Pens score 8 vs. Sharks - in 1 period!

The Pens will face off against the San Jose Sharks tonight on the west coast and will be facing a team that once again has the potential to take home the Stanley Cup. Mention of Lord Stanley's coveted bowl, however, did not go hand-in-hand with the Silicon Valley squad back when it joined the league in 1991. That first season was, as for most expansion teams, positively nightmarish, and the darkest night probably occured on Dec. 18, 1991, when the Sharks paid a visit to the Igloo to face the high-flying defending Stanley Cup champs.

In a period described in this game report from the Post-Gazette by beat writer Tom McMillan as "comical and ugly at the same time", Mario & Co. racked up an incredible eight goals in the second period and carried a 10-0 lead into the third. Can you imagine how the Sharks must have felt coming out for that final frame? Fortunately for them, the mighty Pens took their foot off the gas and let the new kids have a couple.

As a bonus, here's a video describing the history of the Sharks:

Where it all began

This is a short report on the Penguins' first-ever game, a 2-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 11, 1967. Unfortunately, the Post-Gazette's issue from the following day hasn't shown up on Google News yet, but as soon as it does I'll post a link.

Despite the loss, the Pens acquitted themselves quite well against the mighty Montrealers. It seemed to all present that good days were ahead for the team, and with a lot of veteran guys in the lineup, there was every reason to believe that Pittsburgh would be one of the better 'New 6' squads. Alas, the type of optimism on display in Habs' coach Toe Blake's quote in this article was misplaced. The Pens finished 5th of 6th in the new West (Expansion) Division, out of the playoffs.

Here's a great video with original Pens' GM Jack Riley discussing the first game and featuring some clips of the early days. Look how natilly attired the crowds were back then!

Canuck keeper loses cool in Pens 1976 drubbing

Further to the last post about the Seals, here's another report from that Western road trip in February 1976, this time from Vancouver, detailing a 7-3 win against the Canucks. There's a great story about Gary "Suitcase" Smith, the Canuck keeper who some might have referred to as "Nutcase" for the type of strange behaviour described here.

Pens-Seals, 1976

Playing NHL 10 recently, I realized that one of the uniforms you can choose if playing the Dallas Stars is the California Golden Seals. It got me thinking of that old team, so I looked up some reports of their games against the Pens. The Seals did not last too long, coming in with the Penguins in 1967 and suffering through nine mostly dreadful seasons. The franchise was moved to Cleveland in 1976, lasting there only two seasons as the Barons before merging with the struggling Minnesota North Stars.

Here's a report on the Penguins' final visit to Oakland, which involved some last-minute heroics from Pens captain Ron Schock. The Penguins would win the final battle back in Pittsburgh the following month, to end with a 27-16-16 all-time record.

Blueline blues: 1974

We got the news today about Sergei Gonchar being out for 4-6 weeks - certainly a blow to the Pens, even if the team is playing spectacularly in the early going of this season. Thirty-five years ago, the Penguins were facing a similar situation on their blueline, with two regulars on the sidelines. Here's a P-G article describing the predicament. There's a good picture of a young Colin Campbell, now the NHL's head disciplinarian, who was brought up to fill in.

The main tidbit that really jumped out at me in this article, though, was the reference to a pre-season game the Penguins had played against the WHA's Cleveland Crusaders. I did not know that there was any kind of inter-league play between these two circuits, and perhaps illustrates that their leaders weren't quite at each others' throats as we might suspect.

Igloo's swan song = great reading

With the Penguins now into their final season at the Igloo, there are a lot of fine reads coming out on the history of the arena and Penguin memories. The P-G's Empty Netters blog is featuring some interviews with notable Pens from the past. Here's one with original GM Jack Riley.

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.