Chris Adamski stories, Page 83
Former camp phenom Tuzar Skipper back with Steelers
Three summers ago, Tuzar Skipper became a training camp darling among Pittsburgh Steelers fans after he’d joined the team via a rookie tryout and then had five sacks in four preseason games. As Skipper put it via his verified Twitter account Wednesday, “412 I’M BACK!!!!!!!!!” The club officially announced the...
A 3rd-stringer for now, Kenny Pickett vows to work to scale Steelers QB depth chart
Even as a first-round pick, even after being a Heisman finalist, even after breaking Dan Marino’s records, Kenny Pickett knows he has to start at the bottom in the NFL. Asked about getting third-string reps during the Pittsburgh Steelers’ organized team activities sessions, Pickett smiled. “Yeah, man, I didn’t think...
After missing 1st week of OTAs, Diontae Johnson joins Steelers for Week 2
For the first time since each was acquired, new Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett on Tuesday had a chance to formally work with their No. 1 receiver. Diontae Johnson took part in the fourth day of organized team activities at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the South...
Dan Moore eager to prove Steelers wise in Year 2
Like the rest of Steelers Nation back in March, Dan Moore Jr. was paying attention when the team agreed to terms with a veteran offensive lineman on the first day of unrestricted free agency. He also took note when the Steelers added another starting-caliber offensive lineman from another team in...
Young but experienced, James Daniels already a leader on Steelers’ offensive line
James Daniels spent most of the first four seasons of his NFL career as “the young guy.” Now that he has joined the Pittsburgh Steelers — even at just 24 years old — he is the most tenured veteran. Life comes at you fast, especially for a player who made...
After injury-riddled season, Penguins’ Jason Zucker strives for health in 2022-23
Jason Zucker wasn’t being anti-social. He wasn’t suggesting he was special, nor did he think his teammates smelled badly. But during the home games of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ first-round playoff series earlier this month, Zucker sat apart from the rest of the team, near the tunnel to the locker room...
Steelers’ T.J. Watt still using ‘boring’ training techniques to mold All-Pro performance
Think you can lift enough weights or run enough miles to transform yourself into an NFL Defensive Player of the Year? The brothers who have combined to win four of the past nine such awards use a much different training method. “I always tell people,” T.J. Watt said after the...
Chuks Okorafor glad to be back with Steelers as 3rd-year starting right tackle
Like most NFL players, Chuks Okorafor waited four years before he could become an unrestricted free agent. He waited less than six hours to go under contract once again. “Obviously,” Okorafor said, “I wanted to be back, because I came back. And obviously, they wanted me back, too.” Two-and-a-half months...
Sportsbook lists Steelers QB Kenny Pickett as favorite for NFL offensive rookie of year
Kenny Pickett isn’t yet taking first-team reps for the Pittsburgh Steelers. But at least one sportsbook believes he will by the time the games matter. Sportsbetting.ag on Wednesday released its odds for various NFL postseason awards for the 2022 season. It rated Pickett as its favorite for Offensive Rookie of...
Mitch Trubisky, Mason Rudolph embrace Steelers QB battle, even after adding Kenny Pickett
It’s May. As Mike Tomlin is wont to say, the players were wearing shorts. Pads weren’t on, and no one was tackling. The regular-season opener stood 110 days away. A small group of prominent veterans didn’t even show up. But for all the qualifiers associated with the opening of the...
Kendrick Green taking Steelers OTAs reps competing with Kevin Dotson at left guard
Last year at this time, Kendrick Green was hoping to impress as a rookie to earn the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting center job. Kevin Dotson appeared entrenched as a starter at guard for years to come. On the opening day of 2022’s organized team activities, the two were competing against each...
1st-pairing minutes in playoffs could turn into permanent Penguins role for Mike Matheson
The final week of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ season featured defenseman Mike Matheson in a top-pairing role and averaging more than 23 minutes of ice time per game. Could that be a sign of more permanent things to come? Matheson’s prominent role for the final six games of the Penguins’ playoffs...
Penguins season ticket holders paint the ice in annual event at PPG Paints Arena
The ice surface at PPG Paints Arena won’t be needed for hockey again until the fall. But it perhaps never looked better than it did Thursday night. Pittsburgh Penguins season ticket holders were invited for what the organization has made a tradition: a night in which they were free to...
One of the longest-tenured Penguins, Chad Ruhwedel has best season at age 31
As the Pittsburgh Penguins’ most recent Stanley Cup grows further into the rearview mirror, there stands only four players left under contract for next season who appeared in that 2017 championship run. Sidney Crosby, of course. His running mate, Jake Guentzel, was a rookie that year. Brian Dumoulin isn’t surprising,...
Does Rickard Rakell expect to return to Penguins next season?
Rickard Rakell spent the past two months living alone. Speaking earlier this week, he was eager to get back to his wife — and not just because of relative newlywed bliss. Married last year, Emmeli and Rickard are expecting their first child. “I am really excited about that,” Rakell said...
After his swagger abandoned him this season, will the Penguins bring back Kasperi Kapanen?
The son of a former NHL player with the pedigree of being a first-round pick and a flashy-styled game to match, Kasperi Kapanen’s image falls somewhere on the spectrum where extroverted meets brash. Not in 2021-22 for the Pittsburgh Penguins, though. “I kind of let them down this year,” Kapanen...
Penguins players detail injuries, expand on key playoff moments
Sidney Crosby wasn’t cleared to play in Game 6. Evan Rodrigues disagrees with a penalty called on him in the same game. Brock McGinn and Marcus Pettersson, though, regret their on-ice actions that contributed to the goals that ultimately ended the Pittsburgh Penguins’ season two nights later. That was part...
‘I hope I see you next year’ – Evgeni Malkin wants to stay with Penguins, understands situation
To begin his Pittsburgh Penguins career, Evgeni Malkin had to sneak off from his Russian pro team and hide out for days in a Finnish apartment until the American consulate could fast-track a visa that would allow him escape the obligations of a contract signed under duress. Ending his Penguins’...
Penguins forward Brian Boyle undergoes knee surgery
Forward Brian Boyle underwent surgery on his left knee Monday, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced via a news release. Boyle did not play in the Penguins’ season-ending Game 7 overtime loss at the New York Rangers on Sunday after he suffered an injury early during Game 6 on Friday. The team’s...
5 things: Like series on whole, stats say Penguins ‘deserved’ to win Game 7
Five stats-based observations about the Pittsburgh Penguins’ season-ending, 4-3 Game 7 loss to the New York Rangers on Sunday: 1. Get what you deserve? Let’s get this out of the way first: the team that has the most goals/points/runs is always the one that “deserves” to win a game. In...
5 things: Goaltending failing Penguins during recent playoff runs
Five stats-based observations about the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 5-3 loss in Game 6 on Friday that forced a deciding Game 7 at the New York Rangers in the team’s first-round playoff series: 1. Nothing in net The goalies themselves differ, the situations vastly so. But recent Penguins playoff flameouts have one...
Special teams failures big reason why Penguins haven’t closed out Rangers
Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan believes his team has been “really good” at 5-on-5 during its first-round series against the New York Rangers. So why did the Penguins miss two chances to close out the series heading into Sunday’s Game 7? “I am probably stating the obvious,” Sullivan said, “but...
Game 7 of Penguins-Rangers series set for evening faceoff Sunday
For the first time in five years, the Pittsburgh Penguins will take part in a winner-take-all Game 7 on Sunday. The NHL announced that the deciding game of the Penguins’ first-round series against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden would faceoff at 7 p.m. The game will be...
Penguins’ Brian Boyle laves Game 6 after 2 shifts because of lower-body injury
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Brian Boyle suffered a lower-body injury early during Friday’s playoff game, taking only two shifts in Game 6 of the first-round series against the New York Rangers. After the game — a 5-3 loss that forced a Game 7 — coach Mike Sullivan said Boyle was being...
Steelers sign veteran offensive lineman Trent Scott
The Pittsburgh Steelers added some versatile veteran depth to their offensive line Friday, announcing a one-year contract with Trent Scott. The 6-foot-5, 320-pound Scott has played 53 games with 19 starts over four NFL seasons since making the Los Angeles Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2018. He has...
