Rick Kehoe

Rick Kehoe
Born (1951-07-15) July 15, 1951 (age 73)
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position Right wing
Shot Right
Played for Toronto Maple Leafs
Pittsburgh Penguins
NHL draft 22nd overall, 1971
Toronto Maple Leafs
Playing career 1969–1985

Ricky Thomas Kehoe (born July 15, 1951) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and coach, most notably for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League.

Playing career

Kehoe played junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey Association with the London Knights and the Hamilton Red Wings. He was drafted in the second round (22nd overall) by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1971 NHL Entry Draft.

He played in 32 games with the Tulsa Oilers of the Central Hockey League in 1971 before being promoted to the Maple Leafs midway through the 1972 season. He led the Leafs in goal scoring during the 1973 season with 33 goals.

Kehoe was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1974 and spent the remainder of his playing days with the Penguins. A notably clean player—he recorded 120 penalty minutes in a 14-season career—he won the Lady Byng Trophy in 1981, during which he scored a career best 55 goals. He retired after the 1985 season as the Penguins' career scoring leader, and is fifth today behind Mario Lemieux, Jaromír Jágr, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

In his playing career, he played in 906 NHL games, scoring 371 goals and 396 assists for 767 points, and accrued 120 penalty minutes. In 39 playoff games, he scored 4 goals and 17 assists for 21 points with 4 penalty minutes.

Awards and achievements

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1969–70 London Knights OHA 23 3 2 5 6 — — — — —
1969–70 Hamilton Red Wings OHA 32 2 4 6 7 — — — — —
1970–71 Hamilton Red Wings OHA 58 39 41 80 43 7 4 0 4 2
1971–72 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 38 8 8 16 4 2 0 0 0 2
1971–72 Tulsa Oilers CHL 32 18 21 39 20 — — — — —
1972–73 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 77 33 42 75 20 — — — — —
1973–74 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 69 18 22 40 8 — — — — —
1974–75 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 76 32 31 63 22 9 0 2 2 0
1975–76 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 71 29 47 76 6 3 0 0 0 0
1976–77 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 80 30 27 57 10 3 0 2 2 0
1977–78 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 70 29 21 50 10 — — — — —
1978–79 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 57 27 18 45 2 7 0 2 2 0
1979–80 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 79 30 30 60 4 5 2 5 7 0
1980–81 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 80 55 33 88 6 5 0 3 3 0
1981–82 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 71 33 52 85 8 5 2 3 5 2
1982–83 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 75 29 36 65 12 — — — — —
1983–84 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 57 18 27 45 8 — — — — —
1984–85 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 6 0 2 2 0 — — — — —
NHL totals 906 371 396 767 120 39 4 17 21 4

Coaching career

Kehoe became Director of Pro Scouting for the Penguins in 1985 and was named an assistant coach in 1986. Kehoe's name was engraved on the Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 1991 and 1992. He remained in the Penguins organization as a scout or assistant coach until 2002.

Four games into the 2001–02 season, Kehoe took over for former Czech Olympic coach Ivan Hlinka as head coach of the Penguins.[1][2] Kehoe served as head coach of the Penguins from 2002 to 2003, amassing a 55–81–14 record.[3] Kehoe was replaced by Ed Olczyk after the 2002–03 season.[4] His final stint as a coach in the organization was as interim coach for the minor-league Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins when Michel Therrien was called up to Pittsburgh as head coach; the Baby Pens had a 2–1 record in the three games Kehoe was behind the bench.

On September 18, 2006, he was named to the professional scouting staff for the New York Rangers.

Kehoe was inducted into the Pittsburgh Penguins Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1995. He currently resides in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.

Coaching record

Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T OTL Pts Finish G W L Result
Pittsburgh Penguins 2001–02 78 28 37 8 5 69 5th in Atlantic — — — Missed playoffs
Pittsburgh Penguins 2002–03 82 27 44 6 5 65 5th in Atlantic — — — Missed playoffs
NHL totals 158 55 81 14 10

References

  1. ^ "Penguins fire Hlinka, promote Kehoe". ESPN. October 17, 2001. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  2. ^ "Penguins prosper under Kehoe". CBC News. October 27, 2001. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  3. ^ "Penguins fire coach Rick Kehoe". CBC News. April 15, 2003. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  4. ^ "Olczyk gets Pens coaching job". CBC News. June 11, 2003. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
Preceded by Head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins
2001–03 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Winner of the Lady Byng Trophy
1981 		Succeeded by