One of the franchises that formed when the NHL decided to expand in 1967, the Pittsburgh Penguins' early years were often unremarkable, as they were overshadowed by cross-state rivals the Philadelphia Flyers, who also entered the league in the same year. After years of losing, things began to change when the Penguins had the first overall pick in 1984. If you follow your hockey history, you know the rest of that story, and that will be covered in this piece to some degree.
In the team's history, the Penguins have had twelve captains, with two players having served more than once as captain. The first captain in team history was Ab McDonald, who would go on to serve that inaugural season as captain. The following year, the team went without a captain, and would do so until 1973. Ron Schock would end that streak with his own, serving from 1973 until 1977. Jean Pronovost would serve for a season before Orest Kindrachuk would take over in 1978, serving until 1981. The lean years of the Penguins would see Randy Carlyle wear the C from 1981 until 1984. The 1984 offseason saw some changes, with Mario Lemieux being drafted by the Pens and becoming the team's savior (in more ways than one) and Mike Bullard taking over the captain duties. Bullard would serve until 1986. Rosco Ruskowski would handle the captain duties for the 1986-87 season. The 1987-88 season would see Dan Frawley start as captain, but an injury would have Mario Lemieux in the first of three stints as captain, take over two months later. Lemieux's first term as captain saw two Stanley Cups, and a courageous battle with Hodgkin's Disease. He sat out the lockout shortened season of 1994-95, and as a result, the C was handed over to Ron Francis, who himself was serving the first of two stints as Pens captain. Lemieux's return to the lineup in 1995-96 meant a return to captaincy, a role he would hold this time until his first retirement in 1997 due to illness. The 1997-98 season would see Francis return as captain until his trade to Carolina after the season. Three seasons of Jaromir Jagr would follow until his trade to Washington in the 2001 offseason, but not before he dominated the game like few others in the last thirty years. Lemieux came out of retirement in December 2000, and would be named captain again after the Jagr trade. Lemieux would hold the captiancy this time until his retirement in 2006. The 2006-07 season saw the team go without a captain, and the following season, Sidney Crosby would be named captain, a role he has held since. Crosby has already won a Stanley Cup and scored the gold medal clinching goal, so who knows what else he has in store.
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