The first mid-season coaching change in Pittsburgh Penguins team history took place under the watchful eye of Jim Rutherford. He was not General Manager at the time, but rather was serving as the starting goaltender during the 1972-73 season.
The Early Years Red Kelly was the second Head Coach in franchise history and in his fourth year having led the team to playoff appearances in two of the previous three seasons, but the team was struggling and he was replaced after posting a 17-19-6 record. On Jan 13, 1973 winger Ken Schinkel left the ice in order to take a position as bench boss, finishing the season with a 15-18-3 record. Schinkel won his first match and three of his first seven, but he was unable to pull the team above .500 and finished the year fifth in the West Division, missing the playoffs by three points.
Just over a year later in the 1973-74 season, Schinkel was relieved of his duties on Feb 6, 1974 after starting the season with a 14-31-5 record. He was replaced by Marc Boileau who posted a 14-10-4 finish. Boileau lost his first match but won three and tied once over his first seven games. The team was already too far into a hole however and he was unable to pull ahead into playoff position, once again finishing fifth in the West Division.
Boileau led the team to a playoff appearance the following season but then he started off the 1975-76 season with a 15-23-5 record. Schinkel, who had been working in a front office position since his last attempt at coaching, returned behind the bench on Jan 17, 1976 to lead the team to a 20-10-7 record. He won his first two matches and had four wins and two ties during the first seven games. The team finished third in the Norris Division and was eliminated in the preliminary round of the playoffs.
The Mario Lemieux Era The Penguins went through six more coaches in the following years, but they were all summer hires. It wasn’t until the 1989-90 season that they once again made a mid-season replacement. Gene Ubriaco was in his second season as bench boss, having led the team to their first playoff appearance in seven seasons the year prior. However the team started off with a 10-14-2 record and he was fired and replaced by newly hired GM Craig Patrick on Dec 5, 1989. Patrick won his first two matches and had three wins and a tie over his first seven games, but he ended the year with a 22-26-6 record, finishing fifth in the Patrick Division and missing the playoffs by one point.
There were three more summer hires before the next mid-season change during the 1996-97 season. The Penguins were at their peak coming off six consecutive playoff appearances, including three previous seasons under Eddie Johnston. Johnston began the year with a 31-26-5 record but on Mar 3, 1997 he was transferred to Assistant GM and Patrick stepped behind the bench again. Patrick finished with a 7-10-3 record, losing his first two games and winning just one and tying twice in his first seven games. The Penguins finished second in the Northeast Division and lost in the opening round of the playoffs.
The Jaromir Jagr Era The next Penguins coach was Kevin Constantine who led the team back to the playoffs two additional times but then began the 1990-2000 season with an 8-10-7 record. On Dec 9, 1999 he was replaced by Herb Brooks who went 29-21-7 to finish third in the Atlantic Division and make their 10th consecutive playoff appearance, losing in the second round. Brooks won four straight and five of his first seven games after taking over.
The following season the Penguins brought in Ivan Hlinka to lead Jagr’s Czech-heavy lineup and he led the team to a franchise record 11th straight playoff appearance. However with Jagr traded and the team changing direction with the return of Lemieux they decided to let Hlinka go after opening the 2001-02 season with an 0-4-0 record. On Oct 14, 2001 Rick Kehoe took over and finished the season with a 28-37-13 record, finishing fifth in the Atlantic Division and missing the playoffs for the first time since winning the Stanley Cup with Bob Johnson in 1991. Kehoe won his first two games and got four wins and two overtime points in his first seven games.
