Mark Madden stories, Page 40
Mark Madden: Jason Zucker is valuable asset, but the Penguins could get solid return in trade
The NHL trade deadline is a little over a week away (it’s April 12), and it looks like it will be difficult for Penguins GM Ron Hextall to make an impactful deal. Hextall just doesn’t have much trade capital that might bring meaningful return. That’s unless Hextall shops left winger...
Mark Madden: Sam Darnold, Dwayne Haskins are reasonable QB successors for Steelers
Ben Roethlisberger will be the Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback in 2021, although it took longer than expected to iron that out. The offense will be exactly the same. Roethlisberger didn’t come back for one last season to implement new bells and whistles, line up under center, use jet sweep motion or...
Mark Madden: Amid adversity, resilient Penguins have taken on Sidney Crosby’s identity
The Pittsburgh Penguins have been missing their entire second line and two-thirds of their third line. Those filling in are of marginal quality, and that’s a kind description. Yet the Penguins had won four of five going into Monday’s home game with the New York Islanders, sported an 11-3-1 record...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Goalie Carter Hart at heart of Flyers’ struggles
Remember when a member of the Philadelphia hockey media said Sidney Crosby had passed the torch as hockey’s best player to the Flyers’ Claude Giroux? That was in 2012. In the interim, Crosby has 691 points to Giroux’s 596. Crosby has also won two Stanley Cups since — and two...
Mark Madden: Penguins will be getting bigger, forcing Mike Sullivan to change style of play
The Penguins are going to get bigger. GM Ron Hextall likes big. President of hockey operations Brian Burke likes big. The NHL has been trending big for several years. Where will that leave coach Mike Sullivan? Sullivan likes speed, as did former GM Jim Rutherford. Sullivan made his preference clear...
Mark Madden: Steelers’ me-first culture a major turn-off
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ egocentric, me-first culture dates to Antonio Brown’s de facto takeover of the team and is carried on by the cast and crew of the “Corvette, Corvette” show. The cameraman on that project reportedly branched out into bar fighting. Does it affect results? I don’t know that it...
Mark Madden: Fabrication surrounds JuJu Smith-Schuster’s free agency, signing with Steelers
Much of what’s been opined about the return of the prodigal JuJu Smith-Schuster to Pittsburgh seems like it’s based on fabrication, or at least a truth stretched very thin. Much of that distortion is based on the idea Smith-Schuster had other significant offers. But Philadelphia media reported Smith-Schuster’s so-called “offer”...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Signing JuJu Smith-Schuster is more roster mismanagement by Steelers
JuJu Smith-Schuster’s free agency failed miserably. He was expected to get $12-$16 million per season on a multi-year deal. Instead, he returned to Pittsburgh on a one-year deal worth $8 million. Reports say Smith-Schuster was offered more money by Baltimore and Kansas City, and more years and more money by...
Mark Madden: Alex Ovechkin’s milestone goal recalls memories of Phil Esposito’s greatness
Alex Ovechkin scored career goal No. 718 on Tuesday, passing Phil Esposito for sixth on the NHL’s all-time list. I’m glad, because it got Esposito’s name out there again. Esposito took no prisoners. He didn’t seek fights but wasn’t afraid to. He absorbed more punishment than he inflicted. He didn’t...
Mark Madden: Penguins shouldn’t make big trade chasing faint Stanley Cup hopes
Sports teams are generally contending or rebuilding, or at least leaning toward one or the other. Very rarely does a team truly middle the difference. As the NHL season opened, the Penguins seemed to lean toward rebuilding. But their recent uptick in results has fueled optimism. So has the mediocrity...
Mark Madden: Deion Sanders, aka ‘Prime Time,’ ushered in ego-first era
ESPN did a “30 for 30” called “Deion’s Double Play.” It centers on the events of Oct. 11, 1992, when Deion Sanders played an NFL game for the Atlanta Falcons at Miami, then went to Pittsburgh immediately after to suit up for the Atlanta Braves in Game 5 of the...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Tom Brady’s contract shows why salary cap is a sham
Tom Brady reconfigured his contract to ignite the latest barrage of “Tom Brady makes less so his team can win more” propaganda. Like most propaganda, it’s primarily fiction. Brady’s wife is supermodel Gisele Bundchen. She has earned more than a half-billion dollars. Brady has earned $263 million playing football. When...
Mark Madden: Here’s what has to happen for the Penguins to be legit contenders
The Penguins are 16-9-1 and have won four in a row. Can they yet be more than a borderline playoff team? Can they win a playoff series? Can they be a legit Stanley Cup contender? Hey, why not? If Steelers fans can fool themselves, so can Penguins fans. But here’s...
Mark Madden: Penguins need to dominate meetings with Devils, Sabres
Refreshing hockey notes: Maybe someday they can be the lead story on SportsCenter! (OK, probably not.) • The NHL reportedly signed a seven-year national TV contract with ESPN. The NHL is in the final season of its rights deal with NBC, but the league is pursuing multiple carriers (finally) like...
Mark Madden: Despite public outcry, Steelers shouldn’t re-sign JuJu Smith-Schuster
Since the turn of the century — which I counted down on the Y2J clock — the Steelers have given a significant second contract to just two receivers: Hines Ward and Antonio Brown. The former is a Super Bowl MVP and not-quite Hall-of-Famer, the latter a generational talent. It very...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Penguins GM Ron Hextall faces tough decisions with personnel moves
Since becoming GM, Ron Hextall has paid what is likely mere lip service to the concept of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ window being open: One more Stanley Cup being attainable with the core three. That’s the part hopeful fans latch onto. But Hextall also has spoken about restocking the system and...
Mark Madden: On 30th anniversary of trade, Ulf Samuelsson remembered as Penguins X-factor
Pro Football Hall of Famer Jack Ham is arguably the greatest outside linebacker of all time, right there with Lawrence Taylor. Ham once told me if New Orleans had drafted him instead of Pittsburgh, no one would have ever heard of him. He’s right. For athletes, it’s about where you...
Mark Madden: Kasperi Kapanen’s effort, scoring a welcome sight in Penguins victory
When Sidney Crosby got put on the NHL’s covid list Tuesday with Philadelphia arriving in Pittsburgh for a three-game series, things looked ominous for the Penguins. A shaky season seemed teetering on the brink despite an 11-8-1 record that was more fluky than decent. But the Penguins stepped up and...
Mark Madden: Jim Rutherford played it right, but Penguins sure could use Marc-Andre Fleury
When you are dealt a bust hand (hard 12-16 — i.e., not including an ace) in blackjack and the dealer shows a 6, you stand. That’s what the odds dictate. You won’t always win. But if you lose, you still made the right play. If you hit and win, you...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Stars like ‘Jumping Johnny’ DeFazio made ‘Studio Wrestling’ must-see TV
Pro wrestling is nationally televised nine hours per week. It’s also seen via pay-per-view, syndicated TV, Twitch, YouTube, streaming and a few even deeper crevices. It’s made for mass consumption. The televised promotions don’t come to your local arena because of covid, but so-called “house shows” were dying out even...
Mark Madden: Penguins could use a player like Tom Wilson
The Penguins have a Tom Wilson problem. Specifically, they don’t have him. They had a reasonably facsimile, Ryan Reaves, for part of the 2017-18 season. Not as good, not as tough, but good enough and tough enough. It remains one of Mike Sullivan’s biggest mistakes as Penguins coach that he...
Mark Madden: With Ben Roethlisberger returning, Steelers’ next priority is run game
Ben Roethlisberger’s agent, Ryan Tollner, says his client will play for the Steelers in 2021. But owner Art Rooney II didn’t exactly confirm that. Given how the situation has lingered in limbo after optimistic proclamations three weeks ago, it would be good if he did. Rooney says he wants Roethlisberger...
Mark Madden: Penguins shouldn’t extend contract of struggling Evgeni Malkin
During an accomplishment-saturated 15-year career with the Penguins, Evgeni Malkin has earned the benefit of almost every doubt. You can’t scratch him. You can’t bench him. You can’t demote him. You can’t berate him. Malkin has to remain in the lineup, in the top six, playing his usual 18-19 minutes...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers making it hard for Ben Roethlisberger to return
Three weeks ago, Steelers owner Art Rooney II said there was “work to be done” regarding the adjustment of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s contract to afford a more amenable cap figure than the current charge of $41.25 million for 2021. Roethlisberger responded by saying, “I don’t care about my pay at...
Mark Madden: With milestone looming, an appreciation for Sidney Crosby’s accomplishments
Sidney Crosby will play in NHL game No. 1,000 Saturday night. It’s not the most dynamic milestone: 349 players have hit that mark, many of them to little discernible effect besides showing up. When Crosby plays game No. 1,001, he ties the great Steve Staios. No. 1,003 knots him with...
