Hockey Trivia 29 – Pittsburgh Penguins Team Captains
Crosby, Jagr, Lemieux. Everyone knows these Pittsburgh Penguins team captains of the recent past. How well do you know who captained the team in their earlier days?
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The Pittsburgh Penguins entered the NHL for the 1967-68 season, along with five other expansion teams. The Penguins were mediocre until the 1980’s when Mario Lemieux came along.
Test and expand your knowledge of Pittsburgh’s team captains with the following hockey trivia questions.
Q. Who was the first ever team captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins?
A. Ab McDonald played just one season with Pittsburgh, 1967-68, and was team captain. In that one season, the first for the Penguins, McDonald led the team with 22 goals. McDonald played a lengthy NHL career that lasted from 1958-59 to 1971-72. He played with Montreal, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Pittsburgh and St. Louis. McDonald was part of three Stanley Cup winning teams in Montreal and won a fourth with the Blackhawks. Ab went on to play two seasons in the WHA with the Winnipeg Jets, 1972-73 and 1973-74.
Q. After a period with no team captain, in 1973 who became captain of the Penguins?
A. Ron Schock served as team captain in Pittsburgh from 1973 to 1977. Ron played over 900 regular season games in the NHL from 1963 to 1978 with Boston, St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Buffalo.
Q. What defenseman was Pittsburgh’s team captain from 1981 to 1984?
A. Randy Carlyle played in the NHL from 1976-77 to 1992-93 with Toronto, Pittsburgh and Winnipeg. Randy won the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman with Pittsburgh in 1981. Carlyle is the current coach of the Anaheim Ducks and won a Stanley Cup with the team in 2007.
Q. What one-time fifty goal scorer was captain of the Penguins from 1984 to 1986?
A. Mike Bullard scored 51 goals for Pittsburgh during the 1983-84 season. Bullard played in the NHL from 1980-81 to 1991-92 with Pittsburgh, Calgary, St. Louis, Philadelphia and Toronto. After the NHL, Mike had a lengthy career in Germany and retired from playing after the 2002-03 season.
Can’t get enough hockey trivia? Check out these previous articles in the hockey trivia series:
Hockey Trivia Twenty-eight – Late Round NHL Draft Picks of the Early 1980’s
Hockey Trivia Twenty-seven – Minnesota North Stars
Hockey Trivia Twenty-six – You Gotta Have Hart
Hockey Trivia Twenty-five – Steve Yzerman
Hockey Trivia Twenty-four – The Last Post
Hockey Trivia Twenty-three – The OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs
Hockey Trivia Twenty-two – The Keystone State
Hockey Trivia Twenty-one – NHL Original Arenas (Small Version)
