Pittsburgh Penguins hire assistant coach to Dan Muse staff
And, uh, uh, welcome, uh, we’re here today, uh, obviously to welcome Dan Muse and his family, um, as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, um, just to, to open and, uh, give some background on the process, obviously, uh, late April and early May we began. Uh, our search for *** new, uh, head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, uh, it was *** fairly extensive process and, and *** special thanks to *** number of our staff, uh, namely, uh, Lucas Malloy and, and Nicole, uh, Geering who, who played *** huge role in organizing, uh, keeping us on, on track and then to *** number of members of our management team who participated in that process as well, um, that led to, uh, some in-person interviews here in, uh, Pittsburgh. Uh, two weeks ago now, uh, and then with Dan, uh, being named the head coach of the Penguins. Um, what stood out about Dan, uh, during the process was that he was not somebody that I, I knew personally, uh, going into it. Uh, but right from the first time that that we, uh, we met, so we spoke on the phone and then then when we met, uh, over Zoom, uh, and then met in person, it became clear that he was somebody that was going to be extraordinarily well suited to develop all of our players, not just our young players, but all of them, and what I mean by that is that when you look at his track record and then you speak to the players that he’s worked with, whether they were in junior or at the US. *** national team development program or with the Rangers most recently whether they were *** young player coming into the league or uh or *** veteran player that was continuing to try to find their way or stay in the league Dan had made *** strong impact on them and obviously we have all those sorts of players here in Pittsburgh. The other, uh, key component uh to Dan was his track record in winning, uh, but also winning, uh, with the with Yale and the NCAA, uh, then going to Chicago, winning there, helping Nashville to have very successful seasons, um, when he was *** member of the Predator staff under Peter Laviolette. Uh, then going back to the US program and helping them, uh, win *** gold medal in 2023 and then back to New York where they had *** very successful season, uh, in his first year and then the the the impact that he made on the penalty killing units in his time in both Nashville and New York alike. Um, and then I think finally and, and probably the most important, uh, was just the character and talking to players and people and staff members that that Dan has worked with, um, just the, the way that he conducts himself, his work ethic, uh, his intelligence, um. Just that everything about him as we got through it and and further on into the process it became clear that he was going to be *** great fit uh to to help us to partner with us and help lead us um uh through this transition and then back into contention with the uh with the Pittsburgh Penguins. So, uh, on that note I’d like to welcome Dan and his uh his wife and four children to Pittsburgh and introduce him formally as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Oh, I’ll start off by saying thank you to you, Kyle, to the Fenway Sports Group and the entire, uh, Pittsburgh Penguins organization, um, you know, is, is *** tremendous honor. It, it’s *** dream come true, and, uh, I couldn’t be more thankful, you know, on *** day like today, you know, you reflect back also just wanna say thank you to, you know, all the different coaches, staff members, uh, players that I’ve had an opportunity to, to work with and learn from, um, you know, *** couple people in particular they have made *** major impact on me. Uh, Keith Elaine, head coach at Yale University, and Peter Laviolette, who, uh, gave me my first opportunity to work in this league and, um, you know, last but not least, thank you to my family who’s here today, uh, my wife Maureen, our children Fiona, Neve, Kieran, and Henora, uh, love you guys and thank you for being *** part of all this and all the love and support along the way. Um, you know, over the last I think it’s 4 or 5 weeks now, uh, this process, and it’s been an amazing process. Um, you know, they’re trying to learn *** lot about me. I’m, I’m having an opportunity through this process, uh, to learn *** lot about, um, the Pittsburgh Penguins, uh, the organization, organization, and the city, and you know, through this, you know, this number one I learned. It’s just it’s amazing people here, you know, through the interview process all the staff members I’ve had an opportunity to meet with and talk to they’re amazing people um they have incredible ideas and you can just you can feel the, the want for collaboration and building together and that’s just so exciting, uh, to be *** part of that, uh, and then through this process you see what an exciting time it is to come in here, uh. You know, you have, you know, legendary players of, of our game, uh, here at Pittsburgh, uh, future Hall of Famers. You have these exciting young players that are coming up and then you have *** little bit of everything in between and so to have an opportunity to work together with everybody here to make sure that these players are continuing to grow and whatever wherever they are in their career, um, just can’t tell you how exciting of an opportunity that is. You know, and then through this process and especially over the last few days just getting to be here, um, just getting to see what an amazing city this is, uh, what an amazing place, uh, the fan base, um, you know, the, the passion and the character, uh, that you can just, you, you can feel throughout the city, um, you know, you really just getting, getting to feel that, uh, especially once you’re, you’re here and walking around and meeting people and, and talking, uh, to not just the members of the organizations but the people in the city. And so It’s an honor to work in the National Hockey League. And and it’s *** huge honor to be *** head coach in this league. And and it’s extremely humbling to be *** part of this organization and this city working with this staff and these players and I couldn’t be more excited to get started here. Uh, Dan, welcome to Pittsburgh. Congratulations. Um, very simple start for you. What is it that really appealed to you about this job and you’ve been *** coach as an assistant and at younger levels of hockey for *** long time. Why do you think now is the right time for you to be the head coach of an NHL team? Yeah, well, Josh, it’s, uh, I, I guess going back to the start, like why is it exciting? It’s, you know, those reasons, you know, it’s mentioned, um, the people, the collaboration, um, the players that are here. Uh, and the, and the players that are here in the different, you know, stages, um, you know, of their careers and, you know, for me it’s, you know, all these experiences, you know, you’re taking now and then you’re working to apply them and I feel extremely fortunate for all the steps along the way and I and I it’s the places I’ve worked, the the people I’ve worked with, um, the people I’ve learned from. It’s having an opportunity to work in in pretty close to almost every role you can imagine, uh, you know, you know, second assistant, first assistant video coach, head coach, um, you know, on my way coming up and so now it’s you’re taking all these different things that I’ve seen different things that I’ve learned different things that I’ve done, um, some things that, you know, along the way maybe have changed and now you’re getting an opportunity. Work and apply them in this league and I think especially having that that opportunity to work in two different NHL organizations as well, um, you know, with with all those different players, um, it’s been, you know, it’s led me to feel extremely confident, um, you know, in, in my abilities coming into this opportunity to work with the staff, um, and everybody within the organization here. Uh, Dan, welcome to Pittsburgh. The highest level you ever played was D3 hockey. Is that something you felt like you’ve ever had to overcome as *** coach, you know, maybe proving yourself to players that are, are better than you are, especially now walking into *** locker room with Hall of Famers. And for the record, I wasn’t *** very good D3 player. Just, just was, uh, just, just so everybody’s aware, um, I would not change *** thing about my path, nothing. I mean, I started, like, it’s different and it is, it’s probably *** different, you know, if you, if you look online, it’s easy to find like. Um, you know, it, it’s different. I, I started playing hockey when I was 11 years old in Alabama. Like it was the game was hard for me. Like I loved the game though. I loved it like from day one, even before I lived in Alabama. I was in California. They didn’t have ice, you know, and I’m playing like street hockey with my brothers, and that’s, that’s how I got to this point. But it was also like it because it was hard. For me, like because I had to work really hard just to be uh like uh *** high school player and then really, really hard just to be *** bad Division 3 player like, like that that helped me become who I am and so like I wouldn’t change any of that like that that taught me about work ethic that taught me about like you never quit, you don’t stop like you don’t listen to any of the outside noise you just keep finding *** way. And so would I would have been nice to have had an NHL career like, yeah, it would have been, but like I wouldn’t for where I am right now those lessons like that’s what made me me and and so I wouldn’t change *** thing. um, I think early on, you know, it kind of it’s *** little bit different. I think I was probably more intimidated like in my first going to my first division one job as an assistant than I was honestly ever again. I, I’ve been coaching at *** higher level essentially my entire coaching career and so I never try to be somebody that I’m not um I’m very upfront with it and that’s, it, it was part of my journey and so I wouldn’t change any of it. Not Hey Dan, welcome to Pittsburgh. um, people who have worked alongside you, players have worked with you, talked about just um how passionate you are about watching other people develop as players and probably coaches as well. What is it about player development that you find so rewarding as as *** coach? It’s *** great question, um. It’s everybody’s different, you know, everybody’s everybody’s that’s gonna be different. And so as *** coach, like it’s you enjoy that part of it because you gotta find out, you gotta learn who the person is. You gotta learn and to, to really work with them and to help them and you know I’m *** big believer like you gotta, it’s, it’s easy to identify things for people to work on. Like that’s, I don’t wanna say easy, but it’s, it’s probably easier um you need to do that and you need to help people with that, but it’s also part of player development is saying like what could you become and helping that person believe that. And then helping guide them, um, helping them with *** roadmap on how to get there. And then you’re working together with the player in order to help that player take their, take their game to the next level. And so, when you, when you’re able to Be there for *** significant part of it and be able to see that growth happen firsthand and it’s never, it’s never direct. There’s always bumps in the road. There’s always *** step, there’s almost always *** little bit of *** step back, um. It’s just really, I think it’s really rewarding to, to be able to be *** part of that and to help, help players, um, achieve those things that they’re looking to do, um, and help them see, you know, what could be possible. Separate Hi Dan, um, Kyle’s talked about returning the Penguins to contender status as urgently as possible with the caveat that contender being *** contender is just getting to the playoffs. How do you, uh, what’s your vision for that plan? How do you enact it, uh, particularly with *** roster that’s, um, still as presently constructed, uh, build up around *** lot of veterans who frankly are towards the end of their careers. No, and we’ve talked, Colin and I’ve talked *** lot about this, and, um, you know, it’s uh there’s *** period of transition here, but within that my approach is gonna be, you know, we’re gonna work, uh, throughout the entire summer coaching staff’s gonna come together and we’re gonna put together *** plan for the start of the year and we’re gonna put together *** plan and we’re gonna be talking about working with every single player that’s here. And so you do have players that are uh have been in this league *** long time and have done great things in this league, uh, for *** long time and working with those players to help them continue to take steps and at the same time we’re gonna be working on the younger players that are coming in and how can they come in and make their, uh, make their mark here in this organization and this league and then we’re gonna be working with every single player in between and so for me. To put like *** *** time frame on that this is gonna be, it’s gonna be day one of training camp. It starts. There’s gonna be *** lot of work that goes into it beforehand and that’s to work with the each individual and what they need, it’s gonna be to work with the collective group and then as soon as we get on the ice for the first time we’re gonna continue to build and you know we it’s gonna be *** step by step process each day we’re gonna be looking to get *** little bit better as *** group, *** little bit better for each of these guys. Uh, Dan, congratulations. First off, uh, this team has been attacked first dating back literally decades. Will there be potentially *** need to have to dial that back by way of laying *** foundation of two-way hockey for your younger players? Oh, I mean, I, I. I, I, I believe you have to, you have to work on both sides of the, of the park, um, so you know, um, and, and we will be, and so it’s gonna be, you know, there’s gonna be we wanna play with detail, um, we wanna make sure that the habits are in place that, that I believe and that, you know, we believe, you know, we’re gonna lead to success and that foundation is gonna be there, um, you know. I do want to attack. When we have the puck, we want everybody working to score goals, but when we don’t have the puck, we want everybody working, uh, to make sure that we’re defending and defending the right way. And so, you know, I believe, I don’t think it’s necessarily there’s, you know, just offense or just defense, um, you know, we’re gonna be working on both sides of the park for sure. Hi Dan, uh, kind of building on that, what is your coaching philosophy and um how much system are you going to bring to this team versus how much you’re going to sort of create based on the players you’ll have. Um, so coaching philosophy, I guess to start with that, I mean, I’m, you know, I believe number one it’s relationship based in, in the sense that like I’m gonna be, yeah, I wanna make sure you get to know each person, uh, myself and the coaching staff, you know, to you until you actually get to know the people, uh, that you’re working with every day, um, you know, I think it’s hard to truly, you know, be able to, to. To get through to not get through to them but to properly be able to work together with them. Um, and everybody’s different, you know, I, I, I learned that early on in my coaching career, even before I was coaching when I was, uh, teaching, uh, high school history, you know, you go into *** classroom and you, you gotta figure out what makes each person, what, what makes each person tick, what motivates them, how do they learn, um, what’s best for them, and so, you know, I think everything for me in regards to coaching kind of starts with that, um, and then from there like it’s gonna be, you know, we wanna work towards the way we play. Um, I like I just said, it’s gonna be like there’s details that I wanna have built in, and uh there’s, there’s habits that I believe lead to success and, and so that’s kind of the foundation and I could go on for *** long time talking about all these little things I’m not going to today but like there’s *** foundation that has to be built that has, you know, nothing to do with uh *** for checking system or your diesel coverage but once that’s that’s base there then we will build out and so. I have in my mind ideas on on the way I’d like to be played but right now like it’s also gonna be about finalizing *** coaching staff, bringing that coaching staff and like this isn’t just about me this is about our staff, our organization, and then there’s conversations based on that that we’re gonna put everything together that we’re gonna, we’re gonna have that collaboration and then it’ll be put in place. So to sit here today and tell you exactly what the neutral zone 4 check’s gonna be, um, I got an idea, but I gotta be making it up, so. Dan, welcome to Pittsburgh. Kyle, nice suit. I got *** question for both of you. Uh, Kyle, when, uh, somebody’s hired to your position *** couple years ago, they usually have *** list of people they might think about if they have to meet, meet *** coaching change. um, why was it important for you to open this up, uh, as opposed to maybe just working off that list, Dan. Uh, you mentioned Peter and Keith. I’m, I’m curious what you learned from them that you think maybe you can apply as *** head coach and maybe what. In any step you learned, uh, that you don’t want to do, but would like to like not do what you learned, so to speak. I go first, yeah, yeah, sure, um, you know, and, and just for the record too, I mean, there’s, I’ve been really fortunate, like, like really, really fortunate like I, I, there’s so many people that I’ve, um, just felt blessed to have an opportunity to, to, to work together with and learn from, um, those two people in particular, um, you know, having an opportunity to work for 6 years at Yale University as an assistant coach and an associate coach. Um, and then for Peter Laviolet, he gave me, uh, he had never met me before, um, you know, he gave me the first opportunity there to work in the National Hockey League and, and he’s also, and both of those people have been great mentors, but they’re also like very, very great human beings and, and very close friends, um, you know, in terms of learning the thing that probably the common nominator there is, um. You know it’s treating people, uh, the right way and it’s in learning how to empower *** staff like that’s power staff and empower players like that’s something that, you know, had I not seen that firsthand from both of them, just the, the responsibilities they gave me the belief they gave, gave me and myself, um, through their actions and through the way that we work together, um, you know, I think that’s something that really, you know, I, I now know as *** head coach and in the different head coaching roles that I’ve had, um, that’s *** lesson that I’ve learned from them that I’ve really worked to to apply. And you know in terms of, you know, things that you know maybe you learn, uh, that you don’t wanna do like I wouldn’t say it’s nothing from anybody you learn from experiences you learn from all these different situations. I, I, I’ve learned as ***, um, you know, as an gone from an assistant coach to *** head coach back to an assistant coach head coach, you know, it’s gone back and forth and like each time you every stop you learn and you learn from. Those around you, but you also learn from, you know, maybe little things that you’ve done, mistakes that you’ve made, things that you wish you could have *** do over and so I think we’re always doing that, you know, and but I, I think of for me it’s having that mindset of like, you know, just try to get *** little not better every year as *** coach and just get *** little bit better every day and that’s been the mindset from day one, you know, I’ve learned from myself and I’ve learned from those around me and um. Yeah, you know, *** year from now, I believe like I’ll be *** better coach, hope to be *** better person than I am sitting here today, and that’s, that should always be the process. Uh, in, in terms of why we, I felt it was important to open it up, Rob. I think that. This search uh provides you *** great opportunity to to also learn and I thought it would have been *** disservice to the organization just to hire someone that I either I know very well or um that I’ve worked with in the past without going through the proper uh process especially given where we are in the unique nature of the job um. Yeah I also it, it just gave us *** great opportunity to learn things that that are, you know, beyond our scope when you’re just operating, uh, on *** daily basis with the with the penguins. So in all the coaching interviews that we did in particular the the the ones that were in person here we we learned *** lot and I think if we hadn’t gone through that whole process and. You know, I just kind of turned to somebody that I’ve either worked with in the past or knew very well, uh, we wouldn’t have found what what I uh believe is the best coach for the Penguins right now, which is Dan. So, um, you know, I, I, I thought it was *** it was *** for me I thought it was, it was great to be able to meet lots of new people and, uh, and learn lots of different things, um, and I, and I’m hopeful that all the coaches that went through our process found it to be helpful for them as they continue on with their journey, but for us I just thought. Uh, it was, it was imperative that we were extraordinarily thorough to find the, the exact best fit for the penguins. Stay on the front Congratulations to you, Dan. Uh, this question is for both of you, um, in different ways. I’m gonna get specific on you. When you look around the National Hockey League, the teams that are succeeding the most tend to be the ones that have the most mobile defensemen that have the guys that can circle through the zone, can pinch up. Now we’ve seen in recent years here we’ve seen both the pluses and the minuses of that in some cases this past season, big minuses. And I want to ask both of you if you’ve had discussions with each other about, I mean, you have to do this in concert, right? Everything has to happen together, the way you’re building the roster and the way you do it, how much toward the defense. Can you guys create something of *** symbiosis here? It was *** large topic of the interview processes then. No, so I’ll, I’ll let Dan, uh, go ahead and can attack that one. Yeah, I do, yes, yeah, yeah. One of the things that, you know. Really excited me about this this opportunity was the clear collaboration that’s gonna happen um and so um you know and and that kind of started right away, you know, within this process, you know they and I think that’s early on in our conversations, uh, and especially when coming in here and then meeting with other members of the organization. Um, it became very clear that this can be, this is an opportunity for full collaboration at *** really high level, and, and there will be like there’s no, I walked out, I came into this job, I guess I walked out of the interview and came into this position. Feeling very strongly that that’s gonna be there and that’s something that excites me that’s something that you know I’ve seen and it’s something that I believe in um that you have to have you have to take all the resources um that you have all the different people and ideas, and you have to become, you know, you’re united in what your, um, your approach is gonna be and and and everything that you do and I believe that’s what leads to success and so, um, that was, you know, the conversations that we had and. Um, you know, I’m extremely excited about how that’ll work moving forward. Do you believe in activating your defense? Do I believe in activating them? Yes, in terms of, in, you’re saying in terms of offensively getting up in the play, yeah, do I believe that the way the game is played right now, um, you need 5 players involved to create offense. Now how you do that can vary, and, um, there’s, you talk about, you know, activation and you talk about, um, you know, the ways you create offense like. Yeah, you need everybody now. The teams are too good defensively. They just are. I mean, everybody is, uh, the goalies are too good. Like you have to do different things to be able to create high scoring *** high percentage scoring chances, high quality scoring chances. It’s just really hard to come by now. Um, and everybody’s built differently and how they’re gonna do that, um, so within the group of players that we’re working with, it’s, it’s looking at, you know, how can we find the best version of that player to be able to help that just like we’re looking on the other side of the park, how can we get the best version of that player and who that player is and on the on the defensive side of the puck, um, and everything in between, so. Activation, yes, um, but how you go about it, um, you know, that’s gonna be stuff that we’ll be discussing throughout the summer, um, and have ready to go their training camp. And on the right Oh Dan, I’ve got here, um. In terms of the D that we want to build, I think. You, I of course you’d like it to be the biggest, most mobile ability to move the puck and ability to make stops. I think in, in totality it has to represent what what we want and how we wanna play. Um, I also think that players largely um fit into their system so we may have guys that that would sit back and not get into the rush. I’m talking about players we’ve had in the past or that we acquire. And *** lot of that will fall on, on the two of us collectively when we’re going to acquire *** player, specifically *** free agent, but when we draft *** player or we sign *** free agent in, this is the way that we expect to play, uh, so that can happen in the draft process. It could happen in the free agency process after July 1st, um, and you know, and then be able to get an idea for that that player’s mindset and whether it may fit. Um, but of course when we’re talking about, uh, building out the team and how we wanted to play, there, there, there’s always *** give and take between the, the coach and, and the manager. There’s, you know, there’s the way that that Dan would like the team to play and then there’s the group of players that we have and the players that are available and then trying to find the best way collectively to move the team ahead and I think that’s one of the things that I enjoyed most about the um the process with Dan was that he has very clear cut principles, especially once you peel. Uh, you know, peel it back *** little bit and, and, uh, you get into the actual system stuff and specifically stuff you’d want to install and with our players which, which we’re not gonna get into, uh, today because it can be *** uh *** long process and everyone will see that starting in training camp, but he’s the, the, the key thing that came up to me was that he was very adaptable. There wasn’t just one way that he wants. To be able to play, uh, and, and he was very, uh, easily able to communicate the way that he would teach very different systems which gave great comfort not only to me but to our staff that we weren’t gonna be bound by having to do one specific thing some of the coaches in the process had one way that they wanted to play and that’s that’s fine and that that goes with all the sports, but Dan’s adaptability and and the proof of concept with his past teams was, was, uh, very important to us. Thank you, uh, Dan, uh, congratulations and welcome to Pittsburgh. Thank you. Thank you. Um, have you had *** chance yet to speak to the pillars of this hockey team Sidney Crosby, Crystal Tang, and, and what role do you see them playing during during this transitional process? Um, I have, yeah, I’ve, uh, I’ve reached out, um, was able to speak with those two on, uh, on day one, you know, uh, right after you get in the position and. Um, you know, I’m finishing up, I’ve reached out to, I would say close to 95% of all players, um, under contract, not just players that were here, uh, this past year. And so, uh, we’re still finishing that part up, um, but in regards to the veteran players that are here. Um, you know, there’s, you’re always working with, with the leaders, you’re always working with the players that, that have been in this league, um, and, and especially, you know, the, the players that you just mentioned to, um, you know, guys that have had, um, you know, not just been in this league but been in this organization for such *** long time, uh. Um, you know, and so you’re gonna be leaning on them for to, to have those conversations, um, those, you know, basically daily discussions, um, you know, there’s gonna be the, the big picture conversations and there’s *** lot of those, uh, the smaller conversations as well, you know, right now for me. Um, this is all about just getting to, to know these guys and, and so it’s not we’re not diving deep into into the hockey talk we’re not diving deep into those like, um, you know, I’ve been on the job for like *** week now and so, uh, it’s been *** lot of time on the phone because it is important and it is priority number one to be able to start to develop those relationships, um, but you know we’re gonna continue to build on those as we go through the summer and into the uh into the season. Uh, we got 5 more questions. Hey Dan, welcome and congrats. Uh, just with regard to building *** staff around you, uh, looking at assistance, I’m curious just what kind of qualities or backgrounds, uh, might appeal to you as you as you look to bring people in around you and, uh, kind of adjacent to that Kyle, if I could, uh, the two coaches currently still on staff, Andy Kyoto and Madison Nichols, do you anticipate them having an opportunity to, to be *** part of the, the future here in Pittsburgh? I can answer on Madison. Uh, he, I think he’s one of the best that, um, at his job in, in the league, um, just in having had opportunities to be around like other high-end people in that in that scope over the time now between my two stops and. Different other ventures, um, I, I think he’s one of the best that we, uh, and he’s one of the best league and we’re very fortunate to have him so he won’t go anywhere. Uh, he’ll be here. He’s had the chance to he and Dan have basically been the coaching staff for *** week and they’ve done pretty good, so we’ll, we’ll keep rolling along, but Madison’s excellent. We’re lucky to have him here in Pittsburgh and, and, um. Uh, he’ll be here, uh, with regards to all other members of the staff, you know, including Andy Dan, we, we’ll go through that, uh, that process with, with them, and then, um, I, I’ll let him kind of talk about that process, but, uh, once we have that settled, we’ll, we’ll get that, uh, we’ll let everybody know and, and send that out. Yeah, and we, and we started that process right away as well, um, that was kind of day one well calling players also trying to start with that, um, and, uh, you know, right now we’re, we’re having *** lot of discussions, um, you know, meeting with people. uh, I have met with Andy, um, he’s uh clearly an amazing human being and ***, and *** great coach, and we’re going through the process now of, um, just figuring out what that the staff is gonna, is gonna look like and so there’s *** lot of conversations for me. Um, you know, the, the big qualities you look for the person, um, you, you wanna make sure that it’s gonna be *** fit here within, you know, the, the group within the organization, um, and then from there, you know, I’m looking, I’m looking for *** little bit of variety, different experiences, different backgrounds, um, you know, in ways different ideas, but where we still have that kind of that those same, the same base concepts that we believe in. Um, moving forward and so there’s *** lot of great coaches out there, um, we’ve had *** lot of discussions we’re continuing to we wanna move this process along, um, as quickly as possible without not feeling rushed. We wanna make sure that we’re doing it right, um, and, and making, uh, you know, great decisions and building out, uh, the best fit, you know, for this organization right now. Uh, Jason is 2 girls, you know. Hey Dan, welcome to Pittsburgh, uh, sort of along the lines I think of Andrew’s question, but, uh, I think when fans look at the Penguins, they wanna see the final years of Crosby, Malk and Letang, and, and winning and getting to the playoffs. I’m sure you coming into *** new job, you wanna win and and get there as well. How do you balance that sort of urgency with also the development angle and the transition that the Penguins are in? No Yeah, it, it was, I, I think mentioned multiple *** couple of times here today, you know, you have, um, you have guys in different places, um, in their careers, and, and that’s, you know, very clear, um, my job coming in here is gonna be to help maximize each person help each person work towards what their, um, highest level can be right now. And that’s, that’s gonna be my focus. It’s gonna be *** day to day approach. It has to be, um, and so, you know, for me to put *** time frame for us to put anything other than that, um. Be right, it’s gonna be about coming in, putting in the work, having *** plan for each individual, having *** plan to work for the collective group, attacking it starting in day one of training camp, and then building it, and that’s all you can do, right? Yeah, that and that’s what I believe and that’s been my approach prior. It’s like how do we, it, it’s working for each individual, it’s working for the collective group and it’s *** day by day creating the right environment for each person to grow and. You know, and and then it’s gonna be working together as *** staff to make sure that that’s happening and that’s the job and that’s what I’m coming in here to do and this is what we’re building *** staff out to do and that’s what we’re going to do. 2 more just Hey Dan, uh, congratulations. Welcome. um, what did you do in the interview process to separate yourself? Did you do anything different? Like what do you think you did do you gotta, you gotta ask him from your perspective, I mean, what did you do? Yeah, what, what do you think you brought that was unique or bring that’s unique? I was just myself. Honestly, maybe that is different than other interview process I’ve gone through in the past. Uh, it’s, uh, it’s *** huge, uh, it’s ***, it’s *** massive honor to get to get the phone call, um, you know, from Kyle asking if I’d be interested in talking. Like, it’s huge. This is, you know, this is the Pittsburgh Penguins, you know, it’s, uh, so it was *** huge honor just to have that, um, but. You know, pretty quickly after, you know, I, I, I got over the fact that, you know, this is awesome. I’m gonna get *** chance to talk for *** head coach. I, I want the job and so I went in with the mindset. I’m gonna be myself. I’m gonna be me and if they like me, they like me and if they don’t, they don’t, so. That’s all. Uh, plus one Hey, uh, Dan, congratulations, uh, as *** failed street hockey player myself, I’m sort of curious, what drew you to the game in the first place? And then what did you always sort of know as your playing career ended that coaching was something that you felt you could excel at? Or at least wanted to do, I guess. Uh-huh. Yeah, no, you know, it’s funny. I, I, I, I couldn’t tell you exactly why. I just, you know, I, I, I fell in love with the game, uh, you know, um, yeah, I got, I got great parents. My dad’s from Boston. He grew up playing hockey. His brothers played hockey. My mom’s from Alabama, um, and so, um, you know, there’s not much hockey down there and they’ve, uh, uh, you know, moved, we moved around the country over in. And I just kinda, you know, one day I don’t know, just, just kinda thought this is awesome like I had seen pictures of my dad playing. I was like this would be really cool. I had cousins that played and so you develop *** passion which is, I mean it’s *** special thing to have, you know, especially at *** young age to to find something that you really love and it it gives you that drive and motivation and, um, and so you know that kind of just started there and um and they supported it and you know even um you know really kind of help grow that passion. And then, you know, as you, I still wasn’t very good at it, even though I was passionate about it. Um, you know, right away I always knew I’d want to coach at some point, you know, I was coaching in, you know, in college I was part-time jobs as coaches, uh, you know, coaching, even, you know, whether it’s youth hockey or high school lacrosse in the offseason, and like I, I enjoyed working, um, with other people. I enjoyed that like that that teaching, teaching the game, um, and so it was pretty early on and, um, yeah, it’s, uh, it’s something that I think you know you combine that passion. For the game and with passion for, for teaching and, um, yeah, it’s for me, it’s something that it’s, uh, I haven’t felt like I’ve worked *** day in my life.
Pittsburgh Penguins hire assistant coach to Dan Muse staff
Updated: 11:20 AM EDT Jun 30, 2025
The Pittsburgh Penguins have hired an assistant coach to Dan Muse’s staff. Video Above: Penguins introduce new head coach Dan MuseThe Penguins announced Mike Stothers, 63, will join Todd Nelson, Nick Bonino and Rich Clune on Muse’s staff.“We’re thrilled to welcome Mike to the city of Pittsburgh as he rounds out our coaching staff for the 2025-26 season,” Muse said. Before Pittsburgh, Stothers’ 30 years coaching experience includes stops with the Anaheim Ducks, the Atlanta Thrashers and the Philadelphia Flyers. “As a champion at both the AHL and international levels, Mike has a tremendous track record of helping develop players and take their game to the next level, as seen throughout the multiple leagues he has coached in over the last 30 years,” Muse said. Prior to his coaching career, Stothers played hockey in the AHL and the NHL for more than 10 seasons.
PITTSBURGH —
The Pittsburgh Penguins have hired an assistant coach to Dan Muse’s staff.
Video Above: Penguins introduce new head coach Dan Muse
The Penguins announced Mike Stothers, 63, will join Todd Nelson, Nick Bonino and Rich Clune on Muse’s staff.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Mike to the city of Pittsburgh as he rounds out our coaching staff for the 2025-26 season,” Muse said.
Before Pittsburgh, Stothers’ 30 years coaching experience includes stops with the Anaheim Ducks, the Atlanta Thrashers and the Philadelphia Flyers.
“As a champion at both the AHL and international levels, Mike has a tremendous track record of helping develop players and take their game to the next level, as seen throughout the multiple leagues he has coached in over the last 30 years,” Muse said.
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Prior to his coaching career, Stothers played hockey in the AHL and the NHL for more than 10 seasons.