BOSTON (AP) – Mike Sullivan played for the Boston Bruins, coached their minor-league team and is in line to take the next step – coach of the NHL club.

“I’d be shocked,” if Sullivan doesn’t get the job, a Bruins official familiar with the hiring process said Tuesday on condition of anonymity.

The job has been vacant for two months since interim coach and general manager Mike O’Connell stepped down in April after New Jersey eliminated Boston in five games in the first round of the playoffs.

O’Connell fired coach Robbie Ftorek after a loss in Phoenix on March 18. He also named Sullivan, then head coach of the Providence Bruins, as an assistant coach.

During practices with Boston, Sullivan handled many of the drills. The team went 3-3-3 in the regular season under O’Connell. After the playoffs, O’Connell said he wouldn’t be back as coach; Sullivan returned to coach Providence in the AHL playoffs.

The Bruins originally called a news conference for Wednesday morning to announce their new head coach, their seventh in 10 years. That was canceled because of what the team called a scheduling conflict. No new date has been announced.

O’Connell was scheduled to leave Thursday for the NHL draft being held this weekend in Nashville – the Bruins have the 16th pick. O’Connell then plans to go on vacation.

Other names mentioned in connection with the job are former New York Islanders coach Peter Laviolette, and two employees of the Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils – assistant coach Bobby Carpenter and consultant Larry Robinson.

O’Connell said he didn’t talk with Laviolette, who was fired by the Islanders on June 3, or Robinson, who has expressed reservations about returning to head coaching, a job he once held with the Devils.

Carpenter is a former Bruins player whose only head coaching experience was with Albany of the AHL in 2001-02. A call placed Tuesday to New Jersey chief executive officer Lou Lamoriello was not returned.

Sullivan, 35, spent 10 seasons in the NHL as a center, scoring 53 goals and 80 assists in 667 games.

He was captain of the Boston University hockey team in 1989-90, then spent 21/2 seasons with San Jose of the NHL. He was claimed on waivers by Calgary, where he played 31/2 seasons.

He played 77 games for Boston in 1997-98, scoring five goals and 13 assists, and spent three seasons with Phoenix before retiring after the 2000-2001 season.

If he gets the Bruins job, Sullivan would become the second former BU player to become an NHL head coach since the regular season ended. Steve Stirling succeeded Laviolette on June 4.

Sullivan would be a departure from the Bruins’ usual approach to its coaching position. Before O’Connell took over, their three previous coaches – Pat Burns, Mike Keenan and Ftorek – came from outside the organization.

Laviolette was considered when Keenan was fired after the 2000-2001 season. He had been assistant that season and was head coach at Providence the previous two years.

But O’Connell chose Ftorek, who had head coaching experience in New Jersey and played at Needham High School, where he was one of the top schoolboy hockey players in Massachusetts history.

Unlike Laviolette, Sullivan played in the NHL, which likely enhances his chances. Sullivan also is familiar with Bruins prospects, having coached at Providence.

The Bruins next coach will lead a team with plenty of scoring, led by Joe Thornton and Glen Murray, but questionable defense and goaltending. The Bruins began last season at 19-4-3-1, but went just 17-27-8-3 after that.

They were shut out in two of the last three playoff games against New Jersey, their second consecutive first-round elimination.

The Bruins last won a playoff series in 1998-99, missing the playoffs the next two years.

AP-ES-06-17-03 1829EDT