Craig Patrick

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Craig Patrick (born May 20, 1946 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American hockey player, coach and general manager, the son of Hall of Famer Lynn Patrick and the grandson of Lester Patrick. From 1989-2006, he served as general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Playing Career 3 The Miracle on Ice 4 NHL Management & Beyond 5 Other 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] Early life

At the age of 14, he was sent to Quebec to play junior hockey in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for the Lachine Maroons and later the Montreal Junior Canadiens.

He attended the University of Denver where he helped guide the Pioneers hockey team to the NCAA championship in 1968 and 1969. He played on the US National Team for 1969-70 & 1970-71 seasons and on the US team in the 1976 Canada Cup.

[edit] Playing Career

Patrick played eight seasons in NHL with the California Golden Seals, the St. Louis Blues, the Kansas City Scouts, and the Washington Capitals. He amassed 72 goals, 91 assists, and 163 points in 401 games during his playing career.

[edit] The Miracle on Ice

He served as Assistant General Manager and Assistant Coach under Herb Brooks for the 1980 US Olympic Gold Medal winning hockey team, the Miracle on Ice. He was also the general manager for the 2002 US Olympic team, which won the silver medal -- the first US hockey medal since the 1980 team.

[edit] NHL Management & Beyond

In 1980, he became director of operations for the New York Rangers and in 1981 became the youngest general manager in Ranger’s history. He also served as head coach of the Rangers for parts of two seasons (1980-81 & 1984-85).

He was named general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins on December 5, 1989. During his tenure, the Penguins won two Stanley Cup championships and one President’s Trophy. Patrick also served as head coach of the Penguins twice, during the 1989-90 and 1996-97 seasons.

His early years as GM of the Penguins are remembered as some of the most productive in the history of the franchise. In 1990, he spent his first round draft pick on an unknown player from Czechoslovakia named Jaromir Jagr. He traded the Penguins' second round pick that year to Calgary for future Hall of Famer Joe Mullen, a player the Flames had considered to be over the hill. Perhaps his most legendary trade occurred March 4, 1991 when he sent John Cullen, Jeff Parker and Zarley Zalapski to the Hartford Whalers in exchange for Ron Francis, Ulf Samuelsson and Grant Jennings. The move was viewed as a huge gamble. Cullen was the fifth leading scorer in the NHL at the time. However the players Patrick acquired in the trade played big roles in the Penguins' Stanley Cup championship victories in 1991 and 1992.

However his later years were plagued by a the Penguins' financial woes as well as a series of poor trades. Perhaps his most infamous trades came in March 1996 when he send future NHL scoring champion Markus Naslund to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Alek Stojanov. In 2003, a Sports Illustrated article described this as the "worst trade in NHL history," [1]. Another disaster came in July 2001 when Patrick sent NHL superstar Jaromir Jagr and role player Frantisek Kucera to the Washington Capitals for three minor league prospects (Kris Beech, Michal Sivek, Ross Lupaschuk) and nearly US$ 5 million cash. Although the deal was forced by the Penguins finacial woes as well as Jagr's growing dissatisfaction with the Penguins, the trade was widely criticized in the Pittsburgh media. None of the three prospects acquired in the deal made any significant contribution to the Penguins' organization. Another reason for this criticism was because the New York Rangers were willing to make a deal which would have given Pittsburgh two established players and higher quality prospects. But many believed Patrick resented the Rangers for firing him earlier in his GM career, which made him ask for a greater and to an extent unfair return. One published report had Patrick demanding Petr Nedved, Radek Dvorak, and Mike York as well as two prospects for Jagr, which Rangers GM Glen Sather quickly shot down due to the number of players demanded by Patrick.

His tenure as GM also saw a hit and miss record in the NHL Entry Draft. Sparkling first round picks early in his tenure such as Jagr, Martin Straka, and Markus Naslund were balanced by later first round busts such as Chris Wells, Robert Dome, Craig Hillier, Milan Kraft, and Stefan Bergkvist. Productive drafts in the early 2000s produced young talent such as Marc-Andre Fleury, Evgeni Malkin, and Sidney Crosby, could not reverse the growing opinion in the public or team management that Patrick had lost his touch.

Patrick was relieved of his duties as Penguins General Manager on April 20, 2006 when his expiring contract was not renewed by team president Ken Sawyer.

[edit] Other

Patrick was named "The Sporting News" Executive-of-the-Year in 1998 and 1999. He is the third generation of his family to have his name inscribed on the Stanley Cup and the third generation to be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame (in the Builder Category.) He was enshrined into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996. He was awarded the Lester Patrick Trophy, named for his grandfather, in the 1999-2000 season for his outstanding service to hockey in the United States. Patrick was portrayed by actor Noah Emmerich in the 2004 film Miracle.

Preceded by Gene Ubriaco	Head Coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins 1989–1990	Succeeded by Bob Johnson
Preceded by Tony Esposito	General Manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins 1989–2006	Succeeded by Ray Shero

[edit] See also

• List of members of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame
• Notable families in the NHL

[edit] External links