1979–80 Pittsburgh Penguins season

1979–80 Pittsburgh Penguins
Division	3rd Norris
Conference	7th Wales
1979–80 record	30-37-13
Goals for	251
Goals against	303
Team information
General manager	Baz Bastien
Coach	Johnny Wilson
Captain	Orest Kindrachuk
Alternate captains	None
Arena	Pittsburgh Civic Arena
Team leaders
Goals	Rick Kehoe (30)
Assists	Greg Malone (32)
Points	Rick Kehoe (60)
Penalty minutes	Kim Clackson (166)
Wins	Greg Millen (18)
Goals against average	Nick Ricci (3.50)

The 1979–80 Pittsburgh Penguins season was their 13th in the National Hockey League.

Regular season

The Penguins changed their team colors from two-tone blue to Black and Gold in January. This move was done in part to honor the other two professional teams in Pittsburgh (the Steelers and Pirates) both of whom won their respective championships in 1979. The Boston Bruins initially challenged the change in colors as the new scheme closely matched their own. However, as the original NHL franchise in Pittsburgh, the Pirates, had nearly the same colors from their inception while the Bruins wore brown and yellow sweaters NHL president John Ziegler Jr. eventually denied the Bruins claim. The new Pittsburgh jerseys were debuted on January 30th against the visiting St. Louis Blues.

Division standings

Norris Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Montreal Canadiens	80	47	20	13	328	240	107
Los Angeles Kings	80	30	36	14	290	313	74
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	30	37	13	251	303	73
Hartford Whalers	80	27	34	19	303	312	73
Detroit Red Wings	80	26	43	11	268	306	63

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

Preliminary Round vs. Boston

April 8	Pittsburgh Penguins		4–2		Boston Bruins	Boston Garden	Recap
No Scoring		First period			No Scoring
Mark Johnson (1) – pp – 08:25 Gary McAdam (1) – 14:47		Second period			No Scoring
Mark Johnson (2) – 03:10 Gregg Sheppard (1) – en – 19:24		Third period			13:44 – pp – Terry O'Reilly (1) 18:47 – Craig MacTavish (1)
Greg Millen 36 saves / 38 shots		Goalie stats			Gerry Cheevers 18 saves / 22 shots

April 10	Pittsburgh Penguins		1–4		Boston Bruins	Boston Garden	Recap
No Scoring		First period			No Scoring
No Scoring		Second period			01:42 – Rick Middleton (1) 10:38 – Don Marcotte (1) 11:41 – Brad Park (1)
Rod Schutt (1) – 12:16		Third period			11:15 – Wayne Cashman (1)
Greg Millen 38 saves / 42 shots		Goalie stats			Gerry Cheevers 16 saves / 17 shots

April 12	Boston Bruins		1–4		Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	Recap
No Scoring		First period			13:28 – Ross Lonsberry (1)
No Scoring		Second period			01:17 – Ross Lonsberry (2) 16:37 – Randy Carlyle (1)
Rick Middleton (2) – 03:48		Third period			13:51 – Rod Schutt (2)
Gerry Cheevers 24 saves / 28 shots		Goalie stats			Greg Millen 19 saves / 20 shots

April 13	Boston Bruins		8–3		Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	Recap
Peter McNab (1) – 05:13 Rick Middleton (3) – 06:42 Ray Bourque (1) – 13:26 Peter McNab (2) – pp – 16:00 Craig MacTavish (2) – 18:09		First period			No Scoring
Bob Miller (1) – sh – 06:31 Dwight Foster (1) – sh – 10:08		Second period			No Scoring
Dwight Foster 2 – 16:45		Third period			06:43 – pp – Rick Kehoe (1) 14:40 – pp – Ron Stackhouse (1) 14:47 – pp – Rick Kehoe (2)
Gerry Cheevers 23 saves / 26 shots		Goalie stats			Greg Millen 21 saves / 29 shots

April 14	Pittsburgh Penguins		2–6		Boston Bruins	Boston Garden	Recap
No Scoring		First period			03:49 – Peter McNab (3) 04:57 – Bob Miller (2)
No Scoring		Second period			05:22 – Dwight Foster (3) 10:20 – pp – Wayne Cashman (2)
Bob Stewart (1) – 03:18 Nick Libett (1) – pp – 16:10		Third period			06:25 – pp – Terry O'Reilly (2) 14:22 – Brad Park (2)
Greg Millen 24 saves / 30 shots		Goalie stats			Gerry Cheevers 22 saves / 24 shots

Boston won series 3–2

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Rick Kehoe	79	30	30	60	–3	4
Greg Malone	51	19	32	51	4	46
George Ferguson	73	21	28	49	0	36
Orest Kindrachuk	52	17	29	46	4	63
Peter Lee	74	16	29	45	–13	20
Gary McAdam	78	19	22	41	–17	63
Rod Schutt	73	18	21	39	–8	43
Gregg Sheppard	76	13	24	37	–22	20
Randy Carlyle	67	8	28	36	–23	45
Ross Lonsberry	76	15	18	33	–4	36
Ron Stackhouse	78	6	27	33	16	36
Pat Hughes	76	18	14	32	–38	78
Russ Anderson	76	5	22	27	11	150
Nick Libett	78	14	12	26	–19	14
Paul Marshall	46	9	12	21	–2	9
Mario Faubert	49	5	13	18	–19	31
Dale Tallon	32	5	9	14	–4	18
Kim Davis	24	3	7	10	–7	43
Bob Stewart†	65	3	7	10	–27	52
Tom Bladon	57	2	6	8	–25	35
Mark Johnson	17	3	5	8	–4	4
Kim Clackson	45	0	3	3	–8	166
Jim Hamilton	10	2	0	2	–6	0
Blair Chapman‡	1	0	0	0	0	0
Total		251	398	649	—	1,012

Playoffs

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Rick Kehoe	5	2	5	7	0	0
Mark Johnson	5	2	2	4	0	0
Ross Lonsberry	5	2	1	3	0	2
George Ferguson	5	0	3	3	0	4
Gary McAdam	5	1	2	3	0	9
Rod Schutt	5	2	1	3	0	6
Bob Stewart	5	1	1	2	0	2
Russ Anderson	5	0	2	2	0	14
Nick Libett	5	1	1	2	0	0
Gregg Sheppard	5	1	1	2	0	0
Peter Lee	4	0	1	1	0	0
Tom Bladon	1	0	1	1	0	0
Ron Stackhouse	5	1	0	1	0	18
Mario Faubert	2	0	1	1	0	0
Randy Carlyle	5	1	0	1	0	4
Dale Tallon	4	0	0	0	0	4
Kim Clackson	3	0	0	0	0	37
Pat Hughes	5	0	0	0	0	21
Kim Davis	4	0	0	0	0	0
Paul Marshall	1	0	0	0	0	0
Total		14	22	36	—	121

Goaltenders

Regular Season

Player	GP	W	L	T	GA	SO
Gregory Millen	44	18	18	7	157	2
Robert Holland	34	10	17	6	126	1
Nick Ricci	4	2	2	0	14	0
Total		30	37	13	297	3

Playoffs

Player	GP	W	L	T	GA	SO
Gregory Millen	5	2	3	0	21	0
Total		2	3	0	21	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 1979–80 season:

Trades

August 30, 1979	To Montreal Canadiens Denis Herron 1982 2nd round pick	To Pittsburgh Penguins Rob Holland Pat Hughes
November 13, 1979	To St. Louis Blues Blair Chapman	To Pittsburgh Penguins Bob Stewart

Additions and subtractions

Additions Player Former team Via

Subtractions Player New team Via Wayne Bianchin Edmonton Oilers Expansion Draft (1979-06-13) Colin Campbell Edmonton Oilers Expansion Draft (1979-06-13) John Flesch Colorado Rockies free agency (1980-01-30)

Roster

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	NHL Draft	Birthplace
7		Russell Anderson	D	L	25	1975	Minneapolis, Minnesota
2		Thomas Bladon	D	R	27	1972	Edmonton, Alberta
25		Randy Carlyle	D	L	24	1976	Sudbury, Ontario
6		Kimbel Clackson	D	R	25	1975	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
22		Kim Davis	C	L	22	1977	Flin Flon, Manitoba
5		Mario Faubert	D	R	25	1974	Valleyfield, Quebec
11		George Ferguson	C	R	27	1972	Trenton, Ontario
28		James Hamilton	RW	L	23	1977	Barrie, Ontario
1		Robert Holland	G	L	22	1977	Montreal, Quebec
24		Patrick Hughes	RW	R	25	1975	Calgary, Alberta
9		Mark Johnson	C	L	22	1977	Madison, Wisconsin
17		Rick Kehoe	RW	R	28	1971	Windsor, Ontario
26		Orest Kindrachuk (C)	C	L	29	Undrafted	Nanton, Alberta
10		Peter Lee	RW	R	24	1976	Ellesmere, Great Britain
14		Lynn Libett	LW	L	34	Undrafted	Stratford, Ontario
18		David Lonsberry	LW	L	33	Undrafted	Humboldt, Saskatchewan
12		William Malone	C	L	24	1976	Fredericton, New Brunswick
20		Paul Marshall	LW	L	19	1979	Toronto, Ontario
16		Gary McAdam	RW	L	24	1975	Smiths Falls, Ontario
29		Gregory Millen	G	R	22	1977	Toronto, Ontario
31		Nick Ricci	G	R	26	1979	Niagara Falls, Ontario
		Rodney Schutt	LW	L	23	1976	Bancroft, Ontario
19		Gregory Sheppard	C	L	31	Undrafted	North Battleford, Saskatchewan
3		Ronald Stackhouse	D	R	30	1969	Haliburton, Ontario
8		Robert Stewart	D	L	29	1970	Charlottetown, Price Edward Island
4		Dale Tallon	D	L	29	1970	Noranda, Quebec

Draft picks

See also: List of Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks

The 1979 NHL Entry Draft was held on August 9, 1979 in Montreal, Quebec.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
2	31	Paul Marshall	Left Wing	Canada	Brantford Alexanders (OHA)
3	52	Bennett Wolf	Defense	Canada	Kitchener Rangers (OHA)
4	73	Brian Cross	Defense	Canada	Brantford Alexanders (OHA)
5	94	Nick Ricci	Goaltender	Canada	Niagara Falls Flyers (OHA)
6	115	Marc Chorney	Defense	Canada	U. of North Dakota (NCAA)

References

• Penguins on Hockey Database