Pittsburgh Penguins
| Pittsburgh Penguins | |
|---|---|
| |
| Conference | Eastern |
| Division | Metropolitan |
| Founded | 2020 |
| Home arena | PPG Paints Arena |
| City | Pittsburgh |
| Colors | Black, Pittsburgh Gold, White |
| Media | Root Sports Pittsburgh The X (105.9 FM) ESPN Pittsburgh (970 AM) Pittsburgh Penguins Radio Network |
| Owner(s) | smckenz3 |
| General manager | HAFFnHAFF |
| Head coach | vtgorilla |
| Captain | Sebastien Perreault |
| Minor league affiliates | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) Wheeling Nailers (ECHL) |
| Stanley Cups | 0 |
| Conference championships | 0 |
| Presidents' Trophies | 0 |
| Division championships | 0 |
| Official website | https://www.nhl.com/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). The franchise was founded in 2020 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's initial creation. They play in the PPG Paints Arena and are coached by vtgorilla.
Contents
Franchise history
Beginnings (2020)
When the NHLHC professional hockey league was being formed an investment group led by IT professional smckenz3 put in an application for an expansion franchise to be placed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh was awarded a franchise and joined the four team Metropolitan division for the inaugural 2020 season. Smckenz3 would hire HAFFnHAFF, a relative unknown in the hockey world, to be the team's first ever GM. The Penguins would also bring a hockey unknown vtgorilla on the be the team's first ever head coach. What the group lacked in experience they would make up for it in excitement and willingness to learn.
The inaugural NHLHC draft would take place at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC. The Penguins would enter the draft with the 6th overall pick in the draft. Pittsburgh used the pick on Canadian defense-men Sebastien Perreault who became the first ever player in franchise history. Perreault would later be named the first ever captain in franchise history as well.
HAFFnHAFF would make a bold trade during the draft sending the 27th and 134th pick to the Colorado Avalanche for their 35th, 67th, and 131st selection. The trade allowed Pittsburgh to gain an extra high quality pick and fill their initial roster out with more depth than if they would have stayed put. The team would use their 3rd round picks on Canadian RW Rickie Robinson and Canadian goalie Aaron Klein to form the team's first trio.
Pittsburgh would play their very first game in franchise history on 12/15/2020 at home against division-foe New York Islanders. Smckenz3 would drop the inaugural first puck and the Penguins would provide the home fans with a 3-0 shutout of their division rivals. Pittsburgh would also be invited to play in the first-ever Winter Classic which took place at legendary Beaver Stadium in State College, PA. The Penguins would be matched up against #1 pick Taylor Price and cross-state rival Philadelphia. The Flyers would ultimately get the victory, but the teams would show that hockey was here to stay in Pennsylvania.
The inaugural season would be an up and down year in the city of Pittsburgh. The Penguins would start off fairly strong flirting with a potential playoff-birth in the vastly more difficult Eastern Conference. Pittsburgh's inconsistencies would doom them down the stretch as they would be officially eliminated from playoff contention during the last week of the 2020 season.
Team colors and jerseys
Logo
The Penguins traditionally have gone with a skating penguin as their logo. The logo features a "Pittsburgh Gold" triangle that is a reference to downtown Pittsburgh.
Jersey
The primary color for the home jersey is black with Pittsburgh gold striping around the uniform. The traditional skating penguin dons the crest, while the sleeves have Pittsburgh gold striping.
The primary color for the away jersey is white with Pittsburgh gold and black striping around the uniform. he traditional skating penguin dons the crest, while the sleeves have Pittsburgh gold striping.
The Penguins will sometimes don an gold alternate uniform. The primary color for the jerseys is Pittsburgh gold. The traditional skating penguin, without the golden triangle, dons the crest, while the sleeves have black stripes. A black keystone patch that says "City of Champions" with two crossed hockey sticks in gold, is located on the left sleeve. The patch also has four gold stars above it to represent Pittsburgh as the "City of Champions".
Current roster
| # | Nat | Player | Pos | S/G | Acquired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 
|
Sebastien Perreault (C) | D | 1 | 2020 | 1st round pick |
| 7 |
|
Rickie Robinson (A) | RW | 1 | 2020 | 3rd round pick |
| 29 |
|
Aaron Klein | G | 1 | 2020 | 3rd round pick |
| 58 |
|
Sam Blackbourne | D | 1 | 2020 | 4th round pick |
| 19 | 
|
Pawel Lewandowski | C | 1 | 2021 | Trade with Columbus |
| 14 | 
|
Petr Rudenecki | LW | 1 | 2020 | 5th round pick |
| 71 |
|
Greg Miller | C | 1 | 2020 | 6th round pick |
| 81 | 
|
Tom Johnson | RW | 1 | 2020 | 7th round pick |
| 22 | 
|
Sascha Kaiser | LW | 1 | 2020 | 9th round pick |
| 25 |
|
Kris Ward | C | 1 | 2020 | Free agent |
| 81 |
|
Pierre Rolande | D | 1 | 2020 | Free agent |
| 14 | 
|
Slava Voinov | D | 1 | 2020 | Free agent |
| 47 | 
|
Timur Sokolov | LW | 1 | 2020 | Free agent |
| 3 | 
|
Arne Westerberg | C | 1 | 2020 | Free agent |
| 62 |
|
Ryan Hughes | D | 1 | 2020 | Free agent |
| 12 | 
|
Romain Taillier | LW | 1 | 2020 | Free agent |
| 17 |
|
Paul Baker | D | 1 | 2020 | Free agent |
| 2 |
|
Ludvig Martinsson | D | 1 | 2020 | Free agent |
| 41 |
|
Derrick Reha | RW | 1 | 2020 | Free agent |
| 28 |
|
Damien Bessier | G | 1 | 2020 | Free agent |
| 21 | 
|
Radimir Konstantinov | C | 1 | 2020 | Free agent |
| 25 |
|
Nate Gardner | RW | R | 2021 | 1st round pick |
| 43 |
|
Colin Ellis | LW | R | 2021 | 2nd round pick |
| 57 | 
|
Jack Barker | D | R | 2021 | 3rd round pick |
| 39 |
|
Lukas Kovarik | C | R | 2021 | 4th round pick |
| 37 |
|
Jakub Tarnaski | RW | R | 2021 | 4th round pick |
Leaders
Team captains
| Nat | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sebastien Perreault |
|
2020 | present |
Owners
| Nat | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| smckenz3 |
|
2020 | present |
General managers
| Nat | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| HAFFnHAFF |
|
2020 | present |
Head coaches
| Nat | From | To | Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | T | OTL | SOL | Pct | G | W | L | Pct | ||||
| vtgorilla |
|
2020 | present | 28 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 2 | — | .500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
