Mark Madden Columns category, Page 38

The Ontario Hockey League is considered Major Junior: the top level of the sport for players aged 16-21. Seven of the 31 first-round picks in this year’s NHL Draft came from the OHL. That includes center Quinton Byfield of Sudbury, who went second overall to Los Angeles. It’s serious hockey...

This is an odd Steelers season, especially for those in the sports talk genre. There isn’t much to criticize. Darn it. I never imagined the Steelers starting 7-0. Neither did anyone else, if honesty prevails. But the Steelers have so far avoided conceding a sloppy loss to an inferior team,...

After defeating Cleveland, Tennessee and Baltimore — all likely playoff qualifiers — in consecutive weeks, the Steelers were due for a less challenging foe. But they never imagined Sunday’s trip to Dallas would be an absolute lock. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott broke his right ankle. Prescott’s backup was Andy Dalton....

More than anything, the Steelers are 7-0 based on grit and resilience. They got outgained 457-221 at Baltimore Sunday. They had the ball for less than 25 minutes. They were 3 for 9 on third down. Ben Roethlisberger was 4 of 10 for 24 yards in the first half. The...

I hadn’t watched a baseball game in its entirety all year. Baseball is boring. Too rarely does anybody run the bases or chase the ball. I don’t give a flip about the three true outcomes. I want the ball to be in play. But I watched the World Series Tuesday...

It took time for meaningful evidence to be presented. But the Pittsburgh Steelers are for real. They can prove it Sunday by winning at Baltimore to take firm control of the AFC North, take a leap toward 10-0 and make surviving members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins sweat. (The Steelers...

One of Mike Tomlin’s longest-standing empty platitudes is “next man up.” If somebody gets injured, whoever sits below him on the depth chart goes in. Inside linebacker Devin Bush got hurt against Cleveland a couple weeks ago, so Robert Spillane went in. He did fine in his first NFL start...

At halftime of Sunday’s game at Nashville, the Pittsburgh Steelers seemed likely to win the Super Bowl, or at least be counted among the legit contenders. But after those final 30 minutes and even at 6-0, it’s easy to still not be sure about the Steelers. They beat an undefeated...

Antonio Brown didn’t con the entire NFL. But he conned a few of its top quarterbacks. Brown “befriended” Tom Brady when the two played together briefly in New England. He “befriended” Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson during informal offseason workouts. He “befriended” Russell Wilson, causing Seattle’s QB to utter nonsense like “he’s...

Baltimore is a good team. But the Ravens are still trying to get better. They’re adding ex-Dallas receiver Dez Bryant to their practice squad. That seems of little consequence. Bryant, 31, hasn’t played in the NFL since 2017. He tore his Achilles tendon in 2018 after signing with New Orleans...

The NFL has three undefeated teams left. Two of them play Sunday in Nashville. Yet the hype for Steelers-Titans has been restrained. An explosion thereof doesn’t seem imminent. Not like when Mr. Used-to-Be took on Mr. Hasn’t-Won-Enough this past Sunday, sparking constant delirium on WokeCenter and other like programs. Mr....

The Pittsburgh Steelers still haven’t beaten a good team. Cleveland certainly isn’t a good team. The Browns are 0-2 against Baltimore and the Steelers, losing those games by a combined 76-13. Quarterback Baker Mayfield (aka Johnny Manziel Jr.) is a bust and certainly won’t get better via the teaching tool...

Myles Garrett is a liar. That wasn’t said enough in the aftermath of Garrett’s helmet-swinging fiasco last Nov. 14 at Cleveland. The Browns defensive end accused Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph of using the n-word to precipitate Garrett’s assault with Rudolph’s football hat. Garrett got suspended for the rest of...

When NHL free agency hit last weekend, Chicago made moves with an eye toward the future. It traded winger Brandon Saad, a two-time Stanley Cup winner. It let goalie Corey Crawford walk via free agency. He also won two Cups. The Blackhawks want to skew younger. The Blackhawks’ core four...

Several fallacies are being spoken about the shattered career of Le’Veon Bell. One is that Bell somehow struck a blow for his profession’s laborers when he sat out the 2018 season after being franchised for a second time, thus forcing his way out of Pittsburgh and removing himself from under...

About a month ago, this space proclaimed that the current Steelers defense might be comparable to the team’s unit in 1976, regarded by some as the best in NFL history. Uh…OK, maybe not. Look on the bright side: The check for that particular magnum opus has long since cleared and...

Just before NHL free agency hit Friday, another radio personality tweeted the Pittsburgh Penguins needed a “third-line center. Cut from the (Nick) Bonino cloth.” Bonino spent two seasons in Pittsburgh. The Penguins won the Stanley Cup in both. But Bonino wasn’t “that guy” until he joined the Penguins and hasn’t...

The Tennessee Titans have wrecked their season. The Titans defied an NFL mandate and had two unauthorized practices. Their coach, Mike Vrabel, lost institutional control. As of this writing, 23 players and staff members have tested positive for covid-19. Last week’s home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers was postponed. Sunday’s...

Defenseman Jack Johnson will no longer play for the Penguins. His contract got bought out. That solves all their problems. The Penguins would have won the last two Stanley Cups if Johnson wasn’t on the team. That’s what social media thinks. That’s what analytics geeks think. Johnson was the root...

Refreshing sports notes: Some test positive, some negative. They all wear a mask. But they don’t social distance; that’s not needed on the internet, or on the printed page. Yet. • Pitt football and coach Pat Narduzzi once again have proven themselves all hat and no cattle. They dropped in...

If big-time sports aren’t careful, the pandemic may inadvertently steer them into giving the people what they want. Hockey’s expanded playoff worked. Baseball’s expanded playoff is working. Baseball is slated to use the same format in 2021. Don’t be shocked if hockey sticks with a 24-team tournament. The postseason is...

The postponement of the Steelers game at Tennessee is much ado about nothing. The NFL wasn’t as ready as it should have been. Nor was MLB when covid hit the Miami Marlins. The pandemic provides an unprecedented situation. Until an outbreak happens, you don’t know how you’ll react. When it...

At Monday’s media session, coach Mike Tomlin said the Steelers were told to proceed as if Sunday’s game at Tennessee will be played despite the Titans’ covid outbreak. It may yet take place. But it will be played Monday or Tuesday, not Sunday. Further postponement via juggling bye weeks seems...

The Steelers and their fans have to be satisfied with 3-0. They can’t be better. No team has ever been 4-0 after three games. But it’s tough to feel like the Steelers have accomplished much. The Steelers’ three foes to date have a combined mark of 0-9. The New York...

When Jim Rutherford makes a trade, the analysis comes thick and fast. Occasionally, some of it is even worthwhile. Rutherford has made 51 trades since becoming Penguins general manager in June 2014. How many of those deals made legit impact? His first certainly did, namely the acquisition of gritty Patric...