1984–85 Pittsburgh Penguins season

1984–85 Pittsburgh Penguins
Division	6th Patrick
Conference	11th Wales
1984–85 record	24–51–5
Goals for	276
Goals against	385
Team information
General manager	Eddie Johnston
Coach	Bob Berry
Captain	Mike Bullard
Alternate captains	None
Arena	Pittsburgh Civic Arena
Average attendance	10,018
Team leaders
Goals	Mario Lemieux (43)
Assists	Mario Lemieux (57)
Points	Mario Lemieux (100)
Penalty minutes	Gary Rissling (209)
Wins	Denis Herron (10)
Goals against average	Roberto Romano (4.42)

The 1984–85 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the team's 18th in the National Hockey League. It marked the debut of Mario Lemieux for the Penguins. Lemieux debuted on October 11, 1984, against the Boston Bruins and scored a goal with his very first NHL shot, on his first shift. Later that season, Lemieux played in the NHL All-Star Game and became the first rookie to be named the All-Star Game's Most Valuable Player. Despite missing seven games during the season, Lemieux scored 100 points and won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the rookie of the year.

Offseason

Before the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, Lemieux announced he wanted to play for whoever drafted him. He and his agent were deadlocked with the Penguins and could not negotiate a contract. Because of this, when the Penguins called his name as the first overall draft pick, he did not shake general manager Eddie Johnston's hand or don the Penguins jersey, as is NHL tradition. He claimed he was upset about the contract negotiation, and said that "Pittsburgh doesn't want [him] bad enough." Even though the draft was held in Montreal, over 3,000 fans viewed a broadcast in Pittsburgh's Civic Arena — a typical Penguins game drew less than 7,000 fans at the time. Lemieux's actions upset many fans and led to accusations of arrogance and aloofness. After the draft, Johnston signed Lemieux to a two-year contract for $600,000, plus a $150,000 bonus for signing. Although Lemieux wore the jersey #27 during his time with the Laval Voisins, he wanted to adopt Wayne Gretzky's #99 when he entered the NHL. However, his agent advised him to create his own identity; thus, Lemieux turned #99 upside down and landed on #66, which stuck with him throughout his career.

Regular season

Season standings

Patrick Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Philadelphia Flyers	80	53	20	7	348	241	113
Washington Capitals	80	46	25	9	322	240	101
New York Islanders	80	40	34	6	345	312	86
New York Rangers	80	26	44	10	295	345	62
New Jersey Devils	80	22	48	10	264	346	54
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	24	51	5	276	385	53

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

Playoffs

The Penguins failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive year, and finished in last again as well.

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Mario Lemieux	73	43	57	100	–35	54
Warren Young	80	40	32	72	–20	174
Doug Shedden	80	35	32	67	–51	30
Mike Bullard	68	32	31	63	–43	75
Wayne Babych	65	20	34	54	–7	35
John Chabot†	67	8	45	53	–37	12
Moe Mantha Jr.	71	11	40	51	–35	54
Doug Bodger	65	5	26	31	–24	67
Andy Brickley	45	7	15	22	–14	10
Randy Hillier	45	2	19	21	–12	56
Kevin McCarthy	64	9	10	19	–20	30
Gary Rissling	56	10	9	19	–6	209
Troy Loney	46	10	8	18	–11	59
Mitch Lamoureux	62	10	8	18	–9	53
Mark Taylor‡	47	7	10	17	–7	19
Dave Hannan	30	6	7	13	–8	43
Bruce Crowder	26	4	7	11	–9	23
Joe McDonnell	40	2	9	11	–19	20
Todd Charlesworth	67	1	8	9	–23	31
Rod Buskas	69	2	7	9	–21	191
Roger Belanger	44	3	5	8	–13	32
Bryan Maxwell	44	0	8	8	–23	57
Greg Fox	26	2	5	7	–6	26
Ron Flockhart‡	12	0	5	5	4	4
Arto Javanainen	14	4	1	5	1	2
Jim McGeough†	14	0	4	4	–4	4
Pat Boutette‡	14	1	3	4	–5	24
Jim Hamilton	11	2	1	3	–6	0
Wally Weir†	14	0	3	3	1	34
Bob Errey	16	0	2	2	–8	7
Rick Kehoe	6	0	2	2	0	0
Steve Gatzos	6	0	2	2	–6	2
Greg Hotham	11	0	2	2	–3	4
Petteri Lehto	6	0	0	0	–4	4
Bob Geale	1	0	0	0	–1	2
Marty McSorley	15	0	0	0	–3	15
Mike Rowe	6	0	0	0	–7	7
Tom O'Regan	1	0	0	0	–1	0
Total		276	457	733	—	1,469

Goaltenders

Regular Season

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO
Denis Herron	42	2193:00	10	22	3	170	4.65	1362	0.875	1
Roberto Romano	31	1629:00	9	17	2	120	4.42	974	0.877	1
Michel Dion	10	553:00	3	6	0	43	4.67	316	0.864	0
Brian Ford	8	457:00	2	6	0	48	6.30	292	0.836	0
Total		4832:00	24	51	5	381	4.73	2944	0.871	2

^†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 established a new franchise rookie record for goals (43), assists (57) and points (100). He topped the previous highs held by Pierre Larouche (37 assists, 68 points) and Mike Bullard (36 goals).
• Rick Kehoe established a career franchise record for points (636). He had led the category since 1984.
• Mario Lemieux, Calder Memorial Trophy
• Mario Lemieux, NHL All-Rookie Team
• Warren Young, NHL All-Rookie Team

Transactions

The Penguins were involved in the following transactions during the 1984–85 season:

Trades

October 15, 1984	To Boston Bruins 1985 4th round pick	To Pittsburgh Penguins Randy Hillier
November 9, 1984	To Montreal Canadiens Ron Flockhart	To Pittsburgh Penguins John Chabot
November 16, 1984	To Hartford Whalers Pat Boutette	To Pittsburgh Penguins rights to Ville Siren
December 6, 1984	To Quebec Nordiques Tom Thornbury	To Pittsburgh Penguins Brian Ford
March 12, 1985	To Washington Capitals Mark Taylor	To Pittsburgh Penguins Jim McGeough

Additions and subtractions

Additions Player Former team Via Petteri Lehto TPS Turku (SM-liiga) free agency (1984-07) Wayne Babych St. Louis Blues Waiver Draft (1984-10-09) Bruce Crowder Boston Bruins Waiver Draft (1984-10-09) Joe McDonnell Edmonton Oilers free agency (1984-12-30) Wally Weir Hartford Whalers waivers (1985-03-01)

Subtractions Player New team Via Paul Gardner Washington Capitals free agency (1984-07-17) Darren Lowe WEV Wien (Austria) free agency Vincent Tremblay Buffalo Sabres free agency (1985-03-07)

Roster

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	NHL Draft	Birthplace
26		Wayne Babych	RW	R	26	1978	Edmonton, Alberta
24		Roger Belanger Jr.	C	R	19	1984	St. Catharines, Ontario
33		Doug Bodger	D	L	18	1984	Chemainus, British Columbia
23		Andy Brickley	LW	L	23	1980	Melrose, Massachusetts
22		Michael Bullard (C)	C	L	24	1980	Ottawa, Ontario
7		Rod Buskas	D	R	24	1981	Wetaskiwin, Alberta
9		John Chabot	C	L	23	1980	Summerside, Price Edward Island
27		Todd Charlesworth	D	R	20	1983	Calgary, Alberta
28		Bruce Crowder	RW	R	28	1977	Essex, Ontario
29		Michel Dion	G	R	31	Undrafted	Granby, Quebec
10		Bob Errey	LW	L	20	1983	Montreal, Quebec
31		Brian Ford	G	R	23	Undrafted	Edmonton, Alberta
2		Gregory Fox	D	R	31	1973	Port McNeill, British Columbia
28		Steve Gatzos	RW	R	23	1981	Toronto, Ontario
28		Robert Geale	C	R	23	1980	Edmonton, Alberta
13		James Hamilton	RW	L	28	1977	Barrie, Ontario
32		David Hannan	C	L	23	1981	Sudbury, Ontario
1		Denis Herron	G	L	32	1972	Chambly, Quebec
34		Randy Hillier	D	L	25	1980	Toronto, Ontario
6		Gregory Hotham	D	R	29	1976	London, Ontario
19		Arto Javanainen	RW	R	26	1984	Pori, Finland
17		Rick Kehoe	RW	R	33	1971	Windsor, Ontario
12		Mitch Lamoureux	C	R	22	1981	Ottawa, Ontario
8		Petteri Lehto	D	R	24	Undrafted	Turku, Finland
66		Mario Lemieux	C	R	19	1984	Montreal, Quebec
11		Troy Loney	LW	L	21	1982	Bow Island, Alberta
20		Maurice Mantha	D	R	24	1980	Lakewood, Ohio
5		Bryan Maxwell	D	R	29	1975	North Bay, Ontario
25		Kevin McCarthy	D	R	27	1977	Winnipeg, Manitoba
2		Joe McDonnell	D	R	24	Undrafted	Kitchener, Ontario
16		James McGeough	C	R	22	1981	Regina, Saskatchewan
4		Marty McSorley	D	R	22	Undrafted	Cayuga, Ontario
8		Thomas O'Regan	C	R	23	Undrafted	Cambridge, Massachusetts
15		Gary Rissling	LW	R	28	Undrafted	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
30		Roberto Romano	G	R	22	Undrafted	Montreal, Quebec
5		Mike Rowe	D	R	20	1983	Kingston, Ontario
14		Douglas Shedden	C	R	24	1980	Wallaceburg, Ontario
23		Edward Weir	RW	R	30	Undrafted	Verdun, Quebec
35		Warren Young	C	R	29	1976	Toronto, Ontario

Draft picks

See also: List of Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks

The 1984 NHL Entry Draft was held on June 9, 1984, in Montreal, Quebec.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	1	Mario Lemieux	Center	Canada	Laval Voisins (QMJHL)
1	9	Doug Bodger	Defense	Canada	Kamloops Junior Oilers (WHL)
1	16	Roger Belanger Jr.	Center	Canada	Kingston Canadians (OHL)
4	64	Mark Teevens	Right Wing	Canada	Peterborough Petes (OHL)
5	85	Arto Javanainen	Right Wing	Finland	Assat Pori (FNL)
7	127	Tom Ryan	Defense	United States	Newton North H.S. (Massachusetts)
9	169	John Del Col	Left Wing	Canada	Toronto Marlboros (OHL)
10	189	Steve Hurt	Right Wing	United States	Hill-Murray H.S. (Minn.)
11	210	Jim Steen	Center	United States	Moorhead H.S. (Minn.)
12	230	Mark Ziliotto	Left Wing	Canada	Streetsville Jr. B (OHA)

References

• Player stats on Hockey Database
• Game log on NHL Reference