Pittsburgh Penguins Trivia
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50 free Pittsburgh Penguins trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
The Pittsburgh Penguins were named by a fan contest because they would play in the Igloo, went bankrupt twice, tanked a season to draft Mario Lemieux and were saved from folding by Lemieux himself, who then became the only man with his name on the Stanley Cup as both player and owner. This Penguins trivia quiz covers all of it: Michel Briere, the switch from blue to black and gold over Boston's objections, Jaromir Jagr, Bob Johnson and Scotty Bowman, back-to-back Cups in 1991 and 1992, the 17-game win streak, the Sidney Crosby Sweepstakes, Evgeni Malkin's six-game debut, Max Talbot's Game 7, and the 2016 and 2017 titles. Questions range from easy ones any fan should get to hard ones about the 1975 bankruptcy, the first White House visit by an NHL team, the Century Line, the 'Blue Jerseys of Doom' and Lemieux scoring five ways in one game. There are questions on the arenas, the uniforms, the mascot and the rivalries too. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedic and reference sources before publishing, and each question carries a citation. For more, try our NHL trivia and hockey trivia pages.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which team joined the NHL alongside Pittsburgh in 1967?
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers arrived decades after Pittsburgh's first NHL club, the Pirates, had moved to Philadelphia for a single season.
Q 02What inspired Pittsburgh's 1967 expansion team to call itself the Penguins?
The Civic Arena's nickname, the Igloo
The Civic Arena's nickname, the Igloo, is what led a team owner's wife to suggest Penguins.
Q 03Which Pittsburgh sports owner leaned on the Norris brothers for votes to bring the NHL to Pittsburgh?
Art Rooney
Art Rooney pressed both Norris brothers, who each owned an NHL club, and both then voted to make Pittsburgh the sixth expansion city.
Q 04What did the shape behind the skating penguin in the Penguins' original logo symbolise?
Downtown Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle
Downtown Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle sat behind the skating penguin, a logo modernised in 1992 and revived on a throwback third jersey in 2000.
Q 05Which rookie led the Penguins to their first playoffs in 1970, then died after a car crash?
Michel Briere
Michel Briere spent 11 months in a coma before dying at 21; no one wore his No. 21 again, though it wasn't officially retired until 2001.
Q 06Which shopping-mall magnate bought the Penguins after their 1975 bankruptcy?
Edward J. DeBartolo Sr.
The team's office doors had been padlocked by creditors that year.
Q 07Which team protested when the Penguins switched to black and gold in 1980?
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins claimed black and gold as their own, but the Penguins prevailed by citing Pittsburgh's 1920s NHL Pirates, who had worn those colours.
Q 08Which trio formed the Penguins' 1970s Century Line?
Syl Apps, Lowell MacDonald and Jean Pronovost
Syl Apps, Lowell MacDonald and Jean Pronovost teamed up after MacDonald, who had sat out a season with a bad knee, won the 1973 Masterton Trophy on his comeback.
Q 09Which coach later admitted the Penguins consciously finished last in 1983-84 to secure the first pick?
Lou Angotti
Lou Angotti's team slumped to the top pick, which the Penguins used on Mario Lemieux.
Q 10What did Lemieux do on his very first NHL shift in October 1984?
Scored on his opening shot
Scored on his opening shot, yet Lemieux's Penguins still missed the playoffs in each of his first four seasons.
Q 11Lemieux's junior record of 282 points in 1983-84 came with which QMJHL club?
Laval Voisins
Laval Voisins' star needed three goals on the season's final night to tie Guy Lafleur's record of 130, and he scored six.
Q 12What did Lemieux do against New Jersey on December 31, 1988?
Five goals five different ways
Five goals five different ways came in a game in which Lemieux also set up Pittsburgh's other three goals.
Q 13Which superstar defenseman did Pittsburgh acquire from Edmonton after the Oilers' 1987 Cup?
Paul Coffey
Paul Coffey left Edmonton after a string of disputes, and with Pittsburgh he won his fourth Stanley Cup, in 1991.
Q 21How did Lemieux enter the Hall of Fame months after retiring?
The three-year waiting period was waived
The three-year waiting period was waived, so Lemieux was already a Hall of Famer when he came out of retirement to play again in December 2000.
Q 22Lemieux bought the bankrupt Penguins in 1999 by converting what into equity?
Deferred salary he was owed
Deferred salary he was owed ran to millions, so Lemieux turned that debt into a controlling stake rather than lose it in bankruptcy.
Q 23Which supermarket tycoon helped Lemieux take control of the team in 1999?
Ronald Burkle
Q 14Jaromir Jagr's jersey number, 68, honours which event in his homeland's history?
The Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was crushed by an invasion in 1968, and Jagr has worn No. 68 throughout his career in remembrance.
Q 15Whom did the Penguins beat for their first Stanley Cup in 1991, closing with an 8-0 win?
Minnesota North Stars
The Minnesota North Stars had a losing regular-season record, yet upset first-place Chicago on the way to the Final.
Q 16Which goaltender made 39 saves for his first playoff shutout in the Penguins' 1991 Cup-clinching 8-0 win?
Tom Barrasso
Tom Barrasso had been out when Pittsburgh faced elimination in the first round, and backup Frank Pietrangelo won the last two games against New Jersey.
Q 17Who took over as Penguins coach for the 1992 repeat after Bob Johnson was stricken with cancer?
Scotty Bowman
Scotty Bowman moved from the front office to the bench, and his Penguins finished the repeat with a four-game sweep of Chicago.
Q 18Lemieux was diagnosed with which illness during the 1992-93 season, yet still won the scoring title?
Hodgkin lymphoma
Hodgkin lymphoma treatment kept Lemieux off the ice for weeks, yet after returning he overtook Buffalo's Pat LaFontaine for the title.
Q 19Which trophy did the 1992-93 Penguins win?
Presidents' Trophy
Presidents' Trophy winners for the league's best record, they were still knocked out in the second round of the playoffs.
Q 20Which team eliminated the record-setting Penguins in seven games in the 1993 playoffs?
New York Islanders
The New York Islanders won Game 7 on David Volek's overtime goal, ending Pittsburgh's bid for a third straight Cup.
Ronald Burkle stayed on as Lemieux's partner, and by 2006 the two owners were already weighing offers for the team.
Q 24Mario Lemieux's December 2000 comeback from retirement came against which team?
Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs were the opponent as Lemieux, on his first shift back, set up a goal just 33 seconds into the game.
Q 25Which team acquired Jaromir Jagr from Pittsburgh in the summer of 2001?
Washington Capitals
Washington Capitals dealt Jagr to the New York Rangers in January 2004, less than three seasons after acquiring him.
Q 26Whom did the Penguins select first overall in the 2003 draft?
Marc-Andre Fleury
Marc-Andre Fleury went first after Pittsburgh traded up with Florida on draft day, and he won three Stanley Cups as a Penguin.
Q 27Where was Lemieux exploring a possible relocation before the 2007 arena deal?
Kansas City
Kansas City talk ended once the arena deal was reached, and the Penguins agreed to stay in Pittsburgh for at least 30 more years.
Q 28What set each team's odds in the lockout-year 2005 NHL draft lottery?
Recent playoff appearances and No. 1 picks
Recent playoff appearances and No. 1 picks each cost a team lottery balls, and Pittsburgh, one of four teams left with three, won and took Sidney Crosby.
Q 29Which award did Evgeni Malkin win in 2006-07?
Calder Memorial Trophy
Calder Memorial Trophy winner Malkin had slipped away from his Russian club during a trip to Finland, where his agent met him.
Q 30Which team beat the Penguins in the 2008 Stanley Cup Final before losing the 2009 rematch?
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings won the 2008 Final, but in the rematch Pittsburgh lost the first two games in Detroit and still took the Cup.