Every NHL Team\'s Worst Head Coach of All Time

Every NHL Team's Worst Head Coach of All Time

By Todd Panula

Every NHL Team's Worst Head Coach of All Time

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Being a head coach in the NHL is not easy. There have been greats and not-so-greats. Some were great with one team only to be bad with another. This list gives you the worst for each and every franchise.

Anaheim Ducks: Pierre Page

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Anaheim Ducks: Pierre Page

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Pierre Page spent a decent amount of time behind an NHL or AHL bench in the 1980s and 90s. However, his time with the then Mighty Ducks of Anaheim would be his last. Page had a 26-43-13 record in one season with the Ducks and then never coached in the NHL again. He is currently coaching in the German league.

Boston Bruins: Milt Schmidt

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Boston Bruins: Milt Schmidt

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Milt Schmidt was a pretty good player with the Boston Bruins. He averaged in the teens for goals scored per season. As a coach he didn't fare as well, though he actually got to a couple Stanley Cup finals. Overall, from 1954-66, his record with Boston was 245-360-121 and he missed the playoffs six years straight. Clearly those first few years gained him a long leash.

Buffalo Sabres: Ron Rolston

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Buffalo Sabres: Ron Rolston

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Ron Rolston is one of the many on this list that isn't a bad coach, but had bad circumstances. He replaced Lindy Ruff with the Sabres, whick by the time Rolston took over were a shell of the former teams. He was also working with a new owner. Even so, the leash was very short and Rolston didn't even coach a full season. He replaced Ruff halfway through a season and only lasted a part of the next before he was fired with a total record of 19-26-6.

Calgary Flames: Brian Sutter

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Calgary Flames: Brian Sutter

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Brian Sutter was one of the best coaches in the history of the St. Louis Blues. He also had reasonably good stints with the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks. His time in Calgary was nothing but failure. In three seasons, Sutter went 87-117-42 and missed the playoffs all three times. Sutter retired three seasons later.

Carolina Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers: Paul Holmgren

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Carolina Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers: Paul Holmgren

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Paul Holmgren has created a nice career for himself. It just wasn't meant to be behind the bench. Despite his successes as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers' front office, he was nowhere near as good with the Hartford Whalers (now Carolina Hurricanes). Despite a 54-93-14 record, Holmgren was put behind the bench three different times. Maybe they thought the third time would be the charm?

Chicago Blackhawks: Ebbie Goodfellow

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Chicago Blackhawks: Ebbie Goodfellow

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Goodfellow was another guy who got his position due to his play. He won a Hart Trophy with the Detroit Redwings and then was hired to coach their rivals. Goodfellow only managed two seasons, a record of 30-91-19 and did not qualify for the playoffs from 1950-52.

Colorado Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques: Dave Chambers

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Colorado Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques: Dave Chambers

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Let's be blunt with this one. Dave Chambers coached when there were cameras and had no pictures available of his time with the Quebec Nordiques. Try searching his name and a lot of Dave Chambers come up. His record was also very generic -- generically bad. Chambers only won 19 games total in his two seasons. He never coached again after being fired in Quebec, which makes you wonder how he got the gig to start.

Columbus Blue Jackets: Dave King

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Columbus Blue Jackets: Dave King

Dave King NHL coaches
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Until recently, the Columbus Blue Jackets weren't any good no matter the coach. King didn't have the luxury of falling back on the excuse of being an expansion franchise, though. Columbus had already been around three seasons. King only had a record of 64-106-34. Doesn't seem too terrible, but he finished last in the Central Division twice and was let go before he had a chance to do it again (the team did it anyway after he was fired).

Dallas Stars/Minnesota North Stars: Ted Harris

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Dallas Stars/Minnesota North Stars: Ted Harris

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Despite the accusation hockey would never last in Dallas, coaches have. Bob Gainey has the worst record in Dallas and is only one game under .500, so it has to beTed Harris of the North Stars. Harris had a lowly .344 winning percentage and went 48-104-27. Credit to him for lasting 179 games when he couldn't win many of them.

Detroit Red Wings: Ted Lindsay

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Detroit Red Wings: Ted Lindsay

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Ted Lindsey is a legend in Detroit, and the NHL for that matter. It just didn't translate to the bench. Lindsay filled in for the last nine games of the 1979-80 season, which he spent most of as the GM of the Johnstown Red Wings and only won two games. He was fired 20 games into the next season, having won only three, giving him an overall record of 5-21-3. But hey, he can still hang his hat on the fact his number is in the rafters in Detroit.

Edmonton Oilers: Pat Quinn

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Edmonton Oilers: Pat Quinn

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Pat Quinn has a heck of a resume. He took two different teams to Stanley Cup finals, won gold medals at three different levels of competition for Canada and won a World Cup. However even the great ones (foreshadowing?) aren't always successful. Quinn only lasted two seasons with the Oilers and missed the postseason in both. 27 wins will get you that. To be fair, he wasn't afforded the best team to coach.

Florida Panthers: Mike Keenan

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Florida Panthers: Mike Keenan

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Mike Keenan turned several good years with the Chicago Blackhawks and one great year with the New York Rangers into a lot of jobs. On his fourth job since leaving the Rangers, Keenan brought a big name with none of the punch to the Sunshine State. He made the playoffs his first season, but the team did not make the playoffs for eight years after his departure.

Los Angeles Kings: Pat Quinn

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Los Angeles Kings: Pat Quinn

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Hard to believe someone like Quinn could make this list twice, but it's true. His place with the L.A. Kings has as much to do with timing as it does record. Quinn only managed a 75-101-26 record in a two and a half year reign. Quinn resigned midway through his third season only to watch Wayne Gretzky arrive in Los Angeles the following year. Granted he might not have been retained as coach, but he still might be kicking himself.

Minnesota Wild: Todd Richards

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Minnesota Wild: Todd Richards

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How, you may ask, can a coach with a record of 77-71-16 (clearly above .500) make this list? Well, when there's only been three coaches in your team's history, it happens. Jacques Lemaire had almost 300 wins in Minnesota and Mike Yeo has 28 playoff games. Despite an okay record, Richards failed to make the postseason, so he's the odd man out.

Montreal Canadiens: Randy Cunneyworth

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Montreal Canadiens: Randy Cunneyworth

Randy Cunneyworth NHL coaches
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To be up front, Alfred Lepine has the worst winning percentage in Canadiens' history going 10-33-5 and lasting 48 games in 1939-40. Cunneyworth gets the nod to show how crazy Canadiens fans are. Then assistant Cunneyworth replaced the fired Jacques Martins and the firestorm started. He spoke no French and thus was a terrible coach. Even the Quebec Cultural Minister insisted the team rectify the situation as soon as possible. He did go 18-23-9.

Nashville Predators: Barry Trotz

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Nashville Predators: Barry Trotz

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This is the Todd Richards' situation turned up to 11. Trotz lasted 15 seasons with the Predators and until a season ago was the only coach they'd ever known. It's easy to have a good winning percentage in one season like Peter Laviolette, so Trotz gets the pick simply because he had to endure the down years.

New Jersey Devils: John MacLean

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New Jersey Devils: John MacLean

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Chalk this one up to working for Lou Lamoriello. John MacLean never really got a chance. Despite getting a glowing recommendation from Brent Sutter a year prior, MacLean was not even given a half-season to prove himself. With a record of 9-22-2 in December of 2010, MacLean was removed from his position.

New York Islanders: Mike Milbury

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New York Islanders: Mike Milbury

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Mike Milbury was less than stellar as the coach on Long Island, going 57-112-24. Even more of a head-scratcher, though, was the fact he was named general manager instead of being flat-out fired. As GM, he saw fit to trade away the likes of Roberto Luongo, Jason Spezza, Olli Jokinen and Zdeno Chara. He continues to make poor judgements as a member of the NHL on NBC studio team, but at least he's not ruining teams now.

New York Rangers: George Sullivan

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New York Rangers: George Sullivan

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George Sullivan (pictured right) coached for parts of four seasons with the Rangers. He took over for Muzz Patrick in 1962-63 and was fired early in the 1965-66 season. His record with New York was 58-103-35. Despite this, he coached the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals, never winning more than 27 games with either. He does have the distinction of most games coached with the Rangers to never make a playoff appearance.

Ottawa Senators: Rick Bowness

Rick Bowness
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Ottawa Senators: Rick Bowness

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Rick Bowness earns this "honor" by being the first coach of this version of the Ottawa Senators. Bowness won his first game with Ottawa and then only nine more the rest of the season. After a good start to his fourth year in the capital, an eight-game losing streak doomed him and he was replaced. To put his reign in perspective, his teams won 96 points total. Some teams sneak into the playoffs now with 96 points in a season.

Philadelphia Flyers: Vic Stasiuk

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Philadelphia Flyers: Vic Stasiuk

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Tried to go outside the box on this one and say Roger Neilson since he couldn't win the big one with so much talent. However, his teams finished with 95, 93 and 105 points, so it just didn't stick -- had to go with the stats. Vic Stasiuk, the Flyers' second ever coach, had the team's worst winning percentage. Going .425 during the regular season and winless in the playoffs pretty much sums up ol' Vic.

Arizona Coyotes: Wayne Gretzky

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Arizona Coyotes: Wayne Gretzky

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Foreshadowing! (Check back with Pat Quinn's post for that gem) Gretzky may not have the worst win percentage of anyone in the Winnepeg/Phoenix franchise, but he's proof that the best players don't always make the best coaches. Gretzky went 143-161-24 in four years with the team. He really only got the full four years because of his name value. Regardless, he missed the playoffs all four years and only finished with more wins than losses once.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Eddie Olczyk

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Pittsburgh Penguins: Eddie Olczyk

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Eddie Olczyk had the honor of coaching both Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby. Unfortunately for him, it didn't save his job. He only had Crosby very briefly and Lemieux was not the Lemieux that Olczyk played with. Olczyk finished 31-64-14 with the Penguins and moved back to the broadcast booth following his firing.

St. Louis Blues: Mike Kitchen/Mike Keenan

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St. Louis Blues: Mike Kitchen/Mike Keenan

Mike Kitchen Mike Keenan NHL coaches
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Mike Kitchen gets his half of this distinction because of the eye test. Except a slight uptick after taking over for Joel Quenville in 2003-04, Kitchen oversaw the worst single season in Blues history and worst overall period. He was fired 28 games into his second full season in charge. Keenan joins Quinn as the only man on this list twice for his trades. He got rid of Curtis Joseph, Brendan Shanahan, Brett Hull and drove off Wayne Gretzky.

San Jose Sharks: George Kingston

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San Jose Sharks: George Kingston

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Like the man he joined as the leader of an expansion franchise with him, Rick Bowness, Kingston didn't have a chance. The Sharks went 28-129-7 under Kingston and he was fired after only two years with the franchise. To add insult to injury, the season following his removal, the Sharks made the playoffs and beat the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings in the first round.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Jacques Demers

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Tampa Bay Lightning: Jacques Demers

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Could have taken the easy route and said Berry Melrose since he only lasted 16 games, but much of that was due to a weird situation with the owner and management. No, the true answer is Jacques Demers. Though he had success almost everywhere else, his winning percentage was truly awful in Tampa at .289 with a record of 34-96-17 and never making the playoffs. It's not how he envisioned leaving the coaching profession, but that's how it went down.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Dan Maloney

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Toronto Maple Leafs: Dan Maloney

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Dan Maloney (left) was another man who had a good career as a player and turned it into a coaching career, albeit a brief one. He lasted only two seasons in Toronto and has their worst winning percentage in team history (.328), with the exception of a couple guys who only coached two games and lost both. Maloney had a decent couple seasons with Winnipeg afterward but was fired midway in his third and disappeared from coaching.

Vancouver Canucks: John Tortorella

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Vancouver Canucks: John Tortorella

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There were coaches who had worse winning percentages in Canucks history, but few, if any, had more turmoil in such a short time-span. Torts, as he has been dubbed, lasted only one season with a reasonably talented Canucks team. He went 36-35-11 and missed the playoffs. He also tried to enter the Calgary Flames' locker room to confront their coach, alienated and traded Roberto Luongo in favor of a goaltender who is now gone and irritated many.

Washington Capitals: Tom McVie

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Washington Capitals: Tom McVie

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Tom McVie coached a decent amount of games in Washington, 204 to be exact. He won 49 of those. You don't need to be a math major to know that's not good. Oh, by the way, he never made the playoffs with the Caps either. He didn't do much better in stops with the Jets and Devils either.

Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashers: Curt Fraser

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Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashers: Curt Fraser

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The Winnipeg Jets, in their new incarnation, haven't been all that bad. That forced a look back to their days in Atlanta. Curt Fraser takes the cake there. Despite the excuse of being the expansion franchise's first coach, Fraser had a paltry win percentage of .312 and ended his tenure with the Thrashers with a record of 64-169-46, never making the playoffs.

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