Tim Benz stories, Page 8

My anticipation heading into the NHL draft was that the Pittsburgh Penguins would use one of their two first-round draft picks while parlaying the other for a player who could bolster the 2025-26 roster. Instead, they ended up acquiring a third pick in the first round and using all three...

Daniel Mantenuto’s senior year of college hockey at Robert Morris University didn’t conclude in a conventional way. It didn’t culminate with him holding a championship trophy above his head or in a solemn handshake line after a bitter playoff defeat. No, his NCAA career ended at a pregame meal in...

The 2025 NHL Draft begins Friday night. NHL.com draft expert Adam Kimelman joined the “Breakfast With Benz” podcast this week to talk about what the Pittsburgh Penguins might do with their back-to-back picks at No. 11 and No. 12 (via the New York Rangers). 1. There’s some belief that the...

Over the past two days, our All-Quarter-Century teams almost wrote themselves for the Steelers and Penguins. It’s not quite as clear with the Pittsburgh Pirates. What else is new? It’s not easy to construct a team that appeals to every fan and their specific preferences — especially when 21 of...

It’s one thing to stink. It’s something else to stink and be lazy in the process. Pittsburgh Pirates fans are fed up with Oneil Cruz, as he reinforced that notion this week. Meanwhile, I seemed to agitate Steelers fans with my All-Quarter-Century team, my thoughts on Aaron Rodgers and my...

We’ve already given you our All-Quarter-Century Penguins team. Now, it’s the Pittsburgh Steelers’ turn. With the way this century started for the franchise, who would’ve thought that playoff wins would become so scarce? And who would’ve thought that the replacement for a Hall of Famer at quarterback would’ve been so...

During Tuesday’s “Pat McAfee Show,” new Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers announced that his first season in Pittsburgh is likely to be his last in the NFL. “I’m pretty sure this is it,” Rodgers said. “That’s why we did a one-year deal. The Steelers didn’t need to put any extra years...

The media kerfuffle over what Gov. Josh Shapiro said — or didn’t say — about public funding for football stadiums in Pennsylvania is just the beginning of what will undoubtedly be a hair-pulling, mind-numbing process until the Steelers and Eagles work out their new leases. That’s whether they play in...

Since it is 2025, it seems like every sports outlet under the sun is putting together some sort of quarter-century list. ESPN did one for the NFL. The NHL released one of its own and The Athletic pieced together a 40-man Major League Baseball list. At “Breakfast With Benz,” you...

Tuesday’s “First Call” features a Pittsburgh Steelers special teams acquisition. A former Steelers coach shares one big regret, while an ex-Steelers quarterback talks about his new favorite target. We also preview an important start for Pirates pitcher Andrew Heaney. Special teams signing It appears the Steelers are signing a long...

Reporting day for Pittsburgh Steelers training camp is exactly one month away. Aaron Rodgers has finally signed to become the team’s starting quarterback. So the biggest stories hanging in the balance between now and then are: • Is linebacker T.J. Watt going to sign a contract extension? • If he...

In this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden of TribLive and 105.9 The X raises an interesting question about the Pittsburgh Steelers. Has the team on the field really changed as much as some outsiders seem to believe that it has? Madden doesn’t think so, especially when it comes to...

Friday’s “First Call” provides a backdrop on the DK Metcalf trade to the Pittsburgh Steelers from a Seattle perspective. We also have some more background to the Shedeur Sanders traffic issues in Cleveland and the results from Game 6 of the NBA Finals. Plus, an achievement for a Duquesne women’s...

After facing last year’s American League Cy Young winner in Detroit, the Pittsburgh Pirates will get a two-time National League Cy Young winner on Friday. The Bucs lost 9-2 to Tarik Skubal and the Tigers in Game 1 of their series-ending doubleheader Thursday (yet salvaged the second game with a...

For an outlet that spends as much time talking about the Pittsburgh Steelers as ESPN does, they sure don’t seem to have a firm handle on where the franchise really is. Whether it was trying to manufacture a quarterback debate that didn’t exist last year until Russell Wilson got hurt,...

Wednesday’s “First Call” has a promising prediction for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first-round draft choice. The Florida Panthers Stanley Cup celebrations are already off to a rough start. We are still trying to figure out plans for the New York Rangers and the draft choice they owe the Penguins. Plus, we...

After a week off from “U mad, bro,” I certainly wasn’t surprised to see what an extra seven days did for your pent-up rage. I needed to use the slow-release valve on my email and social media interactions for this week’s post. Let’s get to a much-needed venting process for...

“First Call” on Wednesday has some inflammatory comments from a former Steeler about Mike Tomlin and Aaron Rodgers. It’s not easy getting Steelers tickets for the Ireland game. We’ve got some T.J. Watt contract projections. And we look at Tarik Skubal’s daunting numbers in advance of his start against the...

On Monday, The Athletic reported that the Pittsburgh Penguins are not going to offer Evgeni Malkin a new contract after his current deal expires at the end of this upcoming season. Given that Malkin is turning 39 next month and only posted 16 goals in 68 games last season, that...

The Pittsburgh Pirates are in the basement of the National League Central at 29-44. They just dropped three of four to the division-leading Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field over the weekend. All four contests were one-run games settled by final scores of 3-2 or 2-1. Two of those results went...