EJ and the Whalers

Another interesting link between the Hurricanes/Whalers and the Penguins is one of the most recognizable faces in Pens history - none other than Eddie Johnston. EJ served as Pittsburgh's GM from 1983 to 1988, and head coach twice, from 1980 to 1983 and later from 1993 to 1997.

Aside from his drafting of Mario Lemieux in 1984, the biggest move he made as a GM in relation to the Penguins was when he was sitting in the Whalers' GM chair in 1991. In March of that year he traded two of the big names in the Penguins Stanley Cup runs to the Steel City: Ron Francis and Ulf Sameulsson. This article from the March 6, 1991 Post-Gazette has reactions from the two key recent arrivals (and defenseman Grant Jennings, another Whaler who came over in the trade and who helped bolster the Pens blueline) and a few of their new teammates.

18 years ago, Penguins win 1st Stanley Cup

Hard to believe, but anyone born on the day the Penguins won their first Cup would today be turning 18 and is now officially an adult! If that's making anyone out there feel old, well, just click on this link and browse the article it leads to and the rest of the pieces in this package from the May 27, 1991 Post-Gazette, celebrating the Penguins first Stanley Cup two nights earlier. They'll make you feel better. What a time...and hopefully we'll all have the same vibes again in a couple of weeks.

(You have to love that Penguins logo at the top of these pages with the skating penguin finally hoisting the Cup!)

Readers are welcome to write in their memories of that amazing day on a warm Saturday night in May...

Canes GM was Pens goalkeeper

The Penguins and Hurricanes have never met in the playoffs (even dating back to when the Canes were the Hartford Whalers) and have never had much of a rivalry, but there are still some interesting links between the franchises.

For instance, Carolina GM Jim Rutherford was a goalie for the Penguins for three seasons, from 1971-72 to 1973-74. Those teams weren't particularly good ones, and the situation in net never seemed to be very stable. Rutherford was often battling with Dennis Herron and Andy Brown for the top spot, with none of them really taking a firm grasp of it.

It certainly wasn't for a lack of effort on Rutherford's part, though. This article from the October 20, 1972 Post-Gazette relates just how much fight the "doughty little goalkeeper" had in him.

For Rutherford's complete Penguin stats and a nice pic of him, check out this great page. (Can you guess who the player trying to score on him is?)

Malone misses Whalers tilt - why?

The Penguins current opponent, the Carolina Hurricanes, used to be the Hartford Whalers, who came into the league in 1979 as one of the four World Hockey Association clubs that joined the NHL as part of a merger of the two circuits that year. The Penguins tied the Whalers the first time the teams met on Oct. 13, 1979, and dropped a 7-5 decision the next time 'round in the Insurance City on Nov. 30.

Perhaps they lost that game because they were missing one of their better scorers, Greg Malone. Why was he absent? Not for any of the usual reasons a player is kept out, like an injury or a benching. No, Malone missed the game because the day before, his wife gave birth to Ryan Gregory, as mentioned in this summary of Penguins-goings-on from the Dec. 3, 1979 Post-Gazette. Who knew back then that the new arrival would go on to wear his father's number 12 for the Penguins years later?

Brotherly battles

Here's another article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette following the Pens first semi-final series in 1970, which they lost to the Blues in six games. The attitude seemed pretty upbeat despite the loss, with the sellout Igloo crowd (the rink only held 12,403 at that time) giving the team a rousing thank you. The future of coach Red Kelly as Penguins coach seemed to be in doubt, with other teams knocking at his door. The rumour of him going to Toronto would eventually come true, but not until 1973, after he was fired by the Penguins.

Also mentioned later in the article is the Blues' Bill McCreary, who, just like Eric Staal today, was facing off against his Penguin-uniform-wearing brother in a semi-final series. Bill faced Keith while Eric is, of course, battling with Jordan.

Penguins first semi-final - 1970

The puck will drop tomorrow on the Penguins' seventh Stanley Cup semi-final series (or Conference Final, as they're now known). They are 3-3 overall. The Pens played their first one in only their third year of existence, in the 1969-70 season, against the St. Louis Blues. That sounds impressive, but one must remember that all they had to do to make it that far back then was to beat out two of their other five expansion brethren for one of the four playoff spots in the NHL's West Division (which grouped all six new teams together), and then win a playoff round against one of them.

Mission accomplished on both fronts. The Penguins, after missing the playoffs in their first two years, claimed second place in the West and then took out the Oakland Seals in four straight in the first round.

In the Blues, they faced a team that had proved to be the best in the West the previous two years, only to be swept by the mighty Montreal Canadiens in both Final series.

The 1970 Pens-Blues series, according to the press reports, was a red-knuckle slugfest. This wire story following a Game 1 Penguins 3-1 loss has some tough talk from Pens coach Red Kelly, whose Irish temper seems to have been brought to a boil by the Blues.

The Penguins would lose the first two games, prompting Blues coach and future Penguin bench boss Scotty Bowman to make a bold assertion, one that would surely be jumped on by the opposition and media in today's era. See the third column of this playoff summary story.

The Penguins would eventually fall in six games to the Blues, who would again be swept in the Final, this time by the Boston Bruins and Bobby Orr, who ended the series with his famous "flying though the air" Cup clinching-goal. The Penguins would not reach the semi-final round again until 1991.

Beers with the enemy

There was a great story in yesterday's Pittsburgh Tribune-Review summarizing the Penguins' previous Game 7s. The first one came in 1975 - the infamous loss to the Islanders that capped a collapse after being up 3 games to none. The article describes an almost unbelieveable anecdote about what happened after the game:

Ed Westfall scored the only goal — a backhander that beat goaltender Gary Inness — with 5:18 left in regulation to complete the visiting New York Islanders' comeback from a 3-0 deficit, a hole no other team has escaped from since — only one team, the 1942 Maple Leafs, against Detroit in the Cup final, had done it previously. The Penguins had their chances; Pierre Larouche hit the post twice. Westfall was late leaving the dressing room after the game and ran into Penguins center Syl Apps, who wondered why Westfall was all by himself. "I told him, 'Everybody left. Where are you guys going?' " Westfall later recalled. "He said, 'The Pleasure Bar.' So I went with the Penguins players and their wives to the Pleasure Bar and sat there drinking until sunrise."

I wonder what was said around that table.... It would have been impossible for Westfall to gloat, especially with the wives there. Maybe one day we'll find out.