Penguins History: The Hatfields versus the McCoys

In the spring of 1970, a strange malaise called Stanley Cup fever had, quite unexpectedly, taken Pittsburgh by storm. Following two dreary seasons the city’s new National Hockey League entry—the Penguins—had wrapped up second place in the West Division to earn a berth in the playoffs.

Led by their wily coach, Red Kelly, the “Pesky Pens” swept the Oakland Seals in four straight games to set up a Semifinals match-up against the West Division champion St. Louis Blues.

The Penguins and Blues were hardly kissin’ cousins. During a contest at the Civic Arena on January 31, a jousting match between Pens policeman Bryan Watson and St. Louis bad boy Barclay Plager ignited a bench-clearing brawl that resulted in a key Penguins victory.

It took all of 19 seconds for the bitter rivals to renew hostilities. Boisterous Noel Picard squirted gasoline on the smoldering embers when he mugged peace-loving Pens winger Jean Pronovost in the St. Louis zone. Watson flew at Picard. Soon gloves and sticks littered the ice.

Although the Penguins were holding their own in the fisticuffs, St. Louis tallied three goals in a six-minute span of the second period to put the game out of reach. To set the tone for the next contest, Picard jumped willowy rookie Michel Briere at the end of the game to spark yet another brawl that featured Tracy Pratt and Blues tough guy Bob Plager in the main event.

“They think they’re going to kick the hell out of us, but they’re not,” declared defiant Penguins general manager Jack Riley.

In an effort to neutralize the Blues’ intimidating defensive tandem of Picard and Bob Plager, Kelly started game two with a makeshift forward line that featured two of his biggest and toughest players—Pratt and fellow defenseman Dunc McCallum—alongside rugged Bryan Hextall.

The move backfired mightily as the Blues promptly scored on an odd-man break. St. Louis rolled up a three-goal first-period lead en route to a convincing 4-1 win.

Although they were down 2-0, the Penguins’ spirited play had at long last captured the imagination of Steel City hockey fans. With the series shifting to Pittsburgh for Game 3, they turned out in droves. Suitably inspired, the Pens dominated the action from the opening face-off. Playing with a new-found confidence, they held the high-powered Blues in check and rolled to a 3-2 victory.

Suddenly the Penguins were the hottest ticket in town. A record throng of 12,962 jammed the Civic Arena to see if they could even the series in Game 4. The fans in attendance were treated to another superb effort by their hometown heroes. Paced by Briere’s game-winning goal, the Pens triumphed 2-1 to knot the series at two games apiece.

What had seemed unthinkable—a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals—was now within the Penguins’ grasp. Stoked to a fever pitch, they opened Game 5 in St. Louis hitting anything that moved. However, Hextall, Watson, and Glen Sather drew penalties in rapid succession. St. Louis cashed in on the power play and romped to an easy 5-0 win.

With their backs against the wall, the Penguins came out smoking in Game 6. Playing before another near capacity crowd at the Civic Arena they grabbed the lead on goals by defenseman Duane Rupp and former Blue Ron Schock. Red Berenson scored in the second period to close the gap to 2-1 going into the final frame.

In the wildest finish of the series St. Louis tied the game at 5:26, only to watch Briere pot his fifth goal of the playoffs less than a minute later. The Pens had barely finished celebrating when the Blues’ Tim Ecclestone evened the score at 3-3. The defenses stiffened until the 14-minute mark, when Larry Keenan fired the game winner past goalie Al Smith to break the hearts of the Penguins and their faithful.

“You feel bad about losing,” Kelly said, “but you never feel bad when you’ve given everything you have and that’s what this team did. This club has more heart than any club in the world.”