Penguins will not renew contracts of Gonchar, Martin, Recchi

The Pittsburgh Penguins will not renew the contracts of assistant coaches Sergei Gonchar, Jacques Martin and Mark Recchi, it was announced today by executive vice president and general manager Jim Rutherford.

"We want to thank Sergei, Jacques and Mark for their many contributions to the Penguins over the years, and wish them well in their future endeavors" Rutherford said.

The search for new assistants to work under head coach Mike Sullivan will begin immediately.

"We are in the process of conducting a review of our organization because we have underperformed in the playoffs the last few years," Rutherford said. "We just thought we needed to change the dynamic of our coaching staff. We have very high standards here in Pittsburgh, and we want to continue competing for Stanley Cups. The message to our fans is that 'We are not rebuilding, we're re-tooling.'"

The contracts of Gonchar, Martin and Recchi expired at the end of June but were temporarily extended for the playoffs.