Vacation post - 08-28-10

-Happy 78th birthday to former Penguins and Pittsburgh Hornets forward Andy Bathgate (right). An all-star and former Hart Trophy winner with the Rangers, Bathgate was claimed by the Penguins in the 1967 expansion draft from the Red Wings, Bathgate spent two seasons with the Penguins. In 74 games with the expansion club in 1967-68, Bathgate led the team with 39 assists, 59 points and four game-winning goals. During that season, Bathgate scored the franchise's first goal in a season-opening 2-1 loss to the Canadiens, Oct. 11, 1967. A week later, in a 3-3 tie against the North Stars, Bathgate recorded the first hat trick in franchise history. In the 1968 offseason, Bathgate was loaned to the Vancouver Canucks of the Western Hockey League. After two seasons in Vancouver, Bathgate returned to the Penguins in 1970-71 and appeared in 76 games and recorded 44 points. He retired in the 1971 offseason. Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978, Bathgate appeared in 150 games for the Penguins and recorded 103 points, 74th-most in franchise history. The grandfather of Andy Bathgate, Jr., a Penguins prospect drafted in 2009, Bathgate currently owns and operates a driving range in Mississauga, Ont.

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-Happy 42nd birthday to Penguins executive Tom Fitzgerald. Hired in 2007, Fitzgerald was an interim assistant coach for the Penguins 2009 and helped them win their third Stanley Cup title.

-Today would've been the 75th birthday of former Pittsburgh Hornets forward Gord Redahl.

(Photo: eBay)