Jonathan Bombulie stories, Page 20
Carolina captain Justin Williams sums up playoff loss with disgusting analogy
Playoff losses can be hard to swallow. Just ask Carolina Hurricanes captain Justin Williams. After his team suffered a 6-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Sunday, Williams summed up the experience with an unappetizing analogy. “Sometimes you gotta eat a poop sandwich,” Williams said. “It doesn’t taste good. You...
Penguins castoff Greg McKegg finds scoring touch in Carolina
Pittsburgh Penguins castoff Greg McKegg has found a home on the fourth line of the Carolina Hurricanes. McKegg, who scored two goals in 26 games with the Penguins in 2017-18, has scored in each of Carolina’s last two playoff games coming into Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals against...
Olli Maatta puzzle frames difficult summer decisions Penguins must make
There are plenty of questions facing the Pittsburgh Penguins as they consider how to retool their roster after a disappointing 2018-19 season. Here’s a big one: Did the Penguins struggle in transition because their defense corps lacked the speed and skill to get the puck to the forwards effectively or...
Evgeni Malkin leads Russia past Norway in World Championships opener
Evgeni Malkin had a better time than Matt Murray as the IIHL World Championships began Friday in Slovakia. Malkin had a pair of assists as his Russian team cruised to a 5-2 victory over Norway. Murray stopped 24 of 26 shots as Canada dropped a 3-1 decision to Finland. Malkin...
Evgeni Malkin, Patric Hornqvist lead Penguins contingent at World Championships
When everything goes right, it’s a tournament Pittsburgh Penguins fans pay little mind. Everything didn’t go right for the Penguins this season, of course, so some of their players will be in the field when the IIHF World Championships begin Friday in Slovakia. Patric Hornqvist and Marcus Pettersson will try...
Despite Penguins’ exit, Pittsburgh market remains in top 10 in playoff TV ratings
Despite a quick exit for the home team, Pittsburgh remains one of the top markets in the country when it comes to TV ratings for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Through two rounds, Pittsburgh ranks as the seventh-best market with a 1.65 rating. It’s a big drop from last season, when...
Penguins sign defensive prospect Niclas Almari to entry level deal
The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed one of their top defense prospects to an entry level contract, announcing a three-year deal with 20-year-old Niclas Almari on Thursday. A fifth-round pick in the 2016 draft, Almari helped HPK to the championship of the Finland’s top league this season. He had a goal,...
Penguins learn they’ll pick 21st in June’s NHL draft
Barring something unforeseen, in less than two months, the Pittsburgh Penguins will be making a first-round pick in the NHL draft for the first time since 2014. On Wednesday night, they found out they’ll be picking 21st overall. When the NHL sets its draft order, it determines the first 15...
On Evgeni Malkin’s bad season, misleading stats and horrendous optics
At the core of the swirling offseason debate surrounding the Pittsburgh Penguins and their willingness to trade center Evgeni Malkin is one fundamental question: How much of the team’s poor 2018-19 season can be pinned on the 32-year-old Russian superstar? A closer look at Malkin’s stats gives one answer: He’s...
Western Pa. native Riley Barber looks forward to leaving Capitals
Riley Barber, a native of Washington, Pa., who was one of the top scorers in the AHL this season, sounds like he’s ready to move on from the Washington Capitals organization. Barber, 25, told NBC Sports Washington that he’s eager to test the waters once he hits unrestricted free agency...
Report: Canucks won’t re-sign former Penguins defenseman Derrick Pouliot
The Vancouver Canucks won’t make a qualifying offer to Derrick Pouliot, letting the former Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, according to a report by Rick Dhaliwal of Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver. Pouliot, the eighth overall pick in the 2012 draft, had three goals, 12...
Mars defenseman goes first overall in USHL draft
Mars native Carter Schade became the first Western Pennsylvania player picked first overall in the United States Hockey League draft Monday night. The 5-foot-10, two-way defenseman who committed to Penn State as a 15-year-old last April was selected by the Lincoln Stars. He had 16 goals and 30 points in...
Apollo native returns to alma mater to help Robert Morris athletics grow
When Chris King was growing up in Apollo, his mom wouldn’t get home from her second job at Giant Eagle until midnight. When he was a teenager, he delivered newspapers and worked in a nuclear power plant. For the past 25 years, he has worked his way up the college...
Put in tough spot, new Flyers coach picks Matt Murray over Carter Hart for Canada starting job
Coach Alain Vigneault found himself in a bit of an awkward spot in the lead-up to the IIHF World Championships, which begin later this week in Slovakia. On April 10, Vigneault was named head coach of Team Canada for the tournament. Five days later, he was named head coach of...
Penguins agree to 10-year deal to keep top minor-league team in Wilkes-Barre
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ top minor-league affiliate will remain in Wilkes-Barre for the next 10 years. The Penguins and the Luzerne County Convention Center Authority agreed in principle on a new 10-year lease, the arena board announced Monday. The deal will be made official at a meeting of the arena authority...
Former Penguins coaches Michel Therrien, Mike Yeo hired by Flyers
Former Pittsburgh Penguins coaches Michel Therrien and Mike Yeo will have a reunion in an unexpected location in the fall – behind the bench of the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers announced Monday that Therrien and Yeo will be assistants on the staff of new head coach Alain Vigneault. Yeo was...
Penguins will have to buck NHL age trend to raise Stanley Cup again
Amidst swirling uncertainty about what his roster will look like in the fall, Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford has been steadfast in one belief in every public comment he’s made since his team was swept out of the first round of the playoffs earlier this month. The team’s championship...
Why Penguins GM Jim Rutherford can’t rule out trading some of his biggest stars
It’s probably within the power of Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford to put an abrupt end to much of the drama and intrigue sure to surround the roster decisions he faces this summer. He could stand up, declare he has no intentions to trade stars such as Evgeni Malkin,...
Penguins re-sign depth forward Joseph Cramarossa
The Pittsburgh Penguins re-signed depth forward Joseph Cramarossa to a one-year, two-way contract, according to multiple reports Friday. Cramrossa, 26, is a gritty, two-way forward who had four goals, 16 points, six fighting majors and 116 penalty minutes in 56 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season. He has played 59 career...
Islanders not worried they finished off Penguins too quickly
The New York Islanders doesn’t seem to be worried that they finished off the Pittsburgh Penguins too fast. After completing a four-game sweep of the Penguins on April 16, the Islanders will begin their second-round series with Carolina on Friday night. The 10-day break between games is tied for the...
Penguins can’t count on prospect pool to produce impact players
If the Pittsburgh Penguins are to return to the type of championship form they showed in 2016-17, their prospects will have to play a role. During those back-to-back Stanley Cup seasons, homegrown talents such as Matt Murray, Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust, Conor Sheary, Tom Kuhnhackl and others made significant contributions....
Remember Janne Pesonen? European free agency hasn’t been panacea for Penguins
Having traded away multiple draft picks in recent years in pursuit of the Stanley Cup, the Pittsburgh Penguins have to find other ways to replenish their prospect pool. They’ve had some success in signing undrafted college free agents, adding Zach Aston-Reese, Casey DeSmith and Conor Sheary via that avenue in...
Major offseason overhaul unlikely for Penguins defense corps
Judging by the reality of the salary cap, fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins can expect the team’s blue line to look a little different next season. Judging by the comments of general manager Jim Rutherford, it probably won’t be too different, though. The cap dictates the Penguins will have to...
Reports: Penguins assistant Jacques Martin a candidate for Buffalo Sabres job
Pittsburgh Penguins assistant Jacques Martin is a candidate for the head coaching job of the Buffalo Sabres, according to multiple reports. Martin, 66, has been with the Penguins for the last six seasons, serving mostly as the assistant coach who works most closely with the team’s defense and penalty kill....
Vegas’ Gerard Gallant calls San Jose’s Peter DeBoer a ‘clown’ as NHL coaches trade barbs
The first war of words between coaches of the Stanley Cup playoffs has broken out, and to the surprise of many, Columbus’ John Tortorella wasn’t involved. Hours before his Vegas Golden Knights took on the San Jose Sharks in Game 7 of a first-round playoff series Tuesday night, Gerard Gallant...
