In 2004 the NHL was in the midst of a lockout, so players found other avenues to stay busy. Boston university hosted an alumni vs varsity exhibition game, featuring several former players like Chris Drury, Rick DiPietro, Shawn McEachern, Michael Grier, Scott LaChance, and current Penguins head coach (then Bruins head coach) Mike Sullivan. This jersey was acquired directly from the university by a local BU collector, sold to another prominent BU collector, and then sold to me.

Mike Sullivan is the winningest coach in Penguins history, recently reaching his 400th win with the team, good for 15th all time for wins with a single franchise. Sullivan famously revived the Pens 2015-16 resulting in a championship, which he repeated the following season, becoming one of only a handful of coaches to ever win back to back cups. Sullivan ranks third in wins all time among American born coaches.

Oddly, Sullivan was playing for the Calgary Flames when I attended my first hockey game, way back in 1995. Exactly twenty years later he’d lead the Penguins to the promised land. Though Sully and the Pens parted ways after the 2024-25 season, his tenure with the Penguins will be remembered among the greatest stretches in modern hockey history, with his final record being an impressive 409-255-89.