Kyle Dubas has been hired as the Pittsburgh Penguins' president of hockey operations

• NHL

Kyle Dubas was hired as Penguins' president of hockey operations two days ago. In an interview with the media, Dubas revealed who had the greatest influence on his arrival. It is expected that Dubas will play an important role in creating the future of this team.

"A number of conversations with coach Sullivan, but also the conversation with Sid, were paramount in my decision to come here," -Dubas said, as quoted by nhl.com "They're some of the best competitors in hockey. Obviously, Mike Sullivan's record as a coach and Sidney's as a player speak for themselves.

" What is most important is that Dubas has enormous faith in this team, and believes that the names that are currently part of this story give optimism that great things will be done. "I've heard a lot of people that were highly skeptical of the team's ability to contend here.

The way I view it is if people want to bet against Mike Sullivan, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and others, they can go ahead and do so. But I'm going to bet on them."

Mike Sullivan and Sidney Crosby

Mike Sullivan is the coach of the team.

Sullivan is a man whose quality can really help the Penguins. "I felt that those were very important people for me to get a real deep sense of where they felt the organization was at," -Dubas said. "And where it would be going so that I knew, coming in, where they felt the Penguins were at and what they felt the Penguins would need from somebody in this role.

Sully' can coach forever. He's a great coach. There's no real expiration date on Mike." Sidney Crosby, the team's captain, is someone Dubas thinks highly of. "More than anything, to be able to sit with him and ensure that winning was the No.

1 thing for him, it was very evident in talking with him that winning is his major focus every day," -Dubas said. "That lifts the whole group. That lifts the whole standard."