Penguins coach Mike Sullivan offers slight update on team
Mike Sullivan is fond of telling his players to control what they can control.
At the moment, the Penguins coach, like so many of us, isn’t in control of much, at least it pertains to work.
The Penguins have shut down most of their operations ever since the NHL postponed play indefinitely March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic. That includes speaking publicly.
On Wednesday, Sullivan broke the team’s silence with an appearance on Sportsnet 590, a radio station based in Toronto.
“We’re trying to do everything we can under difficult circumstances to try to stay prepared,” Sullivan said when asked what actions the team has taken towards keeping players in as optimal shape as possible. “I know our strength coaches have had personal conversations with every guy and taken an inventory of what they have at their disposal in their respective homes, and then building individual programs for these guys that they can continue to do on a daily basis to try to stay fit and keep themselves ready in the event that we get on the other side of this.
“So we’re doing what we can to stay ready, but obviously the priority here is just the health and well being of everybody first and foremost.”
The UPMPC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry been closed since the weekend and will remain so on an indefinite basis, with the exception of players who are currently injured and require treatment.
Sullivan also offered a bit of an update on his own family as well.
“Quite honestly, we haven’t been doing a whole lot,” Sullivan said. “We’ve been doing what everyone else is doing and just trying to self-isolate, so to speak, in hopes that everybody can do their part in trying to limit the spread of this coronavirus. Obviously, the health and well being of everyone is the priority at this point.”
While Sullivan isn’t overlooking the overriding priority of the pandemic that has impacted seemingly every walk of life on the globe, he lamented what the pause in the schedule has denied his team as it tried to emerge from a stretch of 11 games where it had a 3-8-0 record.
“Our team was going through a bit of a struggle here,” Sullivan said. “I felt like, as a group, we were starting to turn a corner as a team just with the some of the struggles that we were going through right before the break. So in some way, I’m disappointed for the group because I feel like were making big strides in trying to capture the game that we played so consistently all year long.”
Sullivan singled out defenseman Justin Schultz when asked to identify a player whose play was on the rise before the stoppage.
“He’s a guy that he’s had not an easy year from an injury standpoint,” Sullivan said. “He’s missed a fair amount of time. And he’s such an important player for our team. He’s so dynamic offensively and the puck just hasn’t gone in the net for him this year.
“It hasn’t been for a lack of opportunity, that’s for sure. But he scored a big goal for us in the (5-2 road win against the New Jersey Devils on March 10) right before the season was suspended, and we felt like his game was really starting to gain some traction. He’s a guy that jumps out at me. He’s an important player for our team.”
On Monday, the NHL issued a statement suggesting it is hoping to resume some sort of training period by late April or early May to resume the season. As with all things affected by the epidemic, that goal remains fluid.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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