1968–69 Pittsburgh Penguins season



The 1968–69 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the franchise's 2nd season in the National Hockey League. The Penguins finished 5th in the West Division and did not qualify for the playoffs.

Off-season
Andy Bathgate, the team leading scorer from the 1967-68 season was loaned to the Vancouver Canucks of the Western Hockey League. His scoring was replaced with the acquisition of Jean Pronovost from the Boston Bruins.

The Penguins made a significant change to their jersey design from that introduced in the 1967-68 season. While retaining the powder blue, navy blue and white colour scheme, shoulder yolks were added to both the powder blue home and white away jerseys along with a simplified three stripe pattern on the arms and body, dark blue sleeve ends and a different font for the outlined numbers. A new logo featuring a hockey playing penguin against a yellow triangle enclosed in a circle which had the team name written in it completed the new jerseys, which would remain for the next two seasons.

Regular Season
Doug Barrie played his first NHL game in the 6-4 loss to the Chicago Black Hawks on November 14, 1968 while Bill LeCaine played his first of four NHL games on November 20, 1968 as the Penguins lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2.

Gordie Howe scored the 700th goal of his career during the 7-2 win over the Penguins on December 4, 1968.

Jean-Guy Lagace played his first NHL game during the 4-3 loss to the Oakland Seals on December 28, 1968. Garry Swain played the first of a nine game NHL career on January 25, 1969 in the 2-0 loss to the Maple Leafs. After a 13 year career in the minors, goalie Marv Edwards played his first NHL game in a 3-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on February 20, 1969.

The Penguins scored at a similiar level to the previous season but suffered from a steep increase in goals against, despite having basically the same defensive core, strengthened with the addition of Bob Woytowich. A six game unbeaten streak to finish the season, coupled with the Minnesota North Stars having a seven game winless run, saw the Penguins tied with Minnesota for last place in the West Division and the league. However, the Penguins had more wins and were awarded the tie breaker. Ron Snell was called up for the last four games of the season and scored in his first game, a 3-1 win over the North Stars on March 25, 1969. Snell had a goal and an assist in the next game on March 26 and then another goal on March 29 and finished with 4 points in 4 games.

Jean Pronovost had an excellent rookie season, the first of ten he'd spend with the Penguins in his 998 game NHL career.

Playoffs

 * The Penguins did not qualify for the post season.

Forwards
Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; AST= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points

Defencemen
Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; AST= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points

Goaltending
Note: GP= Games played; W= Wins; L= Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals Against

Awards and Records

 * The Penguins did not win any awards this season.

Transactions
The Penguins were involved in the following transactions during the 1968–69 season:

Trivia

 * No Penguins recorded a Hat trick this season.