Mark Madden Columns category, Page 36

A bunch of Canadian media used their platform to try to wish Sidney Crosby to a Canadian team, speculating that the Penguins and Crosby may (this got said with great gravitas) talk about his future this coming offseason, and what would be Crosby’s likely destination? That “speculation” (read: made-up drivel)...

The Penguins might cheat you when it comes to certain things. They might cheat you on structure. They might cheat you on goaltending. Evgeni Malkin is cheating you on production. The cataclysmically injured defense corps is getting cheated on luck. But the Penguins are not cheating you when it comes...

It seems Ben Roethlisberger is going to play in 2021. He’ll extend his contract a few more years but retire after the coming season. He’ll probably convert the $19 million he is due to a signing bonus to spread out the cap hit. He’ll talk center Maurkice Pouncey into playing...

Jim Rutherford is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. He won three Stanley Cups as an NHL general manager. When the basics of your resume are that strong, drilling down deeper figures to unearth a few bright, shining moments. Rutherford’s was the 2015-16 season. It was his Picasso....

The Steelers have won three playoff games in the past 10 seasons, badly collapsing at the conclusion of each of the past three. The Steelers had a Hall of Fame quarterback, a generational talent at receiver and arguably the best back of his era. They currently have an elite defense....

It’s an odd Super Bowl from the Steelers’ perspective. Former offensive coordinator Bruce Arians got fired by the Steelers after the 2011 season. The Steelers said he retired, which was a whopper of a lie. Arians has since won NFL Coach of the Year twice and has Tampa Bay in...

Hank Aaron is not the all-time home-run king. The numbers don’t lie and can’t be qualified. It’s a matter of who hit the most. The scoreboard reads Barry Bonds 762, Aaron 755. But Aaron was about so much more than setting a record, even if it is baseball’s most fabled....

The Steelers went from 11-0 to a stink sandwich. They collapsed in each of the past three seasons. They have won three playoff games in 10 years despite talent that merited far better. They lost a playoff game at home to a six-point underdog, trailing 28-0 in the first quarter....

Jared Porter got dismissed from his job as the New York Mets’ general manager because he sent a torrent of inappropriate texts to a female journalist while he was working for the Chicago Cubs in 2016. Among Porter’s texts: An image of his genitals, as reported by ESPN. Firing Porter...

At his season-ending media briefing, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said, “I’m not going to maintain the status quo and hope the outcome changes. That’s the definition of insanity.” Less than a week later, Tomlin slipped on a straitjacket and is hoping no one notices. Replacing Randy Fichtner with Matt Canada...

It’s only two games, but… • Tristan Jarry has been brutal. He’s too deep in his net, his stick isn’t busy, his rebound control is rotten and his vaunted puck handling has been a non-factor. Some goaltenders can’t handle being labeled No. 1. Is Jarry one of those? We figure...

To: Hines Ward, somewhere besides Canton From: Mark Madden, Pittsburgh Dear Hines: I bet you remember me. I called you “Whines Hard” and lampooned your unbridled ego. When you unfairly threw Ben Roethlisberger under the bus over concussion issues, I said so. I made fun of your lame pursuit of...

Philadelphia fired coach Doug Pederson. He and the Eagles won the Super Bowl three years ago. Mike Tomlin, meanwhile, has a job for life in Pittsburgh. Tomlin has presided over late-season collapses in each of the last three years: The Steelers went from 7-2-1 to 9-6-1 and no playoffs in...

Covid forced the NHL into restructuring its divisions. Popular opinion holds that the realignment was not kind to the Pittsburgh Penguins. I’m not sure that’s true. Washington has the NHL’s oldest roster. It lost starting goalie Braden Holtby, and Holtby’s replacement, Henrik Lundqvist, won’t play because of heart problems. Top-four...

Last week, against the Steelers’ JV, Cleveland was in a no-win situation…but had to win. This week, with the Browns ravaged by covid and injury, the Steelers are in a no-win situation…but have to win. As of Friday, the Browns had eight players on the covid list and seven players...

After a second straight disappointing playoff by him and the team, the Pittsburgh Penguins shipped two-time Stanley Cup-winning goaltender Matt Murray to Ottawa. Murray put in a solid five years with the Penguins but was never as good as he was during his first two campaigns, both of which ended...

The NHL is under fire, albeit tepid, from the protectors of purity (gag) in sports because teams can sell helmet space to sponsors and the NHL sold their division names to sponsors. The Penguins have PPG logos on their buckets and are in the MassMutual (East) division. If Washington’s Tom...

Nothing compares to this time of year’s crisp, cold air … except refreshing Steelers notes! Yo, Baker Mayfield … the big kids show up at the playground next week, and it’s not your playground. • There is plenty of time to preview the playoff rematch between the Steelers and Cleveland,...

Cleveland’s Myles Garrett and the Steelers’ Mason Rudolph did not verbally renew last year’s on-field hostilities this week. The presumption is that each has matured, and moved on. The reality is that Garrett lied about what happened. It was a total fabrication. Rudolph allegedly directing a racial slur toward Garrett...

The Steelers and Cleveland Browns have a rivalry akin to windshield vs. bug. The real rivalry moved with the real Browns to Baltimore in 1996. Oh, how we laughed. The real Browns have won two Super Bowls in Baltimore. Would they have won those had the real Browns remained in...

Penguins training camp opens next week. Not much is shrouded in mystery. The top six is set: Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin at center. Jake Guentzel, Kasperi Kapanen, Bryan Rust and Jason Zucker at wing. There will be movement within that group, but not in and out of that group....

When it comes to comebacks, it’s easy to confuse a last gasp with a new beginning. Such is the case in the wake of the Steelers’ improbable 28-24 victory over Indianapolis at Heinz Field Sunday. The Steelers trailed 24-7 early in the second half. The problems that have plagued them...

Even if the Steelers lose out, including a wild-card playoff defeat, they will not make a coaching change. (By the way, if they don’t win Sunday at home vs. Indianapolis, they won’t win again.) Mike Tomlin is immune to unemployment. That’s because he never has had a losing season and...

Everybody remembers Mario Lemieux scoring five goals, five ways on New Year’s Eve, 1988. (Although nobody figured out exactly what Lemieux had done ‘til the next day.) But who remembers when the Penguins netted five goals in 127 seconds? I do. I was there. It was glorious. As the NHL...

Joe Haden, a Steeler for four seasons and NFL player for 11, summed up the state of Steelers’ leadership when he tweeted, “My dawg @TeamJuJu dancing is the least of our problems.” The plane has crashed into the mountain. But let my dawg dance. JuJu Smith-Schuster dancing on opposition logos...