Must See: Sullivan’s coaching retreat featuring lots of golf, beer and cigars.

Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan is one of the most accomplished young coaches in the NHL. While he had a brief stint as head coach of the Boston Bruins in the mid-2000s, Sullivan’s head coaching career in the NHL didn’t begin in earnest until 2015 and since then all he’s done is win. Back-to-back Stanley Cup championships aren’t a bad way to start your re-introduction as an NHL head coach.

Part of Sullivan’s success in Pittsburgh has been due to his insistence on establishing a franchise wide system that all levels on the organization are committed to. This means having protocols in place in not only Pittsburgh, but also in the team’s AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and its ECHL affiliate in Wheeling. Pittsburg Post -Gazette columnist Jason Mackey recently caught up with Sullivan to discuss this organizational structure and figure out exactly how we keeps everyone on the same page. The answer? Golf, beer and cigars.

Every offseason Sullivan hosts a coaches retreat for the organization where the guys can all kick back, talk hockey and air anything out that requires it. Check it out:

The past two offseasons, in late August, Sullivan has taken every coach in the organization on a retreat to Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Fayette County. They have meetings in the morning. They eat lunch together and play a round of golf in the afternoon. Evenings typically involve a beer in one hand and a cigar in the other.

So, what do they discuss? “We talk about the vocabulary and the different buzzwords that we use,” Sullivan said. “We talk about how we’re teaching tactics and the drills that we use so that there’s a lot of similarity from team-to-team.”

Clearly it’s working. Players like Matt Murray, Jake Guentzel, Conor Sheary, Bryan Rust, Scott Wilson, Tom Kuhnhackl, Carter Rowney and Josh Archibald have all come up through the team’s system and been major contributors at the NHL level. 

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach Clark Donatelli is a big believer in the annual retreat. “When players [get called up to the NHL], the transition is seamless,” Donatelli said. “The terminology, the way we forecheck, our neutral-zone forecheck, the way we play, D zone coverage, it’s all simulates how Pittsburgh does it. Guys go up there, they know the terminology, and it’s seamless. Those retreats help a lot. ‘Sully’ educates all of the coaches to make sure we’re all on the same page.”

Golf, beer and cigars. Take note, NHL head coaches.