Jonathan Bombulie stories, Page 32
NHL awards piling up for Penguins captain Sidney Crosby
The NHL gave Sidney Crosby another award on Monday afternoon. He still hasn’t figured out what he’s going to do with the last one he got. Crosby was named the NHL’s first star of the week Monday, beating out San Jose forward Joe Pavelski and Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk for...
Rested Penguins set to tackle troubles against last-place teamsVideo
Something’s got to give when the Pittsburgh Penguins return from a weeklong midseason break to face the New Jersey Devils at PPG Paints Arena on Monday night. The Penguins have been extraordinarily good under coach Mike Sullivan coming off league-mandated breaks of three days or more. In their first game...
Penguins trade Jamie Oleksiak back to Dallas for fourth-round draft pick
Trading Jamie Oleksiak back to the Dallas Stars on Monday cleared some things up for the Pittsburgh Penguins. First and foremost, it cleared a roster spot for Justin Schultz to return from injury. It also cleared some salary cap space for general manager Jim Rutherford to play with as the...
Penguins still fine-tuning identity as season hits stretch drive
After the Pittsburgh Penguins dropped a 7-3 decision to the Vegas Golden Knights last Saturday to kick off a weeklong midseason break on an inglorious note, coach Mike Sullivan had some interesting things to say. “We have to find a way to become a team,” Sullivan said, “that has a...
Former Penguins coach Michel Therrien proud to return to Pittsburgh for Tree of Life charity game
Wherever he’s gone, whether he was coaching the Montreal Canadiens from 2012-17 or working in media and living in South Florida like he does now, Michel Therrien never went more than a few days without running into someone from Pittsburgh. And there was one common thread running through all those...
Ex-Penguins coach Michel Therrien returns for charity game, cherishes memories
Wherever he has gone, whether he was coaching the Montreal Canadiens from 2012-17 or working in media and living in South Florida like he does now, Michel Therrien never went more than a few days without running into someone from Pittsburgh. And there was one common thread running through all...
Sidney Crosby’s all-star performance wows Penguins teammate
After spending most of the weekend holed up in his hotel room with an illness, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby emerged at the NHL All-Star Game on Saturday night and claimed MVP honors with a four-goal, four-assist performance. Neither of those two developments surprised goalie Matt Murray, who spent part...
Penguins trying out new looks on second, third lines
If Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford has a specific target area of his roster that he’d like to improve before the Feb. 25 trade deadline, it’s probably the second and third lines. Before that happens, though, it looks like the Penguins are going to try some internal options to...
Penguins’ Justin Schultz, Zach Aston-Reese still week to week with injuries
The Pittsburgh Penguins returned from a weeklong midseason break missing four players from practice Sunday afternoon in Cranberry. Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang had the day off because they represented the team at the NHL All-Star Game in San Jose the night before. Justin Schultz and Zach Aston-Reese skated with...
5 things to watch for Penguins after All-Star break
Whether they wanted to or not, the set-up of their schedule forced the Pittsburgh Penguins into a midseason moment of contemplation. After losing 7-3 to Vegas last Saturday night, the Penguins went on a seven-day break that will end when they return to practice Sunday afternoon in Cranberry. Before the...
NHL commissioner Bettman says puck, player tracking tech coming next season
Puck and player tracking technology is coming to the NHL next season. Commissioner Gary Bettman announced at his annual state of the league address at the NHL All-Star Game in San Jose on Friday that transmitters will be inserted into every player’s shoulder pads and every puck used for game...
Respect growing for Sidney Crosby’s all-around game
Jack Johnson cocked his head and squinted his eyes, pausing for a moment as if he had been asked a trick question. Should his Pittsburgh Penguins teammate and longtime friend Sidney Crosby be considered for MVP honors this season as sports writers around the league begin to contemplate their Hart...
Penguins’ Sidney Crosby to sit out all-star skills competition due to illness
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby will miss Friday night’s skills competition at the NHL All-Star Game in San Jose due to illness, the league announced Friday afternoon. He is expected to play in the All-Star Game on Saturday night. The other Penguins all-star representative, defenseman Kris Letang, is expected to...
Penguins need second-half consistency to emerge as title contenders
Editor’s note: As the Pittsburgh Penguins hit their bye week, beat writer Jonathan Bombulie looks at four characteristics usually shared by Stanley Cup champions and where this year’s team stacks up in those areas. As Phil Kessel undoubtedly knows, there’s a motto sometimes repeated by players at the World Series...
Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov earns midseason MVP from hockey writers
Being the best player on the best team isn’t a bad way to win a Hart Trophy as the NHL’s regular-season MVP. That’s where Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov finds himself at the All-Star break. Kucherov, who leads the league with 78 points in 49 games, was the leading...
Heinz History Center exhibit celebrates Penguins, Pittsburgh hockey, local Olympians
When U.S. Paralympic gold medalist Dan McCoy stopped by the Heinz History Center on Thursday morning, it was like he was visiting an old friend. McCoy, a Cheswick native, was in attendance for a preview of the museum’s new exhibit, “A Great Day for Hockey,” which will open to the...
Success on penalty kill, not power play, could lead Penguins to postseason success
Editor’s note: As the Pittsburgh Penguins hit their bye week, beat writer Jonathan Bombulie looks at four characteristics usually shared by Stanley Cup champions and where this year’s team stacks up in those areas. What were the most memorable moments from the 2016 Stanley Cup Final? Plenty of fans probably...
Goaltending resurgence keeps Penguins in championship hunt
Editor’s note: As the Pittsburgh Penguins hit their bye week, beat writer Jonathan Bombulie looks at four characteristics usually shared by Stanley Cup champions and where this year’s Penguins stack up in those areas. There is quite a bit of hockey mythology surrounding the hot goaltender, the otherwise mortal netminder...
Penguins relying on familiar formula of strong offense, middling defense
Editor’s note: As the Penguins hit their bye week, beat writer Jonathan Bombulie looks at four characteristics usually shared by Stanley Cup champions and where this year’s Penguins stack up in those areas. Whether it’s in the form of a goaltender playing at the top of his game or the...
First Penguins coach, George ‘Red’ Sullivan, dies at age 89
George “Red” Sullivan, who coached the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first two seasons in franchise history from 1967-69, died Saturday in his hometown of Peterborough, Ontario. He was 89. Sullivan played 14 years in the NHL before becoming Penguins coach, scoring 107 goals in 557 games with Boston, Chicago and...
Penguins send newly acquired winger Joseph Blandisi to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
As they begin a weeklong midseason break, the Pittsburgh Penguins assigned newly acquired winger Joseph Blandisi to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL on Sunday. Blandisi, 24, was acquired from Anaheim for center Derek Grant early Thursday morning. He made his Penguins debut Friday in Arizona, going without a point in about...
Penguins head into break with nagging inconsistencies
As they watched goalie Casey DeSmith try to fend off breakaway after breakaway throughout a 7-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins were faced with a harsh reality. It’s not that they’re a bumbling bunch whose championship window is closing. That’s way too dramatic....
Penguins, Phil Kessel learn from power-play mistakes
When the Pittsburgh Penguins gave up their league-leading 10th shorthanded goal of the season last Saturday in Los Angeles, coach Mike Sullivan seethed. He wasn’t angry that his world-class first power-play unit turned pucks over. That happens to the best of them. He was angry because his team wasn’t learning...
Marc-Andre Fleury savoring plentiful playing time as Penguins come to town
Marc-Andre Fleury didn’t know what he had until it was gone. Fleury came into Saturday night’s showdown between the Vegas Golden Knights and Pittsburgh Penguins as the NHL’s leader in minutes played with 2,494, almost 200 more than second-place John Gibson of Anaheim. Fleury has started 42 of his team’s...
Decreased workload presents challenge for Penguins goalie Casey DeSmith
Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Casey DeSmith has already cleared one significant hurdle this season. He overcame his lack of height and prospect pedigree to establish himself as a legitimate NHL goaltender, all but officially beating out second-round draft pick Tristan Jarry for the long-term backup role behind Matt Murray when he...
