Pittsburgh Penguins / NHL category, Page 305
Penguins aren’t longshots to claim 2020 Stanley Cup
Despite an uneven season and a dismal playoff showing, the Pittsburgh Penguins remain in the top third of the league as far as bookmakers are concerned. The Penguins are an 18-1 shot to win the 2020 Stanley Cup, according to odds released by BetOnline.ag hours after the St. Louis Blues...
First Call: Sir Charles loves Sir Sidney, Mike Rupp eats his shoe
In Thursday’s “First Call,” Charles Barkley loves him some Sidney Crosby! Mike Rupp eats his shoe. And Jenna Fischer has the last laugh. Sir Charles on Sir Sidney For reasons still unknown, the NBC hockey crew decided it would spend the first intermission of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup...
Tim Benz: Is Penguins GM Jim Rutherford kidding us? Or himself?
When it comes to Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford, one question needs to be asked. Who is he kidding? Us? Or himself? Right now, I’d say it’s the former. By the time the 2019-20 season starts, it may end up being the latter. Over the past three weeks, the...
Kevin Gorman: Penguins GM playing with poker face on trading Phil Kessel
Phil Kessel pulled a page out of the playbook of another Pittsburgh sports superstar, using his leverage like Antonio Brown to kill a trade before it could be finalized. Difference is, Jim Rutherford didn’t cave like Kevin Colbert. Where the Steelers general manager stayed true to his word about trading...
Tim Benz: 10 years after 1st Cup, expectations change for Crosby, Malkin
Penguins fans have had a lot of fun anniversaries to celebrate lately. • The 35th anniversary of drafting Mario Lemieux was Sunday. • The end of this season marked the 30th anniversary of Lemieux’s 199-point campaign in 1989. • Today is the 10th anniversary of the 2009 Stanley Cup championship...
With trade nixed, Penguins GM Jim Rutherford says he’s content keeping Phil Kessel
Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford has found trading winger Phil Kessel to be a difficult proposition. So for now, he says he’s given up. “It looks like he’ll stay here,” Rutherford said Tuesday. According to reports, Rutherford worked out a deal to send Kessel to the Minnesota Wild for...
Penguins coaching staff pays visit to Steelers sidelines for minicamp
Not every coach on the practice field at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex for the start of Pittsburgh Steelers minicamp on Tuesday was blowing a whistle or barking orders. Mike Sullivan and the entire Penguins coaching staff, including assistants Jacques Martin and Mark Recchi, goalie coach Mike Buckley and video...
Paul Steigerwald reflects on Penguins drafting Mario Lemieux
What did you do for “Happy Mario Day?” Did you go down the YouTube Mario Lemieux highlight rabbit hole? Wear a No. 66 jersey to Sunday dinner? Maybe place a bouquet at the statue in front of PPG Paints Arena? Those are all completely appropriate responses, by the way. However...
Mark Madden: 35 years later, Penguins’ drafting Mario Lemieux No. 1 was both easy, complicated
Sunday was the 35th anniversary of the Penguins drafting Mario Lemieux. That might sound like an easy decision to make. Ultimately, it was. But there were a few complications. General manager Eddie Johnston had to quietly maneuver the Penguins into finishing last overall in 1983-84. OK, so maybe he didn’t...
Tim Benz, Mark Madden discuss Mario Lemieux memories, Pirates problems, state of Steelers
Well, what do you know? It’s a “Madden Monday” podcast … on a Monday! Will wonders never cease? Between holidays, vacation days and our mutually busy concert schedule, Mark Madden and I haven’t been able to connect on a Monday for the past few weeks, pushing our usual post back...
As clincher grows closer, Stanley Cup ratings rise in Pittsburgh market
As the Stanley Cup gets closer to being awarded, local hockey fans are paying more attention to the final series between the St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins. The Pittsburgh market ranked fifth in the country with a 6.0 rating for Thursday night’s 2-1 Blues victory on NBC, behind Boston,...
First Call: Penguins trade chip besides Phil Kessel?; blown call stings Bruins
In “First Call” Friday, there may be a trade chip on the Penguins besides Phil Kessel. The Bruins got screwed in the Stanley Cup Final. The Big Ten/ACC Challenge should be fantastic. Who else besides Phil? The Athletic listed its top 20 trade candidates. Two Penguins made it. Writer Craig...
Phil Kessel trade talk reminiscent of summer of 2014, James Neal deal
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The Pittsburgh Penguins are shopping an incredibly productive winger in the hopes that the move will improve not their skill level or goal scoring but their overall style of play. It describes the summer of 2019, with Phil Kessel on the block....
On defense, Penguins now paying price for prior pursuit of championships
Last weekend, the Pittsburgh Penguins relinquished the NHL rights to 2017 second-round pick Zachary Lauzon, who has battled post-concussion problems. Last year at this time, they gave up the rights to 2016 third-round pick Connor Hall, who has suffered recurring shoulder problems. While the Penguins can’t be blamed for the...
Blues goalie has shot at rookie mark even Penguins’ Matt Murray didn’t hit
St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington has a chance to set a rookie record that even Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray didn’t reach during his memorable first-year playoff run in 2016. With a 4-2 win over the Boston Bruins in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night,...
Tim Benz, Mark Madden talk JuJu’s prom, Phil Kessel trade, Pirates pros and cons
I know. This has become a trend. It’s another “Madden Monday” podcast on a Tuesday. Between Memorial Day weekend and concert activities, Mark Madden and I have had a few three-day weekends of late. We’ll get on a proper schedule again eventually. Or, if not, no big deal. It’s summer....
Latest signing fits Penguins’ goaltending philosophy
Because of the way the Marc-Andre Fleury era quickly became the Matt Murray era, the Pittsburgh Penguins haven’t gone into a draft explicitly looking for a No. 1 goaltender in 15 years. Instead, their goaltending development plan has been to look for talent in a variety of places in an...
Penguins trainer Chris Stewart honored by IUP
Pittsburgh Penguins head trainer Chris Stewart has received a prestigious award from his alma mater, IUP, being named one of the inaugural members of the school’s College of Health and Human Sciences Hall of Distinction. Stewart has been the Penguins’ head trainer for 13 years. Including a year spent as...
With possible Phil Kessel trade, Penguins need productive Patric Hornqvist
If the Pittsburgh Penguins, as expected, trade Phil Kessel this summer, they’re probably going to need the right wings that remain on the roster to ramp up their production next season. That’s why Patric Hornqvist’s resurgence while playing for the Swedish national team at the World Championships last month is...
Penguins relinquish rights to 2017 second-round draft pick Zachary Lauzon
The Pittsburgh Penguins relinquished the NHL rights to 2017 second-round pick Zachary Lauzon, failing to sign him to an entry level contract by a Saturday deadline. Lauzon, 20, was limited to 25 games in the regular season and five more in the playoffs due to concussion-related problems while playing for...
Penguins sign young Finnish goalie Emil Larmi to 2-year deal
With Tristan Jarry’s days in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization seemingly numbered, the team added to its goaltending depth Sunday, signing 22-year-old Emil Larmi to a two-year, entry level contract. Larmi emerged as one of the top unsigned goaltenders in Europe this season, leading HPK to a championship in Finland’s top...
TSN’s Bob McKenzie: Penguins could still trade Phil Kessel to Minnesota
A trade that would send Pittsburgh Penguins winger Phil Kessel to the Minnesota Wild remains a possibility, TSN’s Bob McKenzie said on his podcast Friday. The Penguins reportedly had a deal done to send the popular 31-year-old to the Wild for speedy winger Jason Zucker, but Kessel used his no-trade...
Evgeni Malkin sends birthday wishes to son with funny Instagram photo
Pittsburgh Penguins star Evgeni Malkin celebrated his son’s birthday with another classic Instagram post. Malkin posted a photo of his 3-year-old son Nikita with a pacifier in his mouth as he lay in his crib. Dad is lying on an adjacent bed, with a pacifier of his own in his...
Penguins’ Sidney Crosby remains relatively young among NHL captains
As Sidney Crosby celebrates the 12th anniversary of having a “C” stitched to his Pittsburgh Penguins jersey, he’s the second longest tenured captain in the NHL but nowhere near the oldest. Crosby was given the captaincy on May 31, 2007, a few months before his 20th birthday, becoming the youngest...
U mad, bro? Readers pop off about showboating, Phil Kessel trade, Antonio Brown’s grass
“U mad, bro?” this week features Pirates fans in a snit over Derek Dietrich of the Reds, the Pirates’ failure to support Josh Bell and our coverage of Antonio Brown. Well, our coverage of Brown’s lawn care, anyway. On Twitter, “Corby Corb 12” chimes in with an opinion on Derek...
