Original Penguins Logo 1967-68
By Keith Barnes
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, October 7, 2007
For four decades, former Penguins executive Jack Riley has prowled the press box at Mellon Arena. He's one of the few people who can say he was there from the beginning.
Riley, 87, was the team's first general manager. It was 40 years ago this week, on Oct. 11, 1967, that the Penguins became the first expansion team to take the ice and play one of the Original Six NHL franchises.
On that Wednesday night, the Penguins played the Montreal Canadiens -- a team that would win the Stanley Cup -- in front of a crowd of 9,307 at what was called the Pittsburgh Civic Center and is now Mellon Arena.
It was an historical night, to be sure. Not only was it the first meeting between an expansion franchise and one of the Original Six, it also was the game in which future Hall-of-Fame center Jean Beliveau scored his 400th career goal, beating Penguins starting goaltender Hank Bassen 53 seconds into the second period.
That loss may have been the catalyst for the Penguins' shortcomings against the Canadiens. Of the Original Six franchises they've faced over the years, the Penguins have the worst record against the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge (43-105-24) and an abysmal 12-63-11 mark in Montreal.
Of course, it could just be fate's way of punishing the Penguins for their arrogance at volunteering to start a franchise against the most storied team in NHL history.
"We had to meet them anyway and what better night to play a great team like that," Riley said. "I thought we might catch them off-guard ... and we played pretty well."
As the 40th anniversary of that game approaches, it's apropos to look back at how the team that lost that game to the Canadiens, 2-1, was formed.
1967 Pittsburgh Penguins Team Photo: Front row: GM Jack Riley, Leo Boivin, Earl Ingarfield, Owner Jack McGregor, Coach Red Sullivan, Ab McDonald, Al MacNeil and PR man Joe Gordon
Middle Row: Hank Bassen, Dick Mattiussi, George Konik, Andy Bathgate, Art Stratton, Noel Price, Billy Speer, Paul Andrea and Les Binkley
Back row: Gene Ubriaco, Val Fonteyne, Ken Schinkel, Bob Dillabough, Keith McCreary, Billy Dea and trainer Ken Carson
The NHL draft that year certainly favored the Original Six.
The existing NHL teams -- the Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs -- could protect 12 players on their roster. Then, after the six new teams drafted a player, the original franchises could add another player to the protected list. Which meant the six expansion squads only were allowed a shot at a team's 13th-best player at the June 6, 1967 draft in Montreal.
The talent pool went down from there.
"The six teams that were drafting from the old six had to rely pretty well on American and Western (Hockey) League players because they were at the Triple-A level at that time," Riley said. "We usually got into some of their farm clubs."
Even Riley didn't have NHL experience. He played for a while in the minor leagues and was a general manager at that level for more than a decade before being given his shot to put together an NHL team.
Another thing hampered the expansion clubs. The Original Six teams each had two junior development teams that were deemed untouchable, and their minor-league organizations also had two junior teams under their sway. By not allowing the expansion teams to delve into the four developmental teams operated by each franchise and designating autonomous rights to the existing NHL clubs, it was hard to find that one young prospect or diamond in the rough that could carry an expansion team into contention.
"We couldn't touch their players, so the first draft for us would be (a pool of) somewhere around 400, which is nothing really," Riley said. "The next year they phased it out, and there was maybe 75 players we couldn't touch and then the third year was a pure draft."
Instead of getting a hoard of young prospects, the Penguins, like the St. Louis Blues, Los Angeles Kings, California (Oakland) Seals, Philadelphia Flyers and Minnesota North Stars, had to forage for career minor-leaguers or players past their prime.
Most of those AHL or WHL players, however, were champing at the bit for their chance to play in the NHL, and they didn't want to let it slip away.
"It was great because I played 12 years in the minors trying to get a chance to play in the National Hockey League," goaltender Les Binkley said. "Not many guys play in the minor leagues for 12 years and get a chance to play in the NHL. A lot of them want to start at the top, but it doesn't always work out that way."
Perhaps the steal of the draft for the Penguins came in the 19th round when they grabbed former Hart Trophy winner Andy Bathgate. The future Hall-of-Fame center was 35 and at the tail end of his career when he was drafted and would play only one season in Pittsburgh, but he made a lasting impression. He holds the distinction of scoring the first goal in team history during that first game.
"I went pretty late in the draft, and I thought I would be going back to Detroit," Bathgate said. "But I guess they made some changes late in the draft so I would become available, but we were wondering what all the other teams had turned up because most of those guys had played in the American League and we were wondering what direction they would take."
Drafting for the present
Training camp
Unlike the current Penguins, who spent most of their training time at Mellon Arena or the Iceoplex at Southpointe, the earlier teams didn't train near the city.
Forty years ago, there weren't many hockey rinks in the area. A couple of the more notable ones were in Monroeville Mall and the War Memorial in Johnstown. Even the Pittsburgh Civic Center didn't have ice until the first game because of the bustle of events coming through the building.
Since finding ice time was difficult, the Penguins headed to southern Ontario and found a rink. In their case, they spent six weeks of grueling two-a-day practices in Brantford under the guidance of coach Red Sullivan.
"You can't even do that anymore because the Players' Association won't allow them to be on the ice that long," Binkley said.
The inaugural Penguins came together fairly quickly. They finished the preseason 7-1-1 and were ready to make their Civic Center debut.
"We knew that the guys playing on the expansion teams were pretty good hockey players," said Ab McDonald, captain of the '67 Penguins. "Guys went all over the place to play and had been up and down (between the minors and the NHL) and in-between, and a lot of them had the experience of playing for a number of years."
The first game
When the Penguins took the ice in their white and blue uniforms, it was to a relatively quiet Civic Center crowd. Though the Pittsburgh Hornets of the AHL drew fairly well in the old Duquesne Gardens, this was the first time the city had an NHL franchise since the Pittsburgh Pirates folded in 1930 after only five seasons.
It took a while to get the crowd into the game.
Getting the players ready took a lot less time ... especially considering the team in the other locker room had lost to Toronto in the Stanley Cup finals just a few months earlier.
"I gave them a pep talk and told them that we had to get off to a good start and give it our best, which we did," Sullivan said. "I knew what I was getting into, but it wasn't very nice. They had good teams in those days and, when one guy would get hurt, they'd bring in another guy and he'd be better than the guy that got hurt. They had a lot of depth."
Though the excellent preseason record gave the team hope for a successful campaign, the Penguins finished that year 27-34-13 and missed the playoffs. Their sub-.500 slide started that night at the hands of Toe Blake's Canadiens, thanks in large part to Beliveau's 400th goal, which allowed the Flying Frenchmen to play the game at their pace.
Bathgate kept the team from being shut out when he scored on a slapshot at 7:06 of the third period. And, even though the franchise has scored 10,458 more times since Noel Price and McDonald set up Bathgate for that tally, his will always be the first.
"When you get the first one, it's something you remember all the time, that's for sure," Bathgate said. "It was the start of a new generation, I guess, but when you're in it, you really don't think very much of it because it's just another goal and you're just trying to prove yourself that you're going to be a decent hockey team. But you always remember the first one, whether it was with the Leafs, Detroit or when I joined the NHL."
Keith Barnes can be reached at kbarnes@tribweb.com or 724-853-2109.
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