Jonathan Bombulie stories, Page 5

The NHL is employing an unbalanced schedule this season with teams playing only division games. This is the eighth in an eight-part series previewing the Penguins and the seven opponents they’ll face eight times apiece in the East Division. In a sense, general manager Jim Rutherford took a pragmatic approach...

Editor’s note: The NHL is employing an unbalanced schedule this season with teams playing only division games. This is the seventh in an eight-part series previewing the Penguins and the seven opponents they’ll face eight times apiece in the East Division. Here’s some baseless speculation that could cause severe nausea...

The NHL is employing an unbalanced schedule this season with teams playing only division games. This is the sixth in an eight-part series previewing the Penguins and the seven opponents they’ll face eight times apiece in the East Division. Here is a little stat that should warm the cockles of...

The NHL is employing an unbalanced schedule this season with teams playing only division games. This is the fifth in an eight-part series previewing the Penguins and the seven opponents they’ll face eight times apiece in the East Division. After a multitude of high draft picks in a short period...

Editor’s note: The NHL is employing an unbalanced schedule this season with teams playing only division games. This is the fourth in an eight-part series previewing the Penguins and the seven opponents they will face eight times apiece in the East Division. Take a look at what the New York...

The NHL is employing an unbalanced schedule this season with teams playing only division games. This is the third in an eight-part series previewing the Pittsburgh Penguins and the seven opponents they’ll face eight times apiece in the East Division. The New Jersey Devils, like the New York Rangers, are...

The NHL is employing an unbalanced schedule this season with teams playing only division games. This is the second in an eight-part series previewing the Penguins and the seven opponents they will face eight times apiece in the East Division. For the first time since 1997-98, the Penguins and Buffalo...

Editor’s note: The NHL is employing an unbalanced schedule this season with teams playing only division games. This is the first in an eight-part series previewing the Penguins and the seven opponents they’ll face eight times apiece in the East Division. For a team coming off a great season —...

This will surely be a boys basketball season like no other. WPIAL teams are set to tip off Friday and embark on a masked journey through a schedule likely to change many times as the year progresses. Teams all have hopes of hoisting a WPIAL championship trophy in March, much...

Getting to the WPIAL girls basketball finals will take more dedication and focus than ever this season. Teams will have to navigate an invisible opponent in covid-19 that could test them more than a section rival. But the reward of a WPIAL championship will drive girls basketball teams across Western...

The season opener for the Penn State men’s basketball team has been postponed because of coronavirus protocols, the school announced Tuesday afternoon. The Nittany Lions were scheduled to face Drexel at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College. The cancellation is one of at least nine...

The Knoch girls tennis team faced far more pressure this year than it would in a normal season. In an effort to streamline the playoff process as a coronavirus safety measure, only the WPIAL champion received a berth into the PIAA field. The top three teams usually qualify. Therefore, there...

Carmichaels has forfeited its first-round WPIAL Class 2A volleyball playoff match against Shenango scheduled for Thursday night because a member of the team has a presumed positive case of covid-19. District superintendent Fred Morecraft made the announcement in a letter sent to parents Thursday. Players and coaches who were in...

Mike Zmijanac, six times a WPIAL champion as Aliquippa’s coach, has retired after two seasons at the helm of Seton LaSalle’s program. The school made the announcement moments after Seton LaSalle lost its season finale to South Side on Saturday night, 28-21, to fall to 1-6, 1-4 in the Class...

Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford shed a considerable amount of light on what his team’s defense will look like next season in an interview with Mark Madden on 105.9-FM Friday afternoon. In a thorough, candid discussion, Rutherford said Brian Dumoulin and Marcus Pettersson will not be traded, newly acquired Mike...

General manager Jim Rutherford’s quest to reshape the Penguins roster after a second straight quick playoff exit has claimed one of the team’s most beloved players. Winger Patric Hornqvist, lauded for his warrior mentality while helping the team to back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 2016-17, was traded Thursday to the...

Trade winds are swirling around popular Pittsburgh Penguins winger Patric Hornqvist. Kevin Weekes of the NHL Network reported Wednesday afternoon that the Penguins were trading Hornqvist to the Florida Panthers for defenseman Mike Matheson. Later in the day, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported the deal was “falling apart” thanks to potential...

For the first two-thirds of this season, it looked like the Penguins would have to break the bank to bring back forward Jared McCann. For the last quarter of the season, it looked like they’d be ill-advised to give him minimum wage. When the dust settled, they met McCann in...

On Wednesday, when the Big Ten made the decision to move forward with a football season, it was hailed as a victory for players, coaches and fans — a cause for great celebration. By Thursday, a little bit of reality began to set in. Penn State’s James Franklin is about...

When it comes to All-American linebacker Micah Parsons, Penn State coach James Franklin is like Tom Bodett in those old Motel 6 commercials. He’ll leave the light on for him. Parsons announced last month that he was opting out of his junior season at Penn State and would begin to...

In an effort to trim their salary cap, the Penguins traded forward Nick Bjugstad to the Minnesota Wild on Friday night. They didn’t get much in return. The Penguins will receive a conditional pick in the 2021 draft in exchange for the 28-year-old Bjugstad, who will cost $4.1 million against...

The Penguins have promoted from within to fill the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coaching vacancy. JD Forrest, an assistant with the AHL club for the past four seasons, has been bumped up to the top job, the organization announced Friday, replacing Mike Vellucci, who was promoted to NHL assistant last week. Jason...

The Devils fired former Pittsburgh general manager Ray Shero in January, but the pipeline of former Penguins moving to New Jersey continues to flow. The Devils hired Mark Recchi as an assistant coach Tuesday, less than a month after he was let go from the same position with the Penguins....

Most Class 2A coaches who hope to win a WPIAL championship this season were probably thinking it. Leave it to irrepressible Seton LaSalle coach Mike Zmijanac to say it out loud. “Avonworth, thank God, went to Triple-A,” he said. The Antelopes were a true juggernaut last season, rolling through the...

Looking back with 20-20 hindsight, the Steel Valley football team needed some time to get its bearings at the start of last season. The core players who led the Ironmen to three consecutive WPIAL Class 2A title games — including championship seasons in 2016 and ‘18 — had moved on....