List of Pittsburgh Penguins head coaches



The Pittsburgh Penguins are an American professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic 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. Since their foundation, the Penguins have played their home games at the Mellon Arena, which is scheduled to be replaced by the Consol Energy Center in 2010. The franchise is co-owned by Ronald Burkle and Mario Lemieux—the only player/owner in the NHL's modern era. According to Forbes, the Penguins were the 18th most valuable NHL franchise, at $195 million, in 2008.

There have been 20 head coaches for the Penguins franchise. The franchise's first head coach was Red Sullivan, former New York Rangers captain and coach. 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, and head coaches Craig Patrick, Bob Johnson, Scotty Bowman, and Herb Brooks were inducted as builders. Eddie Johnston—who along with Patrick and Ken Schinkel served two tenures as head coach—leads Penguins' coaches in games coached (516), wins (232), losses (224), and ties (60). Bowman leads coaches in winning percentage (.628) and playoff victories (33). 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. 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. Therrien was replaced the following season by current head coach Dan Bylsma. Blysma would lead the Penguins to their third Stanley Cup championship that same season.

Coaches
Note: Statistics are updated through the 2008–09 season.