Pittsburgh Penguins History: Revisiting the 1983 Draft Class

A look back at the players the Pittsburgh Penguins took in the 1983 Draft.

This is the next installment in our series “Pens Draft Class Rehash” where we profile the Pittsburgh Penguins draft choices by draft year that made the NHL.

We will be looking at the player’s time with Pittsburgh and try to dig up interesting facts and stats on the picks and recount interesting events that they may have been a part of.

Here is our rehash of the Pittsburgh Penguins 1983 Draft Class.

First the specifics of the picks.

The Penguins took 10 players in the draft, five forwards, four defensemen, and one goalie, with five of 10 players selected (50 percent) playing for the Penguins.

David Goertz

Goertz was selected by the Penguins with the 223rd pick overall, and made his NHL debut on Dec. 5, 1987, and played his second and final game with the club on Dec. 12, 1987.

Following his two games with the Penguins, Goertz earned 21 goals and 113 points in 272 games played (GP) with the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the IHL from 1986 to 1991.

Frank Pietrangelo

Pittsburgh took Frank “the save” Pietrangelo with the 63rd pick in the draft and he has certainly cemented his status in Penguins’ history with his performance in the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals.

Pietrangelo made his NHL debut on Oct. 17, 1987, in a 24 save loss vs. Montreal and earned his first victory on Jan. 16, 1988, and won nine of his next 11 starts.

Pietrangelo averaged 16 games per season during his six years with the Penguins and finished with a record of 34-32-3 and one shutout in 87 GP and a goals-against-average (GAA) of 4.13.

In the postseason, Pietrangelo earned a record of 4-1 with one shutout and a GAA of 3.13.

On Mar. 10, 1992, Pietrangelo was traded to Hartford by Pittsburgh for Hartford’s 3rd and 7th round choices in the 1994 Entry Draft.

Mike Rowe

The Penguins took Rowe with the 58th pick in the draft and the defenceman made his NHL debut on Mar. 30th, 1985, and appeared in six consecutive games Apr. 7, 1985.

Rowe appeared in 11 games with Pittsburgh from 1985-87 and put 11 shots on goal and earned 12 PIM. In 226 games with Baltimore (AHL) and Muskegon (IHL), Rowe scored nine goals and 53 points.

Todd Charlesworth

Charlesworth was selected by the Penguins with the 22nd overall pick and he made his NHL debut on Jan. 15, 1984, and he appeared in Pittsburgh’s next nine games, finishing his rookie season with six shots and eight PIM in 10 GP.

Over the next four seasons (1984-88), Charlesworth appeared in 76 games with the Penguins and scored three goals and 12 points.

In 283 GP with Muskegon (IHL) and Baltimore Skipjacks (AHL) from 1985-89, Charlesworth scored 34 goals and 156 points.

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Bob Errey

Errey was the Penguins top pick in the draft (15th) and he immediately made an impact in his rookie season.

Errey scored his first NHL goal in his first game (Oct. 4, 1983) and finished his rookie season with nine goals and 22 points in 65 GP. Over the next nine seasons, Errey appeared in 507 games with the Penguins and scored 123 goals and 250 points.

Pittsburgh only made the postseason three times while Errey was a member of the team, but back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships in 1991 and 1992, more than made up for his lack of “experience”.

Errey earned nine goals and 13 points in 49 playoff games with the Penguins.

On Mar. 22, 1993, Errey was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Mike Ramsey.

Here are a few other players selected in the 1983 draft that would spend time with the Pittsburgh Penguins over the course of their careers: Tom Barrasso (5th), Dan Quinn (13th), Bobby Dollas (14th), Villie Siren (23rd), Wayne Presley (39th), Frank Musil (38th), Peter Taglianeti (43rd), Marc Bergevin (59th), and Petr Klima (86th).