Penguins move on without Jim Rutherford

Wednesday began in a fairly mundane fashion for the Penguins.

Several hours after they had lost to the Boston Bruins, 3-2, in overtime at TD Garden, they gathered at that same venue to practice and iron out the wrinkles of their play.

It was just another unremarkable day at practice on the road.

Then, practice was over.

That’s when they found out general manager Jim Rutherford had resigned for circumstances that remain unclear, at least publicly.

“We just found out after we got off the ice yesterday,” forward Sidney Crosby said via video conference on Thursday. “It wasn’t anything formal, per se. Everyone just got the news pretty much at the same time. I think everyone was surprised.”

Rutherford’s decision, which was made Tuesday evening then acted upon Wednesday, caught most of the hockey world by surprise, including those he worked the most closely with.

Even coach Mike Sullivan.

“Jim and I developed a great relationship in the time that we worked together,” said Sullivan, who initially joined the Penguins in June of 2015. “We’ve been through a lot together. So we were were very much in sync on how the day-to-day operations of the team ran.

“Jim, he’s a great communicator. He’s a great listener. He’s a great mentor. His resume speaks for itself. I think he’s the best general manager in hockey. But obviously, he made a decision he thinks is best for him and his family. Our positions here don’t change. We’re going to do our very best to put this team in the very best possible position to win.”

Just based on what Crosby and Sullivan said, it seems like the players and coaches are still working through the stupor of such an abrupt change in leadership. At the same time, they realize there is a task at hand, starting with a rematch in Boston with the Bruins.

“We addressed it,” Crosby said. “You just have to continue to move on. These things do happen whether it’s trades, signings, movement. There’s a lot of that within a season, not typically a general manager. But things like this, they come up. That’s part of hockey that you learn to understand. Sometimes these changes, they happen and you’ve got to continue to move forward.”

Still, considering all the success the team has had during Rutherford’s tenure, his hurried departure may take some time to fully process for those who worked for him.

“It’s hard,” Sullivan said. “We’re all human. We build relationships over time. Jim and I have developed a great friendship through our working experiences with the Penguins. We’ve been through a lot together. I can’t say enough for how much respect I have for him as a professional. He’s a good friend. It’s hard. Obviously, we all have so much respect for Jim and I’m happy for him that he’s going to make the decisions that are best for him and his family.”

“I remember the first time I met him, and kind of him talking about how he saw the team and his view and how we could have success, looking back to that first time meeting him, he delivered on all of that,” Crosby said. “I’ve got a great relationship with him. He loved the game. He loved talking hockey. I didn’t talk to him a ton during the season. It would always kind of be an evaluation after the year. He’d ask me whether I thought there were things that I could have done better or just an evaluation of everything in general.

“I just always appreciated his honesty, his passion for the game, those kind of things. The fact that we were able to win two (Stanley Cup titles) back to back with him as the general manager, his commitment to winning every year … yeah, I have a great relationship with him.”

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