Jonathan Bombulie stories, Page 16
4 years, 2 Cups: Remembering Phil Kessel’s time with the Penguins
April 11, 2015: Kessel records a goal and an assist in a 4-3 shootout loss to Montreal in what would be his last game in a Toronto jersey. Despite recording 394 points in 446 games over six seasons, the Leafs are, according to Toronto Sun columnist Steve Simmons, growing tired...
Penguins trade Phil Kessel to Arizona for Alex Galchenyuk
The long-rumored split between the Pittsburgh Penguins and popular winger Phil Kessel finally happened Saturday night, and it wasn’t exactly the prettiest divorce of all time. The Penguins sent Kessel, a fourth-round pick and defense prospect Dane Birks to the Arizona Coyotes for winger Alex Galchenyuk and defense prospect Pierre-Olivier...
Penguins GM Jim Rutherford has no shortage of trade chips to play
As Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford wrapped up an uneventful trip to Vancouver for last weekend’s NHL Draft, he admitted the next few days — the time leading up to the start of the league’s free-agent signing period Monday — would be his best chance to make the deals...
North Huntingdon native Austen Swankler signs with OHL’s Erie Otters
North Huntingdon native Austen Swankler will be playing much closer to home next season. The 17-year-old winger signed with the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters on Friday. Swankler spent last season in the United States Hockey League, starting in Waterloo, Iowa, before being traded to Sioux Falls, S.D. He had...
Skating doesn’t slow Penguins top picks Samuel Poulin, Nathan Legare in scrimmage
When the Pittsburgh Penguins used their first two picks in last weekend’s NHL draft to select power forwards Samuel Poulin and Nathan Legare, the question came almost immediately. Do they skate well enough to be impact players in the modern game? It was fitting, then, that the team’s annual development...
Penguins hire AHL champ Mike Vellucci as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have a new coach with strong championship credentials. The Penguins announced Friday night that WBS coach Clark Donatelli had resigned for personal reasons and was replaced by Mike Vellucci, who parted ways with the Carolina Hurricanes organization earlier in the day. Vellucci, 52, coached Carolina’s AHL team,...
Big hits no longer a big focus for Penguins prospects
A generation ago, it wasn’t a line buried at the bottom of a scouting report. It might be the No. 1 reason a player became a millionaire. The ability to deliver a big, open-ice hit was a sought-after commodity in the hockey community. Brooks Orpik and Colby Armstrong, for instance,...
Penguins system braces for Finnish invasion
When defenseman Olli Maatta was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks earlier this month, the Pittsburgh Penguins locker room was almost completely cleared out of Finns. It won’t stay that way for long. The next crop of Finnish players is on the verge of arriving, and it’s practically a tidal wave....
Matthew Boucher, son of former Penguins defenseman, returns to ‘Mario’s place’
When Philippe Boucher was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins by the Dallas Stars in November of 2008, the timing was absolutely perfect in one way. Boucher’s son Matthew was a few weeks shy of his 11th birthday. It’s a formative time for a young sports fan, and the playoff run...
Penguins defense prospect Clayton Phillips looking for fresh start in college hockey
One of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ top prospects could use a change of scenery. Clayton Phillips, an offensive defenseman picked in the third round of the 2017 draft, is in the middle of the transfer process after spending the first two years of his college career at the University of Minnesota....
Penguins prospect Jordy Bellerive travels tough road to recovery after campfire explosion
Countless hockey players, even ones young enough to be participating in Pittsburgh Penguins development camp in Cranberry this week, have stories to tell about rehabbing from a tough injury. Few have as harrowing a tale to tell as Penguins prospect Jordy Bellerive. After suffering a serious hand injury in a...
Penguins could use push from next generation of prospects
When Jake Guentzel, Matt Murray, Bryan Rust, Conor Sheary, Tom Kuhnhackl and a generation of young players burst onto the NHL scene a couple of years ago, they helped the Pittsburgh Penguins win back-to-back championships. But that’s not all they did. They also set the bar incredibly high for future...
Penguins bring back Zach Trotman, Kevin Czuczman for defensive depth
The Pittsburgh Penguins shored up their defensive depth Wednesday, re-signing Zach Trotman and Kevin Czuczman to two-year, two-way contracts. Both contracts will pay $700,000 annually at the NHL level. Trotman, 28, has been a call-up option for the Penguins each of the last two seasons. Last year, he played 13...
Penguins GM Jim Rutherford hoping to replicate important trade
When Jim Rutherford talks about the second act of his managerial career, the one that brought him back-to-back Stanley Cup championships with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016-17, his first inclination is to be humble. “I already had a great advantage when you come into a team with (Sidney) Crosby and...
Penguins GM Jim Rutherford chosen for Hockey Hall of Fame
Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford turned 70 back in February, but all it took was a phone call Tuesday afternoon to turn him into a teenager sending a text. “I said, ‘OMG,’ ” Rutherford relayed, describing his reaction when he heard Lanny McDonald and John Davidson were on the...
Penguins to open regular season with 4-game homestand
The Pittsburgh Penguins will open 2019-20 with a relatively soft early schedule filled with plenty of home games, but over the course of the next six-plus months, they’ll be tested by plenty of back-to-backs. The Penguins open with a four-game homestand, starting with the Oct. 3 opener against Buffalo and...
Longtime Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik retires
Longtime Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik has retired. The 38-year-old made the announcement Tuesday morning. A first-round pick in the 2000 draft, Orpik spent the first 12 years of a 17-year pro career in the Penguins organization. He is eighth on the team’s all-time games played list with 703, second-most...
A closer look at all 41 prospects invited to Penguins development camp
For recent draft picks, it’s a first taste of life in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization. For undrafted free agents, it’s chance to make a good first impression. Either way, here’s a closer look at the 41 players the Penguins have invited to development campthis week at the UPMC Lemieux Sports...
‘The other’ Matt Murray headlines Penguins development camp roster
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced their 41-man roster for development camp on Monday and in a surprise development, goaltender Matt Murray’s name was on it. Not that Matt Murray. The other Matt Murray. This Murray is a 21-year-old goalie who just finished up a solid sophomore season at UMass, going 20-5-0...
5 things we learned about Penguins from NHL Draft
The Pittsburgh Penguins had a largely routine weekend at the NHL Draft in Vancouver, picking up a handful of prospects and not making any of the trades that had kept the rumor mill busy for weeks beforehand. Here are five things we learned from the draft about where the Penguins...
A look at the 5 players the Penguins drafted this weekend in Vancouver
SAMUEL POULIN Chosen: First round, 21st overall Position: F Team: Sherbrooke (QMJHL) Height: 6-1 Weight: 206 Last year: 29 goals, 76 points in 67 games Scouting report: No-nonsense power forward with a good shot and a conscientious, consistent, competitive game. Skating isn’t a strength. Offensive upside is limited, so he...
Penguins notebook: Team scores twice with prospects who slid down draft board
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — It’s part of the lore of the NHL Draft. A prospect a team thinks highly of begins to slide down the draft board. Scouts pound the table, passionately trying to convince their boss to do what it takes to take advantage of the unexpected good fortune....
Penguins go big with selections at NHL Draft
VANCOUVER — A concerted effort? Maybe not. Head scout Patrik Allvin said the choices the Pittsburgh Penguins made in the NHL Draft this weekend in Vancouver were, in large part, dictated by who the best available athlete was when their turn came around. Quebec area scout Luc Gauthier said the...
Penguins take another power forward, Judd Caulfield, with fifth-round pick
VANCOUVER — For the third time in as many picks, the Pittsburgh Penguins chose a power forward in the fifth round of the NHL Draft on Saturday afternoon. They chose 6-foot-3, 204-pound right wing Judd Caulfield from the U.S. National Team Development Program. First-rounder Samuel Poulin and third-rounder Nathan Legare...
Penguins trade up to pick goal-scoring winger Nathan Legare in 3rd round
The Pittsburgh Penguins made a move up in the draft to select a high-scoring winger Saturday afternoon. The Penguins traded picks in the fourth, fifth and seventh rounds to Arizona to move into the third round. They used the 74th overall pick on winger Nathan Legare of Baie-Comeau in the...
