CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Dave Beeston called it a "tough day for the Pittsburgh Penguins."
Beeston, the co-head of Fenway Sports Management and the Penguins' alternate governor, held a press conference Friday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex alongside Penguins president of business operations Kevin Acklin following the firings of general manager Ron Hextall, assistant general manager Chris Pryor and president of hockey operations Brian Burke.
Beeston said that all of Fenway Sports Group was in agreement that it was "time for a change" in regard to the Penguins' front office, but acknowledged that doing so was still a difficult decision.
"It's never easy to part ways with someone," he said. "And it's particularly difficult to do so given the quality of the individuals."
Beeston said that the responsibility for the Penguins' failing to earn a playoff spot after a 16-year postseason streak doesn't just lie with those who were let go today. He said that responsibility lies with himself, FSG principal owner John Henry, chairman Tom Werner, Mike Sullivan and the players, as well.
When I asked Beeston what exactly led to the firings now, and if they still would have happened had the Penguins managed to make the playoffs, he didn't want to divulge too many details. Instead, he emphasized a focus on the future and the general manager search ahead.
"The way we've thought about our hockey operations department generally is that we want to be forward-thinking," Beeston said. "We want to be proactive. Ron, Brian and Chris were great. They served a great role. We're all disappointed in the way the season ended. But we're really focused on the future and moving forward."
Beeston has a pretty good pulse on the situation. Though he's still technically based out of Boston, he's been Fenway Sports Group's point man in Pittsburgh this season. He spent much of the year living out of a hotel so he could be in attendance for most Penguins games. Beeston noted that it's still Henry and Werner who are in charge of overseeing the Penguins, both the business and hockey sides of things. Acklin reports directly to Henry and Warner on the business side, and whoever is hired will report directly to Henry and Warner on the hockey side.
"This ownership group is very active in everything that's happening in this team on the hockey-operations side and the business-operations side," Acklin added of Fenway's structure. "Certainly, the coach is the partner of the GM, the GM is the partner of the business side, and we all report up through ownership."
So, what happens with the hiring search?
Fenway Sports Group isn't married to sticking with the same structure that they inherited in having both a general manager and president of hockey operations. Previously, Hextall reported to Burke, and Burke reported to ownership. Fenway won't necessarily replace Burke as president of hockey operations, they would also be comfortable with hiring a general manager and having him report directly to ownership.
The Penguins' press release following the firings said that director of hockey operations Alec Schall, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton general manager/manager of hockey operations Erik Heasley, and hockey operations analyst Andy Saucier will handle managerial duties on the hockey operations side while the team searches for a general manager, and Mike Sullivan will assist during the transition. That doesn't mean that those members of the front office are searching for their new boss -- the responsibility for the search lies with ownership. Rather, those members will manage the day-to-day operations in the meantime.
Fenway Sports Group likes Sullivan. They've made that clear from the beginning, when Werner called Sullivan "outstanding, a student of the game ... one of the great coaches in the NHL" shortly after the sale of the team was made official. Beeston reiterated that confidence in Sullivan on Friday, though said that his fate as the Penguins' head coach will ultimately lie in the hands of whoever the next general manager is.
"We think Mike Sullivan is one of the best coaches in the NHL," Beeston said. "Once we bring in a new hockey operations leader, he or she will be responsible for evaluating the coaching staff. But we think Mike is terrific and his whole staff is terrific."
Beeston said that the search for a new general manager is currently a "clean slate," with no ideal characteristics laid out. But in the above quote he did make a point of saying "he or she" when referring to the future general manager of the Penguins. That's because there are a number of qualified women currently in management roles across the league, one of whom made it into Danny Shirey's list of top potential candidates article.
There's been outside questions in recent months regarding Mario Lemieux's involvement with the Penguins and his relationship with Fenway Sports Group, and those seemed to be cleared up on Friday. Acklin and Fenway Sports Group -- including Werner -- spoke with Lemieux on Friday morning. His limited presence around PPG Paints Arena this season isn't a result of a rift between him and ownership. Rather, Lemieux has devoted much of his life since being drafted by the Penguins in 1984 to this team. He's deserved a step back for once.
"Mario is responsible for this franchise being in Pittsburgh," Beeston said with a smile. "In Boston, even we know Mario is responsible for this franchise being in Pittsburgh. He still has a small piece of it. I won't speak for Mario, but he has been living and breathing the Pittsburgh Penguins for 35 years. He was very much entitled to a year where he wasn't around as much. He is of course, not only welcome, but wanted back whenever he wants. I would expect that that would be the case moving forward. Working with him, getting to know him through this process, has been such a special gift for me. He's incredible."
Acklin chimed in with his own thoughts on Lemieux's involvement.
"He's earned some time on the golf course when he sold most of his interest," Acklin said. "But he still cares about the team. Obviously, we'd love to see more of him at the arena, and that's something that we'll keep engaging with over time."
One thing was also made clear on Friday: Ownership remains committed to this core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang.
"The commitment that was made last summer, re-signing our key players who were free agents that were part of this core for forever, Geno and Kris, spoke to our commitment and where our focus is," Beeston said. "We think this is a team that's completely capable of competing for Stanley Cups moving forward."
Crosby has two years left on his current contract. Last summer, when asked about his future, Crosby acknowledged the years he has remaining on his contract and didn't want to speculate on what happens after that 2024-25 season. If you ask Fenway, Crosby will retire a Penguin.
"It's very important that Sidney Crosby never plays a game in another uniform other than the Pittsburgh Penguins," Beeston said.
This franchise is in the midst of a lot of change as ownership begins its search for a new general manager. What won't change is the organization's commitment to winning and commitment to its core. They have a very involved ownership group -- perhaps with Lemieux getting more into the fold too -- to lead them through this process.
