Craig Patrick Timeline | TribLIVE.com
TribLive Logo
| Back | Text Size:
https://archive.triblive.com/news/craig-patrick-timeline/

Craig Patrick Timeline

Joe Starkey
| Friday, April 21, 2006 4:00 a.m.
Highs and lows from Craig Patrick's 17-year run as Penguins general manager: 1989 Dec. 5: Penguins hire ex-New York Rangers general manager Craig Patrick as GM and head coach, replacing Tony Esposito and Gene Ubriaco, respectively. 1990 June 12: Hires Bob Johnson as head coach and Scotty Bowman as director of player development and labels his new group "the best management team in the NHL." June 16: Drafts Jaromir Jagr fifth overall, taking the risk Jagr could be lured from Czechoslovakia. 1991 Mar. 4: Acquires Ron Francis, Ulf Samuelsson and Grant Jennings from Hartford for John Cullen, Zarley Zalapski and Jeff Parker. May 25: With an 8-0 victory over the Minnesota North Stars, the Penguins win their first Stanley Cup. Oct. 1: Scotty Bowman named head coach. 1992 Jan. 30: Patrick signs five-year contract. Feb. 19: Trades Paul Coffey to Los Angeles for Brian Benning and Jeff Chychrun, then acquires Rick Tocchet, Kjell Samuelsson and Ken Wregget from Philadelphia in exchange for Mark Recchi, Benning and a first-round draft pick. June 1: Penguins defeat the Chicago Blackhawks in four straight to win a second straight Cup. 1993 June 22: Names Eddie Johnston coach. June 26: Drafts Stefan Bergkvist in first round, marking a run where Pens will draft first-round busts in five of six years. 1996 Mar. 20: Trades Markus Naslund to the Vancouver Canucks for Alek Stojanov. June 27: Signs new five-year contract. 1997 June 12: Names Kevin Constantine coach. 1998 Nov. 25: Acquires Alexei Kovalev from New York Rangers in exchange for Petr Nedved, cash and other players. 1999 Dec. 9: Fires Kevin Constantine and replaces him with Herb Brooks. 2000 June 21: Names Czech legend Ivan Hlinka as replacement for Herb Brooks. 2001 June 20: Patrick signs five-year extension that pays him a starting annual salary of $1.5 million. July 11: Under ownership pressure, trades Jaromir Jagr to Capitals in exchange for prospects Kris Beech, Michal Sivek, Ross Lupaschuk and cash. Oct. 15: Fires Ivan Hlinka and replaces him with Rick Kehoe, who has no head coaching experience. 2003 June 11: Hires team television analyst Eddie Olczyk as head coach, informs media that no other candidates were interviewed. Olczyk has no coaching experience on any level. June 21: Trades up to draft goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury first overall. 2004 June 26: Drafts Evgeni Malkin second overall. 2005 July 9: Signs Mark Recchi as unrestricted free agent. July 22: Penguins win draft lottery -- on a 6.25-percent chance -- and the right to select Canadian phenom Sidney Crosby. Aug. 3: Signs free-agent defenseman Sergei Gonchar to a five-year, $25 million contract. Aug. 8: Signs Ziggy Palffy to a three-year, $13.8 million contract. 2006 Jan. 18: Ziggy Palffy abruptly retires. Jan. 19: Mario Lemieux announces team is for sale, soon steps down as CEO. Mar. 9: Trades Mark Recchi to Carolina. April 18: Penguins finish second-last in the NHL standings. April 20: Team president and CEO Ken Sawyer announces Patrick's contract will not be renewed.


Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)