Online Encyclopedia
Pittsburgh Penguins
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The Pittsburgh Penguins are a National Hockey League team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- Founded: 1967-1968
- Arena: Mellon Arena (capacity 17,537), formerly known as the Civic Arena
- Current Coach: Ed Olczyk
- Uniform colors: Black, Vegas Gold, and White; some Grey
- Logo design: a penguin skating, holding a hockey stick
- Stanley Cup Finals Appearances: 2 (2 wins: 1990-1991, 1991-1992)
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Franchise history
Pittsburgh was one of the Expansion six added when the NHL doubled in size in 1967. The new teams were hampered by restrictive rules that kept all major talent with the "original 6". The Penguins finished just six points out of first place in the closely fought West Division, but finished out of the playoffs.
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.
Mario Lemieux
The Penguins would never be a force in the league until they drafted Mario Lemieux in 1984. After four more years out of the playoffs, Lemieux led the league in scoring in 1988-1989 and the Penguins would advance to the playoffs, where they lost to the Philadelphia Flyers.
In 1990-1991, 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. Add that to up-and-coming Mark Recchi and Kevin Stevens , stalwart defenseman Paul Coffey, and the goaltending of Tom Barasso, and the Penguins became the league's best team, defeating the Minnesota North Stars (since relocated to Dallas) in the Stanley Cup finals. They repeated the feat by defeating the Chicago Blackhawks the following season, despite losing coach Bob Johnson to cancer.
Cancer nearly dealt the Penguins a double whammy in 1993. Not only were they reeling from Johnson's death, 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. The Penguins, however, would be stunned 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, they almost went bankrupt, and it took Lemieux (who retired in 1997) to take over the team in bankruptcy court and prevent it from moving to Portland, Oregon. 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, they needed to cut costs. They did so in a big way by dealing Jagr to the Washington Capitals in the summer of 2001 for a song. The absence of Jagr proved devastating to the Penguins, as in 2002 they missed the playoffs for the first time in 12 years. Further difficulties on and off the ice saw them trade fan favourite Alexei Kovalev the next season.
2003 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 by 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, although he pledged to return next season. The Pens then traded away star player Martin Straka to the Los Angeles Kings and later had to send Fleury back down to his minor league team due to further money problems. While in no way ready for a playoff run this season, the Penguins are hoping to develop their fresh young talent into a formidable team in the years to come.
In the summer of 2004, the Penguins lost forward Aleksey Morozov , who decided to sign with the Russian league in the light of a possible lockout this season. However, the Penguins managed to resign one of their biggest fan favorites and former stars, Mark Recchi.
Players of note
See also
List of players for the Pittsburgh Penguins
Hall of Famers
- Scotty Bowman (coach 1991-1992, inducted 1991)
- Mario Lemieux (inducted 1997)
- Mike Lange (announcer 1975-Present, inducted 2001)
Current stars
- Mario Lemieux (drafted in 1984)
- Dick Tarnstrom (acquired in 2001)
- Marc-Andre Fleury (drafted 2003)
- Mark Recchi (drafted 1988; reacquired from Philadelphia Flyers in 2004)
Not to be forgotten
- Jaromir Jagr (traded to Washington Capitals in 2001)
- Ron Francis (traded to Carolina Hurricanes in 1998)
- Kevin Stevens (traded to Boston Bruins in 1995; reacquired from New York Rangers in 2000)
- Tom Barrasso (traded to Ottawa Senators in 2000)
- Alexei Kovalev (traded to New York Rangers in 2003)
- Markus Naslund (traded to Vancouver Canucks in 1996)
- Martin Straka (traded to Los Angelas Kings in 2003)
- Aleksey Morozov (left NHL in 2004 to play in Russia)
Retired numbers
- 21 Michel Briere (retired January 5, 2001)
- 66 Mario Lemieux (retired November 19, 1997 until December 27, 2000)
- 99 Wayne Gretzky (retired league-wide by the NHL 1999)
External links
- Pittsburgh Penguins official web site
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Pittsburgh Coupons and Penguin ticket sales
