PITTSBURGH — The founder and former co-owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Peter Block, has died of cancer at his home in Santa Monica, Calif., at the age of 82.

Block’s stepson, Gregg Silberman, said that Block was “passionate about it and proud of” founding the Penguins, who joined the National Hockey League as an expansion team in 1967.

Block and a former law school classmate, Jack McGregor — who was then a Pennsylvania state senator — developed the idea for the team in 1965 after learning the NHL planned to expand from six to 12 teams.

Block owned part of the team for just its first season, 1967-68, before reinvesting in 1971 and remained a member of the ownership group until the team filed for its first bankruptcy in 1975.