canucks, it looked like rock bottom. Who wanted to hire the short-tempered coach who was prone to blowing up at the wrong time?
The Blue Jackets gave him a chance after their disastrous start last year. At the time it seemed desperate. After an 0–8 start, and the firing of Todd Richards, the franchise wanted to bring a spark. But was a headline-grabber like Tortorella the right man at that time?
This season, he proved the those critics wrong—it turns out an old dog can learn new tricks. The idea of Tortorella being a defensive task master who demands blocked shots above all else has been grossly overstated. Instead, the team decided to employ “Safe is Death” as their mantra this season and they lived up to it.
The team has improved in every aspect of the game. Career highs for multiple players have been the norm and it can't be discounted as a fluke. This is a roster that has been optimized both on offense and defense.
Putting his players in spots where they can succeed seems like a simple enough concept but in a defensively focused league, many try to fit a square peg in a round hole. Sam Ganger is just one of those examples, where placing him in the right spot has done absolute wonders for his game. He owns the bottom-six and has been a power play weapon as well.
Did I mention the team set a franchise record for wins, home wins, points, and just about every other metric you can imagine?
Not all of the credit can go to Tortorella, though. His assistant coaches Brad Larsen and Brad Shaw deserve kudos as well for their role in development and special teams.
Shaw has taken a moribund defensive corps and made them into one of the best in the league. While getting rid of dead weight was part of the issue before this year, he has done wonders with David Savard and Jack Johnson's games. Tentative at times, they look like new players that have confidence in their play.
While the Blue Jackets power play hasn't been firing on all cylinders as of late, Larsen was a huge reason why it was successful. Much like a jigsaw puzzle, he found a way to put the pieces in the right spot. Playing to his team's strengths is a familiar refrain when discussing coaches on both sides.
| Team | Year | g | W | l | t | OTL | pts | finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NY RANGERS | 1999–2000 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | 1 | 4th in ATLANTIC, MISSED PLAYOFFS (INTERIM COACH) |
| TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING | 2000–01 | 43 | 12 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 28 | 5th in SOUTHEAST, MISSED PLAYOFFS (INTERIM COACH) |
| TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING | 2001–02 | 82 | 27 | 40 | 11 | 4 | 69 | 3rd in SOUTHEAST, MISSED PLAYOFFS |
| TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING | 2002–03 | 82 | 36 | 25 | 16 | 5 | 93 | 1st in SOUTHEAST, LOST in SECOND ROUND (NJD) |
| TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING | 2003–04 | 82 | 46 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 106 | 1st in SOUTHEAST, WON STANLEY CUP (CGY) |
| TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING | 2005–06 | 82 | 43 | 33 | — | 6 | 92 | 2nd in SOUTHEAST, LOST in 1st ROUND (OTT) |
| TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING | 2006–07 | 82 | 44 | 33 | — | 5 | 93 | 2nd in SOUTHEAST, LOST in 1st ROUND (NJD) |
| TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING | 2007–08 | 82 | 31 | 42 | — | 9 | 71 | 5th in SOUTHEAST, MISSED PLAYOFFS, FIRED |
| NY RANGERS | 2008–09 | 21 | 12 | 7 | — | 2 | 26 | 4th in ATLANTIC, LOST in 1st ROUND (WSH) |
| NY RANGERS | 2009–10 | 82 | 38 | 33 | — | 11 | 87 | 4th in ATLANTIC, MISSED PLAYOFFS |
| NY RANGERS | 2010–11 | 82 | 44 | 33 | — | 5 | 93 | 3rd in ATLANTIC, LOST in 1st ROUND (WSH) |
| NY RANGERS | 2011–12 | 82 | 51 | 24 | — | 7 | 109 | 1st in ATLANTIC, LOST in CONF. FINALS (NJD) |
| NY RANGERS | 2012–13 | 48 | 26 | 18 | — | 4 | 56 | 2nd in ATLANTIC, LOST in 2nd ROUND (BOS), FIRED |
| VANCOUVER CANUCKS | 2013–14 | 76 | 34 | 31 | — | 11 | 79 | 5th in PACIFIC, MISSED PLAYOFFS, FIRED |
| COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS | 2015–16 | 75 | 34 | 33 | — | 8 | 76 | 8th in METROPOLITAN |
| COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS | 2016–17 | 82 | 50 | 24 | — | 8 | 108 | 3rd in METROPOLITAN |
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
Mike Sullivan broke into the NHL as a coach with the Boston Bruins in 2003. He did well in his first year at the helm, leading the team to a 104-point season. He'd survive just two seasons in Boston, however, after he was fired for finishing 5th in the division in 2006, following the lost season of 2004-05.
Sullivan would find work with an old friend as he joined John Tortorella's staff in Tampa Bay and later followed Torts to New York and Vancouver.
It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that like Tortorella this year, Sullivan put his team in offensively advantageous spots. The luxury of Sidney Crosby on your team is helpful but he is only one player on a team. What he has done elsewhere has been absolutely masterful.
Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel would be the best players on almost any other team in the league. On the Penguins they are relegated to second and third line roles respectively. They overwhelm opposing defenses and don't allow teams to pinpoint any perceived weaknesses.
On defense, the Penguins have taken in players with no history of offensive success and it's clicked. Trevor Daley and Justin Schultz were considered players that couldn't play in today's game. Schultz has a career-high of 51 points this year and Daley, despite injuries, has beaten previous season point totals with 19 this year in 56 games.
Tortorella and Sullivan may golf together, but the friends will put good vibes aside once the puck drops.
“Yes, we’re close friends,” Sullivan told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. But when the puck drops, it’s going to be like every other game out there. We’re going to try and do everything for our respective teams to try to win.”
| Team | Year | g | w | l | t | otl | pts | finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOSTON BRUINS | 2003–04 | 82 | 41 | 19 | 15 | 7 | 104 | 1st in NORTHEAST, LOST in 1st ROUND (MTL) |
| BOSTON BRUINS | 2005–06 | 82 | 29 | 37 | — | 16 | 74 | 4th in NORTHEAST, MISSED PLAYOFFS, FIRED |
| PITTSBURGH PENGUINS | 2015–16 | 54 | 33 | 16 | — | 5 | 71 | 2nd in METROPOLITAN, WON STANLEY CUP |
| PITTSBURGH PENGUINS | 2016–17 | 82 | 50 | 21 | — | 11 | 111 | 2nd in METROPOLITAN |
Intangibles
When it comes to physical play, that is going to be employed by both sides but it could end up going in the Jackets' favor, although neither team has a designated “enforcer” on the roster.
The Penguins have been through the ringer, winning the Stanley Cup last year. It remains to be seen if the Jackets can push the Penguins off their game. If it didn't happen last year, how are Jackets going to be expected to throw them off now?
The youthful exuberance of the Jackets against the wise, veteran-laden Penguins is another storyline to watch. What do the Jackets have to lose? They've never made it past the first round and despite finishing near the top of league standings, are underdogs in this series.
The Penguins have added pressure trying to repeat as Stanley Cup champions. One side could play fast and loose, the other could play uptight and rigid.
