Penguins Cup Chronicles: Frank Pietrangelo

Penguins goaltender Frank Pietrangelo may be best remembered for "The Save" in Game 6 of the Patrick Division semifinals against New Jersey.

But with starter Tom Barrasso (right shoulder) injured, Pietrangelo made four starts in the playoffs that season. He won the last two games against the Devils (including a 4-0 shutout to clinch the series), then went 1-1 against the Washington Capitals in the Patrick Division finals.

Pietrangelo was pressed into duty in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final against Minnesota when Barrasso left after the first period with a pulled groin.

He became only the second backup goalie to win four postseason games dating to 1973. Andy Moog did it with the Oilers in 1987, and no one has done it since.

"We were up, and all of a sudden, Tom was hurt and here we go again, right?" Pietrangelo said recently. "I'm so fortunate, because you look at teams that win championships now, usually the No. 1 guy plays and wins 16 games through the playoffs. ... I was fortunate to win four games for the Penguins en route to their first Stanley Cup."

Pietrangelo, whose daughter Paige plays at Robert Morris, can see the trickle-down effect from the Penguins' Cup wins.

"Let's face it, the Steelers had won. The Pirates had won. And the Penguins had never won," he said. "It was kind of a clique-ish thing, the hockey world back then. ... It wasn't the in thing to do in Pittsburgh, but after the Penguins won the Cup, I think, you look at youth hockey today in the Pittsburgh area, it's just taken right off. ... All this stuff happened because, I believe, of the success of the Penguins in the early '90s."

Q&A with Frank Pietrangelo

On almost playing in Italy for the 1990-91 season:

I had an offer to go play in Italy, and I had a year left on my contract. Craig Patrick hired Bob Johnson that summer, and they asked me if I wanted to stay with the Penguins instead of going to Italy. Obviously, I wanted to stay there. It was a financial decision more than anything else, where I'd been on a two-way contract, going up and down to the minors, and I recently got married and I had my first child on the way and everything else. Craig was very understanding with the situation, was going to allow me to go play there with the pretense that, if I ever returned to the NHL, the Penguins would own my rights, and I had no problem with that whatsoever. But when Bob came in, he looked at the depth chart and he said, 'You know, what happened to Pietrangelo?' And Craig said, 'Well, I'm going to let him go to Europe.' And he said, 'No, I'd rather him stay here.' So, they matched the offer and gave me a one-way contract, and all was well.

On the possibility of being traded or claimed in the waiver draft:

We had three goalies for pretty much most of my time in Pittsburgh. Obviously when Tom Barrasso's daughter was ill, that had a factor in things. But, no, I was never worried about anything like that. Craig was always great with players, as far as being up-front with them, letting them know where they stood with the organization and all that. I was pretty confident that I was part of their plans.

On playing on a team with three goalies:

There's no doubt about it, it's made for two goalies. It's hard enough for a second guy to get enough games and everything else, but it extends further than that — you know, practice time and that type of thing. It's difficult to find enough shots to stay sharp. Gilles Meloche was our goalie coach back then, and obviously it was a part of his responsibility to make sure that we were ready to go for games. It worked out pretty good.

On the relationships among the goaltenders:

Well, Tommy was the No. 1 goalie. I think Wendell (Young) and I understood that; it wasn't a question. Wendell and I had a great relationship. We were roommates a lot on the road when we traveled and got along pretty well. It was competitive between us, but there was no animosity or anything like that. We were all happy to be a part of the Penguins. We were a young team that was seemingly going places, and we did what we did to be successful.

On thinking he had what it takes to be the No. 1 guy:

I think we all did. I think every goalie coming up, you are a No. 1 goalie, so that's your expectations coming in, and obviously you want more playing time. No matter what you get, you want more. So, sure, in the back of my mind, I wanted an opportunity to do that. But those are the cards, right?

On playing a lot in November and December:

That was my role on the team. I was a backup goaltender, and I played when I was called upon. ... I was lucky to be thrust into some key situations. The game we clinched first place in Detroit, I got an opportunity, I was the goalie there. Bob Johnson kept reminding me all the time that the longer we go in the playoffs, the better it is for everyone. Sure enough, his statement ended up being true.

On a game misconduct in December:

It was Kerry Fraser. I made a comment about his hairdo. He wasn't too happy about it, so he kicked me out of the game. I couldn't believe it. And I think Ron (Asselstine) was the linesman at the time. He comes up and says, 'Hey, you got kicked out.' I said, 'Come on, you're kidding me, right• All I did was say something about his hair.' He goes, 'Well, that was the wrong thing to say.' That was against Chicago at home. I remember it well. He's made a great living off that hair because he's still making commercials off it. I guess I had to learn it the hard way.

On Bob Johnson being a perfect fit for the Penguins:

No doubt about that. The team looked like it had some good, young talent coming up, obviously with Mario (Lemieux) there and Craig (Patrick) bringing in some key pieces that all fit into place. But Bob was the glue. He was the guy that made it all work, he was positive, he was an enthusiastic guy. He always found the silver lining in everything. ... He found positives in just about everything. He got to know you personally, I think that was the biggest thing of all the coaches I had in the NHL. You'd run into Bob, and he'd know everything about you, about your background, your school, he knew about your family, he knew about your married life, he knew about your children. He knew everything about you. He took time. He cared, and I think that was a big part of the reason guys liked playing for him.

On practicing against all of the Penguins' talent:

Day in, day out, you're practicing against guys like that. We had five, six Hall of Famers on that team. Mario and (Paul) Coffey and (Bryan) Trottier and (Larry) Murphy and guys that were just great people, Joe Mullen, Ron Francis. Of course, it helped to practice against them, but just as importantly, the habits you learn from them, off ice and how to handle yourself in public, things you do and you don't do. Obviously, when you have a cast like that, now you look back and see who these people really were. At the time, you're not aware of that; you're not aware that you're playing with guys — I mean Mario was Mario, but still he was young and unproven. He was going to be a great player, but he wasn't the Mario that everybody knows of now. He was still kind of making his way through everything. As great as he was, he'd yet to win a Stanley Cup. ... It was wonderful doing that, but the other part of it was a lot of us had played together in the minors. Mark Recchi, Kevin Stevens, myself, Jimmy Paek, Paul Stanton, a lot of these guys, Jock Callander. You look at names on the Stanley Cup, guys who contributed down the road. We played together and won the championship in Muskegon the year before, so I think that was a big part of it as well. Winning breeds positive things.

On the veteran leaders joining the team:

They knew how to win. You look at it now, and you still see people doing the same thing, bringing people in who have been successful. Some guys win, and some guys don't. I've been fortunate that I've been surrounded by teams that have always been successful, but you look at people who had great careers, guys like Pat LaFontaine, Marcel Dionne and it goes on and on, guys who have played 15 or 20 years pro, and never had a chance of being on successful teams. So, I think it was important those guys taught guys how to lead. There's ups and there's downs. It's a long year.

On winning the Patrick Division title:

Mario didn't play that last game in Detroit, as a matter of fact, when we clinched. We had a lot of injuries, so a lot of guys like myself, guys I mentioned like Jimmy Paek, a lot of these guys, young guys who came up in the minors got an opportunity to play, and play key roles in the playoffs as well. So, it's all part of growing, I guess, but the achievement of winning the championship, the first one ever, was tremendous. And then we just kind of believed in ourselves from that point on, that, you know what, maybe we can, maybe this is possible.

On the tide turning after their Game 6 victory:

We won Game 6 in Jersey, now we're coming back home, and I think we believed that we could win at that point. Going into Jersey, we all thought we could win, don't get me wrong. But I think what happened by us going there and winning, we expected to win Game 7. If everything now was lined up for us to be successful and to win the series, so Paul Coffey came back that game, wearing a full face shield. We lost Ulfie (Samuelsson) that Game 6 as well; he punched a puck out of the air and broke a knuckle in his hand. Once again, the injuries were part of everything, but we expected to win Game 7 at home in front of our crowd. We expected to win the game, and we did.

On winning Game 7:

I got a shutout that game. The boys played really well. We dominated the game from start to finish. And once again, some unexpected people came through big. .... It just shows you, to win championships, it takes everybody. Obviously, we had our stars, don't get me wrong, but guys like myself and all these other players, we all played our part.

On the third period of Game 6 vs. Minnesota seemingly taking forever:

The game was over, and we're in between periods, usually you're in the dressing room telling everybody not to lose their focus. But it was almost impossible we were going to let in eight or nine goals in one period, so we just wanted to celebrate. I know Minnesota didn't want to come back out on the ice, that's for sure. They were done, so it was just a long period. There was a lot of happiness, obviously. A lot of us had played together for a long time. Most of us were Penguin draft choices. It was a great experience watching that clock go down and finally being able to get on that ice and celebrate with each other.

On finally getting to hoist the Stanley Cup:

We've done it so many times in our lives, out in the street, playing street hockey or out on the ice with your buddies. All of a sudden, a surreal moment. Being a young Canadian, we grow up watching the Stanley Cup playoffs every year and hoping to put yourself in that position. When it finally did happen, it was just something that you can't really put into words, I don't think. It's an outstanding feeling. The camaraderie between the guys on the team was really close. People always say that you need a good dressing room to win championships. Well, you don't win a championship without a good dressing room, so I think it's part and parcel. Good people and good teams win championships, rather than teams that build good hockey teams all of a sudden start to like each other. I don't think that's the way it works.

Additional Information:

Frank Pietrangelo

ACQUIRED: June 8, 1983 • Fourth-round draft pick (63rd overall)

PENGUINS DEBUT: Oct. 17, 1987, at Montreal

PENGUINS 1990-91 STATS: 25 games, 10 wins, 11 losses, 1 tie, .880 save percentage, 3.94 goals-against average, 1,311 minutes

PENGUINS CAREER STATS: 87 games, 34 wins, 32 losses, 3 ties, .873 save percentage, 4.13 goals-against average, 4,478 minutes

WHAT HE'S UP TO NOW: General manager/coach for prep team at Hill Academy in Vaughan, Ontario