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1967-68
1967–68 Pittsburgh Penguins
Division 5th West
1967–68 record 27–34–13
Home record 15–12–10
Road record 12–22–3
Goals for 195
Goals against 216
Team information
General manager Jack Riley
Coach Red Sullivan
Captain Ab McDonald
Alternate captains Leo Boivin
Earl Ingarfield
Al MacNeil
Arena Pittsburgh Civic Arena
Average attendance 7,407
Team leaders
Goals Ab McDonald (22)
Assists Andy Bathgate (39)
Points Andy Bathgate (59)
Penalty minutes Leo Boivin (74)
Wins Les Binkley (20)
Goals against average Hank Bassen (2.86)

The 1967–68 Pittsburgh Penguins season was their 1st in the National Hockey League. Pittsburgh was one of six cities awarded an expansion team during the 1967 NHL expansion. The Penguins finished 5th in the West Division and did not qualify for the playoffs.

Off-season[]

On February 8, 1966 the NHL awarded a franchise to the Hockey Club of Pittsburgh, Incorporated: a partnership of several investors headed by Pennsylvania State Senator Jack McGregor and his friend and business associate Peter Block. McGregor became the public face of the ownership, as President and Chief Executive Officer, and representing the club at Board of Governors meetings.

Later that year McGregor and Block began assembling their new hockey team. American Hockey League executive Jack Riley was named the club's general manager, and began immediately acquiring the services of players. He signed minor-leaguers Les Binkley, Ted Lanyon, Dick Mattiussi and Bill Speer to contracts before the club had ever taken to the ice.

67Feb10PittPensNameContest

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Feb. 10, 1967.

The name of the new team was chosen by a contest in a local newspaper: on February 10, 1967 the new team became known as the Penguins. After deciding on the "Penguin" nickname (which was inspired by the fact that the team was going to play in an "Igloo", the nickname of the Pittsburgh Civic Center)[1], a logo was chosen, that had a penguin in front of a triangle, which is thought to be in tribute to Pittsburgh's "Golden Triangle."[2]

1967-68 Pens

1967-68 Penguins just before the season start.

In the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft Riley chose experienced players, particularly former New York Rangers players. Coincidentally Penguins head coach Red Sullivan was a former Ranger player and head coach. Earl Ingarfield, Ken Schinkel, Val Fonteyne, Mel Pearson, Al MacNeil, Noel Price, Billy Dea and Art Stratton had each spent time in their careers with the Rangers, but the Penguins' most prized acquisition was former Rangers star Andy Bathgate. Bathgate, then 34 years old, was near the end of his career and deemed expendable by the Red Wings, who had previously acquired his rights.

The rest of the roster was filled with minor-leaguers, particularly members of the Pittsburgh Hornets, the American Hockey League club which had served the Pittsburgh market since the late 1930s.

Pre-season[]

The Penguins held their training camp in Brantford, Ontario.

September 29, 1967: Pittsburgh 7, Minnesota North Stars 2 @ Brantford, Ontario
September 30, 1967: Minnesota 6, Pittsburgh 1 @ Oshawa, Ontario
October 1, 1967: Oakland 3, Minnesota 2 @ Port Huron, Michigan
October 4, 1967: Pittsburgh 2, Minnesota 0 @ Belleville, Ontario
October 5, 1967: Pittsburgh 5, Minnesota 2 @ Kingston, Ontario

Regular Season[]

1967-Landon-Bassen jerseys

Ted Lanyon/Dick Mattiussi and Hank Bassen's 1967-68 jerseys.

The Penguins inaugural jersey colours were blue, white, and black with a primarily blue home jersey and a primarily white away jersey. The jerseys had five outlined stripes on the arms and body, no names on the back and the jersey numbers were outlined. The logo was a diagonal "PITTSBURGH" that was outlined. The Penguins wore these jersey for this season only.

1967-Boivin-Fonteyne-Bathgate-Dillabough-Daley-Stratton-MacDonald-Mattiussi

Leo Boivin, Val Fonteyne, Andy Bathgate, Bob Dillabough, Joe Daley, Art Stratton, Ab McDonald, Dick Mattiussi, October 1967.

The Penguins' first general manager was Jack Riley. His team (along with the other expansion teams) was hampered by restrictive rules that kept most major talent with the "Original Six." Beyond aging sniper Andy Bathgate, Ab McDonald and tough defenceman Leo Boivin, the first Penguins team was manned by a cast of former minor-leaguers. The club missed the playoffs, but were a mere six points out of 1st place in the close-fought West Division.

On October 11, 1967 Andy Bathgate of the Pittsburgh Penguins scored a goal in a 2–1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. It was the first goal ever scored by a player for a 1967 expansion team. Bathgate led the team in scoring with 59 points.

1967-Oct29-Binkley stops Shack

Les Binkley stops Eddie Shack, October 29, 1967.

Mel Pearson played the last 2 games of his 38 game NHL career, that spanned over eight years, when he appeared for the Penguins on February 7, 1968 versus the Oakland Seals and February 8 against the Los Angeles Kings. Pearson had an assist in the latter game.

Ab McDonald's 22 goals led the team while Les Binkley played 54 games in net for the Penguins and finished with 20 wins, just two behind second place Cesare Maniago's 22 wins.

Final Standings[]

West Division
GP W L T GF GA PTS
Philadelphia Flyers 74 31 32 11 173 179 73
Los Angeles Kings 74 31 33 10 200 224 72
St. Louis Blues 74 27 31 16 177 191 70
Minnesota North Stars 74 27 32 15 191 226 69
Pittsburgh Penguins 74 27 34 13 195 216 67
Oakland Seals 74 15 42 17 153 219 47

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.


Game Log[]

      Win (2 points)       Loss (0 points)       Tie (1 point)

1967–68 Game Log

Playoffs[]

  • The Penguins did not qualify for the post season.

Player Stats[]

Forwards[]

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

# Player GP G AST PTS PIM
9 Andy Bathgate 74 20 39 59 55
20 Ab McDonald 74 22 21 43 38
12 Ken Schinkel 57 14 25 39 19
7 Art Stratton 58 16 21 37 16
10 Earl Ingarfield 50 15 22 37 12
8 Val Fonteyne 69 6 28 34 0
11 Gene Ubriaco 65 18 15 33 16
22 Paul Andrea 65 11 21 32 2
14 Billy Dea 73 16 12 28 6
21 Keith McCreary 70 14 12 26 44
15 Bob Dillabough 47 7 12 19 18
19 Bobby Rivard 27 5 12 17 4
16 Wayne Hicks 15 4 7 11 2
23 Mel Pearson 2 0 1 1 0

Defencemen[]

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

# Player GP G AST PTS PIM
4 Noel Price 70 6 27 33 48
2 Leo Boivin 73 9 13 22 74
17, 23, 25 Bill Speer 68 3 13 16 44
18 George Konik 52 7 8 15 26
3 Al MacNeil 74 2 10 12 58
5 Dick Mattiussi 32 0 2 2 18
6 Dunc McCallum 32 0 2 2 36
5, 23 Ted Lanyon 5 0 0 0 4

Goaltending[]

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

# Player GP MIN W L T SO GAA
1 Hank Bassen 25 1299 7 10 3 1 2.86
30 Les Binkley 54 3141 20 24 10 6 2.88

Awards and Records[]

  • The Penguins did not win any awards this season.

Transactions[]

The Penguins were involved in the following transactions during the 1967–68 season:

June 6, 1967 To Pittsburgh Penguins
Paul Andrea
George Konik
Dunc McCallum
Frank Francis
To New York Rangers
Larry Jeffrey
September 7, 1967 To Pittsburgh Penguins
Hank Bassen
To Detroit Red Wings
Roy Edwards
October, 1967 To Pittsburgh Penguins
Gene Ubriaco
To Hershey Bears (AHL)
Jeannot Gilbert
February 27, 1968 To Pittsburgh Penguins
Wayne Hicks
cash
To Philadelphia Flyers
Art Stratton
Additions
Player Former team Via
Bill LeCaine Port Huron Flags (IHL) free agency (1967–08)
Marv Edwards Nashville Dixie Flyers (EHL) free agency (1967–09)
Subtractions
Player New team Via

Draft Picks[]

Amateur Draft[]

Round Pick Player Nationality Position
1 2 Steve Rexe Flag of Canada Canada Goaltender
1 11 Bob Smith Flag of Canada Canada Center

Expansion Draft[]

# Player Drafted From
1. Joe Daley (G) Detroit Red Wings
2. Roy Edwards (G) Chicago Black Hawks
3. Earl Ingarfield (C) New York Rangers
4. Al MacNeil (D) New York Rangers
5. Larry Jeffrey (LW) Toronto Maple Leafs
6. Ab McDonald (LW) Detroit Red Wings
7. Leo Boivin (D) Detroit Red Wings
8. Noel Price (D) Montreal Canadiens
9. Keith McCreary (RW) Montreal Canadiens
10. Ken Schinkel (RW) New York Rangers
11. Bob Dillabough (C) Boston Bruins
12. Art Stratton (C) Chicago Black Hawks
13. Val Fonteyne (LW) Detroit Red Wings
14. Jeannot Gilbert (C) Boston Bruins
15. Tom McCarthy (LW) Montreal Canadiens
16. Billy Dea (LW) Chicago Black Hawks
17. Bob Rivard (C) Montreal Canadiens
18. Mel Pearson (LW) Chicago Black Hawks
19. Andy Bathgate (RW) Detroit Red Wings
20. Les Hunt (D) New York Rangers

Trivia[]

Gallery[]

Notes[]

References[]

Pittsburgh Penguins
Team FranchisePlayersCoachesGMsSeasonsRecordsDraft PicksMellon ArenaPPG Paints Arena
Coaches Sullivan • Kelly • Schinkel • Boileau • WilsonJohnston • Angotti • Berry • Creamer • Ubriaco • Patrick • Johnson • Bowman • Constantine • Brooks • Hlinka • Kehoe • Olczyk • Therrien
Seasons 1967-681968-691969-701970-711971-721972-731973-741974-751975-761976-771977-781978-791979-801980-811981-821982-831983-841984-851985-861986-871987-881988-891989-901990-911991-921992-931993-941994-951995-961996-971997-981998-991999-002000-012001-022002-032003-042004-052005-062006-072007-082008-092009-102010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-162016-172017-182018-19
Affiliates Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL), Wheeling Nailers (ECHL)
This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1967–68 Pittsburgh Penguins season. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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