Cullen spent three of his last four seasons in Pittsburgh, winning the Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 2016 and 2017, playing for the Minnesota Wild in 2017-18, and then finishing with the Penguins in 2018-19.
In the summer of 2015, the center was 38 years old and thought he was done after 17 NHL seasons. But he received a call from Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford, under whom he won the Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006.
“We treated it like a gift a little bit, the time here, and so everything was a little bit unexpected, and it went better than we ever could have imagined,” he said. “So, it was fun. I mean, they were some fantastic years. Our kids grew up right here. It just felt like home, so we enjoyed it.”
Cullen works for the Penguins as a player development coach but does a lot via video from home in Moorhead, Minnesota.
This gave him a chance to reconnect with old teammates like Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and Chris Kunitz, and return to Pittsburgh with his three sons: Brooks, 18, who is committed to play hockey at Michigan State; Wyatt, 16, who plays for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program in Plymouth, Michigan; and Joey, 14.
“It adds so much to it,” Cullen said. “It’s fun coming back here and coming through town, thinking through the parade routes and just, like, the fun experiences we had here. It’s great to be back. It really has brought back a lot of memories and I know the boys have really enjoyed it, too. It’s been a fun experience for our whole family.”
