# 1969–70 Pittsburgh Penguins season

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 vte :
| | | 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 |

### Record vs. opponents
## Schedule and results

1969–70 Schedule :
October: 1–4–3 (Home: 0–1–3; Road: 1–3–0), 5 Points
#DateVisitorScoreHomeLocation (Attendance)RecordPoints
1Oct 11Oakland Seals2–2Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (8,230)0–0–11
2Oct 15Philadelphia Flyers3–3Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (3,010)0–0–22
3Oct 18Boston Bruins3–3Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (5,572)0–0–33
4Oct 19Pittsburgh Penguins0–4Boston BruinsBoston Garden (14,831)0–1–33
5Oct 21Pittsburgh Penguins3–4Oakland SealsOakland Coliseum Arena (2,812)0–2–33
6Oct 22Pittsburgh Penguins0–2Los Angeles KingsThe Forum (5,558)0–3–33
7Oct 25Pittsburgh Penguins4–1Minnesota North StarsMet Center (14,877)1–3–35
8Oct 29New York Rangers3–1Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (4,081)1–4–35 :
November: 5–6–2 (Home: 4–3–0; Road: 1–3–2), 12 Points
#DateVisitorScoreHomeLocation (Attendance)RecordPoints
9Nov 1Minnesota North Stars3–6Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (5,595)2–4–37
10Nov 2Pittsburgh Penguins3–4Detroit Red WingsOlympia Stadium (12,787)2–5–37
11Nov 5Detroit Red Wings4–2Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (-)2–6–37
12Nov 8Chicago Black Hawks4–1Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (6,727)2–7–37
13Nov 12Pittsburgh Penguins3–0Toronto Maple LeafsMaple Leaf Gardens (16,320)3–7–39
14Nov 13Pittsburgh Penguins0–4St. Louis BluesSt. Louis Arena (15,995)3–8–39
15Nov 15Los Angeles Kings1–3Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (4,855)4–8–311
16Nov 19St. Louis Blues4–0Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (4,297)4–9–311
17Nov 22Philadelphia Flyers3–5Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (5,464)5–9–313
18Nov 23Pittsburgh Penguins2–3Chicago Black HawksChicago Stadium (16,666)5–10–313
19Nov 26Pittsburgh Penguins4–4Minnesota North StarsMet Center (14,159)5–10–414
20Nov 29Oakland Seals3–5Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (6,765)6–10–416
21Nov 30Pittsburgh Penguins3–3Philadelphia FlyersThe Spectrum (13,058)6–10–517 :
December: 5–7–0 (Home: 3–3–0; Road: 2–4–0), 10 Points
#DateVisitorScoreHomeLocation (Attendance)RecordPoints
22Dec 3Detroit Red Wings1–2Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (4,116)7–10–519
23Dec 6Pittsburgh Penguins0–5Toronto Maple LeafsMaple Leaf Gardens (16,449)7–11–519
24Dec 7Toronto Maple Leafs2–3Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (7,310)8–11–521
25Dec 10Pittsburgh Penguins2–0Los Angeles KingsThe Forum (5,366)9–11–523
26Dec 12Pittsburgh Penguins1–4Oakland SealsOakland Coliseum Arena (4,760)9–12–523
27Dec 14Pittsburgh Penguins1–2Boston BruinsBoston Garden (14,831)9–13–523
28Dec 17Montreal Canadiens5–2Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (6,381)9–14–523
29Dec 20Boston Bruins6–4Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (7,858)9–15–523
30Dec 21Pittsburgh Penguins0–4Philadelphia FlyersThe Spectrum (12,423)9–16–523
31Dec 26Pittsburgh Penguins3–2New York RangersMadison Square Garden (IV) (17,250)10–16–525
32Dec 27Chicago Black Hawks3–0Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (8,746)10–17–525
33Dec 31Montreal Canadiens2–4Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (5,202)11–17–527 :
January: 3–7–3 (Home: 2–2–3; Road: 1–5–0), 9 Points
#DateVisitorScoreHomeLocation (Attendance)RecordPoints
34Jan 3Pittsburgh Penguins0–6St. Louis BluesSt. Louis Arena (16,566)11–18–527
35Jan 4Toronto Maple Leafs4–4Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (7,966)11–18–628
36Jan 7New York Rangers5–3Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (4,671)11–19–628
37Jan 8Pittsburgh Penguins1–3Montreal CanadiensMontreal Forum (16,006)11–20–628
38Jan 10Detroit Red Wings5–3Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (9,471)11–21–628
39Jan 14Pittsburgh Penguins0–5Chicago Black HawksChicago Stadium (16,666)11–22–628
40Jan 17Pittsburgh Penguins0–4Toronto Maple LeafsMaple Leaf Gardens (16,471)11–23–628
41Jan 18Pittsburgh Penguins6–4Philadelphia FlyersThe Spectrum (16,666)12–23–630
42Jan 21Oakland Seals3–3Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (3,443)12–23–731
43Jan 24Los Angeles Kings2–4Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (7,581)13–23–733
44Jan 25Pittsburgh Penguins1–3Boston BruinsBoston Garden (14,835)13–24–733
45Jan 28Toronto Maple Leafs4–4Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (4,290)13–24–834
46Jan 31St. Louis Blues1–2Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (9,679)14–24–836 :
February: 8–5–0 (Home: 5–1–0; Road: 3–4–0), 16 Points
#DateVisitorScoreHomeLocation (Attendance)RecordPoints
47Feb 1Pittsburgh Penguins0–6New York RangersMadison Square Garden (IV) (17,250)14–25–836
48Feb 4Pittsburgh Penguins7–5Minnesota North StarsMet Center (11,973)15–25–838
49Feb 7Los Angeles Kings1–3Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (7,983)16–25–840
50Feb 8Minnesota North Stars3–6Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (7,954)17–25–842
51Feb 11Pittsburgh Penguins1–7Chicago Black HawksChicago Stadium (16,666)17–26–842
52Feb 14Boston Bruins3–0Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (12,202)17–27–842
53Feb 15Pittsburgh Penguins4–2Detroit Red WingsOlympia Stadium (14,487)18–27–844
54Feb 17Philadelphia Flyers2–4Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (7,494)19–27–846
55Feb 19Pittsburgh Penguins6–1Los Angeles KingsThe Forum (5,298)20–27–848
56Feb 21Pittsburgh Penguins3–6Oakland SealsOakland Coliseum Arena (6,135)20–28–848
57Feb 25Pittsburgh Penguins2–3Montreal CanadiensMontreal Forum (16,259)20–29–848
58Feb 26Los Angeles Kings0–1Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (4,826)21–29–850
59Feb 28Oakland Seals2–3Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (10,740)22–29–852 :
March: 3–7–4 (Home: 2–2–2; Road: 1–5–2), 10 Points
#DateVisitorScoreHomeLocation (Attendance)RecordPoints
60Mar 4Montreal Canadiens1–2Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (8,047)23–29–854
61Mar 5Pittsburgh Penguins3–5Detroit Red WingsOlympia Stadium (14,411)23–30–854
62Mar 7St. Louis Blues2–2Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (12,881)23–30–955
63Mar 8Pittsburgh Penguins0–0New York RangersMadison Square Garden (IV) (17,250)23–30–1056
64Mar 11Pittsburgh Penguins2–2Oakland SealsOakland Coliseum Arena (3,775)23–30–1157
65Mar 12Pittsburgh Penguins1–4Los Angeles KingsThe Forum (6,027)23–31–1157
66Mar 14Pittsburgh Penguins3–6Minnesota North StarsMet Center (14,833)23–32–1157
67Mar 18New York Rangers2–0Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (7,551)23–33–1157
68Mar 19Pittsburgh Penguins1–3St. Louis BluesSt. Louis Arena (16,336)23–34–1157
69Mar 21Chicago Black Hawks5–3Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (12,103)23–35–1157
70Mar 22Pittsburgh Penguins4–5Montreal CanadiensMontreal Forum (18,454)23–36–1157
71Mar 25Minnesota North Stars0–2Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (6,017)24–36–1159
72Mar 28Pittsburgh Penguins2–1Philadelphia FlyersThe Spectrum (14,606)25–36–1161
73Mar 29St. Louis Blues5–5Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (7,887)25–36–1262 :
April: 1–2–0 (Home: 1–1–0; Road: 0–1–0), 2 Points
#DateVisitorScoreHomeLocation (Attendance)RecordPoints
74Apr 1Philadelphia Flyers1–4Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (7,984)26–36–1264
75Apr 4Pittsburgh Penguins1–3St. Louis BluesSt. Louis Arena (17,017)26–37–1264
76Apr 5Minnesota North Stars5–1Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena (6,991)26–38–1264 :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point) :

## Playoffs

The Penguins reached the playoffs for the first time in 1970, advancing to the semifinals 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 semifinals, the St. Louis Blues beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games.
1970 Playoffs :
Quarterfinals vs Oakland: 4–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 2–0)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeSeries
1April 8Oakland1–2Pittsburgh1–0
2April 9Oakland1–3Pittsburgh2–0
3April 11Pittsburgh5–2Oakland3–0
4April 12Pittsburgh3–2 OTOakland4–0 :
Semifinals vs St. Louis Blues: 2–4 (Home: 2–1; Road: 0–3)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeSeries
1April 19Pittsburgh1–3St. Louis0–1
2April 21Pittsburgh1–4St. Louis0–2
3April 23St. Louis2–3Pittsburgh1–2
4April 26St. Louis1–2Pittsburgh2–2
5April 28Pittsburgh0–5St. Louis2–3
6April 30St. Louis4–3Pittsburgh2–4 :
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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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).
* Bob Woytowich tied Noel Price's team record for points in a season by a defenseman with 33.

## 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 (Frank Hamill) | To Pittsburgh Penguins cash |
| June 12, 1969 | To St. Louis Blues 1969 7th round pick (Bob Collyard) | 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) |

## Draft picks

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.