Pens celebrate New Year's Eve 1969 by beating Habs

The Penguins rang in 1970 with a bang, knocking off the Stanley Cup Champion Montreal Canadiens 4-2 at the Igloo on New Year's Eve, 1969. Led by Keith McCreary's pair of goals, the Pens won for only the second time against the Canadiens in their then short history. It was, in fact, perhaps the Penguins finest performance of the season, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Jimmy Jordan in this game recap (the article (along with a fairly grainy picture) is on the next page).

"They played together as a unit, skated their own lanes and, in general provided the style of play Coach Red Kelly had insisted they were capable of since the start of the season," Jordan wrote.

You can also see the Montreal Gazette's take on the game here, which featured a clearer picture of McCreary scoring on Rogie Vachon (scroll to the left for the article.)

Unfortunately, only 5,202 fans turned up to see the Penguins fine effort. Guess there were some good parties happening elsewhere around Pittsburgh that night.

Pens beat Barons in Sanderson's last NHL game

Derek Sanderson as a Pittsburgh Penguin in 1978.

Derek Sanderson's colourful NHL career came to an end at the Richfield Coliseum just outside Cleveland on April 9, 1978. He was wearing the uniform of the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team playing its last game of the 1977-78 campaign, a meaningless meeting in a lost season. The Pens won 3-2, but there was little to celebrate. When Sanderson had joined the team less than a month earlier, they were tied for the NHL's final playoff spot. The team faded down the stretch, however, and ended up five points short.

Sanderson scored three goals and one assist in 13 games during his time with Pittsburgh. After a solid start, by his own admission his body "broke down" on him. He even missed a team curfew one night and was held out of a game because of it. As this article about the final game in Cleveland details, Sanderson's status for the following season was up in the air, but the centreman claimed to have "very substantial offers" from five other clubs.

Derek Sanderson today.

In the end, none of them panned out and the Pens decided to part ways. After his playing days, Sanderson cleaned up his act and has spoken to thousands of school kids about his experiences and how to avoid the mistakes he made. He served as a commentator on Bruins broadcasts and has also worked as an investment professional, serving as a financial advisor for athletes.

Sanderson nets 200th goal in Pens loss

Derek Sanderson enjoyed his finest moment in a Penguins uniform during his second game with the team in Vancouver. He was granted a significant amount of ice time by coach Johnny Wilson and responded with a goal and an assist. "I had no idea I'd be playing this much," Sanderson told the Pittsburgh Press in this article. "It makes me feel welcome."

The tally was the 200th of his career. "I really wanted that goal," he wrote years later in his autobiography Crossing the Line. "I didn't want to end my career with 199. I kept the puck as a souvenir."

Unfortunately, Sanderson's spark wasn't enough to help the fading Pens lose to the Canucks 7-4 and fall further behind in the race for the NHL's final playoff spot.

Ted Lindsay rips Pens for aleged tampering

Detroit Red Wings legend "Terrible" Ted Lindsay was a tough customer on the ice during his Hall of Fame career, and he was no different while serving as the team's General Manager in the late 1970s. His temper was on full display in March 1978 when the Penguins signed Derek Sanderson, who had been playing with the Wings' Kansas City team in the Central Hockey League after the Wings had decided to give the broken down former star player a look. Without any signed contract, however, Sanderson was officially a free agent, free to sign with any team he wished.

When Sanderson's agent contacted Pens GM Baz Bastien about his client's availability, Bastien jumped at the opportunity. That did not sit well with Terrible Ted, as this article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette shows. Lindsay took his grievance to the NHL's head office, but there was no evidence of any kind of contract that could have been used as evidence to void the Penguins move.

"It was a verbal thing," admitted Lindsay.

This brief piece includes Bastien speaking in his own defense.

Sanderson dons a Penguins jersey

One of Derek Sanderson's few appearances
in a Penguins uniform.

Derek Sanderson joined the Penguins in Los Angeles on March 15, 1978 for the team's game that night against the Kings. It was the first leg of a five-game road trip that would go a long way to deciding the Pens' fate for the 77-78 campaign. They went into the game tied with the New York Rangers for the final playoff spot, with only 14 games to go.

Sanderson, no doubt grateful for another shot at the big time, nevertheless must have wondered just what kind of team he'd joined. Losers of two straight going in, the Pens showed little life and bowed to the Kings 4-2. The mood in the post-game locker room was not pretty, as noted in this game report from the Pittsburgh Press. "Just a terrible, terrible effort," observed coach Johnny Wilson. Roared centre Peter Mahovlich to his teammates: "Time is running out! Enough of this ----!" Dave Schultz attributed the team's falling fortunes to a lack of teamwork: "Everybody is trying to do his own thing and the system is breaking down completely."

For his part, Sanderson was still playing himself back into shape after a number of years of hard drinking and hard living. Check out the game report to hear Sanderson's story of what made him finally try to kick his drinking habit and get his life back on track.

Derek Sanderson, Pittsburgh Penguin: Part 1

I was surprised to learn a little while ago that Derek Sanderson at one point in his colourful career played for the Penguins. I'll be looking at his brief stop in the Steel City over the next few posts.

In a desperate attempt to push his team into a playoff spot in the waning weeks of the 1977-78 season, Penguins General Manager Baz Bastien decided to sign aging centre Derek Sanderson as a free agent. Sanderson had been on a wild ride throughout the 70s, reaching the summit of the hockey world when he hoisted the Stanley Cup as a Boston Bruin, only to end up battling the bottle and landing on skid row a few years later. His tale is chronicled nicely in his autobiography Crossing the Line.

After winning his second Cup with Boston in 1972, Sanderson became the highest paid athlete in the world by signing with the World Hockey Association's Philadelphia Blazers for a contract worth $2.65 million. He played only eight games for the Blazers before coming back to Boston and then bouncing around the NHL with stops in New York with the Rangers in 1974, and later St. Louis and Vancouver. Having hit rock bottom in his personal life by 1978, "The Turk" was attempting a comeback in the Detroit organization, playing with the Wings' Central Hockey League affiliate in Kansas City. That's when the Pens entered the picture.

"All I can tell you about Derek is that he's cleaned up his act," said Bastien.

Coach Johnny Wilson welcomed the idea of having another veteran centreman. "I need to be able to spell Peter Mahovlich. "I hate using Pete as much as I do, but when you don't have anybody else you don't have much choice."

The Red Wings weren't happy about the move, appealing to NHL President John Ziegler, who refused to interfere.

Read the full report of Sanderson's signing in this March 15, 1978 report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

1991 Boxing Day Blowout: Pens crumple Leafs 12-1

On the day he became engaged, Mario Lemieux decided to celebrate by going on one of his finest offensive rampages ever. It was Boxing Day 1991 when the Pens welcomed the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Igloo. 

It was not a warm welcome. 

Having slipped a ring on the finger of his longtime girlfriend Nathalie Asselin earlier in the day, Lemieux slipped two goals by Toronto goalie Grant Fuhr and also tallied a whopping five assists en route to a 12-1 demolition of the shell-shocked Leafs. Overshadowed by Mario's feat were two other incredible offensive displays: Joey Mullen's four goals - his second four-goal game in a row - and a six-point night for left wing Kevin Stevens. 

"It was crazy out there," said Stevens in this game report from the Pittsburgh Press (article on previous page). "One of those nights where everything went into the net."

"It was embarrassing to say the least," commented Toronto GM Cliff Fletcher.

Oct. 19/67: Flyers 1, Pens 0

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Flyers open new Spectrum arena with shutout win vs. Pens. Only 7,812 come out to see the game. Read the game report.

Oct. 18/67: Pens 3, North Stars 3

Only 3,885 show up at the Igloo to see Andy Bathgate score a hat trick to get the tie. Coach Red Sullivan: "Some of these guys feel all they got to do is throw their stick on the ice. And I'm talking about the guys who I figure should be leading the club." Read the game report.

1979 Playoffs: Ferguson wins it for the Pens in OT

The Penguins headed into the third period of the decisive third game of their 1979 Preliminary Round series against the Buffalo Sabres trailing 3-2. The hometown Sabres threw everything they had at Pens goalie Denis Herron in the third, piling up a whopping 18 shots, but couldn't get anything behind the Pittsburgh goalie. The only rubber that hit any twine during the frame was at the other end, when George Ferguson knocked in a Jacques Cossette rebound at the 4:17 mark to tie things up.

But Ferguson's heroics hardly ended there.

The puck had barely dropped on the first overtime period when Fergy corraled it near center ice. "I noticed the left side of the rink was open," he told the Pittsburgh Press in this report, "so I just took off and when I thought I could score I just let it fly."

The puck flew right into the back of the net, giving the Penguins their first playoff series win in four years and only the third in franchise history. You can view a video of Ferguson's winner here.

It should be noted that Ferguson would not have had a chance to be the hero if it weren't for the impressive display by rookie defenseman Jim Hamilton, who scored two goals. Drafted by the Pens in 1977, Hamilton would spend his career shuttling between the big club and the minors, totalling 95 NHL games and 32 points. He played in six playoff games, too, but a finer moment than this one in an NHL rink he never had.

Ferguson would play three more full seasons with the Pens, never scoring less than 21 goals, before being traded to the Minnesota North Stars early in the 1982-83 season.

1979 Playoffs: Sauve helps Sabres even things up

Denis Herron thwarts a Sabre attack as
defenseman Tom Bladon arrives to help.

After their impressive road win in Game 1 of their 1979 preliminary round series against the Buffalo Sabres, the Penguins returned to the Igloo for Game 2 in front of the largest playoff crowd in the team's history - 16,033 cheering, stomping fans. Unfortunately for them and the team, Buffalo's young goaltender Bob Sauve turned in a 30-save performance to help his team come away with a 3-1 win and even the series. Sauve rebounded from a performance in the opener that he confessed was not his best.

"I was really uptight in that first game," he told the Pittsburgh Press in this game recap. "I don't think I ever relaxed in it. Tonight I was loose all the way."

His counterpart at the other end of the rink was impressed. "He came up with some fantastic saves," said Denis Herron. "I guess you could say the first game was my hot game and this one was his. Now it's my turn again."

The series would be decided the next day, a Saturday, in an afternoon game at Buffalo's venerable  Memorial Auditorium.

1979 Playoffs: Pens take Game One from Sabres

Our look at the Penguins 1979 preliminary round playoff series against the Buffalo Sabres continues...

The Penguins of the late 70s and early 80s were never very rich in talent, but they often showed an impressive amount of determination and pride that carried them to some fine moments in the franchise's early history. A good example was Game One of the 1979 Preliminary Round series against the Buffalo Sabres.

The Sabres has finished three points ahead of the Pens in the regular season, earning them home ice advantage in the series. Pittsburgh entered the always-tough "Aud" in Buffalo without key injured players Pete Mahovlich, Russ Anderson, Wayne Bianchin and Dale Tallon. The Sabres twice built one-goal leads but the resilient Pens kept battling back. Riding the hot goaltending of Denis Herron, the team erased a 2-1 third-period deficit by exploding for three goals, including the winner by ex-Sabre Gary McAdam.

The Pens ability to overcome their injuries (they also lost forward Gregg Sheppard in the second when he his face was crushed into the boards on a Gerry (King Kong) Korab check) was "the sign of a good team," said blueliner Randy Carlyle in this game report from the next day's Pittsburgh Press. "You forget the injuries and just play hockey."

The Pens would now return to the comfortable confines of the Igloo to try to end the series in a sweep...

1929: Pirates crush Leafs, 10-5

Johnny McKinnon

The stock market had just crashed, but the Pittsburgh Pirates were flying high on November 19, 1929 against the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs. Led by defenceman Johnny McKinnon's four goals, the Pirates earned their first win of the season, decimating the Leafs 10-5 and evening their record at 1-1.

The impressive display prompted writer Bert P. Taggert to proclaim in his game report in the next day's Post-Gazette that "the form displayed by (coach) Freddie Frederickson and his cohorts presages a successful campaign."

Unfortunately, Bert could not have been further from the truth. The Pirates would win only four more times that year and be moved to Philadelphia to become the Quakers once the disastrous campaign finally came to a merciful end.

Pens beat Scouts in first meeting

Before the New Jersey Devils were the Devils, they were the Colorado Rockies. And before that, they were the Kansas City Scouts. KC entered the NHL as an expansion team in 1974-75 and lasted only two years before being sold and transferred to Denver. The Rockies enjoyed a bit more longevity before moving east to become the Devils in 1982.

The Penguins first faced off against the Devils franchise when they paid a visit to the recently completed Kemper Arena on November 5, 1974 to take on the Scouts. Kansas City was fresh off its first-ever win, a 5-4 triumph on the road against their even more inept expansion cousins, the Washington Capitals. Their record heading into the game stood at 1-8-1.

As this game report explains, the hapless Scouts played a struggling Pens team tight for 55 minutes until Ron Schock scored an unassisted goal to give Pittsburgh a 4-3 lead. Rick Kehoe added an empty netter at 19:54 to seal the win against future Penguin goalie Michel Plasse and the Scouts.