Record NCAA Presence on Cup

Pittsburgh wins Stanley Cup with more than half of its lineup made up of former college players.

The Pittsburgh Penguins – fueled by a lineup featuring more than 50% of NCAA alums – captured the 2016 Stanley Cup with Sunday’s Game 6 victory in San Jose.

Eleven former college players played for the Penguins in the final and at least 13 will have their names etched on the Stanley Cup. Both of those are all-time highs in NHL history (the 13 on the Cup tying the 1995 New Jersey Devils).

An NCAA alum scored in all six games of the Cup Final and as a group accounted for 9 of the Penguins’ 15 goals.

Pittsburgh’s season turned around with the arrival of head coach Mike Sullivan, a Boston University graduate who becomes the first former NCAA player to win the Cup as head coach since Dan Bylsma with the Penguins in 2009.