1976–77 Pittsburgh Penguins season

1976–77 Pittsburgh Penguins
Division	3rd Norris
Conference	5th Prince of Wales
1976–77 record	34-33-13
Goals for	240
Goals against	252
Team information
General manager	Wren Blair (fired Dec 3, 1976) Baz Bastien
Coach	Ken Schinkel
Captain	Ron Schock
Arena	Pittsburgh Civic Arena
Team leaders
Goals	Jean Pronovost (33)
Assists	Syl Apps, Jr. (43)
Points	Jean Pronovost (64)
Penalty minutes	Bob Kelly (115)
Wins	Dunc Wilson (18)
Goals against average	Denis Herron (2.94)

The 1976–77 Pittsburgh Penguins season was their 10th in the National Hockey League. They finished 3rd in the Norris Division for the third season in a row and lost in the Preliminary round to the Toronto Maple Leafs 2 games to 1.

Off-season

Draft Picks

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team
1	2.	Blair Chapman	Canada	Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)
2	19.	Greg Malone	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OMJHL)
2	29.	Peter Marsh	Canada	Sherbrooke Beavers (QMJHL)
3	47.	Morris Lukowich	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)
4	65.	Greg Redquest	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OMJHL)
5	83.	Brendan Lowe		Sherbrooke Beavers (QMJHL)
6	101.	Vic Sirko	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OMJHL)

Pre-season

The Penguins had five exhibition games against teams from the WHA, winning four and losing one:

September 21, 1976: Pittsburgh Penguins 5, Houston Aeros 1
September 23, 1976: Pittsburgh Penguins 7, Calgary Cowboys 3
September 24, 1976: Winnipeg Jets 5, Pittsburgh Penguins 3
September 26, 1976: Pittsburgh Penguins 3, Edmonton Oilers 1
September 30, 1976: Pittsburgh Penguins 6, Indianapolis Racers 4

Regular Season

Despite the fact that Pierre Larouche, Jean Pronovost and Syl Apps were unable to reproduce their franchise record-setting offensive output of the previous season the team finished with a similar regular season record on the strength of improved defensive prowess and the goaltending of Dunc Wilson and Denis Herron, who was re-acquired from the Kansas City Scouts in the off-season.

General Manager Wren Blair, who had been part of the ownership group which bought the club from the NHL in July 1975 until February 1976, was removed from his position December 3, 1976. Aldege 'Baz' Bastien, the man who had coached the American Hockey League's Pittsburgh Hornets to a Calder Cup championship in 1967, was named Blair's replacement.

Co-owners Al Savill and Otto Frenzel sold the club to shopping mall magnate Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr. in February 1977, less than two years after having bought the team from the NHL.

Final Standings

Norris Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Montreal Canadiens	80	60	8	12	387	171	132
Los Angeles Kings	80	34	31	15	271	241	83
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	34	33	13	240	252	81
Washington Capitals	80	24	42	14	221	307	62
Detroit Red Wings	80	16	55	9	183	309	41

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	W	October 6, 1976	9–5	Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	1–0–0
2	L	October 7, 1976	1–10	@ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	1–1–0
3	L	October 9, 1976	4–7	Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	1–2–0
4	L	October 13, 1976	1–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	1–3–0
5	L	October 15, 1976	1–2	@ Atlanta Flames (1976–77)	1–4–0
6	W	October 16, 1976	4–3	Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	2–4–0
7	T	October 20, 1976	4–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	2–4–1
8	L	October 23, 1976	1–9	Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	2–5–1
9	T	October 24, 1976	3–3	Atlanta Flames (1976–77)	2–5–2
10	T	October 27, 1976	4–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	2–5–3
11	L	October 28, 1976	0–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	2–6–3
12	T	October 30, 1976	2–2	New York Rangers (1976–77)	2–6–4
13	W	November 2, 1976	7–1	Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	3–6–4
14	W	November 5, 1976	4–1	@ Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	4–6–4
15	T	November 7, 1976	2–2	@ Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	4–6–5
16	L	November 10, 1976	2–3	@ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	4–7–5
17	W	November 13, 1976	1–0	Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	5–7–5
18	W	November 14, 1976	5–1	@ New York Rangers (1976–77)	6–7–5
19	L	November 20, 1976	2–5	Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	6–8–5
20	W	November 21, 1976	5–0	Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	7–8–5
21	L	November 24, 1976	0–4	Boston Bruins (1976–77)	7–9–5
22	W	November 26, 1976	3–1	@ Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	8–9–5
23	L	November 27, 1976	1–3	New York Islanders (1976–77)	8–10–5
24	L	November 30, 1976	4–6	@ Washington Capitals (1976–77)	8–11–5
25	W	December 2, 1976	4–2	@ New York Islanders (1976–77)	9–11–5
26	L	December 4, 1976	1–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	9–12–5
27	W	December 7, 1976	6–2	Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	10–12–5
28	W	December 9, 1976	2–1	@ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	11–12–5
29	L	December 11, 1976	3–6	@ New York Islanders (1976–77)	11–13–5
30	W	December 12, 1976	5–3	St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	12–13–5
31	W	December 16, 1976	5–4	Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	13–13–5
32	L	December 18, 1976	3–5	Washington Capitals (1976–77)	13–14–5
33	L	December 19, 1976	3–6	@ Boston Bruins (1976–77)	13–15–5
34	W	December 22, 1976	5–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	14–15–5
35	L	December 23, 1976	2–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	14–16–5
36	W	December 26, 1976	4–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	15–16–5
37	T	December 29, 1976	3–3	Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	15–16–6
38	W	January 1, 1977	6–3	Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	16–16–6
39	T	January 4, 1977	2–2	Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	16–16–7
40	T	January 6, 1977	3–3	@ Washington Capitals (1976–77)	16–16–8
41	W	January 8, 1977	4–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	17–16–8
42	L	January 11, 1977	0–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	17–17–8
43	W	January 15, 1977	5–2	Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	18–17–8
44	L	January 16, 1977	5–6	Atlanta Flames (1976–77)	18–18–8
45	W	January 19, 1977	3–0	@ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	19–18–8
46	L	January 20, 1977	3–5	@ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	19–19–8
47	W	January 22, 1977	3–2	New York Islanders (1976–77)	20–19–8
48	W	January 27, 1977	3–0	@ New York Rangers (1976–77)	21–19–8
49	L	January 29, 1977	2–5	Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	21–20–8
50	W	January 30, 1977	5–2	Boston Bruins (1976–77)	22–20–8
51	W	February 2, 1977	5–2	Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	23–20–8
52	T	February 3, 1977	0–0	@ Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	23–20–9
53	W	February 5, 1977	3–1	Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	24–20–9
54	L	February 6, 1977	2–5	@ Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	24–21–9
55	L	February 8, 1977	3–6	@ St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	24–22–9
56	L	February 11, 1977	2–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	24–23–9
57	W	February 12, 1977	3–2	@ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	25–23–9
58	T	February 16, 1977	4–4	Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	25–23–10
59	T	February 19, 1977	6–6	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	25–23–11
60	W	February 20, 1977	4–1	Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	26–23–11
61	L	February 22, 1977	1–3	@ Washington Capitals (1976–77)	26–24–11
62	L	February 24, 1977	2–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	26–25–11
63	W	February 26, 1977	2–1	Washington Capitals (1976–77)	27–25–11
64	T	February 27, 1977	2–2	Boston Bruins (1976–77)	27–25–12
65	L	March 2, 1977	0–5	Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	27–26–12
66	L	March 3, 1977	1–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	27–27–12
67	T	March 5, 1977	3–3	@ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	27–27–13
68	W	March 8, 1977	2–1	@ St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	28–27–13
69	W	March 9, 1977	3–0	Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	29–27–13
70	W	March 12, 1977	3–2	Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	30–27–13
71	L	March 13, 1977	0–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	30–28–13
72	L	March 15, 1977	3–7	@ Atlanta Flames (1976–77)	30–29–13
73	W	March 16, 1977	7–3	St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	31–29–13
74	L	March 19, 1977	2–5	New York Rangers (1976–77)	31–30–13
75	L	March 20, 1977	2–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	31–31–13
76	W	March 22, 1977	4–2	@ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	32–31–13
77	L	March 27, 1977	0–3	@ Boston Bruins (1976–77)	32–32–13
78	L	March 30, 1977	3–4	Washington Capitals (1976–77)	32–33–13
79	W	April 2, 1977	4–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	33–33–13
80	W	April 3, 1977	4–2	Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	34–33–13

Playoffs

Toronto Maple Leafs 2, Pittsburgh Penguins 1

The Penguins' opponent in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs was once again the Toronto Maple Leafs. Whilst the Penguins' offensive output greatly improved to ten goals scored (compared to 1976's three goals), the Maple Leafs once again dispatched the Penguins in three games with the away team winning every game in the series.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 5	Toronto Maple Leafs	4-2	Pittsburgh Penguins	1-0
2	April 7	Pittsburgh Penguins	6-4	Toronto Maple Leafs	1-1
3	April 9	Toronto Maple Leafs	5-2	Pittsburgh Penguins	2-1

Player Stats

Skaters

Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; A= Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in Minutes

			Regular Season						Playoffs
Player	#		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Jean Pronovost	19		79	33	31	64	24		3	2	1	3	2
Pierre Larouche	10		65	29	34	63	14		3	0	3	3	0
Syl Apps, Jr.	26		72	18	43	61	20		3	1	0	1	12
Rick Kehoe	8		80	30	27	57	10		3	0	2	2	0
Ron Schock	17		80	17	32	49	10		3	0	1	1	0
Mike Corrigan	27		73	14	27	41	36		2	0	0	0	0
Ron Stackhouse	3		80	7	34	41	72		3	2	1	3	0
Greg Malone	12		66	18	19	37	43		3	1	1	2	2
Blair Chapman	9		80	14	23	37	16		3	1	1	2	7
Wayne Bianchin	14		79	28	6	34	28		3	0	1	1	6
Bob Kelly	22		74	10	21	31	115		3	1	0	1	4
Dennis Owchar	25		46	5	18	23	37		-	-	-	-	-
Stan Gilbertson	15		67	6	9	15	13		-	-	-	-	-
Mario Faubert	28		47	2	11	13	32		3	1	0	1	2
Russ Anderson	7		66	2	11	13	81		3	0	1	1	14
Don Awrey	24		79	1	12	13	40		3	0	1	1	0
Dave Burrows	4		69	3	6	9	29		3	0	2	2	0
Lew Morrison	16		76	2	1	3	0		1	0	0	0	0
Ed Van Impe	2		10	0	3	3	6		-	-	-	-	-
Lowell MacDonald	18		3	1	1	2	0		3	1	2	3	4
Tom Price†	6		7	0	2	2	4		-	-	-	-	-
Vic Hadfield	11		9	0	2	2	0		-	-	-	-	-
Denis Herron	1		34	0	1	1	4		3	0	0	0	5
Dunc Wilson	29		45	0	1	1	21		-	-	-	-	-
Yves Bergeron	20		1	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-
Steve Lyon	5		3	0	0	0	2		-	-	-	-	-
Gordie Laxton	30		6	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-
Ed Gilbert	23		7	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Penguins. Stats reflect time with the Penguins only. ^‡Traded mid-season

Goaltenders

Note: GP= Games played; TOI= Time on ice (minutes); W= Wins; L= Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals Against Average

			Regular Season									Playoffs
Player	#		GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA		GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	GAA
Denis Herron	1		34	1920	15	11	5	94	1	2.94		3	180	1	2	11	0	3.67
Dunc Wilson	29		45	2627	18	19	8	129	5	2.95		-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Gordie Laxton	30		6	253	1	3	0	26	0	6.17		-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Awards and Records

• The Penguins did not receive any awards this season.

Transactions

The Penguins were involved in the following transactions during the 1976–77 season:

Trades

August 11, 1976	To Pittsburgh Penguins Don Awrey	To Montreal Canadiens 3rd round pick in 1978 draft (Richard David)
October 8, 1976	To Pittsburgh Penguins Dunc Wilson	To New York Rangers 4th round pick in 1978 Draft (Dave Silk)
October 18, 1976	To Pittsburgh Penguins Mike Corrigan	To Los Angeles Kings 5th round pick in 1977 Draft (Julian Baretta)

Additions and Subtractions

Additions Player Former team Via Denis Herron Kansas City Scouts free agency (1976-08-07) Steve Lyon Minnesota North Stars free agency (1976-11) Tom Price Cleveland Barons free agency (1977-02-28)

Subtractions Player New team Via Barry Wilkins Edmonton Oilers (WHA) free agency Pete Laframboise Edmonton Oilers (WHA) free agency (1976-05) Simon Nolet Colorado Rockies compensation for signing of Denis Herron (1976-08-07) Michel Plasse Colorado Rockies compensation for signing of Denis Herron (1976-08-07) Colin Campbell† Colorado Rockies compensation for signing of Denis Herron (1976-09-01)

^†Colin Campbell was loaned to the Rockies for one season. He was returned to the Penguins in 1977.

References

• Penguins on Hockey Database