Eddie Johnston - Coach/GM Roles

Coach/GM Roles

Johnston went into coaching the next year, leading the expansion New Brunswick Hawks – Chicago's new American Hockey League farm team – to a 41–29–10 record for second place in its division.

He was promoted to be head coach of the Black Hawks during the 1979–80 NHL season, compiling a 34–27–19 record. The following year, he became head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, holding that position until 1983 after having been appointed general manager. He held the GM post at Pittsburgh for five years. Johnston oversaw Pittsburgh's 1984 NHL Entry Draft in which the Penguins selected Mario Lemieux first overall, without whom, Johnston said in reference to the Penguins' home, Mellon Arena, "This place would be a parking lot." Lemieux would come to be known as the team's repeated savior, in addition to being one of the greatest hockey players of all-time.

After Johnston left the Penguins for the first time in 1988, he served as the general manager of the Hartford Whalers from 1989 until he was released in 1992. Johnston's tenure is remembered with distinct displeasure in Hartford, where he is viewed as ultimately being responsible for the franchise's eventual relocation to North Carolina, by having dismantled a playoff team through unproductive trades in addition to allowing relations between captain and franchise cornerstone Ron Francis and head coach Rick Ley to deteriorate, to the point where Francis was accused of "playing out the final year of his contract", and finally stripped of his captaincy by Ley in December, 1990.

Johnston subsequently traded Francis – along with his roommate Ulf Samuelsson – to Pittsburgh as part of a six-player deal on March 4, 1991. Although Hartford was initially speculated to have gotten the better end of the bargain as center John Cullen had been among the league leaders in scoring that season and Zarley Zalapski was seen as a young defenseman with great promise, the deal rapidly became one of the most lopsided and notorious in NHL history as the popular Francis and Samuelsson immediately went on to play major roles in Pittsburgh's first two Stanley Cup championships in 1991 and 1992, while neither Cullen nor Zalapski could duplicate their success with Pittsburgh in Hartford.

After being considered for the position for the 1992–93 season but having been unable to come to terms on a contract with Pittsburgh, Johnston was once again hired as head coach of the Penguins for 1993–94 and guided the Pens until the 1996–97 season, when he was asked to step down due to the Penguins' failure to win a third Stanley Cup under his guidance. He spent the next nine years as the assistant general manager to Craig Patrick before being named Senior Adviser for Hockey Operations in July 2006, his 23rd year with the Pittsburgh Penguins organization. It was in that capacity as the Penguins finally won their third Stanley Cup in 2009 that E.J. did the same, winning his first with Pittsburgh, first since 1972, and first as management.

In 2009, he announced that Game 7 of the Finals would be his last and moved into semi-retirement.

On April 8, 2010, Johnston joined more than 50 former Penguins being honored in a pre-game ceremony before the final regular season game at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh.

Johnston remains the Penguins' all-time leader in coaching wins (232), losses (224), and games coached (516).