1971–72 Pittsburgh Penguins season

1971–72 Pittsburgh Penguins
Division 4th West
1971–72 record 26-38-14
Goals for 220
Goals against 250
Team information
General Manager Red Kelly (Oct-Jan)
Jack Riley (Jan-Apr)
Coach Red Kelly
Captain Vacant
Alternate captains Keith McCreary
Ken Schinkel
Bryan Watson
Bob Woytowich
Team leaders
Goals Greg Polis, Jean Pronovost (30)
Assists Syl Apps (44)
Points Syl Apps (59)
Penalties in minutes Bryan Watson (212)
Wins Jim Rutherford (17)
Goals against average Roy Edwards (2.55)
<1970–71 1972–73>

The 1971–72 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the franchise's fifth season in the National Hockey League. The team made the playoffs for the second time in franchise history, losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in the first-round.

Regular season

Final standings

West Division[1]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Chicago Black Hawks 78 46 17 15 256 166 +90 107
2 Minnesota North Stars 78 37 29 12 212 191 +21 86
3 St. Louis Blues 78 28 39 11 208 247 -39 −39 67
4 Pittsburgh Penguins 78 26 38 14 220 258 -38 −38 66
5 Philadelphia Flyers 78 26 38 14 200 236 -36 −36 66
6 California Golden Seals 78 21 39 18 216 288 -72 −72 60
7 Los Angeles Kings 78 20 49 9 206 305 -99 −99 49

Schedule and results

1971–72 Game log[2]
Legend:           = Win           = Loss           = Tie

Playoffs

1972 Playoffs
Legend:           = Win           = Loss

Player statistics

Skaters[3]

Regular Season
Player GP G A Pts +/- − PIM
Syl Apps 72 15 44 59 18 78
Jean Pronovost 68 30 23 53 15 12
Greg Polis 76 30 19 49 -4 −4 38
Ron Schock 77 17 29 46 -10 −10 22
Ken Schinkel 74 15 30 45 -10 −10 8
Bryan Hextall 78 20 24 44 -26 −26 126
Darryl Edestrand 77 10 23 33 -12 −12 52
Bobby Leiter 78 14 17 31 -25 −25 18
Nick Harbaruk 78 12 17 29 -13 −13 46
Duane Rupp 34 4 18 22 0 32
Bryan Watson 75 3 17 20 5 212
Val Fonteyne 68 6 13 19 -1 −1 0
Al McDonough 37 7 11 18 -6 −6 8
Rene Robert 49 7 11 18 -11 −11 42
Steve Cardwell 28 7 8 15 0 18
Eddie Shack 18 5 9 14 5 12
Dave Burrows 77 2 10 12 -7 −7 48
Tim Horton 44 2 9 11 5 40
John Stewart 25 2 8 10 -6 −6 23
Keith McCreary 33 4 4 8 -10 −10 22
Joe Noris 35 2 5 7 -8 −8 20
Sheldon Kannegiesser 54 2 4 6 -14 −14 47
Bob Woytowich 31 1 4 5 -19 −19 8
Bill Hicke 12 2 0 2 -6 −6 6
Brian McKenzie 6 1 1 2 -2 −2 4
Wally Boyer 1 0 1 1 -1 −1 0
Rick Kessell 3 0 1 1 -1 −1 0
Robin Burns 5 0 0 0 -4 −4 8
Total 220 361 581 -148 −148 968
Playoffs
Player GP G A Pts +/- − PIM
Bobby Leiter 4 3 0 3 0
Ken Schinkel 3 2 0 2 0
Jean Pronovost 4 1 1 2 0
Darryl Edestrand 4 0 2 2 0
Bryan Hextall 4 0 2 2 9
Greg Polis 4 0 2 2 0
Syl Apps 4 1 0 1 2
Ron Schock 4 1 0 1 6
Nick Harbaruk 4 0 1 1 0
Tim Horton 4 0 1 1 2
Al McDonough 4 0 1 1 0
Eddie Shack 4 0 1 1 15
Dave Burrows 4 0 0 0 4
Steve Cardwell 4 0 0 0 2
Val Fonteyne 4 0 0 0 2
Keith McCreary 1 0 0 0 2
Duane Rupp 4 0 0 0 6
Bryan Watson 4 0 0 0 21
Total 8 11 19 71

Goaltenders[3]
Regular Season
Player GP TOI W L T GA GAA SO G A PIM
Jim Rutherford 40 2160 17 15 5 116 3.22 1 0 0 16
Les Binkley 31 1673 7 15 5 98 3.51 0 0 0 2
Roy Edwards 15 847 2 8 4 36 2.55 0 0 1 0
Total 4680 26 38 14 250 3.21 1 0 1 18
Playoffs
Player GP TOI W L GA GAA SO G A PIM
Jim Rutherford 4 240 0 4 14 3.50 0 0 0 0

Transactions

The Penguins have been involved in the following transactions during the 1971–72 season:[4]

Trades

September 7, 1971 To California Golden Seals:
Cash		 To Pittsburgh Penguins:
Bill Hicke
October 3, 1971 To Vancouver Canucks:
Bob Blackburn		 To Pittsburgh Penguins:
Cash
October 6, 1971 To Minnesota North Stars:
Dean Prentice		 To Pittsburgh Penguins:
Cash
November 22, 1971 To Detroit Red Wings:
Bill Hicke		 To Pittsburgh Penguins:
Cash
January 11, 1972 To Los Angeles Kings:
Bob Woytowich		 To Pittsburgh Penguins:
Al McDonough
March 4, 1972 To Buffalo Sabres:
Rene Robert		 To Pittsburgh Penguins:
Eddie Shack

Player signings

Player Date Contract terms
Bob Woytowich September 2, 1971 Re-signed
Tim Horton September 2, 1971 Re-signed
Wally Boyer September 2, 1971 Re-signed
Jean Pronovost September 3, 1971 Signed
Dave Burrows September 8, 1971 Re-signed
Rene Robert September 8, 1971 Re-signed
Roy Edwards September 8, 1971 Re-signed
Cam Newton May 25, 1972 1-year contract
Jim Rutherford June 1, 1972 Re-signed
Bryan Hextall Jr. June 7, 1972 Re-signed

Other

Player Date Details
Andy Bathgate July 1, 1971 Retired
Roy Edwards December 30, 1971 Retired
Red Kelly January 29, 1972 Resigned as GM (remained as head coach)
Jack Riley January 29, 1972 Hired as GM (in addition to president)
Tim Horton June 5, 1972 Lost to Buffalo Sabres in intra-league draft
Bobby Leiter June 6, 1972 Lost to Atlanta Flames in expansion draft
John Stewart June 6, 1972 Lost to Atlanta Flames in expansion draft
Keith McCreary June 6, 1972 Lost to Atlanta Flames in expansion draft

Roster

Pittsburgh Penguins 1971–1972 Roster
Goaltenders
Defencemen
Wingers
Centers

Draft picks

Pittsburgh Penguins' picks at the 1971 NHL Entry Draft.[5]

Round # Player Pos Nationality College/Junior/Club Team (League)
2 18 Brian McKenzie Left Wing  Canada St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)
3 32 Joe Noris Center  United States Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
4 46 Gerry Methe Defense  Canada Oshawa Generals (OHA)
5 60 Dave Murphy Goaltender  Canada University of North Dakota (NCAA)
6 74 Ian Williams Right Wing  Canada Notre Dame (NCAA)
7 88 Doug Elliott Defense  Canada Harvard University (NCAA)
Draft notes[6]

References

  1. ↑ "1971–1972 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  2. ↑ "1971-72 Pittsburgh Penguins Results and Schedule". hockeyDB.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "1971-72 Pittsburgh Penguins Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Hockey Transactions Search Results". Pro Sports Transactions.
  5. ↑ "NHL Entry Draft Year by Year Results". NHL.com. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  6. ↑ "1971 NHL Entry Draft Pending Transactions". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved February 25, 2013.