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.

Michel Briere and Co. battle the Leafs, 1969

I had the pleasure of watching a game between the Penguins and Maple Leafs from Dec. 6, 1969, which was aired here in the Toronto area on Leafs TV. It was easily the oldest game I had ever seen the Pens play, and was a great glimpse into what the team was like in these early expansion years of the franchise. The only negative was that the good guys got trounced, 5-0!

Read the pre-game article that appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on the day of the game.

Despite some impressive goaltending from Al Smith, the Penguins found themselves in a 2-0 hole after one, thanks to some slow-footed defence play that allowed the Leafs to break in on a number of odd-man rushes. As noted by the legendary Foster Hewitt after the game, one of the strongest performances from the Penguins was turned in by rookie Michel Briere. It was easy to see why Pittsburgh hockey fans were excited about the future of this potential star player - he was often whizzing around the ice and seemed to be in the middle of most of the team's scoring chances. Playing with Jean Pronovost on his right side didn't hurt his game either.

Despite the result, this DVD will sit proudly amongst my collection, seeing as how rare a chance it was to see Briere playing in his lone NHL season, before his car accident in May 1970 and his death the following year after being in a coma.

This game was the first of a home-and-home weekend series against the Leafs. Apparently the loss didn't sit well with the young Briere - he tallied two goals the next night in Pittsburgh, the difference in a 3-2 Penguin triumph. Here's the report on that game from the Post-Gazette.

Pens-Wings: The first game ever

Here's a report of the very first game the Penguins played against the Red Wings on November 10, 1967, at the old Detroit Olympia. Like most of the new "Next 6" clubs going up against the "Original 6" teams in that first season of expansion, the Pens came out on the losing end of things.
There are several funny and quirky elements in this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story. First, there's an exclamation mark in the headline, which you never see these days; the Pens are identified as the "Pengs" in the headline over the summary, a monicker that obviously (and mercifully) never took hold; the author, Jimmy Jordan, appears to have just shifted over from the Pittsburgh crime beat, with his frequent use of burglary-related terms; and, as a bit of evidence that NHL hockey was still a relatively new thing in the 'Burgh, Jordan closes the piece by informing readers that the Penguins' next game will be on Saturday night at home against the "St. Louis Flyers".

It's so much fun reading these old stories...

(You'll unfortunately have to scroll up the page a bit from the story that the link goes to; Google Archives doesn't have the actual Pens story indexed yet.)

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?