1978–79 Pittsburgh Penguins season

1978–79 Pittsburgh Penguins
Division 2nd Norris
Conference 4th Wales
1978–79 record 36-31-13
Goals for 281
Goals against 279
Team information
General Manager Baz Bastien
Coach Johnny Wilson
Captain Orest Kindrachuk
Alternate captains None
Arena Pittsburgh Civic Arena
Team leaders
Goals Greg Malone (35)
Assists Orest Kindrachuk (42)
Points Greg Malone (65)
Penalties in minutes Dave Schultz (157)
Wins Denis Herron (22)
Goals against average Denis Herron (3.37)
<1977–78 1979–80>

The 1978–79 Pittsburgh Penguins season was their 12th in the National Hockey League. They finished second in the Norris Division, qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 1977. Their regular season was a marked improvement over the previous season, from 68 to 85 points.

Regular season

Final standings

Norris Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Montreal Canadiens 80 52 17 11 337 204 115
Pittsburgh Penguins 80 36 31 13 281 279 85
Los Angeles Kings 80 34 34 12 292 286 80
Washington Capitals 80 24 41 15 273 338 63
Detroit Red Wings 80 23 41 16 252 295 62

[1]Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points


       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Schedule and results

1978–79 Schedule
Legend:           = Win           = Loss           = Tie

Playoffs

Preliminary Round vs. Buffalo

Pittsburgh won series 2–1

Quarterfinals vs. Boston

Boston won series 4–0

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season[2]
Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM
Malone, WilliamWilliam Malone 80 35 30 65 6 52
Kindrachuk, OrestOrest Kindrachuk 79 18 42 60 3 84
Lee, PeterPeter Lee 80 32 26 58 –13 24
Mahovlich, PeterPeter Mahovlich 60 14 39 53 –11 39
Ferguson, GeorgeGeorge Ferguson 80 21 29 50 10 37
Carlyle, RandyRandy Carlyle 70 13 34 47 4 78
Lonsberry, DavidDavid Lonsberry 80 24 22 46 7 38
Kehoe, RickRick Kehoe 57 27 18 45 14 2
Schutt, RodneyRodney Schutt 74 24 21 45 –9 33
Stackhouse, RonaldRonald Stackhouse 75 10 33 43 21 54
Sheppard, GregoryGregory Sheppard 60 15 22 37 8 9
Tallon, DaleDale Tallon 63 5 24 29 –15 35
Bladon, ThomasThomas Bladon 78 4 23 27 –17 64
Campbell, ColinColin Campbell 65 2 18 20 14 137
Chapman, BlairBlair Chapman 71 10 8 18 –12 18
Anderson, RussellRussell Anderson 72 3 13 16 1 93
McAdam, GaryGary McAdam 28 5 9 14 4 2
Schultz, DaveDave Schultz 47 4 9 13 –2 157
Bianchin, WayneWayne Bianchin 40 7 4 11 –2 20
Cossette, JacquesJacques Cossette 38 7 2 9 –1 16
Paradise, RobertRobert Paradise 14 0 1 1 –4 4
Davis, KimKim Davis 1 1 0 1 0 0
Price, ThomasThomas Price 2 0 0 0 –2 4
Hamilton, JamesJames Hamilton 2 0 0 0 0 0
Meeker, MichaelMichael Meeker 4 0 0 0 –1 5
Spencer, BrianBrian Spencer 7 0 0 0 0 0
Hudson, AlexanderAlexander Hudson 2 0 0 0 0 0
Total 281 427 708 1,005

Playoffs[3]
Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM
Campbell, ColinColin Campbell 7 1 4 5 0 30
Kindrachuk, OrestOrest Kindrachuk 7 4 1 5 0 7
Bladon, ThomasThomas Bladon 7 0 4 4 0 2
Ferguson, GeorgeGeorge Ferguson 7 2 1 3 0 0
Hamilton, JamesJames Hamilton 5 3 0 3 0 0
Sheppard, GregoryGregory Sheppard 7 1 2 3 0 0
Lee, PeterPeter Lee 7 0 3 3 0 0
McAdam, GaryGary McAdam 7 2 1 3 0 0
Lonsberry, DavidDavid Lonsberry 7 0 2 2 0 9
Kehoe, RickRick Kehoe 7 0 2 2 0 0
Schutt, RodneyRodney Schutt 7 2 0 2 0 4
Chapman, BlairBlair Chapman 7 1 0 1 0 2
Malone, WilliamWilliam Malone 7 0 1 1 0 10
Mahovlich, PeterPeter Mahovlich 2 0 1 1 0 0
Cossette, JacquesJacques Cossette 3 0 1 1 0 4
Paradise, RobertRobert Paradise 2 0 0 0 0 0
Stackhouse, RonaldRonald Stackhouse 7 0 0 0 0 4
Carlyle, RandyRandy Carlyle 7 0 0 0 0 12
Hudson, AlexanderAlexander Hudson 2 0 0 0 0 0
Anderson, RussellRussell Anderson 2 0 0 0 0 0
Total 16 23 39 84

Goaltenders
Regular Season[4]
Player GP W L T GA SO
Herron, DenisDenis Herron 56 22 19 12 180 0
Millen, GregoryGregory Millen 28 14 11 1 86 2
Laxton, GordonGordon Laxton 1 0 1 0 8 0
Total 36 31 13 274 2
Playoffs[5]
Player GP W L T GA SO
Herron, DenisDenis Herron 7 2 5 0 24 0
Total 2 5 0 24 0

Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Penguins. Stats reflect time with the Penguins only.
Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Penguins only.

Transactions

The Penguins were involved in the following transactions during the 1978–79 season:

Trades

September 6, 1978 To Boston Bruins

Jean Pronovost

To Pittsburgh Penguins

Gregg Sheppard

October 9, 1978 To Chicago Blackhawks

1980 2nd round pick

To Pittsburgh Penguins

Dale Tallon

October 18, 1978 To Montreal Canadiens

1981 1st round pick

To Pittsburgh Penguins

Rod Schutt

November 17, 1978 To Vancouver Canucks

Dunc Wilson

To Pittsburgh Penguins

cash

February 6, 1979 To Buffalo Sabres

Dave Schultz

To Pittsburgh Penguins

Gary McAdam

June 9, 1979 To Winnipeg Jets

1980 7th round pick

To Pittsburgh Penguins

Jets promise not to claim Kim Clackson as a priority selection from its WHA franchise

August 3, 1979 To Detroit Red Wings

Pete Mahovlich

To Pittsburgh Penguins

Nick Libett

Additions and subtractions

Additions
Player Former team Via
Subtractions
Player New team Via
Gene Carr Atlanta Flames free agency (1978-06-06)
Ed Gilbert Cincinnati Stingers (WHA) free agency (1978-10)

Roster

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age NHL Draft Birthplace
7 United States Anderson, RussellRussell Anderson D L 24 1975 Minneapolis, Minnesota
14 Canada Bianchin, WayneWayne Bianchin RW L 25 1973 Nanaimo, British Columbia
2 Canada Bladon, ThomasThomas Bladon D R 26 1972 Edmonton, Alberta
6 Canada Campbell, ColinColin Campbell D L 26 1973 Toronto, Ontario
25 Canada Carlyle, RandyRandy Carlyle D L 23 1976 Sudbury, Ontario
9 Canada Chapman, BlairBlair Chapman RW R 22 1976 Lloydminster, Saskatchewan
27 Canada Cossette, JacquesJacques Cossette RW R 24 1974 Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec
16 Canada Davis, KimKim Davis C L 21 1977 Flin Flon, Manitoba
11 Canada Ferguson, GeorgeGeorge Ferguson C R 26 1972 Trenton, Ontario
13 Canada Hamilton, JamesJames Hamilton RW L 22 1977 Barrie, Ontario
1 Canada Herron, DenisDenis Herron G L 26 1972 Chambly, Quebec
5 Canada Hudson, AlexanderAlexander Hudson D L 23 1975 Winnipeg, Manitoba
17 Canada Kehoe, RickRick Kehoe RW R 27 1971 Windsor, Ontario
26 Canada Kindrachuk, OrestOrest Kindrachuk C L 28 Undrafted Nanton, Alberta
30 Canada Laxton, GordonGordon Laxton G L 24 1975 Montreal, Quebec
10 United Kingdom Lee, PeterPeter Lee RW R 23 1976 Ellesmere, Great Britain
18 Canada Lonsberry, DavidDavid Lonsberry LW L 32 Undrafted Humboldt, Saskatchewan
20 Canada Mahovlich, PeterPeter Mahovlich C L 32 1963 Timmins, Ontario
12 Canada Malone, WilliamWilliam Malone C L 23 1976 Fredericton, New Brunswick
16 Canada McAdam, GaryGary McAdam RW L 23 1975 Smiths Falls, Ontario
16 Canada Meeker, MichaelMichael Meeker RW 21 1978 Kingston, Ontario
29 Canada Millen, GregoryGregory Millen G R 21 1977 Toronto, Ontario
24 United States Paradise, RobertRobert Paradise D L 35 Undrafted St. Paul, Minnesota
28 Canada Price, ThomasThomas Price D 24 1974 Toronto, Ontario
23 Canada Schutt, RodneyRodney Schutt LW L 22 1976 Bancroft, Ontario
19 Canada Sheppard, GregoryGregory Sheppard C L 30 Undrafted North Battleford, Saskatchewan
22 Canada Spencer, BrianBrian Spencer LW L 29 1969 Fort St. James, British Columbia
3 Canada Stackhouse, RonaldRonald Stackhouse D R 29 1969 Haliburton, Ontario
4 Canada Tallon, DaleDale Tallon D L 28 1970 Noranda, Quebec

Draft picks

The 1978 NHL Entry Draft was held on June 15, 1978 in Montreal, Quebec.[6]

Round # Player Pos Nationality College/Junior/Club Team (League)
2 25 Michael Meeker Right Wing  Canada Peterborough Petes (OHA)
4 61 Shane Pearsall Left Wing  Canada Ottawa 67's (OHA)
5 75 Robert Garner Center  Canada Toronto Marlboros (OHA)

References

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