List of Pittsburgh Penguins head coaches

Michel Therrien was the Penguins' head coach from 2005 to 2009.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are an American professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Hockey League (NHL). The franchise was established as one of six new franchises of the 1967 NHL expansion.[1] Since their foundation, the Penguins had played their home games at the Civic Arena, which was replaced by the Consol Energy Center in 2010.[2] The franchise is co-owned by Ronald Burkle and Mario Lemieux—the only player/owner in the NHL's modern era.[3] According to Forbes, the Penguins were the 11th most valuable NHL franchise, at US$222 million, in 2009.[4]

There have been 22 head coaches for the Penguins franchise.[5] The franchise's first head coach was Red Sullivan, former New York Rangers captain and coach.[6] Sullivan was replaced by future Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Red Kelly, after two seasons. Kelly was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player,[7] and head coaches Craig Patrick, Bob Johnson, Scotty Bowman, and Herb Brooks were inducted as builders.[8] Eddie Johnston—who along with Patrick and Ken Schinkel served two tenures as head coach—leads Penguins' coaches in games coached. Bob Johnson led the Penguins to their first Stanley Cup victory in 1991, but was forced to retire due to health problems after the season—he died later that year.[9] Bowman succeeded Johnson and coached the team to its second Stanley Cup victory the following season. Michel Therrien won the Prince of Wales Trophy, as Eastern Conference champion, during the 2007–08 season.[10] Therrien was replaced the following season by Dan Bylsma.[11] Bylsma would lead the Penguins to their third Stanley Cup championship that same season. Bylsma was fired after the 2013-14 season and replaced by Mike Johnston.[12] Johnston was fired during the 2015-16 season and replaced by Michael (Mike) Barry Sullivan.[13] Sullivan led the Penguins to their fourth Stanley Cup victory that season and also their fifth Stanley cup victory in the following season in 2016-17

  1. ^ Cooper, Bruce C. (1994). Michael L. LaBlanc (ed.). Professional Sports Team Histories: Hockey. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research Inc. p. 322. ISBN 978-0-8103-8862-8.
  2. ^ "Consol Energy Center". PittsburghPenguins.com. Archived from the original on 22 August 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
  3. ^ "Front Office". Executive Staff. PittsburghPenguins.com. Archived from the original on 17 December 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
  4. ^ "NHL Team Valuations". Forbes.com. 2009-11-11. Archived from the original on November 14, 2009. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
  5. ^ "General Managers and Coaches". Coaches. PittsburghPenguins.com. Archived from the original on 8 June 2009. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  6. ^ O'Brien, Jim (1994). Penguin Profiles. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: James P. O'Brien - Publishing. pp. 242–44. ISBN 0-916114-16-3.
  7. ^ "Red Kelly Playing Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2013-09-28. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
  8. ^ "Builders". The Legends. Hockey Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
  9. ^ "Bob Johnson Biography". The Legends. Hockey Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 29 May 2004. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  10. ^ "Eastern Finals: Game Five recap". Pittsburgh Penguins. Associated Press. Archived from the original on May 21, 2008. Retrieved September 29, 2008.
  11. ^ Molinari, Dave (15 February 2009). "Therrien fired, Blysma in as Penguins' interim head coach". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on 17 February 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
  12. ^ "Penguins pluck WHL's Johnston to be coach". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 2016-06-17. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  13. ^ "Mike Sullivan Named Head Coach of Pittsburgh Penguins". penguins.nhl.com. Archived from the original on 2015-12-15. Retrieved 2016-06-13.