Wanting to bolster their professional scouting staff, Jim Rutherford and the Pittsburgh Penguins didn't have to look far to fill their opening. Hockey Hall of Famer Craig Patrick, the architect of the Penguins' back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 1991 and '92, still lived in Pittsburgh, and with his unparalleled resume, he quickly became the ideal choice to fill the vacancy.
"Derek (Clancey) has taken on more responsibility making player personnel decisions and has been more involved with free agency," Rutherford said. "With that, I wanted to add someone to our pro scouting staff, and I knew that Craig was available. He became the obvious choice to me.
Pens Fill A Scouting Need with a Legendary Blast from the Past
"I have tremendous respect for Craig for everything he's accomplished in his Hall of Fame hockey career. He always has been a great evaluator of talent and he brings a unique level of expertise to our scouting staff. It's also great to have Craig back here with the Penguins, where he built such a legacy of success. We're excited to add him to our staff."
Patrick, 72, saw his new role come together over the past two weeks after he was originally contacted by Rutherford to gauge his interest in returning. Before long, the two were meeting to hammer out the details.
"I'd been looking around for a couple years trying to get back with a team," Patrick said. "I was really grateful to the ownership and upper management that they gave me a call and I was able to come back and help. There's no better place to be where you are, so it's awesome."
Elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001, Patrick stamped his enshrinement during his tenure as the Penguins' general manager for 17 years from 1989-2006. The highlight of Patrick's time as GM came when his teams won those consecutive Stanley Cup championships, the first titles ever won by the Penguins.
As GM of the Penguins, Patrick immediately reshaped the image of the organization by establishing a winning culture around inherited superstars Mario Lemieux, Paul Coffey and Tom Barrasso. Within one year on the job, Patrick added current or future Hall of Famers Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis, Joe Mullen, Larry Murphy and Bryan Trottier to a supporting cast that already included Mark Recchi and Kevin Stevens.
Patrick originally joined the Penguins' organization as general manager and interim head coach on December 5, 1989. After spending the final 54 games of the 1989-90 season assessing his team's needs as coach, Patrick set his sights on hiring a new bench boss who would mold the Penguins into a Stanley Cup winner: former University of Wisconsin head coach "Badger" Bob Johnson. Patrick also made the bold move of hiring the NHL's all-time winningest coach, Scotty Bowman to his staff as director of player development and recruitment.
Patrick's first full season directing the Penguins in 1990-91 marked not only the team's first Stanley Cup title, but also its first Patrick Division crown. In the first 23 years of the franchise's existence, it won zero division titles, made the playoffs only 10 times and had won four playoff series. Beginning with the '90-91 campaign, the Penguins would win consecutive Stanley Cups, qualify for the playoffs for the next 11-straight seasons, capture the 1993 Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's best regular-season team and win five of the eight division titles the team has ever won.
Never shy of pulling off a blockbuster trade, Patrick's bold moves to acquire Ron Francis, Ulf Samuelsson and Grant Jennings in 1991 and Rick Tocchet, Kjell Samuelsson and Ken Wregget in 1992 are credited with putting those teams over the hump on the way to Stanley Cup victories. Later in his career, Patrick executed major deals that brought Luc Robitaille, Petr Nedved, Sergei Zubov, Darius Kasparaitis and Alexei Kovalev to Pittsburgh.
Perhaps Patrick's finest work as GM came in the late 1990s following Mario Lemieux's first retirement. Hindered by financial restrictions, Patrick and his staff unearthed several unheralded performers who helped a Jagr-led team remain a playoff contender: Robert Lang, Jiri Slegr, Brad Werenka, Peter Skudra and head coach Kevin Constantine. Patrick also brought Martin Straka and Rob Brown back for second go-arounds as Penguins, and each enjoyed career resurgences.
Lemieux returned from his initial retirement in 2000 to once again form a lethal scoring duo with Jagr. Sensing one final opportunity to build a championship-caliber club around those two as financial restraints remained, Patrick tinkered with his team all season to find the perfect formula. His best move came at the 2001 trading deadline when he made the bold decision to acquire minor-league goaltender Johan Hedberg from San Jose and anoint him the starter. Patrick also re-acquired fan favorite and all-time Penguins performer Kevin Stevens. The 2000-01 Penguins advanced all the way to the Eastern Conference Final before the New Jersey Devils eliminated them. It would be the final extended run together for Patrick, Lemieux and Jagr.
Patrick's stamp on the history of the Penguins' franchise extends to the current group. He selected Evgeni Malkin with the second-overall selection of the 2004 NHL Draft, then finished up his final NHL Draft in charge by taking Sidney Crosby first overall and Kris Letang in the third round in 2005. When Crosby and Malkin combined to lead Pittsburgh to its 2009 Stanley Cup championship, 10 of the 23 players who suited up during the postseason were either drafted or acquired by Patrick.
"It would be awesome if it could happen again," Patrick said when asked about the potential of watching the Pens' core players he originally drafted win again. "That's the goal. We're all pulling the same way, so we hope it happens."
