1984–85 Pittsburgh Penguins season

1984–85 Pittsburgh Penguins
Division 6th Patrick
Conference 11th Prince of Wales
1984–85 record 24–51–5
Goals for 276
Goals against 385
Team information
General Manager Eddie Johnston
Coach Bob Berry
Captain Mike Bullard
Arena Pittsburgh Civic Arena
Average attendance 10,018
Team leaders
Goals Mario Lemieux (43)
Assists Mario Lemieux (57)
Points Mario Lemieux (100)
Penalties in minutes Gary Rissling (209)
Wins Denis Herron (10)
Goals against average Roberto Romano (4.42)
<1983–84 1985–86>

The 1984–85 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the team's eighteenth in the National Hockey League. It marked the debut of Mario Lemieux for the Penguins. Lemieux debuted on October 11, 1984 against the Boston Bruins and scored a goal with his very first NHL shot, on his first shift.[1] Later that season, Lemieux played in the NHL All-Star Game and became the first rookie to be named the All-Star Game's Most Valuable Player. Despite missing seven games during the season, Lemieux scored 100 points and won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the rookie of the year.

Contents

Offseason

NHL Draft

See also: 1984 NHL Entry Draft
= NHL All-Star = Hall of Famer
Round Pick Player Nationality College/Junior/Club Team
1 1 Mario Lemieux (C)  Canada Laval Voisins (QMJHL)
1 9 Doug Bodger (D)  Canada Kamloops Junior Oilers (WHL)
1 16 Roger Belanger (C)  Canada Kingston Canadians (OHL)
4 64 Mark Teevens (RW)  Canada Peterborough Petes (OHL)
5 85 Arto Javanainen (RW)  Finland Ässät (Finland)
7 127 Tom Ryan (D)  United States Newton North High School (Massachusetts)
9 169 John Del Col (LW)  Canada Toronto Marlboros (OHL)
10 189 Steve Hurt (RW)  United States Hill-Murray High School (Minnesota)
11 210 Jim Steen (C)  United States Moorhead Senior School (Minnesota)
12 230 Mark Ziliotto (LW)  Canada Streetsville Jr. B (Ontario)

Before the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, Lemieux announced he wanted to play for whoever drafted him.[2] He and his agent were deadlocked with the Penguins and could not negotiate a contract. Because of this, when the Penguins called his name as the first overall draft pick, he did not shake general manager Eddie Johnston's hand or don the Penguins jersey, as is NHL tradition. He claimed he was upset about the contract negotiation, and said that "Pittsburgh doesn't want [him] bad enough."[3] Even though the draft was held in Montreal, over 3,000 fans viewed a broadcast in Pittsburgh's Civic Arena — a typical Penguins game drew less than 7,000 fans at the time.[4] Lemieux's actions upset many fans and led to accusations of arrogance and aloofness.[5] After the draft, Johnston signed Lemieux to a two-year contract for $600,000, plus a $150,000 bonus for signing.[3] Although Lemieux wore the jersey #27 during his time with the Laval Voisins, he wanted to adopt Wayne Gretzky's #99 when he entered the NHL. However, his agent advised him to create his own identity; thus, Lemieux turned #99 upside down and landed on #66, which stuck with him throughout his career.

Regular season

Season standings

Patrick Division
  GP W L T GF GA PTS
Philadelphia Flyers 80 53 20 7 348 241 113
Washington Capitals 80 46 25 9 322 240 101
New York Islanders 80 40 34 6 345 312 86
New York Rangers 80 26 44 10 295 345 62
New Jersey Devils 80 22 48 10 264 346 54
Pittsburgh Penguins 80 24 51 5 276 385 53

[6]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game log

No. R Date Score Opponent Record
6 L October 24, 1984 2–5 New Jersey Devils (1984–85) 2–4–0
7 W October 27, 1984 6–5 Montreal Canadiens (1984–85) 3–4–0
8 W October 30, 1984 4–3 Detroit Red Wings (1984–85) 4–4–0
9 W October 31, 1984 7–6 @ New Jersey Devils (1984–85) 5–4–0
10 L November 3, 1984 5–7 New York Rangers (1984–85) 5–5–0
11 T November 6, 1984 3–3 OT Edmonton Oilers (1984–85) 5–5–1
12 L November 8, 1984 2–6 St. Louis Blues (1984–85) 5–6–1
13 L November 10, 1984 4–5 @ New York Islanders (1984–85) 5–7–1
14 W November 14, 1984 4–3 OT @ Winnipeg Jets (1984–85) 6–7–1
15 L November 16, 1984 6–7 @ Vancouver Canucks (1984–85) 6–8–1
16 L November 17, 1984 3–5 @ Los Angeles Kings (1984–85) 6–9–1
17 T November 21, 1984 3–3 OT Washington Capitals (1984–85) 6–9–2
18 L November 22, 1984 3–9 @ Hartford Whalers (1984–85) 6–10–2
19 L November 24, 1984 3–5 New Jersey Devils (1984–85) 6–11–2
20 T November 27, 1984 2–2 OT Buffalo Sabres (1984–85) 6–11–3
21 L November 29, 1984 3–6 Chicago Black Hawks (1984–85) 6–12–3
22 L December 1, 1984 1–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1984–85) 6–13–3
23 L December 2, 1984 1–9 @ Washington Capitals (1984–85) 6–14–3
24 W December 5, 1984 7–4 St. Louis Blues (1984–85) 7–14–3
25 W December 7, 1984 4–3 OT @ New York Rangers (1984–85) 8–14–3
26 W December 8, 1984 6–4 Calgary Flames (1984–85) 9–14–3
27 W December 12, 1984 4–3 New York Islanders (1984–85) 10–14–3
28 W December 15, 1984 5–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1984–85) 11–14–3
29 L December 19, 1984 2–3 New Jersey Devils (1984–85) 11–15–3
30 W December 21, 1984 4–2 Philadelphia Flyers (1984–85) 12–15–3
31 L December 22, 1984 2–5 @ New York Islanders (1984–85) 12–16–3
32 W December 26, 1984 6–5 New York Islanders (1984–85) 13–16–3
33 W December 28, 1984 4–0 Hartford Whalers (1984–85) 14–16–3
34 L December 29, 1984 2–10 @ Quebec Nordiques (1984–85) 14–17–3
35 T December 31, 1984 4–4 OT @ Detroit Red Wings (1984–85) 14–17–4
36 W January 2, 1985 2–1 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1984–85) 15–17–4
37 L January 4, 1985 2–7 @ Buffalo Sabres (1984–85) 15–18–4
38 L January 5, 1985 3–8 Quebec Nordiques (1984–85) 15–19–4
39 W January 9, 1985 7–4 Vancouver Canucks (1984–85) 16–19–4
40 W January 12, 1985 4–3 Edmonton Oilers (1984–85) 17–19–4
41 L January 16, 1985 4–5 Washington Capitals (1984–85) 17–20–4
42 L January 17, 1985 2–6 @ Washington Capitals (1984–85) 17–21–4
43 W January 19, 1985 5–4 Chicago Black Hawks (1984–85) 18–21–4
44 L January 21, 1985 6–7 @ Winnipeg Jets (1984–85) 18–22–4
45 L January 23, 1985 3–4 @ Minnesota North Stars (1984–85) 18–23–4
46 T January 25, 1985 6–6 OT @ Calgary Flames (1984–85) 18–23–5
47 L January 26, 1985 3–6 @ Edmonton Oilers (1984–85) 18–24–5
48 L January 30, 1985 5–6 Toronto Maple Leafs (1984–85) 18–25–5
49 L February 2, 1985 0–4 New York Islanders (1984–85) 18–26–5
50 L February 7, 1985 3–6 @ New Jersey Devils (1984–85) 18–27–5
51 L February 9, 1985 1–4 @ New York Islanders (1984–85) 18–28–5
52 L February 10, 1985 3–4 Los Angeles Kings (1984–85) 18–29–5
53 L February 14, 1985 4–5 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1984–85) 18–30–5
54 L February 16, 1985 1–8 Quebec Nordiques (1984–85) 18–31–5
55 L February 18, 1985 2–8 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1984–85) 18–32–5
56 W February 20, 1985 6–3 Calgary Flames (1984–85) 19–32–5
57 L February 22, 1985 3–8 New York Rangers (1984–85) 19–33–5
58 W February 23, 1985 3–1 @ Minnesota North Stars (1984–85) 20–33–5
59 L February 25, 1985 4–5 Minnesota North Stars (1984–85) 20–34–5
60 L February 27, 1985 4–6 Winnipeg Jets (1984–85) 20–35–5
61 W March 2, 1985 5–4 New York Rangers (1984–85) 21–35–5
62 L March 3, 1985 3–7 @ New York Rangers (1984–85) 21–36–5
63 L March 5, 1985 0–6 @ Los Angeles Kings (1984–85) 21–37–5
64 L March 7, 1985 1–5 @ St. Louis Blues (1984–85) 21–38–5
65 W March 9, 1985 6–5 OT @ Boston Bruins (1984–85) 22–38–5
66 L March 10, 1985 4–11 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1984–85) 22–39–5
67 L March 13, 1985 3–7 Boston Bruins (1984–85) 22–40–5
68 W March 16, 1985 5–0 New York Rangers (1984–85) 23–40–5
69 L March 17, 1985 3–4 @ Hartford Whalers (1984–85) 23–41–5
70 L March 19, 1985 3–5 Philadelphia Flyers (1984–85) 23–42–5
71 L March 22, 1985 1–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (1984–85) 23–43–5
72 L March 24, 1985 3–7 @ Washington Capitals (1984–85) 23–44–5
73 L March 26, 1985 4–5 @ New York Rangers (1984–85) 23–45–5
74 W March 27, 1985 4–3 New Jersey Devils (1984–85) 24–45–5
75 L March 30, 1985 4–6 @ New Jersey Devils (1984–85) 24–46–5
76 L March 31, 1985 2–4 Montreal Canadiens (1984–85) 24–47–5
77 L April 2, 1985 3–4 @ New York Islanders (1984–85) 24–48–5
78 L April 3, 1985 2–3 Detroit Red Wings (1984–85) 24–49–5
79 L April 6, 1985 4–7 Washington Capitals (1984–85) 24–50–5
80 L April 7, 1985 3–7 @ Washington Capitals (1984–85) 24–51–5

Player stats

Forwards

Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; AST= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points

Player GP G AST PTS PIM
Wayne Babych 65 20 34 54 35
Bob Errey 16 0 2 2 7
Jim Hamilton 11 2 1 3 0
Dave Hannan 30 6 7 13 43
Troy Loney 46 10 8 18 59
Gary Rissling 56 10 9 19 209
Andy Brickley 45 7 15 22 10
Tom O'Regan 1 0 0 0 0
Steve Gatzos 6 0 2 2 2
Rick Kehoe 6 0 2 2 0
Ron Flockhart 12 0 5 5 4
Arto Javanainen 14 4 1 5 2
Bruce Crowder 26 4 7 11 23
Mark Taylor 47 7 10 17 19
Mike Bullard 68 32 31 63 75
Warren Young 80 40 32 72 174
Mario Lemieux 73 43 57 100 54
Rob Geale 1 0 0 0 2
Jim McGeough 14 0 4 4 4
Pat Boutette 14 1 3 4 24
Roger Belanger 44 3 5 8 32
Mitch Lamoureux 62 10 8 18 53
John Chabot 67 8 45 53 12
Doug Shedden 80 35 32 67 30
Joe McDonnell 40 2 9 11 20

Defencemen

Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; AST= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points

Player GP G AST PTS PIM
Marty McSorley 15 0 0 0 15
Petteri Lehto 6 0 0 0 4
Mike Rowe 6 0 0 0 7
Greg Hotham 11 0 2 2 4
Wally Weir 14 0 3 3 34
Greg Fox 26 2 5 7 26
Bryan Maxwell 44 0 8 8 57
Todd Charlesworth 67 1 8 9 31
Rod Buskas 69 2 7 9 191
Kevin McCarthy 64 9 10 17 30
Randy Hillier 45 2 19 21 56
Doug Bodger 65 5 26 31 67
Moe Mantha 71 11 40 51 54

Goaltending

Note: GP= Games played; W= Wins; L= Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals Against

Player GP W L T SO GAA
Roberto Romano 31 9 17 2 1 4.42
Denis Herron 42 10 22 3 1 4.65
Michel Dion 10 3 6 0 0 4.67
Brian Ford 8 2 6 0 0 6.30

Awards and records

Transactions

The Penguins were involved in the following transactions during the 1984–85 season:

Trades

October 15, 1984 To Pittsburgh Penguins
Randy Hillier		 To Boston Bruins
4th round pick in 1985 Draft (traded to Quebec Nordiques;
Nordiques selected Peter Massey)
November 9, 1984 To Pittsburgh Penguins
John Chabot		 To Montreal Canadiens
Ron Flockhart
November 16, 1984 To Pittsburgh Penguins
rights to Ville Siren		 To Hartford Whalers
Pat Boutette
December 6, 1984 To Pittsburgh Penguins
Brian Ford		 To Quebec Nordiques
Tom Thornbury
March 12, 1985 To Pittsburgh Penguins
Jim McGeough		 To Washington Capitals
Mark Taylor

Additions and subtractions

Additions
Player Former team Via
Petteri Lehto TPS Turku (SM-liiga) free agency (1984-07)
Wayne Babych St. Louis Blues Waiver Draft (1984-10-09)
Bruce Crowder Boston Bruins) Waiver Draft (1984-10-09)
Joe McDonnell Edmonton Oilers free agency (1984-12-30)
Wally Weir Hartford Whalers waivers (1985-03-01)
Subtractions
Player New team Via
Paul Gardner Washington Capitals free agency (1984-07-17)
Darren Lowe WEV Wien (Austria) free agency
Vincent Tremblay Buffalo Sabres free agency (1985-03-07)
This sports-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

References

Notes

  1. ^ "Mario Lemieux Retires". TSN. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?fid=10600&hubname=. Retrieved 2007–09–21. 
  2. ^ Christopher, Matt (2002-12-01) [2002]. On the Ice With... Mario Lemieux. Little, Brown and Company. pp. 3. ISBN 0-316-13799-5. http://books.google.com/?id=5D6CaqcQhkgC. Retrieved 2007–09–21. 
  3. ^ a b Christopher, 23.
  4. ^ Christopher, 21.
  5. ^ Deacon, James (1996–04–08). Lemieux, Mario (profile). Maclean's Magazine. http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0010639. Retrieved 2007–09–19. 
  6. ^ Dinger, Ralph, ed (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225. 
1960s
1960–61 • 1961–62 • 1962–63 • 1963–64 • 1964–65 • 1965–66 • 1966–67 • 1967–68 • 1968–69 • 1969–70
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1980–81 • 1981–82 • 1982–83 • 1983–84 • 1984–85 • 1985–86 • 1986–87 • 1987–88 • 1988–89 • 1989–90
1990s
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Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship
The franchise
Arenas
Personnel
Mario Lemieux (Owner, Chairman and Governor) • Ron Burkle (Owner) • David Morehouse (President) • Ray Shero (General Manager) • Dan Bylsma (Head Coach) • Sidney Crosby (Team Captain)
Culture / Lore
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Patrick
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See also