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ALL PHOTOS BY Getty Images 26 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM 2017-18 NHL Preview regular season and then became the only American coach to win the Cup twice. Sullivan will tell you these past two seasons have been the most fulfilling of his career (so he was happy to sign, at the end of last year, a three-year contract extension that runs through 2019-'20). He'll also tell you how different the seasons were. In the first, the Penguins rolled into and through the playoffs as the dominant team. In the second, they had to overcome a lot of adversity. "As much as that first year was exciting, this one was hard," he admits. American Made In both of those seasons, the Penguins won the Cup using a record-tying 15 American- born players. That's only partially why USA Hockey likes Sullivan. He's twice played for U.S. National Teams and helped coach several, including as assistant coach to Team USA in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. He was on the short list to coach the team in the 2018 Olympic Winter Games before the NHL decided not to participate. He's also generous in his support of the organization, whether speaking to coaches about player development or weighing in on a new rule, such as eliminating the ability to ice the puck when shorthanded at the 14U and younger age classifications. Sullivan is all for that and excited to talk about why: "Over the course of time, that's going to help a generation of players develop puck posses- sion skills." Jim Johannson, USA Hockey's assistant executive director of hockey operations, praises him for being open to new ideas and approachable, describing him as the guy who, after speaking to 500 coaches, sits down to listen to the next presenter speak. "He's interested in how it affects coaching as a whole," Johannson says. Sullivan is happy if his success and that of the other Americans on his team rubs off on American hockey 's reputation around the world. "I have a great amount of respect for how hard the coaching fraternity in this country works," he says. Emotion And Instinct His players and colleagues, old friends and even opposing coaches, laud his competi- tiveness, consistency, communication and caring. Though former Penguins and Buffalo Sabres coach Dan Byslma told the Post- Gazette that he didn't much care for one aspect of bunking with him at the National Junior Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid: "He snores the leaves right off the trees." He can be loud in other ways, too. The times he's seen yelling at players add to his rep as being intimidating and intense. But he lets them play with emotion. "For me, the game is rooted in emotion and instinct," he told the Boston Globe this summer. In short, he expects a lot from his players, and himself. "You catch him in his voice. His voice is demanding," says playoff goal scoring leader Jake Guentzel. The 22-year-old Minnesotan certainly feels blessed that Sullivan took a chance on him last season, and says he's learned so much from him. "He sees many things that a lot of players don't even think about," Guentzel says. Stylewise, "He gets straight to the point and he's honest with you"— an approach Guentzel says players appreciate. Veteran center Matt Cullen, 40, agrees. "My experience with Sully has been unbe- lievable." From Day 1, when he was impressed with "the command he had of the room," to the first weeks of that first season, when he quickly implemented his vision of how the team needed to play. That continued to " H e h a s a n a p p rec i a t i o n of w h a t y o u ' re g o i n g t h ro u g h a s a p lay e r b eca u s e h e's b e e n t h r o ug h i t ." MIKE SULLIVAN – Matt Cullen