Editing Pittsburgh Penguins (section)

===Lemieux–Jagr era (1984–2005)===
[[File:Mario Lemieux 1992.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|alt=Photograph of Mario Lemieux holding a stick and skating |[[Mario Lemieux]] played for the Penguins in two stints (1984–1997, 2000–2006).]]
The team had the league's worst record in both the [[1982–83 NHL season|1982–83]] and [[1983–84 NHL season|1983–84]] seasons. With the team suffering financial problems, it seemed the Penguins would either fold or relocate. [[Mario Lemieux]], one of the most highly touted NHL draft picks in history, was due to be drafted in the [[1984 NHL entry draft]]. Heading towards the end of the season ahead of the [[New Jersey Devils]], who were placed last, the Penguins made several questionable moves that appeared to weaken the team in the short term. They posted three six-game winless streaks in the last 21 games of the season and earned the right to draft Lemieux amidst protests from Devils' management.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Molinari |first=Dave |date=December 17, 2009 |title=Did the Pens tank the '83-'84 season to get Lemieux? |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09351/1021485-125.stm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100201133510/http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09351/1021485-125.stm |archive-date=February 1, 2010 |access-date=May 8, 2021 |website=post-gazette-com}}</ref> Pittsburgh head coach Lou Angotti later admitted that a conscious decision was made to finish the season as the team with the worst record, saying in an interview with the ''[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]'' that a mid-season lunch prompted the plan, because there was a high chance of the franchise folding if Lemieux was not drafted.<ref name="Angotti">{{Cite web |date=March 28, 2004 |title=Finder: Lessons can be learned from Angotti and 1984 |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04088/292486.stm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110311121336/http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04088/292486.stm |archive-date=March 11, 2011 |access-date=May 8, 2021 |website=post-gazette.com}}</ref> Other teams offered substantial trade packages for the draft choice, but the Penguins kept the pick and drafted Lemieux first overall. Lemieux paid dividends right away, scoring on his first-ever shot of his first-ever NHL shift in his first NHL game. However, the team spent four more years out of the playoffs after his arrival. In the late 1980s, the Penguins finally gave Lemieux a strong supporting cast, trading for superstar defenseman [[Paul Coffey]] from the [[Edmonton Oilers]] (after the Oilers' [[1987 Stanley Cup Finals|1987 Stanley Cup]] win) and bringing in young talent like scorers [[Kevin Stevens]], [[Rob Brown (ice hockey)|Rob Brown]] and [[John Cullen]] from the minors. The team finally acquired a top-flight goaltender with the acquisition of [[Tom Barrasso]] from Buffalo. All this talent had an immediate impact in helping Lemieux lead the Penguins; but the team struggled to make the playoffs. In [[1985–86 NHL season|1985–86]], the Penguins missed the playoffs on the final day of the season by one game. In [[1986–87 NHL season|1986–87]], they missed the playoffs by just two games and saw four teams with equal or worse records qualify. In [[1987–88 NHL season|1987–88]], for the second time in a row, the Penguins missed the playoffs by one game.<ref name="History2010" />

In 1989, Pittsburgh finally broke through the barrier and made the playoffs on the back of Lemieux leading the league in goals, assists and points. On December 31, 1988, Lemieux became the only player in history to score a goal in all five possible game situations in the same game (even strength, shorthanded, penalty shot, power play, and empty net). The Penguins defeated the New York Rangers in a four-game sweep in the first round; however, the Philadelphia Flyers halted their progress in the second round. The seven-game defeat featured Lemieux scoring five goals in the fifth game.<ref name="History2010" />

====Back-to-back Stanley Cup titles (1989–1997)====
A [[herniated disc]] in Lemieux's back cut short his [[1989–90 NHL season|1989–90 season]], although he still amassed 123 points. However, the Penguins fell out of the playoff picture. They opted to strengthen their roster and support Lemieux in the 1990 off-season. Free-agent signings ([[Bryan Trottier]]) and trades ([[Joe Mullen]], [[Larry Murphy (ice hockey)|Larry Murphy]], [[Ron Francis]] and [[Ulf Samuelsson]]) played a major part in this. Arguably no move was bigger during this time than when the Penguins drafted [[Jaromír Jágr|Jaromir Jagr]] with the fifth overall pick in the [[1990 NHL entry draft]]. The first Czechoslovak player to be drafted into the NHL without first needing to defect to the West, Jagr became the Penguins' second franchise player, and quickly developed into a superstar offensive talent.
The roster overhaul culminated in the Penguins winning their first Stanley Cup title by defeating the Minnesota North Stars in the [[Stanley Cup Finals]] in six games, punctuated by an 8–0 victory in the deciding game, the largest margin of victory in a final Stanley Cup game in over 80 years. After the [[1991 Stanley Cup Finals]], the Penguins met with President [[George H. W. Bush]], the first NHL team ever to visit the [[White House]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.penguinjersey.com/Common/open.php | title=Pittsburgh Hockey History | publisher=PenguinsJersey.com | access-date=June 24, 2008 | archive-date=July 6, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706041457/http://www.penguinjersey.com/Common/open.php | url-status=dead}}</ref> The following season, the team lost coach [[Bob Johnson (ice hockey, born 1931)|Bob Johnson]] to [[cancer]], and [[Scotty Bowman]] took over as coach. Under Bowman, they swept the Chicago Blackhawks to repeat as Stanley Cup champions in [[1991–92 NHL season|1991–92]].<ref name="History2016" /><ref name="History2010" />

Cancer diagnosis revisited the Penguins in 1993 when Lemieux was diagnosed with [[Hodgkin lymphoma]]. Only two months after the diagnosis, missing 24 out of 84 games, he came back to win his fourth [[Art Ross Trophy]] as scoring champion with 160 points, edging out [[Pat LaFontaine]] and [[Adam Oates]]. Despite the off-ice difficulties, Pittsburgh finished with a 56–21–7 record, the franchise's best regular season ever, winning the [[Presidents' Trophy]]. After Lemieux's return, the team played better than it had before, winning an NHL-record 17 consecutive games. Despite all of the success, the [[1993 Stanley Cup playoffs|1993 playoffs]] ended in the division finals when the New York Islanders eliminated the Penguins in seven games.<ref name="History2010" /><ref name="History2016" />

The Penguins continued to be a formidable team throughout the 1990s. The stars of the Stanley Cup years were followed by the likes of forwards: [[Alexei Kovalev]], [[Martin Straka]], [[Alexei Morozov|Aleksey Morozov]], [[Robert Lang (ice hockey)|Robert Lang]] and [[Petr Nedvěd|Petr Nedved]], and defensemen [[Sergei Zubov]], [[Darius Kasparaitis]] and [[Kevin Hatcher]]. Despite the departure of many of the franchise's Stanley Cup-winning roster, the Penguins fielded enough talent to reach the first round of the playoffs in 1994 (where they lost to the [[Washington Capitals]] in six games), the second round in 1995 (where they lost to the New Jersey Devils in five games) and the conference finals in 1996 (where they lost to the [[Florida Panthers]] in seven games). The 1997 playoffs marked a turning point, as the Penguins suffered a first-round elimination at the hands of the rival Philadelphia Flyers in five games.<ref name="History2010" />

====Lemieux's retirement and return (1997–2001)====
[[File:Mario Lemieux 2001.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|left|alt=Photograph of Mario Lemieux on the ice holding a hockey stick |Lemieux with the Penguins during the [[2000–01 NHL season|2000–01 season]], his first season after coming out of retirement.]]
On April 6, 1997, the franchise was rocked when Mario Lemieux, citing ongoing health concerns and his disapproval with the way NHL hockey was being officiated, announced he would retire at the conclusion of the 1997 playoffs. Lemieux was so respected in the NHL, and his achievements over the course of his career were so great, that he was inducted into the [[Hockey Hall of Fame]] in the year he retired, the three-year waiting period being waived. His departure was the first in a series of events that would once again lead the Penguins into regular season stagnation, and to the brink of financial ruin.

The Montreal Canadiens eliminated the team in the first round of the playoffs in 1998, despite being the second-seeded team in the East. The following year, their playoff run ended in the second round when they lost to the [[Toronto Maple Leafs]] in six games. In 2000, the Penguins stunned the highly touted Washington Capitals 4–1 in the first round, only to fall to the Philadelphia Flyers 4–2 in the second round.

By this time, the lofty contracts handed out during the early 1990s were catching up with the Penguins. At one point, the team owed over $90 million to numerous creditors, leading then-owners [[Howard Baldwin]] and [[Morris Belzberg]] (who bought the Penguins after their first Stanley Cup win) to ask the players to defer their salaries to help pay the bills. When the deferred salaries finally came due, combined with other financial pressures, the Penguins were forced to file for [[Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 11]] bankruptcy in November 1998.

Lemieux then stepped in with an unusual proposal to buy the team out of bankruptcy. The Penguins owed Lemieux $32.5 million in deferred salary, making him the team's largest individual creditor. He proposed recovering this money by converting it into equity – enough to give him controlling interest. He also vowed to keep the team in Pittsburgh. The NHL and the courts agreed, and Lemieux (with help from supermarket tycoon [[Ronald Burkle]]) assumed control on September 3, 1999, saving the franchise for the second time.<ref name="History2016" />

Lemieux again shocked the hockey world by announcing at a press conference on December 8, 2000, his intentions to return to the Penguins as an active player. On December 27, 2000, Lemieux stepped onto NHL ice for the first time in 44 months, officially becoming the first player–owner in NHL history. Lemieux helped lead the Penguins deep into the [[2001 Stanley Cup playoffs|2001 playoffs]], highlighted by an overtime victory against the Buffalo Sabres in game 7 of the second round. Darius Kasparaitis scored the series-clinching goal to advance the Penguins to the conference finals, where they lost in five games to the New Jersey Devils.<ref name="History2016" />

====Rebuilding (2001–2005)====
[[File:Marc-Andre Fleury 2014-12-12.JPG|thumb|alt=Photograph of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury waering his face mask |[[Marc-André Fleury|Marc-Andre Fleury]] was drafted first overall in [[2003 NHL entry draft|2003]] by the Penguins.]]
The Penguins' attendance had dwindled in the late 1990s. In 1998–99, the club had an average attendance of 14,825 at home games, the lowest it had been since Lemieux's rookie year.<ref name="attendance">{{cite web|title=Hockey Central |url=http://www.hockeycentral.co.uk/penguins/records/Penguins-Records.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609021604/http://www.hockeycentral.co.uk/penguins/records/Penguins-Records.php|url-status=dead |date=June 9, 2012|archive-date=June 9, 2012}} Penguins attendance records</ref> Reducing revenue on top of the previous bankruptcy necessitated salary shedding. The biggest salary move was the trading of superstar Jaromir Jagr to the Washington Capitals in the summer of 2001. The Penguins missed the playoffs for the first time in 12 years in [[2001–02 NHL season|2002]], finishing in a tie for third-to-last in their conference. The [[2002–03 NHL season|following season]] they finished second-last. In the [[2003 NHL entry draft]], the Penguins selected goaltender [[Marc-André Fleury|Marc-Andre Fleury]] with the first overall pick.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fleury has history against him |url=http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/sports/s_141232.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20090615012308/http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/sports/s_141232.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 15, 2009 |access-date=November 25, 2008 |work=[[Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Fleury shines debut; Penguins still lose|url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/fleury-shines-debut-pens-still-lose-1.387844|access-date=November 25, 2008|date=October 10, 2003|publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]|archive-date=June 15, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615012122/http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2003/10/10/fleury031010.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[2003–04 NHL season|2003–04 season]] was an ordeal with Lemieux missing all but 24 regular season games with a hip injury, and attendance dipping to an average of 11,877 (the lowest average of any NHL team), with just one sellout.<ref name="attendance"/> As the season progressed, the Penguins signed new head coach (and former Penguins' player and commentator) [[Eddie Olczyk]] and opted not to include Fleury in the lineup for the bulk of the season. This culminated in the worst record in the NHL, with the team winning just 23 games. As in the 1980s, the Penguins' struggles were fortuitously concurrent with a string of NHL entry draft classes that would yield multiple world-class talents. The Penguins lost out on the first overall pick for the [[2004 NHL entry draft]] ([[Alexander Ovechkin]]), which went to the Washington Capitals. However, Ovechkin's countryman, center [[Evgeni Malkin]], was similarly highly regarded, and Pittsburgh took him with the second overall pick. However, a transfer dispute between the NHL and the [[International Ice Hockey Federation]] (IIHF) delayed his Pittsburgh debut.<ref name=Malkindraft>{{cite web|title=NHL Entry Draft Year by Year Results|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/draftsearch.htm?year=2004&team=PIT&position=&round=|publisher=National Hockey League|access-date=March 26, 2021|archive-date=June 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200618175552/http://www.nhl.com/ice/draftsearch.htm?year=2004&team=PIT&position=&round=|url-status=live}}</ref>

By this point, the Penguins had collapsed financially since the Stanley Cup-winning years of the early 1990s. Their home venue, the Civic Arena, had become the oldest arena in the NHL, and Lemieux had tried unsuccessfully to cut a deal with the city for a new facility. With Pittsburgh uninterested in building a new hockey arena for the struggling Penguins, Lemieux began looking into the possibilities of selling or relocating the team to [[Kansas City, Missouri]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=590199|title=It Was a Great Night For Hockey – in Kansas City|website=National Hockey League|access-date=May 29, 2012|archive-date=December 5, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111205162907/http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=590199|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=It Was a Great Night For Hockey - in Kansas City |url=https://www.nhl.com/penguins/news/it-was-a-great-night-for-hockey-in-kansas-city/c-590199 |access-date=March 9, 2022 |website=NHL.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=March 5, 2007 |title=Penguins declare impasse, will explore relocation |url=https://www.espn.com/nhl/news/story?id=2788701 |access-date=March 9, 2022 |website=ESPN.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=December 21, 2006 |title=Hockey hopefuls in Kansas City giddy over Penguins' comments this week |url=https://news.stlpublicradio.org/other/2006-12-21/hockey-hopefuls-in-kansas-city-giddy-over-penguins-comments-this-week |access-date=March 9, 2022 |website=STLPR}}</ref> A [[2004–05 NHL lockout|lockout]] prompted the cancellation of the [[2004–05 NHL season]]. One of the many reasons for the lockout included disagreements on resolving the financial struggles of teams like the Penguins and the [[Ottawa Senators]], which had filed for bankruptcy protection.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/judge-grants-ottawa-senators-bankruptcy-protection-1.359571|title=Judge grants Ottawa Senators bankruptcy protection|website=cbc.ca|access-date=May 29, 2012|archive-date=January 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110124932/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2003/01/09/senators_030109.html|url-status=live}}</ref> During the lockout, the Penguins' players dispersed between the club's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the [[Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins]], and to European leagues.<ref name="History2016" />