Craig Patrick

Craig Patrick (born May 20, 1946) is an American former hockey player, coach and general manager, the son of Lynn Patrick and the grandson of Lester Patrick. During the 1980 Winter Olympics, Patrick was the assistant general manager and assistant coach under Herb Brooks for the United States men's national ice hockey team, which won the gold medal and defeated the Soviet Union in the "Miracle on Ice". From 1989 to 2006, Patrick was the general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins where he oversaw back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 1991 and 1992, as well as the drafting and signing of some players that would later win a Stanley Cup title for the Penguins in 2009.

Amateur career After spending most of his childhood in Wellesley, Massachusetts, he was sent at age fourteen to Quebec to play junior hockey in the Metropolitan 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 and 1970–71 seasons, including the 1970 and 1971 Ice Hockey World Championship tournaments while serving in the US Army.

Career as a professional player

Patrick's pro career was comparatively modest but he did play eight seasons in NHL with the California Golden Seals, the St. Louis Blues, the Kansas City Scouts, and the Washington Capitals. He also played briefly for the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the World Hockey Association in 1976–77 before jumping back to the NHL when the Saints folded. He amassed 72 goals, 91 assists, and 163 points in 401 NHL games during his playing career. He also was a member of Team USA at the inaugural 1976 Canada Cup tournament and also played for the U.S. at the 1979 Ice Hockey World Championship tournament in Moscow, shortly before retiring from professional hockey.

The Miracle on Ice Patrick 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.

Patrick was also the general manager for the 2002 US Olympic team, also coached by Brooks, which won the silver medal – the first US hockey medal since the 1980 team. This tournament was further notable as it was largely the same roster that underperformed in the 1998 Olympics, yet aging players like Mike Richter and Phil Housley performed well beyond expectations and were named to the 2002 tournament all-star team.

During both Olympic tournaments, the Team USA defeated the Soviets/Russians. Interestingly, both games were played on Friday, February 22, in their respective years, with a one-goal victory for Team USA. Team USA would also play for the gold medal on Sunday, February 24, but would lose to Canada in 2002.

NHL management and beyond In 1980, he became director of operations for the New York Rangers and in 1981 became the youngest general manager in Rangers history. He also served as head coach of the Rangers for parts of two seasons (1980–81 and 1984–85).

He was named general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins on December 5, 1989, succeeding Tony Esposito, who in one of his last moves had traded for goaltender Tom Barrasso. During his tenure, the Penguins won two Stanley Cup championships, one President's Trophy, and five division titles. 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 Czechoslovak forward Jaromír Jágr. He traded the Penguins' second round pick that year to Calgary for 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.

Later years as GM The Penguins also reached the Conference Final in 1996 and 2001.

However his later years were plagued by the Penguins' financial woes as well as a series of poor trades.

Perhaps his most infamous trades came in March 1996 when he sent future NHL scoring ace Markus Näslund to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Alek Stojanov, a role player with just two career NHL goals; a 2003 Sports Illustrated article described this as the "worst trade in NHL history". Then, in an effort to appease then player and captain Mario Lemieux, Patrick traded top scoring defenseman Sergei Zubov to the Dallas Stars for Kevin Hatcher, a slower moving and older version of Zubov with less upside at that point in their careers.

In July 2001, Patrick sent Jagr and role player František Kučera to the Washington Capitals for three minor league prospects (Kris Beech, Michal Sivek, Ross Lupaschuk) and nearly US$5 million cash. The deal was forced by the Penguins financial woes (indeed this saved the club much money as Jagr would fail to live up to expectations with the Capitals), as well as Jagr's growing dissatisfaction with the Penguins. The trade was nonetheless widely criticized in the Pittsburgh media, as the three prospects acquired in the deal never made any significant contribution to the Penguins' organization. Another reason for this criticism was that the New York Rangers allegedly were willing to make a deal which would have given Pittsburgh two established players and higher quality prospects. However, 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 Nedvěd, Radek Dvořák and Mike York, as well as two prospects for Jágr, which Rangers GM Glen Sather quickly shot down as Patrick's demands were unreasonable.

From the 2001–02 season onwards, Penguins missed the playoffs in the next four seasons of Patrick's term as general manager.

After the 2004–05 lockout, in the 2005 off-season, Patrick drafted teen phenomenon Sidney Crosby with the first overall pick. Patrick also acquired veterans Žigmund Pálffy, Sergei Gonchar, John LeClair and Mark Recchi. While 18-year-old Crosby became the youngest player in NHL history to score 100 points, the older free agents had little to show for the millions that Patrick spent on them (though Gonchar would remain a key player in 2008–09). The Penguins finished last in the Atlantic Division for the fourth consecutive time. After 17 years as Penguins General Manager, Patrick was relieved of his duties on April 20, 2006, when his expiring contract was not renewed by team president Ken Sawyer. Succeeding GM Ray Shero praised Patrick's selection of Marc-André Fleury, Crosby, and Evgeni Malkin, but also said that work had to be done to build up the depth and third/fourth lines for the long-term, rather than a quick-fix.

Patrick was initially bitter about his firing and stayed away from hockey-related activities for a while afterwards.

In 2020, Patrick joined 3ICE, a professional 3-on-3 ice hockey league, as the league's commissioner. In 2023, Patrick also became a head coach for his own team in the league, while still serving as commissioner.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1963–64 Lachine Maroons MMJHL 43 12 31 43 12 — — — — — 1964–65 Montreal Junior Canadiens OHA 56 13 18 31 18 7 1 0 1 2 1965–66 Los Angeles Hechter Hawks CalHL 9 15 8 23 4 — — — — — 1966–67 University of Denver WCHA 30 18 16 34 6 — — — — — 1967–68 University of Denver WCHA 34 23 26 49 12 — — — — — 1968–69 University of Denver WCHA 17 7 8 15 6 — — — — — 1969–70 University of Denver WCHA 5 9 7 16 — — — — — — 1970–71 Montreal Voyageurs AHL 3 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 1971–72 California Golden Seals NHL 59 8 3 11 12 — — — — — 1971–72 Baltimore Clippers AHL 12 3 0 3 0 — — — — — 1972–73 California Golden Seals NHL 71 20 22 42 6 — — — — — 1973–74 California Golden Seals NHL 59 10 20 30 17 — — — — — 1974–75 California Golden Seals NHL 14 2 1 3 0 — — — — — 1974–75 St. Louis Blues NHL 43 6 9 15 6 2 0 1 1 0 1975–76 Kansas City Scouts NHL 80 17 18 35 14 — — — — — 1976–77 Washington Capitals NHL 28 7 10 17 2 — — — — — 1976–77 Minnesota Fighting Saints WHA 30 6 11 17 6 — — — — — 1977–78 Washington Capitals NHL 44 1 7 8 4 — — — — — 1977–78 Hershey Bears AHL 27 5 4 9 4 — — — — — 1978–79 Washington Capitals NHL 3 1 1 2 0 — — — — — 1978–79 Tulsa Oilers CHL 69 22 23 45 12 — — — — — 1978–79 Los Angeles Blades PHL 7 0 1 1 27 — — — — — WHA totals 30 6 11 17 6 — — — — — NHL totals 401 72 91 163 61 2 0 1 1 0

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1970 United States WC-B 7 8 5 13 2 1971 United States WC 10 3 2 5 2 1976 United States CC 5 2 2 4 0 1979 United States WC 8 0 3 3 2 Senior totals 30 13 12 25 6

Coaching record League Team Year Regular season Post season G W L T Pts Finish ResultNHLNew York Rangers 1980–8160 26 23 11 62 4th in Patrick Lost in Conference Final 1984–85 35 11 22 2 24 4th in Patrick Lost in first roundPittsburgh Penguins 1989–90 54 22 26 6 48 5th in Patrick Missed playoffs 1996–97 20 7 10 3 17 2nd in Northeast Lost in first round 3ICE Team Patrick 2023 6 4 2 0 6 2nd Lost in finalsNHL Totals 169 66 81 22