1991–92 Pittsburgh Penguins season

1991–92 Pittsburgh Penguins
Stanley Cup champions
Wales Conference champions
Division	3rd Patrick
Conference	4th Wales
1991–92 record	39–32–9
Home record	21–13–6
Road record	18–19–3
Goals for	343 (1st)
Goals against	308 (20th)
Team information
General manager	Craig Patrick
Coach	Scotty Bowman
Captain	Mario Lemieux
Alternate captains	Bob Errey Kevin Stevens Bryan Trottier
Arena	Civic Arena
Average attendance	15,993
Team leaders
Goals	Kevin Stevens (54)
Assists	Mario Lemieux (87)
Points	Mario Lemieux (131)
Penalty minutes	Kevin Stevens (252)
Wins	Tom Barrasso (25)
Goals against average	Tom Barrasso (3.53)

The 1991–92 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the Penguins' 25th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The team was coming off of its first-ever Stanley Cup victory in 1990–91, as they defeated the Minnesota North Stars in the Finals in six games. The Penguins, along with the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers, had five 30-goal scorers. Six players and three off-ice staff members from the 1991-92 team's year-end roster have been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Off-season

In the off-season, Head Coach Bob Johnson was diagnosed with brain cancer, forcing him to step down, where the Penguins would bring in former St. Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres head coach Scotty Bowman to replace Johnson. Bowman had previously led the Canadiens to five Stanley Cup championships in the 1970s. Johnson would lose his battle to cancer on November 26, 1991, and the Penguins would honor him by wearing a patch on the left sleeve of their jersey with his nickname "Badger" written on it along with his birth year and death year.

Regular season

Pittsburgh started the season off very well, and through their first 38 games, they had a record of 22–12–4, earning 48 points and fighting with the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers for first in the Division. The team, along with Mario Lemieux, who missed time due to a back injury, would slump in their next 24 games, going 5–15–4 to slide down to .500 and battling with the New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers for the final playoff position in the Division. The Penguins, facing losing defenseman Paul Coffey as a free agent after the season, would deal him to the Los Angeles Kings in a move that looked like they were giving up for the season, however, they would make a move to bring some more grit to the team, acquiring Rick Tocchet, Kjell Samuelsson and Ken Wregget from Philadelphia for Mark Recchi, and the club would have a 12–5–1 record to close out the season, finishing in third place in the Division and making the playoffs for the second-straight season.

Mario Lemieux led the club offensively, despite missing 16 games to injuries, as he earned an NHL-high 131 points from 44 goals and 87 assists to win the Art Ross Trophy. Kevin Stevens led the team with 54 goals and finished second in League scoring behind Lemieux with 123 points. Joe Mullen would also have a solid season, as he scored 42 goals and earned 87 points, while Jaromir Jagr continued to develop, as he recorded 69 points in 70 games. Larry Murphy put up a defense-high 77 points in his first full season with the Penguins.

In goal, Tom Barrasso played the majority of the games, earning a team high 25 victories, along with a team best 3.53 goals against average (GAA), while earning a shutout for the club.

Offensively, the Penguins led the NHL in scoring, with 343 goals for.

On October 29, 1991, the Penguins were shut out at home 8–0 by the Washington Capitals. It was the first time the Penguins had been shut-out in a regular season game since January 2, 1989, when they coincidentally lost 8–0 on the road also to the Capitals. Prior to their home loss against the Caps, the Penguins had gone 211 consecutive regular season games without being shut-out.

Season standings

Patrick Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
New York Rangers	80	50	25	5	321	246	105
Washington Capitals	80	45	27	8	330	257	98
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	39	32	9	343	308	87
New Jersey Devils	80	38	31	11	289	259	87
New York Islanders	80	34	35	11	291	299	79
Philadelphia Flyers	80	32	37	11	252	273	75

Wales Conference

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	p – New York Rangers	PAT	80	50	25	5	321	246	105
2	Washington Capitals	PAT	80	45	27	8	330	257	98
3	Montreal Canadiens	ADM	80	41	28	11	267	207	93
4	Pittsburgh Penguins	PAT	80	39	32	9	343	308	87
5	New Jersey Devils	PAT	80	38	31	11	289	259	87
6	Boston Bruins	ADM	80	36	32	12	270	275	84
7	New York Islanders	PAT	80	34	35	11	291	299	79
8	Philadelphia Flyers	PAT	80	32	37	11	252	273	75
9	Buffalo Sabres	ADM	80	31	37	12	289	299	74
10	Hartford Whalers	ADM	80	26	41	13	247	283	65
11	Quebec Nordiques	ADM	80	20	48	12	255	318	52

Divisions: ADM – Adams, PAT – Patrick

p – Clinched Presidents' Trophy
bold – Qualified for playoffs

Playoffs

Main article: 1992 Stanley Cup playoffs

Division Semifinals

In the playoffs, the Penguins would open up against the Washington Capitals, who they defeated in the second round in the previous season en route to the Stanley Cup championship. The Capitals finished the season 11 points ahead of Pittsburgh, and had home ice for the series. Washington would open the series up with two solid victories at home, however, Pittsburgh responded with a Game 3 victory to cut the Caps series lead in half. Washington would demolish the Penguins in the fourth game, going up 3–1 in the series, and returning home in hopes of closing it out. Pittsburgh had no trouble beating the Capitals in Game 5, winning 5–2, and evened the series up at home in Game 6 with a 6–4 win. In the seventh and deciding game of the series, Tom Barrasso would step up, allowing only one goal as Pittsburgh won the final game by a 3–1 scoreline to upset the favored Capitals and complete the series comeback.

Division Finals

Up next was the Patrick Division-winning New York Rangers, who had 18 more points than Pittsburgh during the regular season. Pittsburgh would surprise the Rangers with a 4–2 victory in the opening game, however, New York tied the series up in the second game. The Rangers took a 2–1 series lead with 6–5 overtime victory. The Penguins would tie the series up with their own overtime win in the fourth game, as the series returned to New York for the fifth game. Pittsburgh would hang on for a 3–2 victory in the fifth game, and close out the series at home with a 5–1 win, to upset the Rangers, and return to the Conference Finals.

Conference Finals

The Penguins next opponent was the Boston Bruins, who they defeated in the playoffs the previous year in six games. The Bruins had 84 points during the regular season, three less than the Penguins, giving Pittsburgh home ice advantage. The Pens opened up the series with a 4–3 overtime win, then went up 2–0 in the series with a 5–2 win, as the series would shift to Boston. The Penguins stayed hot, winning Games 3 and 4 by identical 5–1 scorelines, to sweep the Bruins, and reach the Stanley Cup finals for the second-straight season.

Stanley Cup Finals

Main article: 1992 Stanley Cup Finals

Pittsburgh had to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks in hopes of a second-straight Stanley Cup. The 'Hawks finished the season with 87 points, the same amount as the Penguins, and had defeated the St. Louis Blues, Detroit Red Wings and Edmonton Oilers en route to the Finals, entering the series with an NHL playoff record ten-game winning streak. The Penguins, however, were on their own seven-game winning streak, as they won the last three games of the Rangers series and four in the Boston series. Pittsburgh stayed hot, with a 5–4 victory in Game 1, and then defeated Chicago 3–1 in Game 2 to go up 2–0 as the series would move to Chicago Stadium. The Penguins would then shut-out Chicago 1–0 in the third game to win their tenth in a row, with Pittsburgh finishing off the sweep after a 6–5 Game 4 win, setting an NHL playoff record with their 11th-straight win as they would become the first team since the 1986–87 and 1987–88 Edmonton Oilers to win back-to-back Stanley Cups. Mario Lemieux would win his second Conn Smythe Trophy in as many years, as he recorded a League-high 34 points in just 15 playoff games.

Playoff log

• Scorer of game-winning goal in italics

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Mario Lemieux	64	44	87	131	27	94
Kevin Stevens	80	54	69	123	8	254
Joe Mullen	77	42	45	87	12	30
Larry Murphy	77	21	56	77	33	48
Mark Recchi‡	58	33	37	70	–16	78
Jaromír Jágr	70	32	37	69	12	34
Paul Coffey‡	54	10	54	64	4	62
Ron Francis	70	21	33	54	–7	30
Bob Errey	78	19	16	35	1	119
Rick Tocchet†	19	14	16	30	12	49
Bryan Trottier	63	11	18	29	–11	54
Troy Loney	76	10	16	26	–5	127
Phil Bourque	58	10	16	26	–6	58
Gordie Roberts	73	2	22	24	19	87
Jiří Hrdina	56	3	13	16	4	16
Ulf Samuelsson	62	1	14	15	2	206
Ken Priestlay	49	2	8	10	5	4
Paul Stanton	54	2	8	10	–8	62
Grant Jennings	53	4	5	9	–1	104
Jamie Leach	38	5	4	9	–2	8
Jim Paek	49	1	7	8	0	36
Peter Taglianetti	44	1	3	4	7	57
Shawn McEachern	15	0	4	4	1	0
Kjell Samuelsson†	20	1	2	3	0	34
Jeff Chychrun†	17	0	1	1	–8	35
Gord Dineen	1	0	0	0	–2	0
Glenn Mulvenna	1	0	0	0	–1	2
Jay Caufield	50	0	0	0	–6	175
Jeff Daniels	2	0	0	0	0	0
Todd Nelson	1	0	0	0	0	0
Total		343	591	934	—	1,863

Playoffs

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Mario Lemieux	15	16	18	34	6	2
Kevin Stevens	21	13	15	28	2	28
Ron Francis	21	8	19	27	8	6
Jaromír Jágr	21	11	13	24	4	6
Rick Tocchet	14	6	13	19	0	24
Larry Murphy	21	6	10	16	–4	19
Shawn McEachern	19	2	7	9	6	4
Troy Loney	21	4	5	9	1	32
Paul Stanton	21	1	7	8	6	42
Bryan Trottier	21	4	3	7	0	8
Phil Bourque	21	3	4	7	–1	25
Joe Mullen	9	3	1	4	–4	4
Jim Paek	19	0	4	4	10	6
Jock Callander	12	1	3	4	0	2
Kjell Samuelsson	15	0	3	3	6	12
Bob Errey	14	3	0	3	0	10
Jiří Hrdina	20	0	2	2	–6	16
Ulf Samuelsson	21	0	2	2	7	39
Gordie Roberts	19	0	2	2	–1	32
Dave Michayluk	7	1	1	2	1	0
Mike Needham	5	1	0	1	0	2
Grant Jennings	10	0	0	0	–9	12
Jay Caufield	5	0	0	0	0	2
Total		83	132	215	—	333

Goaltenders

Regular Season

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Tom Barrasso	57	3329:29	25	22	9	196	3.53	1702	0.885	1	0	4	30
Wendell Young	18	837:40	7	6	0	53	3.80	476	0.889	0	0	0	0
Ken Wregget†	9	448:10	5	3	0	31	4.15	202	0.847	0	0	0	2
Frank Pietrangelo‡	5	225:19	2	1	0	20	5.33	130	0.846	0	0	0	0
Total		4840:38	39	32	9	300	3.72	2510	0.880	1	0	4	32

Playoffs

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Tom Barrasso	21	1232:59	16	5	0	58	3.00	622	0.907	1	0	2	4
Ken Wregget	1	40:00	0	0	0	4	1.55	16	0.750	0	0	0	0
Total		1272:59	16	5	0	62	2.92	638	0.903	1	0	2	4

^†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.

Awards and records

• Mario Lemieux became the first person to score 900 points for the Penguins. He did so in a 5–6 loss to Hartford on November 2nd.
• Mario Lemieux became the first person to score 400 goals for the Penguins. He did so in a 3–6 loss to Toronto on March 14th.
• Mario Lemieux became the first person to score 1000 points for the Penguins. He did so in a 3–4 loss to Detroit on March 24th.
• Mario Lemieux became the first person to score 600 assists for the Penguins. He did so in a 7–3 win over Vancouver on March 26th.
• Paul Coffey established franchise records for goals (108) assists (332) and points (440) by a defenseman. He had set record for each category within the previous two seasons.

Awards

Player	Award
Phil Bourque	Edward J. DeBartolo Community Service Award
Mario Lemieux	Bowser Pontiac Leading Point Scorer Award Booster Club Award Foodland Most Valuable Player Award Art Ross Trophy NHL Second All-Star Team Conn Smythe Trophy
Troy Loney	Edward J. DeBartolo Community Service Award
Joe Mullen	Unsung Hero Award Pittsburgh Penguins Masterton Nominee Murray Hill Jewelers Player's Player Award
Larry Murphy	Baz Bastien Memorial "Good Guy" Award
Jim Paek	Michel Briere Memorial Rookie of the Year Award
Kevin Stevens	NHL First All-Star Team

Transactions

The Penguins were involved in the following transactions during the 1991–92 season:

Trades

February 19, 1992	To Los Angeles Kings Paul Coffey	To Pittsburgh Penguins Brian Benning Jeff Chychrun 1992 1st round pick
February 19, 1992	To Philadelphia Flyers Brian Benning Mark Recchi 1992 1st round pick	To Pittsburgh Penguins Kjell Samuelsson Rick Tocchet Ken Wregget 1993 conditional 3rd round pick
March 10, 1992	To Quebec Nordiques rights to Scott Young	To Pittsburgh Penguins Bryan Fogarty
March 10, 1992	To Hartford Whalers Frank Pietrangelo	To Pittsburgh Penguins 1994 3rd round pick 1994 7th round pick

Free agents

Player	Acquired from	Lost to	Date
Kim Issel		Vancouver Canucks	August 1, 1991
Barry Pederson		Hartford Whalers	September 5, 1991

Signings

Player	Date	Contract terms
Bryan Trottier	August 19, 1991	1-year contract
Ron Francis	October 25, 1991	Multi-year contract

Other

Name	Date	Details
Bob Johnson	October 1, 1991	Replaced as head coach due to medical condition
Pierre McGuire	October 1, 1991	Hired as assistant coach
Scotty Bowman	October 1, 1991	Hired as interim head coach
Howard Baldwin	November 19, 1991	Transfer of ownership
Morris Belzberg
Tom Ruta
Craig Patrick	January 30, 1992	Re-signed as GM and VP to a 5-year contract
Peter Taglianetti	June 18, 1992	Lost in expansion draft to Tampa Bay Lightning
Wendell Young	June 18, 1992	Lost in expansion draft to Tampa Bay Lightning

Roster

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	NHL Draft	Birthplace
35		Tom Barrasso	G	R	27	1983	Boston, Massachusetts
29		Phil Bourque	LW	L	29	Undrafted	Chelmsford, Massachusetts
16		Jay Caufield	RW	R	31	Undrafted	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
6		Jeff Chychrun	D	R	26	1984	LaSalle, Quebec
43		Jeff Daniels	LW	L	23	1986	Oshawa, Ontario
4		Gordon Dineen	D	R	29	1981	Quebec City, Quebec
12		Bob Errey (A)	LW	L	27	1983	Montreal, Quebec
10		Ron Francis	C	L	29	1981	Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
38		Jiri Hrdina	C	L	34	1984	Prague, Czech Republic
68		Jaromir Jagr	RW	L	20	1990	Kladno, Czech Republic
3		Grant Jennings	D	L	27	Undrafted	Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan
20		Jamie Leach	RW	R	22	1987	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
66		Mario Lemieux (C)	C	R	26	1984	Montreal, Quebec
24		Troy Loney	LW	L	28	1982	Bow Island, Alberta
15		Shawn McEachern	LW	L	23	1987	Waltham, Massachusetts
7		Joe Mullen	RW	R	35	Undrafted	New York City, New York
45		Glenn Mulvenna	C	L	25	Undrafted	Calgary, Alberta
55		Larry Murphy	D	R	31	1980	Scarborough, Ontario
44		Todd Nelson	D	L	23	1989	Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
2		Jim Paek	D	L	25	1985	Seoul, South Korea
18		Ken Priestlay	C	L	24	1985	Richmond, British Columbia
28		Gordon Roberts	D	L	34	1977	Detroit, Michigan
23		Kjell Samuelsson	D	R	33	1984	Tyngsryd, Sweden
5		Ulf Samuelsson	D	L	28	1982	Fagerstad, Sweden
22		Paul Stanton	D	R	24	1985	Boston, Massachusetts
25		Kevin Stevens (A)	LW	L	27	1983	Brockton, Massachusetts
32		Peter Taglianetti	D	L	28	1983	Framingham, Massachusetts
92		Rick Tocchet	RW	R	28	1983	Scarborough, Ontario
19		Bryan Trottier (A)	C	L	35	1974	Val Marie, Saskatchewan
31		Ken Wregget	G	L	28	1982	Brandon, Manitoba
1		Wendell Young	G	L	28	1981	Halifax, Nova Scotia

Draft picks

Pittsburgh's draft picks at the 1991 NHL Entry Draft.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	16	Markus Naslund	Left Wing	Sweden	Modo Hockey Ornskoldsvik (SEL)
2	38	Rusty Fitzgerald	Center	United States	Duluth East H.S. (Minn.)
3	60	Shane Peacock	Defense	Canada	Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)
4	82	Joe Tamminen	Center	United States	Virginia H.S. (Minn.)
5	104	Robert Melanson	Defense	Canada	Hull Olympiques (QMJHL)
6	126	Brian Clifford	Center	United States	Nichols (N.Y. H.S.)
7	148	Ed Patterson	Right Wing	Canada	Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
8	170	Peter McLaughlin	Defense	United States	Belmont Hill H.S. (Massachusetts)
9	192	Jeff Lembke	Goaltender	United States	Omaha Lancers (USHL)
10	214	Chris Tok	Defense	United States	Greenway (Minn H.S.)
11	236	Paul Dyck	Defense	Canada	Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
12	258	Pasi Huura	Defense	Finland	Ilves Tampere (FNL)
S	22	Greg Carvel	Center	United States	St. Lawrence University (ECAC)

Pittsburgh Penguins 1992 Stanley Cup champions

Players

  Centres

  Wingers

• 7 Joe Mullen
• 12 Bob Errey (A)
• 14 Jock Callander
• 16 Jay Caufield
• 20 Jamie Leach
• 24 Troy Loney
• 25 Kevin Stevens
• 29 Phil Bourque
• 34 Dave Michayluk
• 43 Jeff Daniels*
• 45 Mike Needham*
• 68 Jaromir Jagr
• 92 Rick Tocchet

  Defencemen

• 2 Jim Paek
• 3 Grant Jennings
• 5 Ulf Samuelsson
• 6 Jeff Chychrun
• 22 Paul Stanton
• 23 Kjell Samuelsson
• 28 Gordie Roberts
• 32 Peter Taglianetti
• 55 Larry Murphy

  Goaltenders

• 1 Wendell Young
• 31 Ken Wregget
• 35 Tom Barrasso

* Mike Needham did not play any regular season games for Pittsburgh (played in the minors), but played 5 playoff games(not in the finals), Jeff Daniels played 2 regular season games for Pittsburgh, and spent the rest of the season in the minors. Their names were engraved on the Stanley Cup, even though they did not qualify. Ken Priestlay played 49 regular season games, but was playing in the minors during the playoffs. Priestlay was also included on the Stanley Cup.

Coaching and administrative staff

• Morris Belzberg (Owner), Howard Baldwin Sr. (Owner/President), Thomas Ruta (Owner)
• Paul Martha (Vice President), Donn Patton (Vice President), Craig Patrick (Vice President/General Manager)
• Bob Johnson(Coach), Scotty Bowman(Head Coach/Director of Player Development-Recruitment), Barry Smith, Rick Kehoe(A. Coaches)
• Pierre McGuire (Assistant Coach), Gilles Meloche (Goaltending Coach/Scout), Rick Paterson (Assistant Coach)
• Steve Latin (Equipment Manager), Skip Thayer (Trainer), John Welday (Strength-Conditioning Coach), Greg Malone (Head Scout)
• Les Binkley, Charlie Hodge, John Gill, Ralph Cox (Scouts)

Stanley Cup engraving

Bob Johnson died on November 28, 1991, of cancer. The NHL allowed his name to be included with the 1991–92 Pittsburgh Penguins.

Pierre McGuire, Les Binkley, John Gill, Charlie Hodge, Ralph Cox were with the team as Scouts in 1990–91, but names were not included on the Stanley Cup that year. All five members have two Stanley Cup rings with Pittsburgh.

Farm teams

The IHL's Muskegon Lumberjacks finished second in the East Division with a 41-28-13 record. They defeated the Milwaukee Admirals and Kalamazoo Wings before being swept by the Kansas City Blades in the Turner Cup Finals. This finals loss came as a result of the Penguins recalling Jock Callander, Mike Needham, and Dave Michayluk to fill open spots left by injuries to both Mario Lemieux and Joe Mullen. Michayluk still won the Ironman Award by the IHL for playing in all of his team's games while displaying outstanding offensive and defensive abilities.

The East Coast Hockey League's Knoxville Cherokees finished last overall in the standings with a record of 20-36-8.

Media affiliates

Radio

Flagship station	Play-by-play	Color commentator	Studio host
KDKA-AM 1020 (main) WDVE-FM 102.5 (backup)	Mike Lange	Paul Steigerwald

Some of the games broadcast on WDVE because of KDKA-AM's broadcast conflict with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Television

Local TV	Play-by-play	Color commentator
KDKA-TV 2 KBL	Mike Lange	Paul Steigerwald

See also

• 1991–92 NHL season

References

• SHRP Sports
• The Internet Hockey Database
• National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007