Baby, Please Don't Go

With all the bickering in the news papers between ownership, I think it is important to take some time to look past the dollars and glance at the legacy the Penguins have endured. Like typical business people, the Penguins right now seem to be enthralled with short term bottom line, but obviously I think this is a viable hockey market.

In 1967 The Pittsburgh Hornets won their third AHL Championship. This would be the last season for the Hornets because also in 1967 the NHL expanded from the original 6 teams (Montreal, Toronto, Boston, NYR, Detroit, Chicago) to 12.

The new teams: Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, LA Kings, California/Oakland Seals, and Minnesota North Stars.

This would now be Pittsburgh’s second NHL franchise. The Pittsburgh Pirates NHL team played here from 1925-1930. (Yes, at one time, the people in this city were so uncreative that we had a baseball team, a football team, and hockey team all named ‘The Pirates’.) Scratch that, the football team was 1933–1940. Still…

The Penguins would take the city from an AHL championship to an NHL debut 27-34-13 record and missing the playoffs with 67 points, 3rd to last place in the league. The Pens didn’t break the .500 mark until 74-75, in which they made their 3rd playoff trip, losing in the 2nd round. It would take years of growth for the team to achieve success winning back to back cups in 90-91 and 91-92 then making the playoffs for the next 9 years.

Here are some things being overlooked about the Penguins Legacy in the NHL.

Out of the 6 teams that joined the NHL in 1967 on 4 remain in their current localtions.

1. LA
2. Philly
3. St. Louis
4. Pittsburgh

The seals eventually moved to Cleveland and were the Barons from 78-76. The Barons merged with the, oddly enough, expansion buddies and financially struggling Minnesota North Stars. The North Stars then moved south forever in 1993.

According to today’s market sizes, Pittsburgh would be considered the smallest market of the 6 new teams, however Oakland is lumped in the SF Bay area, but they would, probably be the smallest market. Here are the rankings:

1. LA
2. Philly
3. Oakland (Bay Area)
4. Minnesota
5. St Louis
6. Pittsburgh
   

Now that is today’s numbers, however the penguins have had their greatest successes in present times.

Now when you look at the remaining 4 teams and their average winning percentage since 1967, here are the Rankings.

1. Philly (0.5824)
2. St Louis (0.5124)
3. Pittsburgh (0.4754)
4. LA (0.4735)
   

The pens have managed to beat out the 2nd biggest market in the country in winning percentage.

The most important thing with these expansion teams is only 2 of the 4 teams left have Stanley cups, Philly and Pittsburgh. The Blues have only missed the playoffs 4 times in their entire history, but still no cups. Also, although the New York Rangers have 4 cups, only one of them occurred during the Penguins history and that came after we had won 2.

The Penguins have 11 scoring championships in their history and are quickly approaching 12. These other 3 teams aren’t even on the radar. LA has 4 the rest have none. You have to go to the original 6 teams to find number 1 is Montreal (very predictable) with 16 and Tied for second Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Boston all with 11.

The Penguins hold the record for the longest winning streak in the NHL. Longer than any original 6 team, longer than any expansion team.

They have roots, the have legacy, the have championships.

So what does it mean if the Penguins move?

They would be the oldest team to ever move.

They would be the ONLY team with a Stanley Cup to move.

Mario Lemieux, the greatest player ever in the history of hockey and Hall of Famer, would not have a team and his jersey would be relegated to a glass case.

The Pens do not have a consistently successful past. They struggled for a great deal of time, but they have endured. They reached the pinnacle of success in the NHL. Craig Patrick assembled teams that were so coveted that the New York Rangers are mostly comprised of ex-penguin players and not just any ex-penguins. And the Rangers want more.

The Present day Penguins can prove to take us over the hump. They can put us past Philly and St. Louis and propel us closer to stats that only an original 6 team can produce, but they can’t do it if they leave. It all starts over if they leave.