<P> The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . They are members of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original expansion from six to twelve teams . The Penguins played in the Civic Arena, also known to Pittsburgh fans as "The Igloo", from the time of their inception through the end of the 2009--10 season . They moved into their new arena, PPG Paints Arena, to begin the 2010--11 season . They have qualified for six Stanley Cup Finals, winning the Stanley Cup five times--in 1991, 1992, 2009, 2016, and 2017 . Along with the Edmonton Oilers, the Penguins are tied for the most Cup championships among non-Original Six teams . With their Stanley Cup wins in 2016 and 2017, the Penguins became the first back - to - back champions in 19 years (since the 1997--98 Detroit Red Wings) and the first team to do so since the introduction of the salary cap . </P> <P> Before the Penguins, Pittsburgh had been the home of the NHL's Pirates from 1925 to 1930 and of the American Hockey League Hornets franchise from 1936 to 1967 (with a short break from 1956 to 1961). In the spring of 1965, Jack McGregor, a state senator from Kittanning, began lobbying campaign contributors and community leaders to bring an NHL franchise back to Pittsburgh . The group focused on leveraging the NHL as an urban renewal tool for Pittsburgh . The senator formed a group of local investors that included H.J. Heinz Company heir H.J. Heinz III, Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney, and the Mellon family's Richard Mellon Scaife . The projected league expansion depended on securing votes from the then - current NHL owners; to ensure that Pittsburgh would be selected as one of the expansion cities, McGregor enlisted Rooney to petition votes from James D. Norris, owner of the Chicago Black Hawks, and his brother Bruce Norris, owner of the Detroit Red Wings . </P> <P> The effort was successful, and on February 8, 1966, the National Hockey League awarded an expansion team to Pittsburgh for the 1967--68 season . The Penguins paid $2.5 million ($18.7 million today) for their entry and $750,000 ($5.4 million today) more for start - up costs . The Civic Arena's capacity was then boosted from 10,732 to 12,500 to meet the NHL requirements for expansion . The Pens also paid an indemnification bill to settle with the Detroit Red Wings, which owned the Pittsburgh Hornets franchise . The investor group named McGregor president and chief executive officer, and he represented Pittsburgh on the NHL's Board of Governors . </P> <P> A contest was held where 700 of 26,000 entries picked "Penguins" as the nickname for the team . Mark Peters had the winning entry (which was inspired by the fact that the team was to play in the "Igloo", the nickname of the Pittsburgh Civic Arena), a logo was chosen that had a penguin in front of a triangle, which symbolized the "Golden Triangle" of downtown Pittsburgh ." </P>

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