Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a National Hockey League (NHL) team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Facts
- Founded: 1967-1968
- Arena: Mellon Arena (capacity 17,537), formerly known as the Civic Arena
- Team Owner: Mario Lemieux
- Current Coach: Michel Therrien
- Current Team Captain: none
- Uniform colors: Black, white, vegas gold, grey.
- Logo design: Fighting Penguin. A penguin skating, holding a hockey stick
- Division titles won: 5 - 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998
- Conference championships won: 2 - 1991, 1992
- Stanley Cup wins: 2 - 1991, 1992
- President's Trophy: 1 - 1993
- Mascot: Iceburgh
- Added in the NHL's 1967 expansion, along with the Minnesota North Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, Oakland Seals, and St. Louis Blues.
Franchise history
The location of a very successful American Hockey League franchise and a former NHL team in the Twenties, Pittsburgh was one of the expansion teams added when the NHL doubled in size in 1967. The new teams were hampered by restrictive rules that kept most major talent with the "Original Six", and beyond aging ex-Rangers star Andy Bathgate and hardrock ex-Bruin defenseman Leo Boivin, the first Penguins team was manned by a cast of former minor leaguers. The club nevertheless finished just six points out of first place in the closely fought West Division, but finished out of the playoffs.
Bathgate led the team in scoring, but he and Boivin were soon gone. Despite a handful of decent players such as right wing Ken Schinkel, Keith McCreary, agitator Bryan Watson and goaltender Les Binkley, talent was thin, and the Penguins' record was poor in the early years, missing the playoffs five of their first seven seasons.
Tragedy struck the Penguins in 1970 when rookie center Michel Briere, who finished third in scoring on the team during his only season in the league, was injured in a car crash. He died in 1971 after spending a year in hospital.
For a few years in the mid-Seventies, Pittsburgh iced some powerful offensive clubs, led by forwards Syl Apps, Jr., Lowell MacDonald, Jean Pronovost, Rick Kehoe, Pierre Larouche, and Ron Schock, and defensemen Ron Stackhouse and Dave Burrows, but the Pens' success was always neutralized by mediocre team defense and poor goaltending, and the club never went far in the playoffs.
By the early Eighties Pittsburgh had Kehoe, star defenseman Randy Carlyle, prolific scorers Paul Gardner and Mike Bullard and little else. The team had the league's worst record in both the 1983 and 1984 seasons. With the first draft pick in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft Pittsburgh acquired Mario Lemieux, who would become one of the great players in NHL history. After four more years out of the playoffs, Lemieux led the league in scoring in 1988-89 and the Penguins had given him a supporting cast for the first time, with superstar defenseman Paul Coffey coming from the Edmonton Oilers, role player Bob Errey, and high-scoring Kevin Stevens, Rob Brown, and John Cullen. The team made the playoffs, where they lost in the second round to the Philadelphia Flyers.
Mario Lemieux
Mario Lemieux
In 1990-91, the Penguins reached the top. They drafted star Czech right winger Jaromir Jagr, and through the 1990s, Jagr and Lemieux were two of the league's biggest scoring threats. Adding that to Stevens and Coffey, up-and-coming Mark Recchi, star center Ron Francis (acquired in a major trade with the Hartford Whalers), and the goaltending of Tom Barrasso, the Penguins became the league's best team, beating the Minnesota North Stars in the Stanley Cup finals. The following season, the team lost coach Bob Johnson to cancer, and Scotty Bowman took over as coach. Under the legendary Bowman, they repeated as Stanley Cup champions.
Cancer nearly dealt the Penguins a double whammy in 1993. Not only were they reeling from Johnson's death, but Mario Lemieux was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease. His comeback only two months after the diagnosis was one of the league's greatest "feel-good" stories of all time. Despite the difficulties the team faced, Pittsburgh finished with a 56-21-7 record, winning the franchise's Presidents' Trophy, as the team with the most points in the regular season. Despite their strong play in the regular season, the team was upset in the second round of the playoffs by the New York Islanders.
The Penguins continued to be a formidable team through the rest of the 1990s, but it came with a price. They had paid so much for their talent that they almost went bankrupt, and it took Lemieux (who retired in 1997) to take over the team in bankruptcy court -- having been owed many millions in deferred salary from his playing days and so being a principal creditor -- and prevent it from moving to Portland, Oregon. Costs proved a barrier to retaining promising young goaltender Patrick Lalime, who left after a single season and subsequently became a star for the Ottawa Senators. Lemieux shocked the hockey world by deciding to come back in late 2000 and led the Penguins into the 2001 playoffs, where they lost to the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Still, the Penguins needed to cut costs. They did so in a big way by dealing Jagr to the Washington Capitals in the summer of 2001 for prospects Kris Beech, Michael Sivek, and Ross Lupaschuk, and $4.9 million. The absence of Jagr proved devastating to the Penguins, and in 2002 they missed the playoffs for the first time in 12 years. Further difficulties on and off the ice saw them trade fan favorite Alexei Kovalev the next season, quickly followed by the departures of Robert Lang and Martin Straka.
The 2003-04 NHL season was expected to be a rebuilding year for the Penguins, acquiring first overall pick Marc-Andre Fleury in the NHL Entry Draft and the hiring of new head coach (and former Penguin and commentator) Eddie Olczyk. Cost restrictions made the signing of Fleury rather tense. Fleury showed resolve with his excellent goaltending, and although the Penguins continued with the worst NHL record, Fleury showed that he could shrug off hard shots from some of the league's best players. However, more troubles besieged the Penguins when Lemieux suffered a hip injury early in the season. Months later it was determined that he would sit the rest of the season out to recover. The Pens then traded away star Martin Straka to the Los Angeles Kings and later had to send Fleury back down to his junior league team due to further money problems.
While the Penguins have suffered small-market syndrome for most of their existence, cost-cutting has prevented another collapse into insolvency, and financially, the team was one of the better-managed NHL franchises between its 1998 bankruptcy and the 2004-05 NHL lockout. Thanks to significant post-season runs, the Penguins broke even in 2000 and turned a small profit in 2001. Failure to make the playoffs in the next three seasons hurt the team's bottom line, but the shedding of contracts kept the team afloat as other franchises, like the Ottawa Senators, faced significant losses or declared bankruptcy.
In the summer of 2004, the Penguins lost forward Aleksey Morozov, who decided to sign with the Russian league in the light of the impending lockout in the 2004-05 season. However, the Penguins managed to re-sign one of their biggest fan favorites and former stars, Mark Recchi.
With the 2004-05 NHL season cancelled due to the NHL lockout, several Penguins still signed to the AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre Penguins played in the minors, while players such as Aleksey Morozov and Lasse Pirjetä honed their talents in the elite European and Russian leagues. On July 22, 2005, the Penguins won an unprecedented draft lottery, in which all 30 teams had weighted chances to win the first overall pick of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft July 30 in Ottawa, Ontario. With the choice, the Penguins chose junior league superstar Sidney Crosby from the QMJHL.
With a new salary cap included in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) signed by the owners and players to end the 2004-05 NHL lockout, the Penguins began the process of rebuilding their team. They did so in a big way during the 2005 free agency by signing Russian offensive defenseman Sergei Gonchar, "big man" John Leclair from the Philadelphia Flyers, Slovakian scoring forward Zigmund Palffy, and acquiring goalie Jocelyn Thibault from the Chicago Blackhawks via trade.
Various reports have the Penguins in dire financial straits even after the lockout. Lemieux himself has stated that it is doubtful that the club will remain in Pittsburgh once the lease is up. A most recent arena proposal includes a partnership with Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. - a gambling company intending to install slot machines. The project cost is estimated at $290 million. The arena is part of a proposed $1 billion development financed by Nationwide Realty. If an arena is not built, rumors suggest that the team will move to Kansas City, Houston, Las Vegas, Hartford, Quebec City, or Winnipeg.
On January 24, 2006, Mario Lemieux announced his second retirement at a press conference. He ended up as the seventh all-time scorer (1,723), eighth on most goals (690), and tenth in assists (1,033).[1][2][3] Earlier in the month, on January 18, Palffy announced his retirement due to a lingering shoulder injury; at the time, Palffy was the team's second-leading scorer.
Season-by-season record
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses/Shootout losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
| Logo | Season | GP | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | GF | GA | PIM | Finish | Playoffs |
| File:PIT 67-68.gif | 1967-68 | 74 | 27 | 34 | 13 | -- | 67 | 195 | 216 | 554 | 5th in West | Out of playoffs |
| File:PIT 67-68.gif | 1968-69 | 76 | 20 | 45 | 11 | -- | 51 | 189 | 252 | 677 | 5th in West | Out of playoffs |
| File:PIT 67-68.gif | 1969-70 | 76 | 26 | 38 | 12 | -- | 64 | 182 | 238 | 1038 | 2nd in West | Lost in 2nd round |
| File:PIT 67-68.gif | 1970-71 | 78 | 21 | 37 | 20 | -- | 62 | 221 | 240 | 1079 | 6th in West | Out of playoffs |
| File:PIT 67-68.gif | 1971-72 | 78 | 26 | 38 | 14 | -- | 66 | 220 | 258 | 978 | 4th in West | Lost in 1st round |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo80s.gif | 1972-73 | 78 | 32 | 37 | 9 | -- | 73 | 257 | 265 | 866 | 5th in West | Out of playoffs |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo80s.gif | 1973-74 | 78 | 28 | 41 | 9 | -- | 65 | 242 | 273 | 950 | 5th in West | Out of playoffs |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo80s.gif | 1974-75 | 80 | 37 | 28 | 15 | -- | 89 | 326 | 289 | 1119 | 3rd in Norris | Lost in 2nd round |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo80s.gif | 1975-76 | 80 | 35 | 33 | 12 | -- | 82 | 339 | 303 | 1004 | 3rd in Norris | Lost in 1st round |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo80s.gif | 1976-77 | 80 | 34 | 33 | 13 | -- | 81 | 240 | 252 | 669 | 3rd in Norris | Lost in 1st round |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo80s.gif | 1977-78 | 80 | 25 | 37 | 18 | -- | 68 | 254 | 321 | 1300 | 4th in Norris | Out of playoffs |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo80s.gif | 1978-79 | 80 | 36 | 31 | 13 | -- | 85 | 281 | 279 | 1039 | 2nd in Norris | Lost in 2nd round |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo80s.gif | 1979-80 | 80 | 30 | 37 | 13 | -- | 73 | 251 | 303 | 1038 | 3rd in Norris | Lost in 1st round |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo80s.gif | 1980-81 | 80 | 30 | 37 | 13 | -- | 73 | 302 | 245 | 1807 | 4th in Norris | Lost in 1st round |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo80s.gif | 1981-82 | 80 | 31 | 36 | 13 | -- | 75 | 310 | 337 | 2212 | 4th in Patrick | Lost in 1st round |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo80s.gif | 1982-83 | 80 | 18 | 53 | 9 | -- | 45 | 257 | 394 | 1859 | 6th in Patrick | Out of playoffs |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo80s.gif | 1983-84 | 80 | 16 | 58 | 6 | -- | 38 | 254 | 390 | 1695 | 6th in Patrick | Out of playoffs |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo80s.gif | 1984-85 | 80 | 24 | 51 | 5 | -- | 53 | 276 | 385 | 1493 | 6th in Patrick | Out of playoffs |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo80s.gif | 1985-86 | 80 | 34 | 38 | 8 | -- | 76 | 313 | 305 | 1538 | 5th in Patrick | Out of playoffs |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo80s.gif | 1986-87 | 80 | 30 | 38 | 12 | -- | 72 | 297 | 290 | 1693 | 5th in Patrick | Out of playoffs |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo80s.gif | 1987-88 | 80 | 36 | 35 | 9 | -- | 81 | 319 | 316 | 2211 | 6th in Patrick | Out of playoffs |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo80s.gif | 1988-89 | 80 | 40 | 33 | 7 | -- | 87 | 347 | 349 | 2670 | 2nd in Patrick | Lost in 2nd round |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo80s.gif | 1989-90 | 80 | 32 | 40 | 8 | -- | 72 | 318 | 359 | 2132 | 5th in Patrick | Out of playoffs |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo80s.gif | 1990-91 | 80 | 41 | 33 | 6 | -- | 88 | 342 | 305 | 1641 | 1st in Patrick | Won Stanley Cup |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo80s.gif | 1991-92 | 80 | 39 | 32 | 9 | -- | 87 | 343 | 308 | 1907 | 3rd in Patrick | Won Stanley Cup |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo90s.gif | 1992-93 | 84 | 56 | 21 | 7 | -- | 119 | 367 | 268 | 1776 | 1st in Patrick | Lost in 2nd round |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo90s.gif | 1993-94 | 84 | 44 | 27 | 13 | -- | 101 | 299 | 285 | 1624 | 1st in Northeast | Lost in 1st round |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo90s.gif | 1994-951 | 48 | 29 | 16 | 3 | -- | 61 | 181 | 158 | 1036 | 2nd in Northeast | Lost in 2nd round |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo90s.gif | 1995-96 | 82 | 49 | 29 | 4 | -- | 102 | 362 | 284 | 1623 | 1st in Northeast | Lost in 3rd round |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo90s.gif | 1996-97 | 82 | 38 | 36 | 8 | -- | 84 | 285 | 280 | 1498 | 2nd in Northeast | Lost in 1st round |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo90s.gif | 1997-98 | 82 | 40 | 24 | 18 | -- | 98 | 228 | 188 | 1225 | 1st in Northeast | Lost in 1st round |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo90s.gif | 1998-99 | 82 | 38 | 30 | 14 | -- | 90 | 242 | 225 | 977 | 3rd in Atlantic | Lost in 2nd round |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo90s.gif | 1999-00 | 82 | 37 | 31 | 8 | 6 | 88 | 241 | 236 | 1221 | 3rd in Atlantic | Lost in 2nd round |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo90s.gif | 2000-01 | 82 | 42 | 28 | 8 | 3 | 96 | 281 | 256 | 1585 | 3rd in Atlantic | Lost in 3rd round |
| File:Pittsburghpenguinslogo90s.gif | 2001-02 | 82 | 28 | 41 | 8 | 5 | 69 | 198 | 249 | 1248 | 5th in Atlantic | Out of playoffs |
| File:Pittsburgh Penguins.gif | 2002-03 | 82 | 27 | 44 | 6 | 5 | 65 | 189 | 255 | 1125 | 5th in Atlantic | Out of playoffs |
| File:Pittsburgh Penguins.gif | 2003-04 | 82 | 23 | 47 | 8 | 4 | 58 | 190 | 303 | 1270 | 5th in Atlantic | Out of playoffs |
| File:Pittsburgh Penguins.gif | 2004-052 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| File:Pittsburgh Penguins.gif | 2005-06 | 47 | 11 | 27 | -- | 9 | 31 | 130 | 189 | 866 | -- | -- |
1 Season was shortened due to the 1994-95 NHL lockout.
2 Season was cancelled due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout.
Notable players
Current Squad
As of February 7, 2006 [4]
| Goaltenders | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Player | Catches | Acquired | Place of Birth | |
| 29 | 
|
Marc-Andre Fleury | L | 2003 | Sorel, Quebec |
| 31 |
|
Sebastien Caron | L | 1999 | Amqui, Quebec |
| 41 |
|
Jocelyn Thibault (Injured Reserve) | L | 2005 | Montreal, Quebec |
| Defensemen | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Player | Shoots | Acquired | Place of Birth | ||
| 2 | 
|
Josef Melichar | L | 1997 | České Budějovice, Czechoslovakia | |
| 4 |
|
Cory Cross | L | 2006 | Lloydminster, Alberta/Saskatchewan | |
| 5 | 
|
Rob Scuderi | L | 1998 | Syosset, New York | |
| 19 |
|
Ryan Whitney | L | 2002 | Boston, Massachusetts | |
| 22 |
|
Ric Jackman | R | 2004 | Toronto, Ontario | |
| 24 |
|
Lyle Odelein (Injured Reserve) | R | 2005 | Quill Lake, Saskatchewan | |
| 33 |
|
Eric Cairns | L | 2006 | Oakville, Ontario | |
| 44 |
|
Brooks Orpik | L | 2002 | San Francisco, California | |
| 55 | 
|
Sergei Gonchar - A | L | 2005 | Chelyabinsk, U.S.S.R. | |
| Forwards | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Player | Shoots | Position | Acquired | Place of Birth | |
| 7 |
|
Michel Ouellet | R | RW | 2000 | Rimouski, Quebec |
| 8 |
|
Mark Recchi - A | L | RW | 2004 | Kamloops, British Columbia |
| 10 |
|
John LeClair | L | LW | 2005 | St. Albans, Vermont |
| 12 |
|
Ryan Malone | L | C/LW | 1999 | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| 14 |
|
Shane Endicott | L | C | 2000 | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan |
| 17 |
|
Matt Murley (Injured Reserve) | L | LW | 1999 | Troy, New York |
| 18 |
|
Eric Boguniecki | R | C | 2005 | New Haven, Connecticut |
| 20 |
|
Colby Armstrong | R | RW | 2001 | Lloydminster, Saskatchewan |
| 28 | 
|
Jani Rita | L | RW/LW | 2006 | Helsinki, Finland |
| 36 |
|
Andre Roy | L | LW | 2005 | Port Chester, New York |
| 37 |
|
Ryan Vandenbussche (Injured Reserve) | R | RW | 2004 | Simcoe, Ontario |
| 43 | 
|
Tomas Surovy | L | LW/RW | 2001 | Banska Bystrica, Czechoslovakia |
| 71 | 
|
Konstantin Koltsov | L | RW/LW | 1999 | Minsk, U.S.S.R. |
| 87 |
|
Sidney Crosby - A | L | C | 2005 | Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia |
Team Captains
- Ab McDonald 1967-68
- no captain 1968-73
- Ron Schock 1973-77
- Jean Pronovost 1977-78
- Orest Kindrachuk 1978-81
- Randy Carlyle 1981-84
- Mike Bullard 1984-86
- Mike Bullard & Terry Ruskowski 1986-87
- Dan Frawley & Mario Lemieux 1987-88
- Mario Lemieux 1988-94
- Ron Francis 1994-95
- Mario Lemieux 1995-97
- Ron Francis 1997-98
- Jaromir Jagr 1998-01
- Mario Lemieux 2001-06
- no captain 2006- present
Hall of Famers
- Scotty Bowman (coach 1991-1993, inducted 1991)
- Paul Coffey (inducted 2004)
- Bob Johnson (inducted 1992)
- Mario Lemieux (inducted 1997)
- Mike Lange (announcer 1975-Present, inducted 2001)
- Joe Mullen (inducted 2000)
- Larry Murphy (inducted 2004)
- Craig Patrick (general manager 1990-Present, coach 1989-1990 and 1996-1997, inducted 2001)
Retired numbers
- 21 Michel Brière, C, 1969-70; taken out of circulation following his death but not officially retired until January 5, 2001
- 66 Mario Lemieux, C, 1984-97, 2000-05; team owner, 1999-present; retired November 19, 1997, then lowered from Mellon Arena roof and "unretired" when he began his comeback on December 27, 2000; re-retired January 24, 2006. However his jersey number has not been put back up to the roof yet.
- 99 Wayne Gretzky (Did not play for the Pittsburgh Penguins, but his number was retired league-wide by the NHL in 1999)
Franchise scoring leaders
These are the top-ten point-scorers in the history of the Penguins. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season. Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
| Player | POS | GP | G | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mario Lemieux | C | 889 | 683 | 1018 | 1701 |
| Jaromir Jagr | RW | 806 | 439 | 640 | 1079 |
| Rick Kehoe | RW | 722 | 312 | 324 | 636 |
| Ron Francis | C | 533 | 144 | 449 | 613 |
| Jean Pronovost | RW | 753 | 316 | 287 | 603 |
| Kevin Stevens | LW | 522 | 260 | 295 | 555 |
| Syl Apps, Jr. | C | 495 | 151 | 349 | 500 |
| Martin Straka | C | 560 | 165 | 277 | 442 |
| Paul Coffey | D | 331 | 108 | 332 | 440 |
| Ron Schock | C | 619 | 124 | 280 | 404 |
See also
- List of Stanley Cup champions
- List of Pittsburgh Penguins players
- List of Pittsburgh Penguins head coaches
- List of NHL seasons
- List of NHL players
- 1967 NHL Expansion
