Pittsburgh Penguins | |
---|---|
2016–17 Pittsburgh Penguins season | |
Conference | Eastern |
Division | Metropolitan |
Founded | 1967 |
History |
Pittsburgh Penguins 1967–present |
Home arena | PPG Paints Arena |
City | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
Colors | Black, Pittsburgh Gold, White |
Media |
Root Sports Pittsburgh The X (105.9 FM) ESPN Pittsburgh (970 AM) Pittsburgh Penguins Radio Network |
Owner(s) |
Ronald Burkle Mario Lemieux |
General manager | Jim Rutherford |
Head coach | Mike Sullivan |
Captain | Sidney Crosby |
Minor league affiliates |
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) Wheeling Nailers (ECHL) |
Stanley Cups | 4 (1990–91, 1991–92, 2008–09, 2015–16) |
Conference championships | 5 (1990–91, 1991–92, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2015–16) |
Presidents' Trophy | 1 (1992–93) |
Division championships | 8 (1990–91, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1997–98, 2007–08, 2012–13, 2013–14) |
Official website | www |
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 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original expansion from six to twelve teams. The Penguins played in the Civic Arena, also known to Pittsburgh fans as "The Igloo", from the time of their inception through the end of the 2009–10 season. They moved into their new arena, PPG Paints Arena, to begin the 2010–11 NHL season. They have qualified for five Stanley Cup Finals, winning the Stanley Cup four times – in 1991, 1992, 2009, and 2016.
Before the Penguins, Pittsburgh had been the home of the NHL's Pirates from 1925 to 1930 and of the American Hockey League Hornets franchise from 1936 to 1967 (with a short break from 1956 to 1961). In the spring of 1965, Jack McGregor, a state senator from Kittanning, began lobbying campaign contributors and community leaders to bring an NHL franchise back to Pittsburgh. The group focused on leveraging the NHL as an urban renewal tool for Pittsburgh. The senator formed a group of local investors that included H. J. Heinz Company heir H. J. Heinz III, Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney, and the Mellon family's Richard Mellon Scaife. The projected league expansion depended on securing votes from the then-current NHL owners; to ensure that Pittsburgh would be selected as one of the expansion cities, McGregor enlisted Rooney to petition votes from James D. Norris, owner of the Chicago Black Hawks, and his brother Bruce Norris, owner of the Detroit Red Wings.