Michael T. Mondak speaks: 40 til 40 day 11 (start of second quarter)

As the second quarter of this 40 til 40 series of blog entries begins, I will talk about the 40 biggest blunders ever made by the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pirates and Penguins.

40. July 18, 1983:  The Penguins hired Lou Angotti as head coach.

39. April 30, 1985:  The Steelers drafted Darryl Sims twentieth overall, passing on Andre Reed and Kevin Greene.

38. June 22, 1996:  The Penguins traded Sergei Zubov to the Dallas Stars for Kevin Hatcher.

37. January 28, 1996:  Steelers quarterback Neil O’Donnell threw a pass intercepted by Larry Brown of the Dallas Cowboys that cost the Steelers the Super Bowl.

36. March 24, 2013:  The Penguins traded 2013 and 2014 second round draft picks to the San Jose Sharks for Douglas Murray.

35. March 4, 1972:  The Penguins traded Rene Robert to the Buffalo Sabres for Eddie Shack.

34. November 27, 2019:  The Pirates hired Derek Shelton as manager.

33. March 18, 1997:  The Penguins traded Glen Murray to the Los Angeles Kings for Ed Olczyk.

32. April 29, 1986:  The Steelers drafted John Rienstra ninth overall, passing on Charles Haley.

31. October 18, 1978:  The Penguins traded a 1981 first round draft pick to the Montreal Canadiens for Rod Schutt.

30. March 31, 2002:  The Pirates were forced to pay Derek Bell’s guaranteed two-year contract after releasing him following Operation Shutdown.

29. June 19, 2010:  The Pirates fired Andrew Kurtz as a racing pierogi for comments posted on social media critical of a contract extension awarded to manager John Russell in the middle of a losing streak that set off a national firestorm causing Kurtz to be reinstated four days later citing that proper termination protocols were not followed.

28. December 11, 1975:  The Pirates traded Dock Ellis, Ken Brett and Willie Randolph to the New York Yankees for Aliquippa native Doc Medich.

27. June 9, 1982:  The Penguins drafted Rich Sutter tenth overall, passing on Dave Andreychuk and Doug Gilmour.

26. February 17, 1972:  The Pirates hired Bill Virdon as manager.

25. April 24, 1988:  The Steelers drafted Aaron Jones eighteenth overall, passing on Randall McDaniel, Eric Allen and Thurman Thomas.

24. February 10, 2003:  The Penguins traded Alexei Kovalev, Den LaCouture, Janne Laukkanen and Mike Wilson to the New York Rangers for Joel Bouchard, Richard Lintner, Rico Fata and Mikael Samuelsson.

23. October 28, 1982:  The Penguins traded George Ferguson and their 1983 first round draft pick to the Minnesota North Stars for Ron Meighan, Anders Hakansson and Minnesota’s 1983 first round draft pick.

22. October 17, 1977:  The Penguins traded a 1979 first round draft pick to the Washington Capitals for Hartland Monahan.

21. November 29, 1977:  The Penguins traded Pierre Larouche and a player to be named later (Peter Marsh) to the Montreal Canadiens for Peter Lee and Pete Mahovlich.

20. March 14, 1988:  Penguins owner Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr. blocked a trade that would have brought Andy Moog from the Edmonton Oilers for Steve Guenette and a 1988 first round draft pick.

19. February 23, 2018:  The Penguins traded Ian Cole, Filip Gustavsson, a 2018 first round draft pick and a 2019 third round draft pick to the Ottawa Senators for Derick Brassard, Vincent Dunn and a 2018 third round draft pick.

18. July 8, 1995:  The Penguins traded Larry Murphy to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Dmitri Mironov and a 1996 second round draft pick.

17. July 30, 2001:  The Pirates traded Jason Schmidt and John Vander Wal to the San Francisco Giants for Ryan Vogelsong.

16. February 10, 2020:  The Penguins traded Calen Addison, Alex Galchenyuk and a 2021 first round draft pick to the Minnesota Wild for Jason Zucker.

15. June 5, 1987:  The Penguins hired Pierre Creamer as head coach.

14. November 28, 1927:  The Pirates traded Kiki Cuyler to the Chicago Cubs for Sparky Adams and Pete Scott.

13. April 20, 1996:  The Steelers drafted Jamain Stephens twenty-ninth overall, passing on Brian Dawkins, Terrell Owens and Zach Thomas.

12. November 5, 2007:  The Pirates hired John Russell as manager.

11. December 11, 1992:  The Pirates were unable to agree to terms on a new contract with Barry Bonds, as Bonds departed for the San Francisco Giants in free agency.

10. April 29, 1980:  The Steelers drafted Mark Malone with the last pick of the first round, passing on Dwight Stephenson and Steve McMichael.

9. June 20, 2003:  The Penguins hired Ed Olczyk as head coach without considering Herb Brooks.

8. April 21, 1991:  The Steelers drafted Huey Richardson fifteenth overall, passing on Brett Favre and Aeneas Williams.

7. September 10, 1955:  The Steelers cut Johnny Unitas following the preseason, despite a plea from Dan Rooney.

6. March 6, 1984:  The Penguins demoted Roberto Romano to the Baltimore Clippers of the American Hockey League and recalled Vincent Tremblay from Baltimore.

5. July 11, 2001:  The Penguins traded Jaromir Jagr and Frantisek Kucera to the Washington Capitals for Kris Beech, Michal Sivek, Ross Lupaschuk and future considerations after rejecting a better offer from the New York Rangers due to bad blood between Craig Patrick and Glen Sather.

4. June 21, 1997:  The Penguins drafted Robert Dome seventeenth overall.

3. July 29, 1998:  The Pirates traded Jon Lieber to the Chicago Cubs for Brandt Brown.

2. April 26, 1983:  The Steelers drafted Gabriel Rivera twenty-first overall, passing on local star Dan Marino, Richard Dent and Darrell Green.

1. March 20, 1996:  The Penguins traded Markus Naslund to the Vancouver Canucks for Alek Stojanov.