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Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford rides down the Boulevard of the Allies with his family during the 2016 Stanley Cup victory parade.
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What makes Jim Rutherford tick?

Haley Nelson/Post-Gazette

What makes Jim Rutherford tick?

When the Penguins officially begin their quest Wednesday to become the first back-to-back Stanley Cup champions since the 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings, they’ll do so by relying on a speed-based style that has become a blueprint for the rest of the NHL.

They consider analytics as much as any franchise, believe wholeheartedly in sports science — monitoring players’ hearts and recovery rates, among other things — and have taken non-traditional routes toward talent acquisition, either overseas or via college free agents.

Yet the man at the epicenter of the Penguins’ innovative approach, Jim Rutherford, is one of the longest-tenured general managers in the NHL, who has evolved by trusting and empowering those who work under him. Close-knit relationships with his young son and current head coach Mike Sullivan have continued to stoke Rutherford’s competitive fire.

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“There’s no denying the job of the general manager has changed pretty dramatically since Jim first got the job in Hartford in 1994,” said Jason Karmanos, Penguins vice president of hockey operations and Rutherford’s longest-tenured associate, joining him with the Carolina Hurricanes in 1998-99. “I think he’s done a great job adapting with the changes to the league. It’s a credit to him to stay up with the times.

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“But it’s not surprising when you look at how Jim deals with people. He’s a really good manager. People forget about that aspect of the job sometimes.”

The roster that Rutherford has assembled for the first-round series against the Columbus Blue Jackets nearly is his in its entirety; among healthy players, only Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury skated against Columbus in their 2014 first-round meeting.

The quick turnaround was partly Rutherford’s vision, but it also occurred because of his willingness to change and listen to those around him, specifically Sullivan, a close friend whom, even Rutherford said, he admires as a leader.

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Such success — the Penguins followed their Stanley Cup win with the second-best regular season in franchise history despite a boatload of injuries — has Rutherford loving his job and the pursuit of a championship more than ever.

Still most people, apparently, are expecting him to call it a career with each passing season.

“I guess because of where I’m at in my life, people are wondering when I might retire,” Rutherford said. “People asked me that five years ago, too. I’m still around, and they’re not. So I don’t know. I have no idea when I would consider moving away from the game.”

Family business

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For more than a decade, Rutherford’s wife, Leslie, has made “mojo gifts” for other wives and girlfriends involved with the team, essentially good-luck charms. When a team staff member or their spouse has a baby, Leslie routinely sends cards and gifts and organizes showers.

Their 9-year-old son, James, is an avid hockey player and identifies North American cities by their NHL clubs. He routinely bends dad’s ear with possible trades he could make — he once wanted to flip goaltender Thomas Greiss for Corey Crawford.

“If I could make the trades that he’s come up with, we’d be in good shape for a long, long time,” Jim Rutherford joked.

Hockey isn’t work for Rutherford so much as it is the family business. And that’s a big reason he has no immediate plans to step away from the game.

If times get tense around the office, Rutherford always can count on coming home to decompress.

“It makes it fun at times where I’m really too serious in thought or overthink something, where Leslie, James and I can sit around at night, and he can come up with things that get my mind away from overthinking something,” Rutherford said.

Equally important has been the support of Rutherford’s older daughter, Andrea.

“Every day in the business is not always a happy day,” Rutherford said. “There are ups and downs and pressure points in the season. It takes a special kind of person to be able to deal with that. I’m fortunate that Leslie, James and Andrea all go with the flow and are so supportive.”

Nobody close to Rutherford believes he has changed one bit. That’s especially obvious with how serious Rutherford gets on game days.

He still avoids talking to anyone — James gets a pass — and takes losses as hard as anyone associated with the organization.

“He’s very intense,” Karmanos said. “You learn when you work with him that’s just part of it. It was funny to see people here have to adjust to how Jim acts on game days.”

Rutherford knows no other way.

“The intensity won’t change,” he said. “That will be there until the last day I work or the last day I live.

“I really believe that, in pro sports, if you don’t bring it home, I don’t think you’re doing your job. You have to be focused. You have to be 100 percent in.”

Collaborator-in-chief

Mike Johnston remembers the draft floor incident at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Fla., back in June 2015 and still gets a chuckle out of it.

With the event long over, arena workers were folding tables, stacking chairs and bagging trash. Penguins brass remained in a heated discussion, in the center of the floor while all of this was going on around them.

The topic was the Phil Kessel trade. Rutherford wanted everyone to share their thoughts.

“He’s really good in that way,” Johnston said. “He wanted us to discuss a couple things. He got everybody together. He allowed everybody to express their opinions. He really listens. He doesn’t dominate the conversation when you’re sitting in a group of four or five. He’ll listen to everybody’s points. He’ll think about it. Then he’ll say, ‘This is what I believe we should do.’ ”

Taking input from all sides is something that has enabled Rutherford to not only stay current with the game, but it has helped him thrive, putting him on the cutting edge of nearly every league-wide trend.

His assistants, meanwhile, feel empowered because of the freedom his hands-off approach affords them.

“One of the first things he ever said to me was, ‘I don’t care what you wear. I don’t care what time you get here or what time you leave. Get your job done.’ ”  associate general manager Bill Guerin said. “He holds true to that. If you’re getting results, he’s not going to hover over you. He treats you like a man and trusts that you’re doing your job. As somebody working under him, that’s nice because it’s nice to be trusted.”

Before Sullivan was hired in Pittsburgh, Rutherford raved about him. About his honesty. About his straightforward approach. That respect has only grown since Dec. 12, 2015, the day Sullivan took over.

“I have the utmost respect for Mike Sullivan,” Rutherford said. “I’ve grown to like him as a person. He’s fair. He’s a communicator, but he holds people accountable and has high expectations.”

That relationship didn’t rejuvenate Rutherford; he needed no such thing. But working with Sullivan has produced many collaborative, honest discussions that would be good for anyone, not just two guys helping to run an NHL team.

“I feel like we hit it off,” Sullivan said. “He’s a matter-of-fact, candid guy, and I am, too. Because of that, there’s no fluff. It’s to the point, it’s direct, and it’s rational. We’re trying to make the best decisions we can together to try and help this team win.”

Off the ice

Outside of hockey, Rutherford loves watching baseball and golf, the same as Sullivan. They’re both huge Boston Red Sox fans.

Rutherford also is big into politics. Not only for the obvious impact but also as a way to glean intel and better himself.

“I pay attention to how they handle certain situations because sometimes I have to deal with similar things,” Rutherford said. “I’d like to think that I could deal with it in a way that people really understand what I’m saying.”

Politics also can bring out Rutherford’s humorous side, another important part of his success and the positive work environment he has created. Asked what he has learned from the past election cycle, Rutherford didn’t hesitate with a wisecrack: “I’m learning more now than I’ve ever learned.”

Rutherford’s dry humor is another thing that sets him apart. It’s not always time for a laugh, but he appreciates a good joke more than most.

“You have to learn Jim a little bit, too, because there are times where you’re not going to joke,” Guerin said. “There are times where it’s wide open. He’s got thick skin. You have to have thick skin around him. Once you understand that, it’s pretty funny.”

The management staff, along with Sullivan and his coaches, routinely eat together on the road. The conversations often center around hockey, but not always.

There’s plenty of fun along the way, too, with Rutherford playing the part of restaurant cutup.

“I think the more you’re around Jim, you grow to appreciate his quick wit,” Sullivan said. “If you’re not paying attention, you’ll miss his jokes. He has an intellectual humor. I love that about him. He’s a real funny guy. He’s a fun guy to be around. I think he’s a great teammate in the truest sense of the word.”

Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.

First Published: April 11, 2017, 4:00 a.m.

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Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford rides down the Boulevard of the Allies with his family during the 2016 Stanley Cup victory parade.  (Haley Nelson/Post-Gazette)
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