1970–71 Pittsburgh Penguins season

1970–71 Pittsburgh Penguins
Division	6th West
1970–71 record	21–37–20
Goals for	221
Goals against	240
Team information
General manager	Red Kelly
Coach	Red Kelly
Captain	Vacant
Alternate captains	Keith McCreary Duane Rupp Ken Schinkel Bob Woytowich
Arena	Pittsburgh Civic Arena
Average attendance	9,671
Team leaders
Goals	Jean Pronovost (21)
Assists	Bryan Hextall (32)
Points	Bryan Hextall (48)
Penalty minutes	Bryan Hextall (133)
Wins	Les Binkley (11)
Goals against average	Les Binkley (2.85)

The 1970–71 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the franchise's fourth season in the National Hockey League.

Regular season

Final standings

West Division

		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	DIFF	Pts
1	Chicago Black Hawks	78	49	20	9	277	184	+93	107
2	St. Louis Blues	78	34	25	19	223	208	+15	87
3	Philadelphia Flyers	78	28	33	17	207	225	−18	73
4	Minnesota North Stars	78	28	34	16	191	223	−32	72
5	Los Angeles Kings	78	25	40	13	239	303	−64	63
6	Pittsburgh Penguins	78	21	37	20	221	240	−19	62
7	California Golden Seals	78	20	53	5	199	320	−121	45

Playoffs

The Penguins failed to make the playoffs, despite making it last year.

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Bryan Hextall Jr.	76	16	32	48	–23	133
Jean Pronovost	78	21	24	45	8	35
Andy Bathgate	76	15	29	44	–11	34
Wally Boyer	68	11	30	41	10	30
Ron Schock	71	14	26	40	2	20
Dean Prentice	69	21	17	38	–8	18
Ken Schinkel	50	15	19	34	–19	6
Greg Polis	61	18	15	33	–6	40
Duane Rupp	59	5	28	33	–10	34
Keith McCreary	59	21	12	33	7	24
Dunc McCallum	77	9	20	29	–13	95
Bob Woytowich	78	4	22	26	8	30
Nick Harbaruk	78	13	12	25	–9	108
Syl Apps Jr.†	31	9	16	25	3	21
Val Fonteyne	70	4	9	13	–8	0
Rod Zaine	37	8	5	13	–8	21
Glen Sather‡	46	8	3	11	0	96
Jim Morrison	73	0	10	10	–12	32
Bob Blackburn	64	4	5	9	0	54
Bryan Watson	43	2	6	8	–5	119
John Stewart	15	2	1	3	–9	9
Robin Burns	10	0	3	3	1	4
Rick Kessell	6	0	2	2	1	2
Sheldon Kannegiesser	18	0	2	2	–9	29
Yvon Labre	21	1	1	2	2	19
Lowell MacDonald	10	0	1	1	–6	0
Steve Cardwell	5	0	1	1	–4	15
Total		221	351	572	—	1,028

Goaltenders

Regular Season

Player	GP	W	L	T	GA	SO
Les Binkley	34	11	11	10	89	2
Allan Smith	46	9	22	9	128	2
Cam Newton	5	1	3	1	16	0
Paul Hoganson	2	0	1	0	7	0
Total		21	37	20	240	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

• Ken Schinkel became the first player to record 100 assists with the Penguins. He did so in a 2–5 loss to California on March 17.
• Wally Boyer became the first player in franchise history to have a final plus-minus of at least +10.

Transactions

The Penguins were involved in the following transactions during the 1970–71 season:

Trades

October 2, 1970	To Montreal Canadiens cash	To Pittsburgh Penguins Robin Burns
October 9, 1970	To Buffalo Sabres Dave Dryden	To Pittsburgh Penguins cash
January 24, 1971	To Buffalo Sabres Terry Ball	To Pittsburgh Penguins Jean-Guy Lagace
January 26, 1971	To New York Rangers Glen Sather	To Pittsburgh Penguins Syl Apps Jr. Sheldon Kannegiesser
May 1, 1971	To Boston Bruins cash	To Pittsburgh Penguins Bob Leiter

Other

Player	Date	Details
Roy Edwards	June 7, 1971	Claimed off of waivers from Detroit Red Wings
Rod Zaine	June 8, 1971	Lost in intra-league draft to Buffalo Sabres
Al Smith	June 8, 1971	#2 overall pick in intra-league draft from Detroit Red Wings
Jim Rutherford	June 8, 1971	#3 overall pick in intra-league draft from Detroit Red Wings
Dave Burrows	June 8, 1971	#5 overall pick in intra-league draft from Chicago Blackhawks
Rene Robert	June 8, 1971	#22 overall pick in intra-league draft from Buffalo Sabres
Tim Horton	June 8, 1971	Claimed in intra-league draft from New York Rangers

Roster

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	NHL Draft	Birthplace
26		Syl Apps Jr.	C	R	23	1964	Toronto, Ontario
9		Andy Bathgate	RW	R	38	Undrafted	Winnipeg, Manitoba
30		Les Binkley	G	R	36	Undrafted	Owen Sound, Ontario
4		Bob Blackburn	D	L	33	Undrafted	Rouyn, Quebec
18		Wally Boyer	C	L	33	Undrafted	Cowan, Manitoba
10		Robin Burns	LW	L	24	Undrafted	Montreal, Quebec
15		Steve Cardwell	LW	L	20	1970	Toronto, Ontario
8		Val Fonteyne	LW	L	37	Undrafted	Wetaskiwin, Alberta
11		Nick Harbaruk	RW	R	27	Undrafted	Drohiczyn, Poland
7		Bryan Hextall Jr.	C	L	29	Undrafted	Winnipeg, Manitoba
1		Paul Hoganson	G	R	21	1969	Toronto, Ontario
16		Sheldon Kannegiesser	D	L	23	Undrafted	North Bay, Ontario
23		Rick Kessell	C	L	21	1969	Toronto, Ontario
15		Yvon Labre	D	L	21	1969	Sudbury, Ontario
14		Lowell MacDonald	LW	R	29	Undrafted	New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
6		Dunc McCallum	D	R	31	Undrafted	Flin Flon, Manitoba
10		Keith McCreary (A)	RW	L	30	Undrafted	Sundridge, Ontario
27		Jim Morrison	D	L	39	Undrafted	Montreal, Quebec
1		Cam Newton	G	L	21	1970	Peterborough, Ontario
22		Greg Polis	RW	L	20	1970	Westlock, Alberta
20		Dean Prentice	LW	L	38	Undrafted	Schumacher, Ontario
19		Jean Pronovost	RW	R	25	Undrafted	Shawinigan Falls, Quebec
2		Duane Rupp (A)	D	L	33	Undrafted	MacNutt, Saskatchewan
12		Ken Schinkel (A)	RW	R	38	Undrafted	Jansen, Saskatchewan
17		Ron Schock	C	L	27	Undrafted	Chapleau, Ontario
29		Allan Smith	G	L	25	Undrafted	Toronto, Ontario
23		John Stewart	LW	L	21	1970	Eriksdale, Manitoba
5		Bryan Watson	D	R	28	Undrafted	Bancroft, Ontario
3		Bob Woytowich (A)	D	R	29	Undrafted	Winnipeg, Manitoba
24		Rod Zaine	C	L	25	Undrafted	Ottawa, Ontario

Draft picks

See also: 1970 NHL Amateur Draft

Pittsburgh Penguins' picks at the 1970 NHL Entry Draft.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	7	Greg Polis	Left Wing	Canada	Estevan Bruins (WCHL)
2	21	John Stewart	Left Wing	Canada	Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)
3	35	Larry Bignell	Defenceman	Canada	Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL)
4	49	Connie Forey	Left Wing	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHA)
5	63	Steve Cardwell	Left Wing	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OHA)
6	77	Bob Fitchner	Center	Canada	Brandon Wheat Kings (WCHL)
7	90	Jim Pearson	Defenceman	Canada	St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)
8	102	Cam Newton	Goaltender	Canada	Kitchener Rangers (OHA)
9	110	Ron Lemieux	Defenceman	Canada	Dauphin Kings (MJHL)

References

• "1970–71 Pittsburgh Penguins Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
• Player stats on Hockey Database
• Game log on NHL Database