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)
Penalty minutes	Bryan Watson (189)
Wins	Al Smith (15)
Goals against average	Joe Daley (2.95)

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-vehicle car crash in Quebec on May 15, 1970. His Mercury Cougar hit a frost bump and swerved off the road. It is not known if he was driving or not. Two friends who were in the vehicle with him suffered less serious injuries. After nearly spending a year in the hospital in a coma, Briere died of his head injuries. Given his junior league statistics, many hockey experts predicted that Briere would have been a star in the NHL.

Final standings

West Division

		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

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
Conference Semi-finals vs Oakland: 4–0 (Home: 2–0 ; Road: 2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home Series 1 April 8 Oakland 1–2 Pittsburgh 1–0 2 April 9 Oakland 1–3 Pittsburgh 2–0 3 April 11 Pittsburgh 5–2 Oakland 3–0 4 April 12 Pittsburgh 3–2 OT Oakland 4–0
Conference Finals vs St. Louis Blues: 2–4 (Home: 2–1 ; Road: 0–3) # Date Visitor Score Home Series 1 April 19 Pittsburgh 1–3 St. Louis 0–1 2 April 21 Pittsburgh 1–4 St. Louis 0–2 3 April 23 St. Louis 2–3 Pittsburgh 1–2 4 April 26 St. Louis 1–2 Pittsburgh 2–2 5 April 28 Pittsburgh 0–5 St. Louis 2–3 6 April 30 St. Louis 4–3 Pittsburgh 2–4
Legend:        = Win        = Loss

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Dean Prentice	75	26	25	51	–20	14
Ken Schinkel	72	20	25	45	–26	19
Michel Brière	76	12	32	44	–15	20
Jean Pronovost	72	20	21	41	–2	45
Bob Woytowich	68	8	25	33	–12	49
Bryan Hextall Jr.	66	12	19	31	–22	87
Ron Schock	76	8	21	29	–7	40
Val Fonteyne	68	11	15	26	–4	2
Keith McCreary	60	18	8	26	–6	67
Glen Sather	76	12	14	26	–13	114
Wally Boyer	72	11	12	23	–5	34
Nick Harbaruk	74	5	17	22	–7	56
Jim Morrison	59	5	15	20	–20	40
Duane Rupp	64	2	14	16	–11	18
Tracy Pratt	65	5	7	12	–29	124
Bob Blackburn	60	4	7	11	–14	51
Bryan Watson	61	1	9	10	–1	189
Mike McMahon, Jr.†	12	1	3	4	2	19
Rick Kessell	8	1	2	3	0	0
Ron Snell	3	0	1	1	–2	0
George Swarbrick	12	0	1	1	0	8
Dunc McCallum	14	0	0	0	–4	16
Total		182	293	475	—	1,012

Playoffs

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Michel Brière	10	5	3	8	0	17
Ron Schock	10	1	6	7	0	7
Jean Pronovost	10	3	4	7	0	2
Dean Prentice	10	2	5	7	0	8
Ken Schinkel	10	4	1	5	0	4
Duane Rupp	6	2	2	4	0	2
Keith McCreary	10	0	4	4	0	4
Dunc McCallum	10	1	2	3	0	12
Wally Boyer	10	1	2	3	0	0
Nick Harbaruk	10	3	0	3	0	20
Jim Morrison	8	0	3	3	0	10
Bob Woytowich	10	1	2	3	0	2
Glen Sather	10	0	2	2	0	17
Val Fonteyne	10	0	2	2	0	0
Tracy Pratt	10	0	1	1	0	51
Bryan Hextall Jr.	10	0	1	1	0	34
Bryan Watson	10	0	0	0	0	17
Bob Blackburn	6	0	0	0	0	4
Total		23	40	63	—	211

Goaltenders

Regular Season

Player	GP	W	L	T	GA	SO
Allan Smith	46	15	20	8	129	2
Les Binkley	27	10	13	1	79	3
Thomas Daley	9	1	5	3	26	0
Total		26	38	12	234	5

Playoffs

Player	GP	W	L	T	GA	SO
Les Binkley	7	5	2	0	15	0
Allan 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.

Awards and records

• Ken Schinkel became the first player to score 100 points for the Penguins. He did so by scoring a goal in a 2–3 loss to Chicago on November 23.
• Keith McCreary became the first player to score 50 goals for the Penguins. He did so with the first of his two goals in a 4–4 tie with Toronto on January 28.
• Bryan Watson became the first player to earn 100 penalty minutes in one season for the Penguins. He did so by receiving 26 PIMs in a 1–7 loss to Chicago on February 11.
• Ken Schinkel became the first to play 200 games for the Penguins. He did so in a 0–2 loss to New York on March 18.
• Michel Brière established a rookie record for the Penguins in terms of assists (32) and points (44).

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		Les Binkley	G	R	35	Undrafted	Owen Sound, Ontario
4		Bob Blackburn	D	L	32	Undrafted	Rouyn, Quebec
18		Wally Boyer	C	L	32	Undrafted	Cowan, Manitoba
21		Michel Briere	C	L	20	1969	Shawinigan Falls, Quebec
1		Thomas Daley	G	L	27	Undrafted	Winnipeg, Manitoba
8		Val Fonteyne	LW	L	36	Undrafted	Wetaskiwin, Alberta
11		Nick Harbaruk	RW	R	26	Undrafted	Drohiczyn, Poland
7		Bryan Hextall Jr.	C	L	28	Undrafted	Winnipeg, Manitoba
23		Rick Kessell	C	L	20	1969	Toronto, Ontario
26		Dunc McCallum	D	R	30	Undrafted	Flin Flon, Manitoba
10		Keith McCreary (A)	RW	L	29	Undrafted	Sundridge, Ontario
26		Mike McMahon, Jr.	D	L	28	Undrafted	Quebec City, Quebec
27		Jim Morrison	D	L	38	Undrafted	Montreal, Quebec
6		Tracy Pratt	D	L	27	Undrafted	New York City, New York
20		Dean Prentice	LW	L	37	Undrafted	Schumacher, Ontario
19		Jean Pronovost	RW	0	24	Undrafted	Shawinigan Falls, Quebec
2		Duane Rupp (A)	D	L	32	Undrafted	MacNutt, Saskatchewan
16		Glen Sather	LW	L	26	Undrafted	High River, Alberta
12		Ken Schinkel (A)	RW	R	37	Undrafted	Jansen, Saskatchewan
17		Ron Schock	C	L	26	Undrafted	Chapleau, Ontario
29		Allan Smith	G	0	24	Undrafted	Toronto, Ontario
14		Ron Snell	RW	R	21	1968	Regina, Saskatchewan
15		George Swarbrick	RW	R	28	Undrafted	Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
5		Bryan Watson	D	R	27	Undrafted	Bancroft, Ontario
3		Bob Woytowich (A)	D	R	28	Undrafted	Winnipeg, Manitoba

Draft picks

Main article: 1969 NHL Amateur Draft

Pittsburgh Penguins' picks at the 1969 NHL Entry Draft.

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	Defense	Canada	Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
5	50	Ed Patenaude	Right Wing	Canada	Calgary Centennials (WCHL)
6	62	Paul Hoganson	Goaltender	Canada	Toronto Marlboros (OHA)

Draft notes

• The Pittsburgh Penguins' first-round pick went to the Boston Bruins as the result of a May 21, 1968, trade that sent Jean Pronovost and John Arbour to the Penguins in exchange for this pick.
• The Pittsburgh Penguins' seventh-round pick went to the St. Louis Blues as the result of a June 12, 1969, trade that sent cash options to the Penguins in exchange for this pick.
• The Pittsburgh Penguins' eighth-round pick went to the Montreal Canadiens as the result of a June 12, 1969, trade that sent cash options to the Penguins in exchange for this pick.