Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . They are members of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) and are the defending Stanley Cup champions . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league ' s original expansion from six to twelve teams . The Penguins have played in Mellon Arena since their first season , and will move into their new arena , Consol Energy Center , in time for the 2010 – 11 NHL season . They have won four Stanley Cup championships in their history , in 1990 – 91 , 1991 – 92 , 2008 – 09 , and ( 2015 - 16 ) . Franchise history . Expansion years : 1967 – 69 . Before the Penguins , Pittsburgh had been the home of the NHL ' s Pirates during the 1920s , and the successful Hornets AHL franchise from the 1930s through the 1960s . In the spring of 1965 , Jack McGregor , a state senator from Kittaning , devised a plan to bring an NHL franchise back to Pittsburgh . McGregor ' s plan involved lobbying some of his campaign contributors ( who were avid sports fans ) and community leaders . The group focused on leveraging the NHL as an urban renewal tool for Pittsburgh . The senator formed a group of local investors for the Pittsburgh franchise that included H . J . Heinz Company heir H . J . Heinz III , Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney , and the Mellon family ' s Richard Mellon Scaife . The 1967 NHL Expansion depended on securing votes from the then - current NHL owners ; to ensure that Pittsburgh would be selected for expansion , McGregor enlisted Rooney to petition votes from James D . Norris , owner of the Chicago Black Hawks , and his brother Bruce Norris , owner of the Detroit Red Wings . The effort was successful , and on February 8 , 1966 , the NHL awarded an expansion team to Pittsburgh for the 1967 – 68 season . The Penguins paid $ 2 . 5 million for their entry in to the NHL and $ 750 , 000 more for start - up costs . The Civic Arena ' s capacity was then boosted from 10 , 732 to 12 , 500 to meet the NHL requirements for expansion . The Pens also paid an indemnification bill to settle with the Detroit Red Wings , who held the rights to the Pittsburgh Hornets . The investor group named McGregor president and chief executive officer , and he represented Pittsburgh on the NHL ’ s Board of Governors . After deciding on the " Penguin " nickname ( which was inspired by the fact that the team was to play in the " Igloo " , the nickname of the Pittsburgh Civic Arena ) , a logo was chosen that had a penguin in front of a triangle , which symbolized the " Golden Triangle " of downtown Pittsburgh . " The Penguins ' first general manager was Jack Riley . His team ( along with the other expansion teams ) was hampered by restrictive rules that kept most major talent with the " Original Six . " Beyond aging sniper Andy Bathgate and tough defenseman Leo Boivin , the first Penguins team was manned by a cast of former minor leaguers . On October 11 , 1967 , league president Clarence Campbell and McGregor jointly dropped the ceremonial first puck of the Penguins opening home game against the Montreal Canadiens . The Penguins would go 27 - 34 - 13 that year , missing the playoffs ; however , the Penguins were a mere six points out of first place in the close - fought West Division . Still , there was a great moment in their first season : on October 21 , 1967 , they became the first team from the expansion class to beat an Original Six team , as they defeated the Chicago Black Hawks 4 - 2 . Though Bathgate led the team in scoring , both he and Boivin were soon gone . Former player George Sullivan was the head coach for the club ' s first two seasons until being replaced by Hockey Hall of Fame r Red Kelly . With the exception of a handful of decent players such as Ken Schinkel , Keith McCreary , agitator Bryan Watson , and goaltender Les Binkley , talent was otherwise thin . The Penguins missed the playoffs in five of their first seven seasons . 1970s : Falling down to bankruptcy . Tragedy struck the Penguins in 1970 , when promising rookie center Michel Briere , who finished third in scoring on the team , was injured in a car crash . Briere died after spending a year in the hospital , and his jersey , number 21 , was the first to be retired by the franchise . The Penguins would reach the playoffs for the first time that year , advancing to the Western Conference Finals where they lost to another 1967 expansion club , the St . Louis Blues . Pittsburgh managed a playoff berth in 1972 , but not much beyond that . With the Penguins battling the California Golden Seals near the division cellar in 1973 – 74 , Riley was fired as general manager and replaced with Jack Button . Button traded for Steve Durbano , Ab DeMarco , Jr . , Bob " Battleship " Kelly , and Bob Paradise . The personnel moves proved successful , as the team ' s play improved . The Penguins just barely missed the playoffs in 1974 . Beginning in the mid - seventies , Pittsburgh iced some powerful offensive clubs , led by the likes of the " Century Line " of Syl Apps , Jr . , Lowell MacDonald and Jean Pronovost . They came tantalizingly close to reaching the Stanley Cup semifinals in 1975 , but were ousted from the playoffs by the New York Islanders in one of only three best - of - seven game series in professional sports history where a team came back from being down three games to none . As the 1970s wore on , the Penguins brought in other offensive weapons such as Rick Kehoe , Pierre Larouche , and Ron Schock , along with a couple solid blue - liners such as Ron Stackhouse and Dave Burrows . But the Pens ' success beyond the regular season was always neutralized by mediocre team defense . Goaltender Denis Herron was a stalwart in goal , later sharing the Vezina Trophy while with the Montreal Canadiens in 1980 - 81 . In 1975 , the Penguins ' creditors demanded payment of back debts , forcing the team into bankruptcy . The doors to the team ' s offices were padlocked , and it looked like the Penguins might fold or relocate . In early 1975 , rumors had begun to circulate that the Penguins and California Golden Seals were to be relocated to Seattle and Denver respectively , the two cities that were to have been the sites of an expansion for the 1976 - 77 season . Through the intervention of a group that included former Minnesota North Stars head coach Wren Blair , the team was prevented from folding and remained in Pittsburgh . Aldege " Baz " Bastien , a former coach and general manager of the AHL Hornets , later became general manager . The Penguins missed the playoffs in 1977 – 78 when their offense lagged , and Larouche was traded for Peter Mahovlich and Peter Lee . Bastien traded prime draft choices for several players whose best years were already behind them , such as Orest Kindrachuk , Tom Bladon , and Rick MacLeish , and the team would suffer in the early 1980s as a result . The decade closed with a playoff appearance in 1979 and a rousing opening series win over the Buffalo Sabres before a second - round sweep at the hands of the Boston Bruins . 1980s : Trying and tanking . The Penguins began the decade by changing their team colors . In January 1980 , the team switched from wearing blue and white to their present - day scheme of black and gold to honor Pittsburgh ' s other sports teams , the Pirates and the Steelers , as well as the Flag of Pittsburgh . Both the Pirates and Steelers had worn black and gold for decades , and both were fresh off world championship seasons at that time . The Bruins protested this color change , claiming a monopoly on black and gold , but the Penguins defended their choice by stating that an early hockey club in Pittsburgh also used black and gold as their team colors . They also argued that black and gold were Pittsburgh ' s traditional sporting colors . The NHL agreed , and Pittsburgh was allowed to use black and gold , a color scheme since adopted as well by the Anaheim Ducks when that team changed their uniforms in 2006 . On the ice , the Penguins began the 1980s with defenseman Randy Carlyle , and prolific scorers Paul Gardner and Mike Bullard , but little else . During the early part of the decade , the Penguins made a habit of being a tough draw for higher - seeded opponents in the playoffs . In 1980 , the 13th seeded Penguins took the Bruins to the limit in their first round playoff series . The following season , as the 15th seed , they lost the decisive game of their first - round series in overtime to the heavily favored St . Louis Blues . Then , in the 1982 playoffs , the Penguins held a 3 - 1 lead late in the fifth and final game of their playoff series against the reigning champions , the New York Islanders . However , the Islanders rallied to force overtime and won the series on a goal by John Tonelli . It would be the Pens ' final playoff appearance until 1989 . The team had the league ' s worst record in both the 1983 and 1984 seasons , and with the team suffering financial problems , it again looked as though the Penguins would fold . Mario Lemieux , one of the most highly touted NHL draft picks in history , was due to be drafted in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft . Heading towards the end of the season ahead of the New Jersey Devils , who were placed last , the Penguins made a number of questionable moves that appeared to weaken the team in the short - term . The Penguins posted three six - game winless streaks in the last 21 games of the season ( out of which they won only three ) and earned the right to draft Lemieux amidst protests from Devils president Bob Butera . Pittsburgh coach Lou Angotti later admitted that a conscious decision was made to end with as the team with the worst record , stating in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post - Gazette that a mid - season lunch prompted the plan , in light of the fact that there was a high chance of the franchise folding if Lemieux was not drafted . In particular , Angotti gave the example of a game the Penguins were winning 3 - 1 , at which point general manager Eddie Johnston asked the coach " what are you doing ? " in the first intermission of the game that was eventually lost 6 - 3 . The Penguins were still , despite losing ten of their last twelve games , only two games away from losing Lemieux to the Devils . However , Angotti stated that he did not feel comfortable with the plan , even though it worked and saved the franchise . Other teams offered substantial trade packages for the draft choice , but the Penguins kept the pick . The Mario Lemieux era : 1984 – 1997 . With the first overall pick in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft Pittsburgh selected Quebec Major Junior Hockey League superstar Mario Lemieux . He paid dividends right away , scoring on the first shot of his first shift in his first NHL game . However , the team spent four more years out of the playoffs after his arrival . In the late 80s , the Penguins finally gave Lemieux a strong supporting cast , trading for superstar defenseman Paul Coffey from the Edmonton Oilers ( after the Oilers ' 1987 Stanley Cup win ) and bringing in young talent such as scorers Kevin Stevens , Rob Brown , and John Cullen from the minors . Also , the team at last acquired a top - flight goaltender with the acquisition of Tom Barrasso from Buffalo . The Pens made the playoffs , but lost in the second round to their trans - Pennsylvania rivals , the Philadelphia Flyers . Though amassing 123 points , Lemieux missed 21 games in 1989 – 90 due to a herniated disk in his back , and the Pens slipped out of the playoff picture . In 1990 – 91 , the Penguins reached the top of the standings . They drafted Czech right - winger Jaromir Jagr in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft , the first player from his country to attend an NHL draft without having to defect , and then paired him with Lemieux to form the league ' s biggest one - two scoring threat since Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri on the Edmonton Oilers of the 1980s . Mark Recchi arrived from the minors , Bryan Trottier signed on as a free agent , and Joe Mullen , Larry Murphy , Ron Francis , and Ulf Samuelsson landed in Pittsburgh via trades . The Penguins finally became the league ' s best team , defeating the Minnesota North Stars in the Stanley Cup finals in six games . After the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals , the Penguins visited the White House to meet President George H . W . Bush . They were the first NHL team to ever visit the White House . The following season , the team lost coach Bob Johnson to cancer , and Scotty Bowman took over as coach . Under Bowman , they swept the Chicago Blackhawks to repeat as Stanley Cup champions in 1991 - 92 . Cancer nearly dealt the Penguins a double whammy in 1993 . Not only were they reeling from Johnson ' s death , but Lemieux was diagnosed with Hodgkin ' s disease . Only two months after the diagnosis , his comeback was one of the league ' s great " feel - good " stories of all time , missing 24 out of 84 games , but winning his fourth Art Ross Trophy as scoring champion with 160 points scored , edging out Pat LaFontaine and Adam Oates for the award . Despite the off - ice difficulties , Pittsburgh finished with a 56 - 21 - 7 record , winning the franchise ' s first ( and still only ) Presidents ' Trophy as the team with the most points in the regular season ; the 119 points earned that year is still a franchise record . After Lemieux ' s return , the team played better than it ever had before , winning an NHL - record 17 consecutive games before tying the New Jersey Devils in the final game of the season . Despite all of this success , they were still eliminated in the second round by the New York Islanders in overtime of Game 7 . The Penguins continued to be a formidable team throughout the 1990s . The stars of the Stanley Cup years were followed by the likes of forwards Alexei Kovalev , Martin Straka , Aleksey Morozov , Robert Lang and Petr Nedved , and defensemen Sergei Zubov , Darius Kasparaitis and Kevin Hatcher . Jaromir Jagr era : 1997 – 2001 . Lemieux retired in 1997 . Because of Lemieux ' s achievements over the course of his career , the Hockey Hall of Fame waived its three - year waiting period and inducted him as an Honored Member in the same year he retired . The captaincy was passed to Jagr and for the next 4 seasons , Jagr won 4 consecutive Art Ross Trophies . However , the Penguins were unable to match Jagr ' s individual success with a sustained playoff appearance , with a first round exit in 1998 despite being the second seeded team in the east followed by a second round exit in 1999 this time from eighth seed . In 2000 the Penguins stunned the highly touted Washington capitals 4 - 1 in the first round only to fall to their rivals the Philadelphia Flyers 4 - 2 in the second round . Off the ice , the Penguins were in the midst of a battle for their survival . Their free - spending ways earlier in the decade came with a price ; owners Howard Baldwin and Morris Belzberg ( who bought the Penguins after their first Cup win ) had asked the players to defer their salaries . When they finally came due , combined with other financial pressures , the Penguins were forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 1998 — the second such filing in franchise history . Just when it appeared that the Pittsburgh franchise was about to either move or fold , Lemieux stepped in with an unusual proposal . By this time , he ' d become one of the team ' s largest creditors due to being owed $ 30 million in deferred salary . He proposed to recover this money by converting it into equity and buying the team , and promised to keep it in Pittsburgh . The league and the court agreed , and Lemieux assumed control on September 3 , 1999 . The return of Mario Lemieux . Lemieux later shocked the hockey world by deciding to come back as a player who was also the owner of the team he played for . He returned to the ice on December 27 , 2000 , becoming the first player - owner in NHL history . Lemieux helped lead the Penguins deep into the 2001 playoffs , highlighted by an overtime victory against the Buffalo Sabres in Game 7 of the second round . Kasparaitis scored the series - clinching goal to advance the Penguins to the Eastern Conference Finals , where they lost in 5 games to the New Jersey Devils . Still , the Penguins needed to cut costs , especially now that the huge salary of Lemieux had been added . Controversially , Jagr , their stalwart for the last four years , was traded to the Washington Capitals along with Frantisek Kucera for prospects Kris Beech , Michal Sivek , and Ross Lupaschuk , and $ 4 . 9 million in the summer of 2001 . The absence of Jagr proved devastating to the Penguins , and in 2002 they missed the playoffs for the first time in 12 years . Further financial difficulties saw them trade fan favorite Alexei Kovalev to the New York Rangers the next season , quickly followed by the departure of Lang in free agency . The Penguins slumped to last place , where they remained for several years despite the acquisition of top draft picks . In the 2003 NHL Entry Draft , the Penguins picked with their first - overall selection goaltender Marc - Andre Fleury . However , given that the 2004 Draft contained the likes of Alexander Ovechkin , the 2003 – 04 was expected to be a rebuilding year for the Penguins . The highly rated Fleury did not play most of the season for the Penguins for this reason . The Penguins signed new head coach ( and former Penguin and commentator ) Eddie Olczyk . Lemieux suffered a hip injury early in the season , and he sat out the rest of the season to recover . The Pens then traded Straka away to the Los Angeles Kings . The Penguins finished with the worst NHL record having won just 23 games , but were unable to secure the first overall draft pick as they lost the draft lottery for the 2004 NHL Entry Draft to the Washington Capitals . Alexander Ovechkin went to Washington , but the Penguins did select Evgeni Malkin with the second overall pick , a pick that would help to propel them back to a competitive level in future years . The Penguins have suffered small - market syndrome for most of their existence , and cost - cutting prevented another collapse into insolvency . Financially , the team was one of the better - managed NHL franchises between its 1998 bankruptcy and the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout . Thanks to significant post - season runs , the Penguins broke even in 2000 and turned a small profit in 2001 . Failure to make the playoffs in the next three seasons hurt the team ' s bottom line , but the shedding of contracts ( such as Jaromir Jagr and Martin Straka ) kept the team afloat as other franchises , like the Ottawa Senators , faced significant losses or declared bankruptcy . In the 2003 – 04 season , they had the lowest average attendance of any team , with just 11 , 877 fans per game . However , by 2005 , the Penguins had paid off all of their creditors , both secured and unsecured . In fact , the court approved Lemieux ' s plan largely because it was intended to pay everyone the team owed . With the 2004 – 05 NHL season canceled due to the NHL lockout , several Penguins signed with the club ' s American Hockey League affiliate Wilkes - Barre / Scranton Penguins , while experienced players like Aleksey Morozov and Milan Kraft honed their talents in the elite European leagues . Morozov and Kraft would stay in the elite European leagues after the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout . After the lockout : 2005 – present . The Penguins won an unprecedented draft lottery - where owing to their poor performance over the last few seasons they were given highest possible weighting out of all thirty teams - on July 22 , 2005 , for the 2005 NHL Entry Draft . The Penguins chose highly touted junior league player Sidney Crosby from the Rimouski Océanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League . With a new Collective Bargaining Agreement signed by the owners and players to end the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout , the Penguins began rebuilding the team under a salary cap . They signed big - name free agents Sergei Gonchar , John LeClair , and Zigmund Palffy , and traded for goaltender Jocelyn Thibault . However , Evgeni Malkin , the Penguins ' 2004 NHL Entry Draft selection with their 2nd overall pick , could not come to Pittsburgh immediately due to a dispute with his Russian league . The team began the season with a long winless skid that resulted in a coaching change from Olczyk to Michel Therrien . Palffy announced his retirement due to a lingering shoulder injury while the team ' s second - leading scorer . Then on January 24 , 2006 , Lemieux announced his second retirement , this time for good , after developing an irregular heart beat . He finished as the NHL ' s seventh all - time scorer ( 1 , 723 ) , eighth in goals ( 690 ) and tenth in assists ( 1 , 033 ) , but also with the second highest career points per game average ( 1 . 88 ) , which is second to Wayne Gretzky ' s 1 . 92 . As the poor season continued , Crosby had a highly productive rookie season . On the Penguins ' final game of the season , Crosby scored a goal and an assist to become the top scoring rookie in Penguins history with 102 points ( eclipsing Lemieux who previously held the record ) , despite losing the rookie scoring race to Russian superstar Alexander Ovechkin , who had , unlike Malkin who was also set to debut this season , been able to make his way to the NHL . The Penguins posted the worst record of the Eastern Conference and the highest goals - against in the league . They received the second overall draft pick after losing the lottery in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft and picked Jordan Staal , the third of four Staal brothers in hockey . The team announced on April 20 that the contract for General Manager Craig Patrick would not be renewed . Patrick had been GM since December 1989 . On May 25 , Ray Shero signed a five - year contract as General Manager . The real change for the Penguins came next season when on October 18 , 2006 , young Russia n superstar Evgeni Malkin played his first NHL game : scoring a goal . He went on to set the modern NHL record with a goal in each of his first six games . On February 27 , 2007 , the Penguins acquired Gary Roberts from Florida and Georges Laraque from Phoenix . Malkin continued scoring points as the Penguins earned points in sixteen straight games with 14 wins and 2 overtime losses in early 2007 . The streak ended on February 19 with a last - minute loss to the New York Islanders . It was the second longest point streak in club history . Relocation avoided . The Pittsburgh Penguins have had to deal with a number of threats to relocate . As early as the mid - 1970s , with the Penguins struggling to make the playoffs , the ownership group experienced cash flow issues and sought to sell the team , even if it meant relocation . A decade later , a similar financial situation faced the team . As recently as the 2006 – 07 season , nearing the end of their most recent draft rebuild , the franchise ownership sought alternatives that would provide a return on their investment . Various prospective owners sought to buy the team ; however , the Lemieux Group eventually decided to keep ownership rather than move the team to the highest bidder , thus resulting in the Penguins being set to remain in Pittsburgh . As in the mid - 70s and 80s , the fanbase and local government officials were successful in persuading the ownership that Pittsburgh and the surrounding region were capable of meeting the needs of a modern NHL team . The possible relocation sites about which there was the greatest speculation and discussion were Houston , Kansas City and Oklahoma City . The decision to keep the team in Pittsburgh proved favorable , as the Penguins enjoyed franchise - record home sellouts throughout the 2007 – 08 NHL season and 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs - which were more successful given the presence of young superstar Evgeni Malkin - in some cases , their home playoff games were sold out in less than 15 minutes . New arena agreement . On March 13 , 2007 , in a joint announcement by Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell , Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato , Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl , and Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins ownership group , it was made public that an agreement had been reached between the parties . A new state - of - the - art multi - purpose arena , the Consol Energy Center , will be built , guaranteeing that the Penguins will remain in Pittsburgh . Following the announcement of this plan , the Lemieux ownership group announced that they no longer have plans to sell the team . On June 8 , 2007 , a $ 325 million bond was issued and the Penguins signed a 30 - year lease , binding the Penguins to the city of Pittsburgh for the next 30 years , and the lease agreement was signed on September 19 . On May 6 , 2008 , the Pittsburgh planning commission unanimously approved the final design . The arena will include a glass atrium overlooking downtown Pittsburgh and rooftop lights shining into the sky . The new $ 290 million dollar arena is expected to open in time for the 2010 – 11 NHL season . On August 14 , 2008 , the ground breaking ceremony for the new arena was held , thus officially beginning construction on the new facility . On December 15 , 2008 , it was announced by the Penguins they had entered into an agreement with Consol Energy on a 21 year deal for naming rights to the new arena . The Penguins finished the 2006 – 07 season in fifth place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 47 - 24 - 11 , totaling 105 points , only two points behind the division winner , New Jersey Devils . It was the franchise ' s first 100 - point season in 11 years , and represented a healthy 47 - point leap from the previous season . In the first round of the 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs , the Penguins were defeated 4 - 1 , by Stanley Cup runners - up , the Ottawa Senators . At the season ' s end , rookies Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal were finalists for the Calder Memorial Trophy , awarded to the Rookie of the Year , which Malkin won . After a mediocre start to the 2007 – 08 season , Crosby and starting goaltender Fleury were both injured long - term due to high right ankle sprains . In their absence , the Penguins flourished due to the play and leadership of center Evgeni Malkin and backup goaltender Ty Conklin . The Penguins markedly improved in January , and fell no lower than the third seed in the East from that point onward . On February 26 , the Penguins would acquire Atlanta star right winger Marian Hossa and forward Pascal Dupuis at the NHL trade deadline , relinquishing Colby Armstrong , Erik Christensen , Angelo Esposito , and a first round pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft . The Penguins also acquired defensemen Hal Gill from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a second round pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft and a fifth round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft . On April 2 , 2008 , the Penguins clinched the Atlantic Division title — their first division title in 10 years — with a 4 - 2 win against rivals the Philadelphia Flyers . However , they closed the season with a loss to the Flyers on the next night , relegating them to the second seed in the East behind the Montreal Canadiens . The Pens had spent most of the second half going back and forth with the Habs for first place in the East . Evgeni Malkin finished the season with 106 points for second place in the league just behind Washington ' s Alexander Ovechkin and become a finalist for the Hart Memorial Trophy . The team launched into their first extended playoff run in many years , beating Ottawa 4 - 0 , defeating the New York Rangers 4 - 1 and then defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 4 - 1 to clinch the Prince of Wales Trophy . Pittsburgh went on to lose the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals to the Detroit Red Wings in six games , finishing the playoffs with a 14 - 6 record . Sidney Crosby finished the playoffs with 27 points ( 6g , 21a in 20 games ) , tying Conn Smythe - winner Henrik Zetterberg ( 13g , 14a in 22 games ) for the playoff scoring lead . 2008 – 09 season : Third Stanley Cup . In the 2008 - 09 season , Malkin had won the Art Ross by narrowly defeating rival Ovechkin in the points race and a candidate for the Hart Memorial Trophy for MVP . Crosby finished third in league scoring with 33 goals and 70 assists for 103 points despite missing 5 games . The Penguins ' record dipped mid - season but lifted after head coach Michel Therrien was replaced by Dan Bylsma . The effect was almost instantaneous and the Penguins recovered enough to secure home ice advantage in their first round matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers , who the Penguins defeated in six games . The next round was highly publicized due to the presence of Crosby , Ovechkin , and Malkin . The series took all seven games for the Penguins to win , sending them to the Eastern Conference Finals where they beat the Carolina Hurricanes in four games . After defeating the Hurricanes , the Penguins earned their second consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Detroit Red Wings , to whom they had lost the previous year . After losing Games 1 and 2 in Detroit , the Penguins won Games 3 and 4 in Pittsburgh . Each team won on home ice in Games 5 and 6 . In Game 7 in Detroit , Max Talbot scored two goals and the Penguins won 2 – 1 to earn their third Stanley Cup . Logos and uniforms . With the exception of the 1992 – 2001 period , the Penguins have used a variation of the " skating penguin " logo since the team ' s inception . For their inaugural season , the logo featured a hefty - looking skating penguin wearing a scarf , on a yellow triangle inside a circle reading " Pittsburgh Penguins " . The yellow triangle is a reference to the Golden Triangle in the city of Pittsburgh . General manager Jack Riley felt the team ' s name and logo were ridiculous , and refused to have either appear on the team ' s uniforms , which featured only the word " PITTSBURGH " diagonally . A refined version of the logo appeared on a redesigned uniform in the second season , which removed the scarf and gave the penguin a sleeker , " meaner " look . The circle encompassing the logo was removed mid - season in 1971 – 72 . The team ' s colors were originally powder blue , navy blue and white . The powder blue was changed to royal blue in 1974 , but returned in 1977 . The team adopted the current black and gold color scheme in January 1980 ( the announcement was made at halftime of Super Bowl XIV ) to unify the colors of the city ' s professional sports teams , although like the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Steelers , the shade of gold more closely resembled yellow . This would remain unchanged until the 1992 – 93 season , when the team unveiled new uniforms and a new logo . The logo featured a modern - looking " flying penguin " . Although the logo survived in various forms for 15 years , it received mixed responses from fans and was never as widely accepted as the " skating penguin " logo . Longtime KDKA - TV anchor Bill Burns even went as far as calling the penguin in the logo " a pigeon . " After Mario Lemieux ( a personal fan of the " skating penguin " logo ) purchased the team from bankruptcy court in 1999 , he announced plans to bring back the " skating penguin " logo . This occurred for the 2000 – 01 season , when the team revived the logo ( albeit with a " Vegas gold " triangle instead of yellow ) on the chest of the team ' s new alternate jerseys . The following season , the logo became the primary logo , and the " flying penguin " logo ( also with a " Vegas gold " triangle instead of yellow ) was relegated to secondary status , and only on the shoulders of the team ' s jerseys , until it was quietly retired in 2007 when the team introduced their version of the Rbk Edge uniforms . The uniforms themselves have changed several times over the years . The original jerseys from the team ' s first season had diagonal text reading " Pittsburgh " . Currently , only images of these uniforms survive , although the jersey is available in NHL Hitz 20 - 03 as an alternate jersey for the team . The uniforms themselves were discovered nearly thirty years later in a garbage bag by a Civic Arena employee at the arena . Due to the years of neglect in the bag , the uniforms were damaged beyond repair . The following season , a revised version of the logo was used on a completely redesigned uniform . Player names were first added in 1970 . Until 1977 , the team had some minor striping patterns on the jerseys change every few years . But in 1977 , the team basically adopted their longest - lasting uniform style to date and a style they would wear for the next 16 seasons , winning the Stanley Cup twice in the process . When the colors were swapped from blue and white to black and gold in 1980 , the uniform patterns themselves remained unchanged . This was likely due to the fact that the change was made in the middle of the season . From the 1981 – 82 season to the 1984 – 85 season , the team had a gold " Sunday " jersey , called as such because the team only worn them on Sundays . This was a rare example of an NHL team having a third jersey before the rule allowing such jerseys was officially implemented in 1995 . After winning their second Stanley Cup in 1992 , the team completely redesigned their uniforms and introduced the " flying penguin " logo . The team ' s away uniforms were somewhat of a throwback to the team ' s first season , as they revived the diagonal " Pittsburgh " script . In 1995 , the team introduced their second alternate jersey , which was a black Penguins jersey with the team ' s logo and had blue accents , an obvious throwback to the original team colors . This jersey would prove to be so popular that the team adopted it as their away jersey in 1997 . In 2000 , the team unveiled yet another alternate jersey , the aforementioned black jersey featuring the revival of the " skating penguin " logo . This would later prove to be a test to see how the revived logo would do with fans , and the following season became the team ' s away uniform with a white version as the team ' s home jersey . When the Rbk Edge jerseys were unveiled for the 2007 – 08 season leaguewide , the Penguins made some major striping pattern changes and quietly removed the " flying penguin " logo from the shoulders . They also added a " Pittsburgh 250 " gold circular patch to the shoulders to commemorate the 250th birthday of the city of Pittsburgh . While the Penguins , as with the rest of the NHL , have worn their dark jerseys at home since the league made the initiative to do so starting with the 2003 – 04 NHL season , the team wore their white jerseys in some home games during the 2007 – 08 NHL season and at least once during the 2008 – 09 NHL season , as well as wearing their powder blue , 1968 – 72 throwbacks against the Buffalo Sabres in the AMP Energy NHL Winter Classic . On November 5 , 2008 , this jersey was introduced as the current third jersey . This was worn for select home games during the 2008 – 09 season as well as the 2009 - 2010 season . After the 2016 season , the team returned to using the " Pittsburgh gold " jerseys as the primary uniforms . The " Vegas gold " jerseys were retired , in time for the 50th anniversary in 2017 . The new home and away " Pittsburgh gold " jerseys were unveiled on June 24 , 2016 , to be first presented at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft . The jerseys worn from the 2014 - 16 . The Penguins ' alternate jersey shown in this picture is the primary home jersey to be worn in 2016 - 17 . Season - by - season record . This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Penguins . " Note : GP = Games played , W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties , OTL = Overtime Losses , Pts = Points , GF = Goals for , GA = Goals against , PIM = Penalties in minutes " Notable players . Team captains . < br clear = " all " > Penguins ' Ring of Honor . A mural honoring members of the franchise ' s " Millennium Team " , it was first displayed September 26 , 2003 . This is a permanent display at Mellon Arena designed to honor past greats without having to retire their numbers . Current members are : < br clear = " all " > Franchise scoring leaders . These are the top - ten point - scorers in franchise history . Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season . " Note : Pos = Position ; GP = Games Played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points ; P / G = Points per game ; * = current Penguins player " NHL awards and trophies . < br clear = " all " > Franchise individual records . Season Playoffs Media . The Penguins currently have their radio home on WXDX - FM and their television home is on Fox Sports Pittsburgh . The Penguins recently started their own 24 - hour radio channel on HD Radio , with WXDX converting their adult album alternative digital subchannel on HD - 2 into a 24 - hour Penguins channel . The channel will feature the NHL ’ s own daily “ NHL Live ” and league commissioner Gary Bettman ’ s weekly “ NHL Hour , ” in addition to local programming . The team becomes the first NHL team with its own radio channel , and joins the National Football League ' s Dallas Cowboy as the second professional sports team to have such a channel .