The Penguins are on the cusp of capturing their fourth Stanley Cup in team history. If they close the deal, Pens fans will celebrate in a sea of black and gold, a color scheme that’s shared by all three of the city’s pro franchises.
Although the Penguins have worn a lighter hue of gold since the turn of the 21st century — “Vegas gold” — the team has revived their brighter, traditional “Pittsburgh gold” for the current playoff run. Rumors abound that it will be restored on a full-time basis starting next season, the team’s 50th in the National Hockey League.
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With that in mind, it’s a good time to remember that the Penguins have not always worn black and gold.
In January 1980, the Pens announced plans to switch from a predominantly black-and-blue color scheme to black and gold, a nod to Pittsburgh’s status as the “city of champions.” The Pirates had won the World Series in the fall and, on Jan. 20 of that year, the Steelers captured their fourth Super Bowl in six seasons.
Sports colors can unite communities and fan bases in powerful and meaningful ways. Although it might not have been apparent at the time, in 1980, Pittsburgh was facing the end of an era. Heavy manufacturing jobs, particularly those in the steel industry, were just starting to disappear. Three years later the unemployment rate in the greater Pittsburgh region would reach a staggering 17.1 percent. As the local economy cratered, the city’s sports teams — united in black and gold, just like the flag of the city — represented a source of civic pride in turbulent times.
The Penguins were a decidedly mediocre team in 1980. Any visual association with their championship neighbors was a move that made sense. In a Jan. 13, 1980 interview with the Pittsburgh Press, Penguins VP Paul Martha said “the change to black and gold uniforms is certainly in our plans. Exactly when is yet to be determined. It will be this year. The philosophy is that black and gold has become Pittsburgh.”
One thing stood in the way of this change: the Boston Bruins.
Citing their longstanding use of black and gold, the Bruins issued a formal protest, claiming that their rights would be infringed upon.
On January 26, Martha told the Pittsburgh Press “Boston officials have expressed their position in this matter. They claim they have been wearing black and gold uniforms since their inception in the NHL in the 1920s. But I have documented proof that the old Pittsburgh Pirates (an NHL team in 1926) wore black and gold uniforms and at that same time Boston was wearing brown and yellow, before they changed in 1933.”
“We figure we owe it to our fans to change to the black and gold. They have asked for the change in an overwhelming way and we wish to make that change as soon as possible.”
Although he denied Boston’s protest, NHL commissioner John Ziegler asked that the Penguins wait a bit to unveil their new uniforms.
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They made their debut on Jan. 30, 1980 in a 4-3 loss at home against the Blues. Though NHL home teams wore white in those days, St. Louis agreed to switch to white that night in order to accommodate the Penguins’ color shift.
Now, three-and-a-half decades later, the Pens and black and gold seem inseparable.
One final note deserves mention. Then, as now, a midseason pivot to new uniforms is unusual. Pittsburgh had to wait for a full set of uniforms to be manufactured. In a wonderful twist of irony, the Penguins ordered their new uniforms from the pro shop at Boston Garden, home of the protesting Bruins.