NHL: Best Coaches in Pittsburgh Penguins History
Pittsburgh Penguins; one of the most favourite teams of the National Hockey League has had 20 different head coaches in their 43 years of existence. Some coaches have brought happiness to Penguins, some have sadness and some have left the team and fans fuming.
Many left because they were made redundant while others left willingly. Let us take a look at few of the coaches who came to the Pittsburgh Penguins and even after their departure they are vowed by the fans and the team.
Johnny Wilson joined the Penguins for three years from 1977-1980. Although Johnny Wilson himself had won 4 Stanley Cups as an ice hockey player for the Detroit Red Wings, he was not able to achieve the same for the Penguins as a coach. However he took the Penguins to two consecutive playoffs, once in 1979 and 1980 which they sorrowfully lost to the Boston Bruins twice. Johnny Wilson has a record of .471 win percentage. He later coached Los Angeles Kings, the Detroit Red Wings and the Colorado Rockies before retiring.
Bob Johnson served the Penguins right before Scotty Bowman took over. He was with the Penguins for only one year. In his one year tenure he brought the Stanley Cup to the team. Bob is also famously known as Badger Bob and coached the Calgary Flames before joining the Penguins. Badger took Calgary Flames to five playoffs consecutively, after that he served as President of the USA Hockey. In 1990 he came to the Pittsburgh Penguins serving as their head coach and took them to the 1991 playoffs finals beating Minnesota North Stars by 4-2. Bob will be always remembered as one of the most aspiring coaches in the Penguins history.
Scotty Bowman is one of the most cheered and loved coaches by the Penguins, although he served the penguins for only two years from 1991-1993. Bowman has previously coached famous franchises such as St.Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres. He was not only the most experienced coach ever to join the Penguins in history but also holds 5 Stanley Cups. He rebuilt the whole team and he led the team to finish with the best record in the 1993 season, with a 100-points. He served as the assistant coach for the team until head coach Bob Johnson died at age 60 and Scotty was named as the successor.
Eddie Johnston served the Penguins twice; once from 1980-1983 then from 1993-1997 after Scotty Bowman decided to move to the Detroit Red Wings. Eddie Johnston took the Penguins to the playoffs in 1981 and 1982 but unfortunately they lost in the first round each year respectively. Subsequently Eddie left the penguins and started serving as the General Manager for the Hartford Whalers. However he was fired in 1992 and he returned to the Penguins next year, serving as the head coach once again. He managed to get the Penguins to the playoffs twice but could not achieve the Stanley Cup and was fired again in 1996. Johnston however remained with the management of the Penguins and won his first Stanley Cup in 2009 and announced his retirement the very same year.
Experts say Michel Therrien was the best thing that happened to the Penguins after a long gap of losing the playoffs consecutively; he helped the team get to the playoffs in 2009 but was fired right after the team lost a soul crushing match against the Toronto Maple Leafs. However the same very year four other teams fired their head coaches that season. Therrien not only gave the Penguins an Eastern Conference Championship but gave the team hope which other coaches could not. In 2008 the Penguins also finished with a record of 47-27-8 in their division.
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