Bruins fire Sullivan, close in on new man

Source: Lewis will be named next coach

June 28, 2006|Kevin Paul Dupont, Globe Staff

The inevitable, excruciating for him to ponder became reality yesterday for Mike Sullivan. Two-plus months after the end of the NHL's 2005-06 regular season, the 38-year-old Sullivan was officially dismissed as the Bruins coach, putting to end weeks of speculation that he likely would not survive the franchise's ongoing, wide-ranging overhaul.

Sullivan, who will receive the $600,000-plus due him for the final year of his contract, was notified of his dismissal yesterday by general manager designee Peter Chiarelli.

According to a source with direct knowledge of the Bruins' front office negotiations the past two days, the Bruins yesterday came to terms with a new coach and will name Sullivan's successor today or tomorrow. Another source, well acquainted with Chiarelli's connections and confidants around the league, and particularly in Ottawa, where he remains the Senators' assistant general manager until July 15, said that former Red Wings bench boss Dave Lewis will be named Boston's coach.

``My gut feeling, I guess, was this was an inevitability," said Sullivan, reached by cell phone last night while he attended his son's guitar lesson. ``But, obviously . . . you don't know that until it actually happens. I say inevitable, just based on the way things had been playing out."

Chiarelli, reached earlier in the day, praised Sullivan as ``classy" and ``professional".

But in the end, said Chiarelli, he had to make the decision solely on who he felt would be the best coach for the club he inherited at the end of last month, when he was named Mike O'Connell's successor.

``It was a difficult process and I understand [Sullivan's] disappointment," said Chiarelli, who, because of the conditions placed on him by the Senators, could not interview coaching candidates expeditiously -- a situation that left Sullivan waiting some three weeks to learn his fate.

``I handled it the best I could, given the constraints of the situation," Chiarelli said. ``I am sure Mike will go on to have success in the league."

The Bruins' news release, issued late in the afternoon, made no mention of Boston's three assistant coaches, including Wayne Cashman, Norm Maciver, and Bob Essensa (goaltending). However, Jeff Gorton, Boston's assistant general manager, responding via e-mail last night, reported the assistant coaches ``will have the opportunity to talk to the new coach" about further employment with the franchise.

Provided the 52-year-old Lewis is named coach, there is a slight irony in the hire. Lewis was the Devils defenseman who, during a preseason game, delivered the hit to Gord Kluzak's knee that effectively turned upside down the talented defenseman's career. Two-plus decades after knocking the franchise off its tracks, Lewis could be the one charged with getting it back on the rails.