Sidney Crosby breaks his silence on Mike Sullivan's Penguins exit - "Wouldn't say I'm surprised"

Sidney Crosby is far from Pittsburgh, but recent changes with the Penguins are still on his mind. He’s currently in Sweden, playing for Team Canada at the World Championship. On Tuesday, he helped Canada beat France 5-0. Even while winning overseas, Crosby knows big things are happening back home.

For the first time since the season ended, Crosby spoke about Mike Sullivan’s exit. The Penguins fired Sullivan after 10 years as head coach. It was a big change, but Crosby wasn’t shocked.

“I wouldn’t say I’m surprised by anything that happened, to be honest,” he told The New York Times. “I understand it. I’ve played long enough now to know that there’s always going to be … some kind of change, when you don’t get the results that you want.

"And we haven’t gotten the results that we’ve wanted for a while now. That’s part of losing. That’s the part of things that makes losing so difficult.”

Crosby has a lot of respect for Sullivan. They worked together for a long time and shared many good moments.

“He did an unbelievable job with us,” Crosby added. “If you really think about it, 10 years is an incredibly long time to coach a team in the NHL. We’re fortunate that we made so many great memories with him as our coach.”

Even though Sidney Crosby has strong feelings about Sullivan, he’s not getting involved in picking the next coach. When asked if he’ll play a role in the search, Crosby said:

“No.”

Sidney Crosby trusts Kyle Dubas with Penguins coaching choice

Some people might expect Sidney Crosby to speak up. He is the Penguins captain and their most important player, but he doesn’t want that power.

“I’m a hockey player,” Crosby said. “I’m not out there coaching games. I am not a manager.”

He said he might share his opinion if asked by Kyle Dubas, the team’s president. One possible candidate is Rick Tocchet. Crosby knows him well and has worked with him before. Tocchet is a popular name in coaching circles. Several teams are interested in him. Crosby didn’t say much about it:

“Yes, that is someone I’m familiar with. But the thing with him is that he’s going to have a ton of teams after him.”

Even if Crosby likes Tocchet, he isn’t pushing for him or anyone else.

Crosby isn’t ignoring the changes in Pittsburgh. But right now, he’s focused on playing well for Canada. He’s paying attention to what happens back home and trusts Dubas to make the right decisions.

“Kyle’s going to have decisions to make,” Crosby said. “He’s going to do what is best for this team.”

So while he’s not making the decisions, Sidney Crosby knows the future is important.