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68-69PitPen
1968–69 Pittsburgh Penguins
Division West 5th
1968–69 record 20-45-11
Goals for 189
Goals against 248
Team information
General manager Jack Riley
Coach George "Red" Sullivan
Alternate captains Lou Angotti
Noel Price
Ken Schinkel
Bob Woytowich
Arena Pittsburgh Civic Arena
Average attendance 6,008
Team leaders
Goals Keith McCreary (25)
Assists Charlie Burns (38)
Points Ken Schinkel (52)
Penalty minutes Dunc McCallum (81)
Wins Les Binkley
Joe Daley (10)
Goals against average Marv Edwards (3.00)

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.

1968-Fonteyne-Binkley jerseys

Val Fonteyne and Les Binkley's 1968-69 jerseys.

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.

1968-Dec4-Howe 700th

Gordie Howe scores his 700th career goal, December 4, 1968.

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.

Final Standings[]

West Division
GP W L T GF GA PTS
St. Louis Blues 76 37 25 14 204 157 88
Oakland Seals 76 29 36 11 219 251 69
Philadelphia Flyers 76 20 35 21 174 225 61
Los Angeles Kings 76 24 42 10 185 260 58
Pittsburgh Penguins 76 20 45 11 189 252 51
Minnesota North Stars 76 18 43 15 189 270 51

[1]

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[]

Regular Season Results
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 T October 12, 1968 1–1 Montreal Canadiens (1968–69) 0–0–1
2 T October 16, 1968 2–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) 0–0–2
3 L October 17, 1968 0–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) 0–1–2
4 L October 19, 1968 1–5 Boston Bruins (1968–69) 0–2–2
5 L October 23, 1968 5–8 Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) 0–3–2
6 W October 26, 1968 4–2 St. Louis Blues (1968–69) 1–3–2
7 L October 30, 1968 3–7 @ New York Rangers (1968–69) 1–4–2
8 L November 2, 1968 2–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) 1–5–2
9 W November 3, 1968 3–1 @ Oakland Seals (1968–69) 2–5–2
10 L November 6, 1968 1–3 St. Louis Blues (1968–69) 2–6–2
11 L November 7, 1968 4–5 @ Montreal Canadiens (1968–69) 2–7–2
12 L November 9, 1968 0–3 Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) 2–8–2
13 L November 13, 1968 5–6 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) 2–9–2
14 L November 14, 1968 4–6 Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) 2–10–2
15 L November 16, 1968 1–2 New York Rangers (1968–69) 2–11–2
16 L November 20, 1968 2–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) 2–12–2
17 W November 21, 1968 3–1 Oakland Seals (1968–69) 3–12–2
18 T November 23, 1968 2–2 Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) 3–12–3
19 T November 27, 1968 3–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) 3–12–4
20 W November 28, 1968 3–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) 4–12–4
21 W November 30, 1968 4–2 @ Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) 5–12–4
22 T December 1, 1968 4–4 @ Oakland Seals (1968–69) 5–12–5
23 L December 4, 1968 2–7 Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) 5–13–5
24 T December 7, 1968 1–1 @ St. Louis Blues (1968–69) 5–13–6
25 L December 8, 1968 1–4 Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) 5–14–6
26 W December 11, 1968 4–2 @ Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) 6–14–6
27 L December 14, 1968 1–2 Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) 6–15–6
28 L December 15, 1968 3–5 @ Boston Bruins (1968–69) 6–16–6
29 L December 17, 1968 2–8 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) 6–17–6
30 L December 21, 1968 1–3 Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) 6–18–6
31 L December 22, 1968 1–3 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) 6–19–6
32 W December 25, 1968 6–3 Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) 7–19–6
33 L December 26, 1968 2–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1968–69) 7–20–6
34 L December 28, 1968 3–4 Oakland Seals (1968–69) 7–21–6
35 L December 31, 1968 3–4 Montreal Canadiens (1968–69) 7–22–6
36 W January 2, 1969 5–2 @ Montreal Canadiens (1968–69) 8–22–6
37 T January 4, 1969 1–1 Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) 8–22–7
38 L January 5, 1969 1–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) 8–23–7
39 W January 9, 1969 7–2 Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) 9–23–7
40 L January 11, 1969 2–4 Oakland Seals (1968–69) 9–24–7
41 L January 12, 1969 4–8 @ Boston Bruins (1968–69) 9–25–7
42 W January 15, 1969 3–1 @ Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) 10–25–7
43 L January 16, 1969 2–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) 10–26–7
44 L January 18, 1969 0–4 @ Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) 10–27–7
45 L January 19, 1969 3–6 @ Oakland Seals (1968–69) 10–28–7
46 L January 23, 1969 1–3 Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) 10–29–7
47 L January 25, 1969 0–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) 10–30–7
48 L January 26, 1969 3–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) 10–31–7
49 L January 29, 1969 1–2 St. Louis Blues (1968–69) 10–32–7
50 T February 1, 1969 2–2 Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) 10–32–8
51 L February 2, 1969 3–7 @ New York Rangers (1968–69) 10–33–8
52 W February 5, 1969 3–2 New York Rangers (1968–69) 11–33–8
53 L February 8, 1969 2–4 Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) 11–34–8
54 L February 9, 1969 1–3 @ Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) 11–35–8
55 L February 12, 1969 0–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1968–69) 11–36–8
56 T February 15, 1969 4–4 Oakland Seals (1968–69) 11–36–9
57 L February 16, 1969 0–4 Montreal Canadiens (1968–69) 11–37–9
58 W February 19, 1969 3–0 Boston Bruins (1968–69) 12–37–9
59 L February 20, 1969 0–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) 12–38–9
60 W February 22, 1969 3–2 Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) 13–38–9
61 W February 27, 1969 4–3 Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) 14–38–9
62 T March 1, 1969 3–3 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) 14–38–10
63 L March 2, 1969 0–4 @ Boston Bruins (1968–69) 14–39–10
64 W March 5, 1969 4–2 St. Louis Blues (1968–69) 15–39–10
65 L March 8, 1969 3–5 New York Rangers (1968–69) 15–40–10
66 L March 12, 1969 3–4 @ New York Rangers (1968–69) 15–41–10
67 L March 15, 1969 1–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) 15–42–10
68 L March 16, 1969 2–7 @ Oakland Seals (1968–69) 15–43–10
69 L March 19, 1969 2–3 Boston Bruins (1968–69) 15–44–10
70 L March 20, 1969 3–5 @ Montreal Canadiens (1968–69) 15–45–10
71 W March 22, 1969 2–1 @ St. Louis Blues (1968–69) 16–45–10
72 W March 23, 1969 5–0 Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) 17–45–10
73 W March 25, 1969 3–1 @ Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) 18–45–10
74 W March 26, 1969 8–4 Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) 19–45–10
75 T March 29, 1969 3–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) 19–45–11
76 W March 30, 1969 2–1 Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) 20–45–11

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
12 Ken Schinkel 76 18 34 52 18
9 Charlie Burns 76 13 38 51 22
21 Keith McCreary 70 25 23 48 42
19 Jean Pronovost 76 16 25 41 41
7 Lou Angotti 71 17 20 37 36
8 Val Fonteyne 74 12 17 29 2
18 Wally Boyer 62 10 19 29 17
11 Gene Ubriaco 49 15 11 26 14
10 Earl Ingarfield 40 8 15 23 4
15 Billy Harris 54 7 13 20 8
14 Billy Dea 66 10 8 18 4
22 Paul Andrea 25 7 6 13 2
10 George Swarbrick 19 1 6 7 28
16 Ron Snell 4 3 1 4 6
24 Garry Swain 9 1 1 2 0
17 Bill LeCaine 4 0 0 0 0
15 Bob Dillabough 14 0 0 0 2

Defencemen[]

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

# Player GP G AST PTS PIM
20 Bob Woytowich 71 9 20 29 62
4 Noel Price 73 2 18 20 61
6 Dunc McCallum 62 5 13 18 81
2 Leo Boivin 41 5 13 18 26
2 Duane Rupp 30 3 10 13 24
17, 23 Bill Speer 34 1 4 5 27
11 Tracy Pratt 18 0 5 5 34
5 Bryan Watson 18 0 4 4 35
23 Doug Barrie 8 1 1 2 8
5 Dick Mattiussi 12 0 2 2 14
3 John Arbour 17 0 2 2 35
23 Jean-Guy Lagace 17 0 1 1 14

Goaltending[]

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

# Player GP W L T SO GAA
30 Les Binkley 50 10 31 8 0 3.29
1 Joe Daley 29 10 13 3 2 3.23
30 Marv Edwards 1 0 1 0 0 3.00

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:

Trades[]

May 21, 1968 To Pittsburgh Penguins
John Arbour
Jean Pronovost
To Boston Bruins
cash
June 11, 1968 To Pittsburgh Penguins
Lou Angotti
To St. Louis Blues
Ab McDonald
June 12, 1968 To Pittsburgh Penguins
Wally Boyer
To Montreal Canadiens
Al MacNeil
October, 1968 To Pittsburgh Penguins
future considerations
To Vancouver Canucks (WHL)
loan of Andy Bathgate
October, 1968 To Pittsburgh Penguins
Doug Barrie
To Detroit Red Wings
cash
October 1, 1968 To Pittsburgh Penguins
Bob Woytowich
To Minnesota North Stars
1st round pick in 1972 Draft (traded to Montreal CanadiensDave Gardner)
November 24, 1968 To Pittsburgh Penguins
Jean-Guy Lagace
To Montreal Canadiens
Larry Hillman
November 29, 1968 To Pittsburgh Penguins
Billy Harris
To Oakland Seals
Bob Dillabough
January 24, 1968 To Pittsburgh Penguins
Duane Rupp
To Minnesota North Stars
Leo Boivin
January 30, 1968 To Pittsburgh Penguins
Tracy Pratt
George Swarbrick
Bryan Watson
To Oakland Seals
Earl Ingarfield
Dick Mattiussi
Gene Ubriaco

Additions and Subtractions[]

Additions
Player Former team Via
Charlie Burns Oakland Seals Intra-League Draft (1968–06–12)
Larry Hillman Minnesota North Stars waivers (1968–11–22)
Subtractions
Player New team Via

Draft Picks[]

See also: 1968 NHL Amateur Draft
Round Pick Player Nationality Position
1 4 Garry Swain Flag of Canada Canada Center
2 14 Ron Snell Flag of Canada Canada Right wing
3 21 Dave Simpson Flag of Canada Canada Defense

Trivia[]

  • No Penguins recorded a Hat trick this season.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p.162, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-920445-98-5

External Links[]

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 1968–69 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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