Mark Madden stories, Page 31
Mark Madden: Penguins’ strategy in Game 1 will determine if they have a chance or will get swept
The Pittsburgh Penguins are built on speed. The New York Rangers clearly are faster. The Rangers outskated the Penguins in all four meetings this season, winning three. The Rangers overwhelmed the Penguins with their forecheck. The Penguins won’t make tactical adjustments to slow the Rangers or the pace of play....
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: College athletes should do what’s best for themselves
Jordan Addison, the reigning Biletnikoff Award winner as college football’s top wide receiver in 2021, will likely transfer from Pitt to Southern Cal. Addison will be a junior. Pitt supporters are apoplectic, which is their preferred disposition. You’d think they’d be grateful for a chance to martyr themselves. Pitt coach...
Mark Madden: Kenny Pickett doesn’t close the Steelers’ gap among AFC North quarterbacks
When Mike Tomlin got hired to coach the Steelers in 2007, he inherited Ben Roethlisberger. Until now, he’s never replaced his quarterback. You can tell. He doesn’t know how to do it. Kenny Pickett turns 24 on June 6. He started 49 games during his Blutarsky-esque tenure at Pitt. If...
Mark Madden: Penguins can’t be fixed before playoffs, but here are some ideas anyway
If the Pittsburgh Penguins continue performing as they have for the past month, they’re going to get swept in the first round of the NHL playoffs. Not just eliminated, but swept. The Penguins have lost 11 of 17 and appear to be slowing down with every game. They nearly ground...
Mark Madden: No matter what tea leaves say, Steelers should skip QBs on draft day
The buildup to the Pittsburgh Steelers draft has been analyzed in overwrought and unnecessarily complicated fashion. The Steelers have a board, like every other NFL team. It ranks draft-eligible athletes in descending order of preference after due diligence is done. When somebody is selected, his name gets crossed off. When...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: In Bishop Canevin-Carlynton dispute, kids are being led astray
The bad side of high school sports got unfortunate exposure when a coach sadly chose to be a manipulator instead of an adult. A number of Bishop Canevin athletes competed as members of Carlynton’s boys track team as part of a WPIAL-sanctioned co-op. Between 10-15 of those Canevin athletes boycotted...
Mark Madden: Can the Penguins win a playoff series with Casey DeSmith in goal?
After Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Casey DeSmith made 52 saves to shut out Boston, 4-0, at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday, coach Mike Sullivan wouldn’t directly address the possibility of DeSmith starting in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Nor would winger Jake Guentzel. Nor would winger Jason Zucker. Nor would DeSmith himself....
Mark Madden: Steelers must choose between sizzle, steak at NFL Draft
The NFL Draft is a week away. The Pittsburgh Steelers have two options: Do a showbiz draft. Do a draft that 100% benefits the team. The showbiz draft consists of taking a quarterback with the 20th pick overall, then a wide receiver in the second round. Perhaps some tenuous connection...
Mark Madden: Penguins’ goaltending situation is nobody’s fault
With Tristan Jarry potentially out for the start of the playoffs with a reported broken foot, the Penguins have a goaltending dilemma. But it’s nobody’s fault. Sure, GM Ron Hextall could have traded for a backup superior to Casey DeSmith. Perhaps Hextall should have. But would that acquisition win a...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Remembering Mike Bossy as the 2nd-purest goal scorer ever
Mike Bossy was like a metronome. Nonstop. Inexorable. He scored, then scored again. The New York Islanders right wing netted 573 times in 752 regular-season games, 85 times in 129 playoff games, 13 times in 15 international games. That’s 671 goals of some gravitas, and a ton looked the same:...
Mark Madden: Many Penguins’ catalysts are done getting better, but Jake Guentzel offers hope moving forward
Jake Guentzel is a coach’s kid and Sidney Crosby’s linemate. That’s a combination that dictates excellence. “Guentzel is as perfect as can be without being Sid.” That’s what ex-Pittsburgh Penguin and current TV analyst Mike Rupp said after Guentzel dropped two goals and two assists in the Penguins’ 6-3 home...
Mark Madden: Scottie Scheffler should be the story of the Masters, not Tiger Woods
Scottie Scheffler won the Masters. He finished 23 strokes ahead of Tiger Woods, who finished 47th but was somehow the story. Skip Bayless of Fox said that as far as he’s concerned, Woods won the Masters. Bayless referred to Scheffler as “the bland leading the bland.” That’s wrong and unfair....
Mark Madden: Evgeni Malkin heads list of disappointing Penguins with playoffs looming
If you’re talking about the Pittsburgh Penguins, you can currently count on one man and one man only. That’s the captain. Sidney Crosby willed his team to victory over visiting Nashville on Sunday with two goals and an assist, netting the winner in overtime. Evgeni Malkin, meanwhile, is mostly a...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Re-signing Terrell Edmunds makes more sense for Steelers than Honey Badger
“SIGN THE HONEY BADGER!” It’s the war cry of local fanboys who want to collect football cards, not build a team. Tyrann Mathieu is a good safety. A bit beat up at 29, perhaps, thanks to being extremely physical, 5-foot-9, and having played nine NFL seasons. But he’s a three-time...
Mark Madden: The Penguins refuse to see themselves as they are
The Pittsburgh Penguins are standing at the crossroads. I believe they’re sinking down. The Penguins aren’t among the cream of the NHL crop. If they think that, they’re lying to themselves. If they believe they’re faster than the New York Rangers, that’s another whopper. If the Penguins feel they can...
Mark Madden: With playoff series looming, Penguins-Rangers matchup has extra importance
Thursday’s matchup between the Pittsburgh Penguins and host New York Rangers isn’t a playoff game. But it’s got implications beyond a mere regular-season contest. The Penguins and Rangers are a good bet to play in the first round of the playoffs. The Rangers have beaten the Penguins two straight times,...
Mark Madden: Penguins allowing too many soul-crushing goals at inopportune times
The Penguins are difficult to figure. They are on pace for 108 points, have the seventh-best record in the NHL and have allowed the sixth-fewest goals in the league. (That last factoid is so un-Penguins. It looks like a typo.) But Saturday’s 3-2 loss at Colorado was a microcosm of...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Mario Lemieux’s fantasy camp the best of its genre
Mario Lemieux made a pass, then broke free to take an easy return feed. But the puck never got there. The rec-league player who took Lemieux’s dish tried to instead beat a defender one-on-one. That’s the beauty of the Mario Lemieux Fantasy Hockey Camp: Everybody is equal. (The puck hog...
Mark Madden: NFL gets more distasteful in its rising popularity
The Toxic Twins are back at it. Marvel at their rare blend of stupidity and narcissism. (Actually, that’s a common combination.) “I still feel like I can put up big numbers, and I see what (other receivers) are getting paid,” Antonio Brown said. “I just wonder why my value isn’t...
Mark Madden: Changes are needed for Penguins to beat the Rangers
There were disturbing takeaways from the Penguins’ 3-2 home loss to the New York Rangers on Tuesday. • The Penguins are built on speed, but the Rangers are clearly faster. That was evident Tuesday and in each of the Penguins’ three games vs. the Rangers. The Rangers’ forecheck overwhelmed. The...
Mark Madden: Don’t expect a long suspension for Deshaun Watson
Quarterback Deshaun Watson had his introductory news conference as a member of the Cleveland Browns. It was absurd and awkward. How couldn’t it be? The self-righteous brigade wanted Watson to make a full confession to his alleged sexual transgressions in Houston, triggering a lifetime suspension by the NFL and renewed...
Mark Madden Hot Take: Rangers loss shows Penguins don’t have Plan B
When the Pittsburgh Penguins lost to the host New York Rangers, 5-1, on Friday, it was their third game in four days. The Rangers hadn’t played since Tuesday. When asked about the effect of that scheduling inequity, Coach Mike Sullivan said, “That’s the challenge of playing in the (NHL). You’ve...
Mark Madden: Steelers would be better served drafting a quarterback in 2023
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was at various college pro days making goo-goo eyes at quarterbacks. Liberty’s Malik Willis made Tomlin “giddy,” it was reported. Willis and Tomlin had dinner. Tomlin ate wings, just like a regular guy. (Then again, wings cost as much as steak right now.) Tomlin was said...
Mark Madden: Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel making small plays look big for Penguins
Regulation NHL rinks measure 200 feet by 85 feet. But Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel could ply their craft in a phone booth. If that’s an exaggeration, it’s a slight one. Crosby and Guentzel are hockey’s best at playing in small areas, sometimes almost on top of each other. They...
Mark Madden: Rickard Rakell helps the Penguins, but will it be enough?
Pittsburgh Penguins GM Ron Hextall was in a tough spot as Monday’s NHL trade deadline approached. This is the Penguins’ last chance to make a playoff run with the current core, which makes it the team’s last chance for the foreseeable future. That’s beyond debate. Hextall had to strengthen. If...
