Penguins Head Coach Focused on This Season, Not Last Season
Mike Sullivan is more worried about the challenges ahead for the Pittsburgh Penguins, rather than the issues from last year.
The Pittsburgh Penguins got off on the wrong foot to start the 2023-24 season after allowing a 2-0 lead slip away to the Chicago Blackhawks.
While it’s perfectly fine to look at it as just one loss with 81 games left to play, it doesn’t help that the Penguins lost in a similar fashion that haunted them for all of 2022-23.
They got up early in a game and were unable to close out a win, something that happened 12 times last year.
With all the changes that occurred within the Penguins organization this past offseason, it’s safe to wonder how that kind of problem could stick around.
The players are looking to learn from their mistakes and come back better from them, but head coach Mike Sullivan has no time for dwelling on the past.
“You guys continue to want to talk about last season,” Sullivan said. “I really have no interest in talking about last season. This is a brand new team.”
Sullivan is absolutely right about the Penguins being a completely different team; from the front office to the players, there has been numerous changes.
10 of the 22 players on the opening night roster were new names and Kyle Dubas brought in his people to supplement his front office.
While there was great turnover this summer, that one nagging issue about letting leads slip stuck around, at least for the first game.
Sullivan and the Penguins are certainly looking to kick that trend early and be a more competitive team in 2023-24.
“This is a whole new challenge,” Sullivan said. “The best way to hang on to leads is to make sure you don’t beat yourself.”
With a ton of season left to play, the Penguins will look to right the ship quickly before things get out of hand.
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