Penguins coach Therrien gets new deal

Jul 18, 2008 - 7:24 PM PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- With the nucleus of their Eastern Conference championship club in place for the long haul, the Pittsburgh Penguins turned their attention to rewarding head coach Michel Therrien.

The Penguins and Therrien agreed to terms Friday on a new three-year deal that will keep the former Jack Adams Award finalist under contract through the 2010-11 season.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but the Penguins did reveal that Therrien will receive a pay raise next season.

"I'm excited to have a new three-year contract with the Penguins and am looking forward to continued success here in Pittsburgh," said Therrien, who had one year left on his previous contract. "It is a great hockey city with an outstanding fan base."

Following their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 16 years, the Penguins dedicated the majority of this offseason to re-signing a corps group of young players, specifically Hart Trophy finalist Evgeni Malkin, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and defenseman Brooks Orpik.

The new contracts given to the 21-year-old Malkin, the 23-year-old Fleury and the 27-year-old Orpik combined to cost the Penguins a reported total of $101 million.

But that could be viewed as a reasonable price tag, considering Pittsburgh went 47-27-8 and won the Atlantic Division title this past season under Therrien, who has helped transform the Penguins from a bottom-feeder into a title contender in less than three years.

"Michel has done a tremendous job with our team over the past two-and-a-half seasons, developing our young players while leading us to division and conference championships and the Stanley Cup finals," general manager Ray Shero said. "He had one year remaining on his previous contract, and we could have simply talked about an extension.

"But we thought that, based on the success we've had together, it was time to negotiate a new deal, starting with an increase in compensation for the 2008-09 season."

Therrien, 44, has posted a 108-80-27 record since being hired by the Penguins in December 2005.

After guiding Pittsburgh to a 47-point improvement and a 47-24-11 record in 2006-07, Therrien took the young Penguins a step further this past season, coaching the club to its first Stanley Cup Finals appearance since 1992.

Led by Malkin, Fleury and Sidney Crosby, the Penguins were defeated in the Finals by the Detroit Red Wings in six games.

"We still have a lot of work to do, though, because we fell short of our biggest goal last season," Therrien said. "Our goal is and always will be, to win the Stanley Cup."