1969–70 Pittsburgh Penguins season

1969–70 Pittsburgh Penguins
Division 2nd West
1969–70 record 26–38–12
Goals for 182
Goals against 238
Team information
General Manager Jack Riley
Coach Red Kelly
Captain Vacant
Alternate captains Keith McCreary
Duane Rupp
Ken Schinkel
Bob Woytowich
Arena Pittsburgh Civic Arena
Average attendance 6,998
Team leaders
Goals Dean Prentice (26)
Assists Michel Briere (32)
Points Dean Prentice (51)
Penalties in minutes Bryan Watson (189)
Wins Al Smith (15)
Goals against average Joe Daley (2.95)
<1968–69 1970–71>

The 1969–70 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the franchise's third season in the National Hockey League. The season saw the Penguins qualify for the playoffs, for the first time in franchise history. The Penguins finished the season in second place in the West Division, 22 points behind the first place St. Louis Blues.

Regular season

Tragedy struck the Penguins in 1970 when promising rookie center Michel Briere, who finished third in scoring on the team, was injured in a single-car car crash. His Mercury Couger hit a frost bump and swurved off the road.It is not known if he was driving or not. After spending a year in the hospital in a coma, he died. Many hockey experts said that he would have been a star, his junior league stats can back that up.

Final standings

West Division[1]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 St. Louis Blues 76 37 27 12 224 179 +45 86
2 Pittsburgh Penguins 76 26 38 12 182 238 −56 64
3 Minnesota North Stars 76 19 35 22 224 257 −33 60
4 Oakland Seals 76 22 40 14 169 243 −74 58
5 Philadelphia Flyers 76 17 35 24 197 225 −28 58
6 Los Angeles Kings 76 14 52 10 168 290 −122 38

Schedule and results

1969–70 Schedule
Legend:           = Win           = Loss           = Tie

Playoffs

The Penguins would reach the playoffs for the first time in 1970, advancing to the Western Conference Finals where they lost to the St. Louis Blues. In the Pittsburgh-Oakland series, in game one, Nick Harbaruk's goal midway through the third period was the winner as Pittsburgh won 2–1. In game two, Gary Jarrett gave Oakland a 1–0 lead, but Pittsburgh came back to win 3–1. Game three at Oakland featured a hat trick by Ken Schinkel of the Penguins as Pittsburgh won 5–2. Game four featured Oakland having 1–0 and 2–1 leads, but the Seals just couldn't hold on and the game was tied 2–2 at the end of regulation time. Overtime was necessary and Michel Briere scored the series winning goal at 8:28 of overtime for Pittsburgh. In the West Division finals, the St. Louis Blues beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games.

1970 Playoffs
Legend:           = Win           = Loss

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season[2]
Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM
Prentice, DeanDean Prentice 75 26 25 51 –20 14
Schinkel, KenKen Schinkel 72 20 25 45 –26 19
Briere, MichelMichel Briere 76 12 32 44 –15 20
Pronovost, JosephJoseph Pronovost 72 20 21 41 –2 45
Woytowich, BobBob Woytowich 68 8 25 33 –12 49
Hextall Jr., BryanBryan Hextall Jr. 66 12 19 31 –22 87
Schock, RonRon Schock 76 8 21 29 –7 40
Fonteyne, ValVal Fonteyne 68 11 15 26 –4 2
McCreary, KeithKeith McCreary 60 18 8 26 –6 67
Sather, GlenGlen Sather 76 12 14 26 –13 114
Boyer, WallyWally Boyer 72 11 12 23 –5 34
Harbaruk, NickNick Harbaruk 74 5 17 22 –7 56
Morrison, JimJim Morrison 59 5 15 20 –20 40
Rupp, DuaneDuane Rupp 64 2 14 16 –11 18
Pratt, TracyTracy Pratt 65 5 7 12 –29 124
Blackburn, BobBob Blackburn 60 4 7 11 –14 51
Watson, BryanBryan Watson 61 1 9 10 –1 189
McMahon, Jr., MikeMike McMahon, Jr. 12 1 3 4 2 19
Kessell, RickRick Kessell 8 1 2 3 0 0
Snell, RonRon Snell 3 0 1 1 –2 0
Swarbrick, GeorgeGeorge Swarbrick 12 0 1 1 0 8
McCallum, DuncDunc McCallum 14 0 0 0 –4 16
Total 182 293 475 1,012

Playoffs[3]
Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM
Briere, MichelMichel Briere 10 5 3 8 0 17
Schock, RonRon Schock 10 1 6 7 0 7
Pronovost, JosephJoseph Pronovost 10 3 4 7 0 2
Prentice, DeanDean Prentice 10 2 5 7 0 8
Schinkel, KenKen Schinkel 10 4 1 5 0 4
Rupp, DuaneDuane Rupp 6 2 2 4 0 2
McCreary, KeithKeith McCreary 10 0 4 4 0 4
McCallum, DuncDunc McCallum 10 1 2 3 0 12
Boyer, WallyWally Boyer 10 1 2 3 0 0
Harbaruk, NickNick Harbaruk 10 3 0 3 0 20
Morrison, JimJim Morrison 8 0 3 3 0 10
Woytowich, BobBob Woytowich 10 1 2 3 0 2
Sather, GlenGlen Sather 10 0 2 2 0 17
Fonteyne, ValVal Fonteyne 10 0 2 2 0 0
Pratt, TracyTracy Pratt 10 0 1 1 0 51
Hextall Jr., BryanBryan Hextall Jr. 10 0 1 1 0 34
Watson, BryanBryan Watson 10 0 0 0 0 17
Blackburn, BobBob Blackburn 6 0 0 0 0 4
Total 23 40 63 211

Goaltenders
Regular Season[4]
Player GP W L T GA SO
Smith, AllanAllan Smith 46 15 20 8 129 2
Binkley, LesLes Binkley 27 10 13 1 79 3
Daley, ThomasThomas Daley 9 1 5 3 26 0
Total 26 38 12 234 5
Playoffs[5]
Player GP W L T GA SO
Binkley, LesLes Binkley 7 5 2 0 15 0
Smith, AllanAllan Smith 3 1 2 0 10 0
Total 6 4 0 25 0

Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Penguins. Stats reflect time with the Penguins only.
Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Penguins only.

Transactions

The Penguins were involved in the following transactions during the 1969–70 season:

Trades

June 12, 1969 To Montreal Canadiens

1969 8th round pick

To Pittsburgh Penguins

cash

June 12, 1969 To St. Louis Blues

1969 7th round pick

To Pittsburgh Penguins

cash

October 28, 1969 To Detroit Red Wings

Billy Dea

To Pittsburgh Penguins

Mike McMahon Jr.

Additions and subtractions

Additions
Player Former team Via
Nick Harbaruk Vancouver Canucks (WHL) Inter-League Draft (1969–06)
Bob Blackburn New York Rangers Intra-League Draft (1969–06–11)
Dean Prentice Detroit Red Wings Intra-League Draft (1969–06–11)
Glen Sather Boston Bruins Intra-League Draft (1969–06–11)
Al Smith Detroit Red Wings Intra-League Draft (1969–06–11)
Subtractions
Player New team Via
Noel Price Springfield Kings (AHL) Reverse Draft (1969–06–10)
Charlie Burns Minnesota North Stars Intra-League Draft (1969–06–11)
Marv Edwards Toronto Maple Leafs Intra-League Draft (1969–06–11)
Bill Speer Boston Bruins Intra-League Draft (1969–06–11)

Roster

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age NHL Draft Birthplace
30 Canada Binkley, LesLes Binkley G R 35 Undrafted Owen Sound, Ontario
4 Canada Blackburn, BobBob Blackburn D L 32 Undrafted Rouyn, Quebec
18 Canada Boyer, WallyWally Boyer C L 32 Undrafted Cowan, Manitoba
21 Canada Briere, MichelMichel Briere C L 20 1969 Shawinigan Falls, Quebec
1 Canada Daley, ThomasThomas Daley G L 27 Undrafted Winnipeg, Manitoba
8 Canada Fonteyne, ValVal Fonteyne LW L 36 Undrafted Wetaskiwin, Alberta
11 Poland Harbaruk, NickNick Harbaruk RW R 26 Undrafted Drohiczyn, Poland
7 Canada Hextall Jr., BryanBryan Hextall Jr. C L 28 Undrafted Winnipeg, Manitoba
23 Canada Kessell, RickRick Kessell C L 20 1969 Toronto, Ontario
26 Canada McCallum, DuncDunc McCallum D R 30 Undrafted Flin Flon, Manitoba
10 Canada McCreary, KeithKeith McCreary RW L 29 Undrafted Sundridge, Ontario
26 Canada McMahon, Jr., MikeMike McMahon, Jr. D L 28 Undrafted Quebec City, Quebec
27 Canada Morrison, JimJim Morrison D L 38 Undrafted Montreal, Quebec
6 United States Pratt, TracyTracy Pratt D L 27 Undrafted New York City, New York
20 Canada Prentice, DeanDean Prentice LW L 37 Undrafted Schumacher, Ontario
19 Canada Pronovost, JosephJoseph Pronovost RW 0 24 Undrafted Shawinigan Falls, Quebec
2 Canada Rupp, DuaneDuane Rupp D L 32 Undrafted MacNutt, Saskatchewan
16 Canada Sather, GlenGlen Sather LW L 26 Undrafted High River, Alberta
12 Canada Schinkel, KenKen Schinkel RW R 37 Undrafted Jansen, Saskatchewan
17 Canada Schock, RonRon Schock C L 26 Undrafted Chapleau, Ontario
29 Canada Smith, AllanAllan Smith G 0 24 Undrafted Toronto, Ontario
14 Canada Snell, RonRon Snell RW R 21 1968 Regina, Saskatchewan
15 Canada Swarbrick, GeorgeGeorge Swarbrick RW R 28 Undrafted Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
5 Canada Watson, BryanBryan Watson D R 27 Undrafted Bancroft, Ontario
3 Canada Woytowich, BobBob Woytowich D R 28 Undrafted Winnipeg, Manitoba

Draft picks

Pittsburgh Penguins' picks at the 1969 NHL Entry Draft.[6]

Round # Player Pos Nationality College/Junior/Club Team (League)
2 15 Rick Kessell Center  Canada Oshawa Generals (OHA)
3 26 Michel Briere Center  Canada Shawinigan
4 38 Yvon Labre Defence  Canada Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
5 50 Ed Patenaude  Canada Calgary Centennials (WCHL)
6 62 Paul Hoganson Goaltender  Canada Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
Draft notes[7]

References

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