Oilers Dramatic Stand Recalls a Dark Turn in Penguins History

As Connor McDavid and the Oilers seek to close out a storybook comeback from a 3-0 series deficit and capture the Stanley Cup, I’m reminded of a similar scenario involving our Penguins back in the 1975 playoffs. One that halted a promising young team dead in its tracks and ushered in one of the bleakest eras in franchise history.

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Possessing a near perfect blend of youth, experience, toughness and skill, the 1974-75 Penguins were a team of immense promise.

Buoyed by a 20-game unbeaten streak at the Civic Arena, including an 8–2 thrashing of the defending Stanley Cup champion Flyers, the club caught fire in the second half to register the first winning season in franchise history.

Dashing and electric, the Pens boasted nine 20 goal-scorers. They racked up six goals or more 20 times, including an astounding 12-goal eruption against the expansion Washington Capitals on March 15.

Dubbed the Century Line for its near triple-digit goal production—the first line featured all-time Penguin greats Syl Apps, Lowell MacDonald and Jean Pronovost. Early practitioners of the swirling European style, the trio tallied 94 goals—including a team-high 43 by Pronovost.

The second line of veteran Vic Hadfield, youngster Rick Kehoe and two-way center Ron Schock was nearly as deadly, striking 86 times.

The third unit with cocky, precocious rookie Pierre Larouche centering for fearsome Bob “Battleship” Kelly and hot shot Chuck Arnason, lit the lamp 84 times. Thirty-one by Pierre.

Between the pipes, second-year goalie Gary Inness emerged as a pleasant surprise. The defense featured rangy Ron Stackhouse, who shattered club scoring records for rearguards with 15 goals and 60 points, and stay-at-home All-Star Dave Burrows. Veterans Bob Paradise and Barry Wilkins enjoyed career seasons while providing steadiness and toughness.

Optimism was high as the Pens opened the playoffs by sweeping archrival St. Louis in a best-of-three set. The quick kill set up a Quarterfinals match-up with the plucky New York Islanders.

Under the watchful eye of bespectacled coach Al Arbour, the Islanders had made the playoffs in only their third year of existence. Featuring a curious blend of veterans, castoffs, and rising young stars such as Denis Potvin, Bob Nystrom and Clark Gillies, the Islanders had melded into a spirited team that played a tight-checking game. They would prove to be a most formidable opponent.

The Series

Starting quickly in Game 1 before their hometown fans, the Pens raced to a three-goal, first-period lead. It appeared they would coast to an easy victory, but the visitors from Long Island staged a furious rally to make a game of it. The Pens held on to win 5–4 but suffered a severe blow when Wilkins went down with a separated shoulder.

His replacement, granite tough Dennis Owchar, set the tone for Game 2 with a crushing open-ice check on Bob Bourne. Suitably inspired, the Penguins swarmed all over the Islanders. Paced by MacDonald’s two-goal night, they dominated the game from start to finish and rolled to a 3–1 victory.

However, misfortune struck again when Paradise sustained a shoulder injury, leaving the club with only four healthy defensemen. With nowhere else to turn, GM Jack Button recalled inexperienced Larry Bignell from Hershey to plug the hole.

The series shifted to the Nassau County Coliseum for Game 3, where the Penguins prevailed in a wild-and-woolly affair. Pronovost and Kelly staked us to a 2–0 lead. Kelly made it a three-goal margin early in the second frame when he outmuscled Potvin to bang home a rebound.

The gritty Islanders weren’t finished. Veteran Ed Westfall scored to set up a wide-open third period that saw the teams exchange six goals. Although New York controlled the play in the final 20 minutes, the Pens were at their sharpshooting best, beating Billy Smith on three of six shots.

Convinced the series was theirs for the taking, the Pens celebrated into the wee hours at a Long Island night spot, the Salty Dog Saloon. The revelry would prove incredibly premature.

The Turning Point

In an effort to shake things up, Arbour replaced the besieged Smith with backup Glenn “Chico” Resch for Game 4. Little did he realize this seemingly insignificant move would have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the series.

Arbour also drew a chalk line in the ice, telling his players to remove their skates and leave if they didn’t believe they could win. A challenge that galvanized the team.

The Islanders finally scored the opening goal, which allowed them to settle into their close-checking style. Kelly, who had become the Pens’ most dangerous weapon, slipped a backhander past Resch to even the score.

It was all the offense he and his mates could muster. Gillies and Jean-Paul Parise scored in the third period to put the final touches on a crisp 3–1 Islanders victory.

Despite their failure to finish New York off, the Pens remained a confident bunch. After all, the series was returning to the friendly confines of the Civic Arena for Game 5, where they were virtually unbeatable. The plan was simple: take control early and force the less-skilled Islanders to play a more wide-open game.

Unfortunately, the Islanders quickly piled up a two-goal lead. Although Hadfield scored midway through the second period to cut New York’s lead in half, Westfall responded with a power-play goal. Jude Drouin drove home an empty-netter to seal the Pens’ fate.

Suddenly, things weren’t so rosy. The Steel City snipers were having more luck clanking shots off the goal posts than finding the back of the net. As if Resch had made a deal with the devil and had grafted the iron to his body.

“The Islanders are like a disease,” Kelly grumbled following the loss. “You can’t get rid of them. When they’re down, they don’t pull the rip cord and bail out. I like them but I don’t like them. You know what I mean.”

“We’re not out of it yet,” added Schock. “We still have a 3–2 lead in games. We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy series. Now we are finding out how hard it is.”

Although clearly annoyed the plucky Islanders were lingering, the Pens liked their chances, especially with Paradise returning to action for Game 6.

Once more the Islanders grabbed the early lead. Larouche struck back quickly. Just as the Pens appeared to be gathering momentum, feisty Garry Howatt picked Owchar’s pocket and scored a crucial goal to give the Islanders a lead they would never relinquish.

Again the Pens attacked with everything they had. Again Resch stopped them cold. To make matters worse, Hadfield—a key member of the power play—suffered two broken ribs. He would play only a single shift in the series finale.

Game 7

Game 7 was a dramatic affair played before a sellout crowd of 13,404 at the Civic Arena. Tempers flared as the rivals battled for control. A pair of genuine heavyweights, Paradise and Gillies, slugged it out five minutes into the contest. Kelly and Dave Lewis soon followed suit, but the rest of the game was played hard and clean.

The game remained scoreless through two periods as Inness and his counterpart put on a goaltending clinic.

The Pens had two great chances in the third period. Pronovost thought he had a sure goal when he tipped a shot past Resch, but the puck bounced harmlessly off the iron. Moments later Larouche glided in on a breakaway and deked the Islanders’ goalie out of position. He missed a wide-open net and went crashing into the boards.

“[Denis] Potvin tripped me,” he said. “I had the net open to me.”

Two minutes later Bert Marshall lugged the puck over our blue line. As the Pens swarmed to greet him, they left Westfall unattended.

“All the Penguins went towards Bert so I yelled to him,” Westfall said. “I held the puck for a second when I got it. The goaltender was leaning a little towards J. P. Parise coming in on his right side. So I put it up high and tried to get the puck in the eight inches he left open near the post.”

“What could I do,” Inness said. “He kept moving in from the side. I stayed as long as I could, then I had to move with him. The instant I did, he put it past me. Westfall’s an old pro. He never panicked.”

Demoralized by the sudden turn of events, the Pens failed to register a shot during the final five minutes. They became the first team in 33 years and only the second in NHL history to drop four-straight playoff games after taking a 3-0 series lead.

In the hush of the losing locker room, coach Marc Boileau stared into his half-empty can of beer and struggled to explain what went wrong. “We got overconfident…definitely,” he said. “All they did was work for seven games.”

“We dinged crossbars, we hit pipes, we had guys in alone with Resch flat on his back,” owner Tad Potter later recalled. “Didn’t matter. It was like a greater power was saying something like, ‘You aren’t supposed to win.’…The next series against the Flyers, if there’d been one, would’ve bailed us out of our financial hole. Ownership would have stabilized. We were an organization which at that point was a couple of players away from being a real contender.”

The Aftermath

With sledgehammer force, the blows fell swift and sure. On June 13, 1975, the IRS placed a lien on the club for $532,000…a sizeable sum in those days…and padlocked the team offices. The following day Equibank sued for $5 million in unpaid loans. Reeling from the fiscal one-two punch and loss of anticipated revenues, Potter and partner Peter Block had no choice but to enter into receivership. Effectively declaring bankruptcy.

Indianapolis-based mortgage banker and real estate developer Al Savill rescued the team a month later. For that we owe him and fellow investors Otto Frenzel and Wren Blair a deep debt of gratitude. 

Blair replaced Button at the helm and slashed the farm system to trim costs, severing the lifeline to the future. Younger players were dealt for veterans.

The long decline had begun.

It took years—and a brilliant young talent named Mario—for the Pens to recover.