While not a member of the Original Six, the Pittsburgh Penguins have long been one of the most successful teams in the NHL. The franchise has been fortunate to have had some of the brightest stars in the history of the game don its black and gold jerseys. Those stars have also helped to ensure that the Penguins have a trophy case that’s starting to run out of space.

Worth the Wait

After joining the NHL as one of six expansion teams for the 1967-68 season, it took the Penguins a little while to find their footing. They made the playoffs just twice in their first seven years as a franchise. The Penguins also won just four playoff series in their first 23 seasons, never advancing further than the second round.

However, during the 1990s, the Penguins arrived in a big way. After failing to make the playoffs in seven of the last eight years, Pittsburgh won the Stanley Cup in both 1991 and 1992. The team then earned their first-ever Presidents’ Trophy for the best regular-season record during the 1992-93 campaign. Those years kicked off a stretch of 11-consecutive playoff appearances, led by one of the all-time dynamic duos in hockey history: Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr.

The Next Generation

Between his three separate stints playing for the Penguins, Lemieux became the owner of the team in 1999. Not only did that lead to him playing a few more years for the Penguins, but it also put him in a position to serve as a mentor to Sidney Crosby when Pittsburgh selected him with the top pick in the 2005 draft.

As many expected, Crosby became hockey’s next great superstar, helping the Penguins win the Stanley Cup trophy in 2009 and then earn back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017. It was the first time since the NHL instituted salary cap that a team won two straight championships. With five Stanley Cup wins, the Penguins are now tied with Edmonton for the most by any team outside of the Original Six.