Sullivan doesn't make cut, either

The Lightning's former coaching staff is having a heck of a time finding new jobs.

Long Island's Newsday reported former Tampa Bay assistant Mike Sullivan is not among the final three candidates for the Islanders' head coaching job that will be decided between Bob Hartley, Paul Maurice and AHL coach of the year Scott Gordon. Newsday reported last week that John Tortorella had been passed over and that Sullivan was still in the mix for a job that would entail, mainly, working and developing the team's young up-and-comers.

Former goaltenders coach Jeff Reese also was passed over for a goalie coach job by the Maple Leafs.

It is possible, but not entirely probable, that Sullivan and Reese could end up re-assigned by the Lightning into scouting positions as both also have a year left on their contracts, and Tampa Bay is trying to revamp its scouting operation, anyway. We'll wait and see.

I don't believe anyone, though, would have predicted Tortorella, especially, would have gone so long without landing a job, especially considering the openings this summer. But he is in a position of strength in that he is guaranteed $1.3-million for the last year of his Lightning contract and does not have to take a job just for the sake of taking one. He can wait for the perfect position in which his view of the world and the other team's match up perfectly.

That could come next season when some underachieving squad needs a kick in the butt. And we know Torts has the shoes to do it. In the meantime, I would like to see him as a TV analyst somewhere. When he wants to, Torts can be wonderfully engaging, and he is incredibly smart about the game. He'd have to watch his mouth, though. I can't count how many times, as Lightning coach, he apologized to TV and radio guys for colorful language that would have to be bleeped or edited.  

Comments

You obviously get it Leo. My only point was that there was more than meets the eye in regards to Torts being considered a jerk.
As you stated, and I agree, the big-boy land of NHL Hockey will never be played in fantasy land.
S.M.

[Boltflasher]

100 pts? That's definetly sticking your neck out since the league is going back to a more balanced schedule. Also, these guys are gonna need some time to learn to play together as well as a new system. Playoff spot hopefully, but a 100pts?? Lets not put any more pressure on them than we have to...

[coach bill]

Good post,Don ( as always). You left out a player in your returning veteran's list(our first line center). Surely that was an oversight?
I still have to think our new brass is working on acquiring another D man. I'm excited to watch Wishart and Carle and see if Picard has grown abit. There's alot of potential there.

[Don in St. Pete]

PD and Leo, I love Torts! He shaped a team of misfits and underperformers into a cup champion! But that team is long gone and the staff and coach with them. Feaster had a cap limit that he stayed strictly within, and after the lockout he had to decide between Khabibulin or St. Louis and Richards. The Modin trade for which he was much maligned ( and rightfully so ) was a desperate attempt on his part to salvage a semblance of the team he had once put together. Trading Modin was a smart move and Jay knew it as he was damaged goods and had already begun experiencing the severe back pain that has hampered him the past 2 seasons. Norrena turned out to be the the deal killer as he has quietly become one of the best if not the best backup goaltenders in the league ( which means he could have started and done better than what we had the past 2 seasons ), but Lightning fans never even got to see Norrena put on a Bolts uniform. Torts system required good skaters and in 04' we had them in spades, even though some of them couldn't score. It didn't matter as they kept the other team from scoring. Eventually most of those players fell by the wayside through age ( Andreychuck, Dingman, Taylor ), free agency ( Cullimore, Sydor, Sarich, Khabibulin, Clymer, Perrin, Pratt, Stillman ) or trade ( Modin, Boyle, Richards, Luckowich ). We had several other factors working for us during that season, including a great competition between goaltenders. When Khabibulin faltered, grahame went on a 13 game unbeaten streak. Eventually Grahame had a bad gane, Habi picked up the torch and ran with it. In a way, the team they've signed to play this season, mirrors the team that won the cup in many ways. We've added a number of great skaters in Stamkos, Vrbata, Recchi, Roberts, and Hall. We have some great faceoff men in Gratton and Halpern. We have great veterans in Roberts, Recchi, St. Louis, Halpern and Gratton. Our defense however is far less experienced, less offensively proven, and loaded with potential. Our goaltending is also a big question. I think we'll be fine, but expect big changes if Smitty doesn't step up to carry the banner. Offensively, this years team is deeper and more talented than the one that won the cup, so expect our high powered offense to relieve some of the pressure from the defense. I'm stickinhg my neck out here but I'm expecting about 100 points from the Bolts with the potential for 110 easily within reach.

[PD]

Gotta agree with you re Torts. I have supported him here from the get go.

Every year he had less and less on the bench to work with and he still came through.

If there is the remotest truth in V4 costing him his job then I lose a lot of respect for Vinny.

Lecavalier was a pure lazy floater before Torts made him work and now with the retirement contract he is likely happy with a retirement coach and as you said earlier Leo , very apropos, going to work in his flip flops.

[léo]

Touching, gentlemen, touching.
But if I may interject S.M., what I liked about your earlier post was the part about the natural tendency to harp more on the bad than the good. Nature of the hockey beast.
His anger and rudeness made Tort "colorful", far as I'm concerned. You shoulda stopped there.
Now, you say he was a sweet as apple pie in the room, an aw-shucks, mushy-mushy father figure? Fine. Who cares?
I thought Tortie was a hell of a coach in part BECAUSE of his fiery authority, yes, but mostly because he convinced me that he could manage a team to play EXCELLENT together and go all the way.
And if TB was still WINNING? He would still be there.
But the bottom-line, especially in the new global NHL village, P.R. still has weight.
See, it's not what it is; it's what it LOOKS like.
What it looks like, what we were told, what we read, said that Tortie was BAD for the kids, said that Tortie had lost the room, said that Feaster was afraid of him, said that Kouliwood wanted V4 at all costs and said that V4 didn't want to play for Tortie anymore, and THAT, right there, is checkmate against Tortie.
Greatest guy in the world?
Who cares? He's gone.
And for the VERY reasons, right or wrong, in which we define Tortie, some believe he could be bad,good,great in a lot of different places or none at all.
But not in TB. Not no more. TB fans see him as a "jerk".
And I, as an outsider, totally understand why and I don't know the guy at all.
If I was billionaire with a brand new hockey-new, I might take such "untruths" (as you say) to heart ANYWAY. (But personally, in Ottawa? I would've been afraid of dropping the East this year)
Bottom-line, baby. Win. You win; you stay.
Claude Julien. Biggest teddy-bear in the world. Out.
Bob Hartley. Donated three of his kidneys to endangered pandas. Out.
Who cares?
Win!
P.

[coach bill]

S.M. I'm at bbcorr711@aol.com

[coach bill]

S.M. My web site is bbcorr711@aol.com

Appreciate the invite Coach Bill, but I live in the Western part of the U.S. now. Though I can see the merit in making a trip to discuss hockey for hours on hours, my wife and 2 daughters, on the other hand, would probable see it differently.
I will continue to follow the blogs and at some point maybe you and can chat off line in the future.
S.M.

[coach bill]

S.M.-A few weeks ago, I put out an invite to a "blogger's happy hour" on Sat Oct 25 (San Jose)in the restaurant behind 201. Don In St. Pete said he'd come. I'll post that again later,but I hope you can make it.

Oops, meant to say that I "do not" agree with all of his ways.
S.M.

Don't know if you are still around Coach Bill. I have been absent for 2 days. I appreciate the respectful banter.

All of your points are valid and I have two responses. First, Torts is honest to a fault at times. Questions asked during interviews and press conferences, sadly, rarely start out with "Tell us why you are happy about player x's game right now". They are mostly along the lines of "what happened on that goal you allowed in the 3rd period". Torts answers them without a filter. If more of the other type of questions were asked, I think the positives would surface.

Secondly, Torts HATES the spotlight when things are going well...believe it or not. He wants the players and the team to receive all credit. This a very recurrent theme with him. He doesn't want to flaunt the good things that he does, and conversely, does not shy away from the difficult tasks. The amount of work he does away from the rink to help others is astronomical. The story that printed earlier this year regarding that stuff had to be dragged out of him.

Do I agree with all of his ways? Of course. Do I think he could have sugar coated some things publically? For certain. But I will ask this...did he ever lie? I would say that he spoke the truth in almost all of those situations.

to your point, as a teacher, you understand that each student is motivated by different methods. Torts probably needed to alter his tactics depending on the athlete.

Finally, I know you called him a "jerk" in your initial post. Based on the information put forth, I can somewhat understand having that perception. You appear to be a smart, level-headed man, however, therefore I will say that if you knew him, I believe your perspective would be different.

S.M.

[coach bill]

S.M.- Thanks for "believing in me". Can you imagine what would happen if I tried to give a student encouragement by a "pat on the rear?" (but that's another story).
I think Torts could have handled hid "press releases" differently. I think he was really hard on his goalies and perhaps John Graham and Marc Denis might have lived up to their portential with a little more encouragement and less criticism.
Why would a coach choose the media to criticize a player? Shouldn't that be a private matter? What could be the possible upside to that?
I remember Vinny Prospal once responding that " the coach was right. I need to step up." Do you really think that was what ws going through his mind? or was he just trying to say the right thing?
If torts was really that supportive as you alluded to,( and I believe you too) why wasn't that reported more?
As Don in St. Pete said, the players he had in '04 could respond to this "system". Does that mean our recent teams could not? and if so,why didn't he adjust to them?
Granted,Torts did not have alot of depth to work with, and that wasn't his fault at all, but I still can't understand his criticism in the press.

[MaxHunter]

Well said, S.M.

[léo]

Fantastic post S.M.
P.

Coach Bill,

Though I respect your opinion due to your experience in the very under-appreciated field of influencing young people, I do disagree with you. My disagreement comes from inside knowledge of how Torts actually operated within the locker room. What you saw in public was only a snapshot of the total picture.
Assuming you were as encouraging to your students as you say you were (I believe you by the way), imagine a time when you disciplined a student and an outsider witnessed it. If that is the only time that individual saw you interact with a student, their image of you may be quite different than the true reality.
In short, Torts was intense and held high expectations, YET they were absolutely tempered by immense loyalty, respect and encouragement.
A pat on a players rear with a "great job" comment attached doesn't make the news. Displeasure with a player's effort does...unfortunately.
S.M.

[Don in St. Pete]

Yeah, I know he didn't play for washy last year. He never reached his potential as a defenseman or as a wing. He was a good skater though and strong defensively during our cup run.

[Mike13]

Hey Don, did you know that Clymer didn't even make the squad last year for WSH? I'm almost certain that he is a Free Agent this year and is still unemployed. I know he's not a high end talent, but I would have expected him to be signed by someone by now.

[Nate Dogg]

You know, at first, I didn't really feel bothered by this blog subject. A day later tho, the feelings have been stirred up a bit.

To say the least, I'm shocked about Mike Sullivan.

He's young, American, and very strong vocally. I couldn't say enough good things about the guy. Those attributes, along with an arsenal of defensive knowledge of the game and good player relationships, leaves me scratching my head! Is this not the same Mike Sullivan that lead the Bruins to a playoff birth roughly 5 years ago?

Say what you will about Torts, but I genuinely am shocked that a solid coaching candidate like Sully is having difficulty finding work.

To say the least, he would made a great US high school, U18 Developmental League, or collegiate scout (I know, I know, we already assigned one this year...and that would actually be putting a lot of money and effort towards scouting-something very foreign to our organization).

Any who, best of lucky, Sully. Hopefully you get the shot you deserve! (and Torts, as well!)

ND

[Don in St. Pete]

Torts had a great system that worked wonderfully with the personnel we had in 03-04'. However, when all the bit part players started to leave, got hurt or got old we were toast because they couldn't afford to bring in the players to implement the system. Clymer went to Washy for more maoney, Stillman to the Canes and Habby to the Hawks. Andreychuck got too old, and Taylor was too injured. Dingman got too slow and Cibak went back to Europe. Modin was eventually traded and the unraveling came full circle with the signing of many career AHL'ers last season. Torts system consisted mainly of the all out forecheck to keep the puck in the other teams zone thus minimizing our own zone time and the exposure of our inconsistent goaltending. When Habby entered the zone, this turned us into a Cup winner under Torts system.

[MaxHunter]

I'd like to see Torts on TV. I think he'd make a GREAT commentator, he certainly has the excitement for it.

[coach bill]

I'm not so sure I agree with you Damian about Torts being "incredibly smart about the game". His defensive scheme ("oh no! They have the puck! Everyone,run for cover. Get around our net. Where"s Danny Boy? Oh he's caught up ice and Marty is playing D)...and his motivational techniques ( dissing players IN THE PRESS) leave me understanding why he has not been considered for a head coaching job.
His players are highly paid but they"re still young men and need to be encouraged not scorned. All of us want to be recognized that we are doing a good job. I taught eleentary school for 32 years and complimented my kids every day! We were told to do that by administrators who ( when some "irate parent" came in to gripe),turned their back on us and dissed us just like Torts. Noone want to be blasted by their boss ( and in public). Sorry Torts, you're a jerk!