Pens slap Caps as Baz’s moves impress

The flurry of November trades by Pens’ GM Baz Bastien looked to be paying off handsomely in early December, 1977. Heading into a game at the Capital Centre in Landover, Md, the Pens faced a team they had only beaten once in their last eight meetings. 

But new recruits Pete Mahovlich, Dave Schultz and Peter Lee, with his first NHL goal, lit the lamp for the boys in blue en route to a 4-2 win. It was left to the longest-serving Pen, Jean Pronovost, to net the game-winner in the third. Check out the game report from the next day.

Would the positive early returns keep coming?

Penguin Pete lights up the Igloo

A day after the Penguins headed home from Montreal with Pete Mahovlich and the pain of another drubbing from the Canadiens in tow, they hit the Igloo ice against the Detroit Red Wings. Mahovlich helped everyone who came out forget about the recently departed Pierre Larouche by scoring a hat trick and leading his new team to a 6-4 victory. 

This game report from December 1, 1977 gives a nice description of Pete’s first three Penguin tallies, the last of which was the game-winner. “[He] was a real inspiration,” said coach Johnny Wilson of his new star after the game.

This piece from the Pittsburgh Press looks at the potential positive impact the big centerman might have on the team. 

Larouche traded: "The more never arrived"

With their struggles continuing through the early part of the 1977-78 season, the Pens pulled off their second blockbuster trade in less than a month in an effort to shake things up and keep fans coming out to the Igloo. After acquiring tough guy Dave Schultz from Los Angeles for popular forward Syl Apps on November 1, the Penguins bookended the month by sending former 50-goal man Pierre Larouche to Montreal for Pete Mahovlich and prospect Peter Lee.

In the Post-Gazette's report, coach Johnny Wilson cited a lack of drive on Larouche's part as a motivation for the deal. "Everyone associated with Pierre expected more and the more never arrived."

The 31-year-old Mahovlich welcomed the trade after having run-ins with Canadiens head coach Scotty Bowman. "Maybe we can get something going here," he said in this article.

The trade, which went down just prior to the Penguins meeting the Canadiens in Montreal on November 29, did not bear immediate results for Pittsburgh as the Habs handed them a 9-1 loss. Both Larouche and Mahovlich played for their new teams. 

Ironically, it was Lee who ended up being the most valuable addition for the Pens long term. He went on to score 245 points in 431 games for the club. Mahovlich would don the Penguin uniform 117 times and tally 114 points.

You can't help but wonder why General Manager Baz Bastien sent Larouche to a powerhouse division rival. As this thorough analysis by Pittsburgh Press writer Dan Donovan reveals, Larouche had a clause in his contract allowing him to approve any potential trade. He apparently nixed one the year before to the lowly Cleveland Barons before readily agreeing to go to the hockey Mecca of Montreal.

Although the Penguins picked up a big name with a few Stanley Cup rings to his name, it had to come as a huge disappointment to their fans to watch a homegrown potential superstar leave town under such sordid circumstances. Whether the deal was the result of Larouche's immaturity or the Penguins' rush to find a marquee name to help fill the Igloo's empty seats -- and it was probably a mixture of both -- the bottom line was that Penguins fans saw a young talent around whom a contending team could be built leave town, just as the long grind of the 1977-78 season truly began to set in...

My first game: Penguins-Canadiens, 1977

This is the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's report from the first live hockey game I ever saw, which was played on Nov. 29, 1977 at the Montreal Forum between the Canadiens and Penguins. I was all of 8 years old and already a huge Penguins fan. One of my uncles had some connections and often got tickets to Habs games - highly prized commodities for any Montrealer, but even moreso for a young boy who lived, breathed and dreamed nothing but hockey and his favourite team, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

A few hours before game time the tickets arrived via courier and my mother informed me of what was going on. I still remember seeing the grey delivery truck pulling up outside our house while I played street hockey in the light of overhead street lamps, and thinking it was strange that such a truck was stopping here. My uncle remembered that I was a Penguins fan, and when he realized he couldn't go that night, decided to give them to me. I would head to the Forum with my older brother.

I hurriedly gulped down my dinner, bursting with energy and elation at this immense stroke of good fortune that had just befallen me. Not only was I going to see my first game ever, but I was going to see the PENGUINS!! Unfathomable, and it was all happening so quickly.

I remember having pretty decent seats, about halfway up, on one of the bluelines. The things I remember most about the game included marvelling at the Pens' great blue uniforms while the starters stood on the blueline during the anthems; buying a Penguins pennant at the souvenir stand (one I'm happy to say I still own and which is in pretty decent shape); Guy Lafleur's hair blowing behind him as he skated in the warmup; and the electric excitement in the air. The Forum was the epicentre of Montreal in those days, and seeing any game - even one in November that turned out to be a mismatch - was cause for excitement for anyone in attendance.

I always seemed to think that the Penguins had lost 7-1, until I looked up a Montreal Gazette article from the day after on microfiche years later and discovered that it was even worse - 9-1! I don't remember being bothered in the least that they got shellacked, though. I was just so excited to be there and to see them live. You have to remember, back then, we only got one game a week, so it was an event if you got to see the Penguins at all, let alone in person.

Another interesting note about this game is that it took place the day the Penguins traded Pierre Larouche to the Habs for Pete Mahovlich and Peter Lee, among others. Larouche had a big game, and I don't believe Mahovlich played that night - but I'm still looking for confirmation of that. Here's another P-G piece that discusses Larouche's happiness with the deal.