Penguins/NHL category, Page 277

Last summer, beat writer Jonathan Bombulie made a series of predictions leading up to the start of the 2018-19 season. Some were OK. Some were hilariously off the mark. In this series, Bombulie will explain what he was thinking and where his logic went off course. THE QUESTION Where will...

According to police, the death of former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Greg Johnson was an apparent suicide, the Detroit News reported Thursday. The newspaper, citing a police report, said Johnson, 48, was found by his wife on the morning of July 7 in a storage room in the basement of the...

Former Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and the Vegas Golden Knights granted the wish of a teenage cancer survivor, as documented by ESPN’s annual My Wish series on Wednesday. Doron Coldwell, 13, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and began chemotherapy treatment in 2017. With his cancer in remission, Coldwell became...

Last summer, beat writer Jonathan Bombulie made a series of predictions leading up to the start of the 2018-19 season. Some were OK. Some of them were hilariously off the mark. In this series, Bombulie will explain what he was thinking and where his logic went off course. THE QUESTION...

When the Pittsburgh Penguins re-signed Teddy Blueger to a two-year contract on Tuesday, assistant general manager Bill Guerin praised the 24-year-old center’s ability to “trust the process of going through the proper steps to get to the NHL.” A look at Blueger’s career path to date shows Guerin wasn’t kidding....

In Wednesday’s “First Call,” at least one Steeler is happy with his EA Sports “Madden NFL 20” ranking. Brooks Koepka is big-timing Tiger Woods. And a new gig for a Penguins legend. Madden madness The EA Sports ratings are out for this year’s “Madden NFL 20” video game. And everybody...

It’s our final “money quote” post, looking at the interview Trib columnist Mark Madden conducted with Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan on 105.9 the X last week. Here, we examine Sullivan’s recent contract extension. Empowering the head coach rarely has been a priority for the Penguins. That’s not to...

The Pittsburgh Penguins grew a little bit more ornery last season, but once the gloves were dropped, they didn’t have a whole lot of success. Those are the takeaways from a detailed look at all 16 fighting majors the team picked up last season. League wide, fights continue to become...

The Pittsburgh Penguins signed one of their remaining three restricted free agents Tuesday, agreeing with center Teddy Blueger on a two-year, one-way contract with an average annual salary of $750,000. Blueger, a 24-year-old former second-round draft pick, emerged as an NHL regular last season after playing two-plus years with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton...

We are three posts into our five-part series of “money quotes” from Mark Madden’s interview with Penguins coach Mike Sullivan on 105.9 the X. We’ve gotten Sullivan’s reaction to the Phil Kessel trade, his thoughts on getting Evgeni Malkin right again and his views on how to address some defensive...

After a 100-point season followed by a first-round playoff exit, Las Vegas doesn’t like the Pittsburgh Penguins quite as much as they used to. The Penguins are a 10-1 choice to win the Eastern Conference in odds released by BetOnline.ag on Monday. They were a 6-1 pick to win the...

There’s a good chance Josh Jooris’ dog is about to become more famous than he is. Last Thursday, the former Penguins center posted a video on Instagram of his Australian Shepherd, Charlie, singing along when the Lil Nas X hit “Old Town Road” starts playing. The video went viral. View...

In this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Tim Benz and Mark Madden take a look at what went wrong with the Pirates during their disastrous series in Chicago to start the second half of the season. Not only did the Pirates come out of the All-Star break cold, they helped the...

This is the third of our five posts examining the “money quotes” from Mike Sullivan’s interview on 105.9 the X with Mark Madden last week. This entry looks at an admission from Sullivan about his team. Two, actually. Frankly, neither is groundbreaking. More or less, both corroborate opinions that many...

On many summer nights, 25 ticking time bombs can be located on the ground floor of PNC Park. In the fall, 53 incendiary devices can be found Sundays at Heinz Field. In the winter, there often are 23 potential explosives on the premises at PPG Paints Arena. In the era...

The Pittsburgh Penguins signed one of their four remaining restricted free agents Friday, agreeing with winger Adam Johnson on a one-year, two-way deal worth $700,000 at the NHL level. Johnson, 25, signed with the Penguins as an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota-Duluth in July 2017. A speedy left wing,...

The Penguins missing the playoffs in 2020? Pfft! That’s not going to happen. I mean, they haven’t missed out since 2006. Then again, the Penguins made the playoffs by only four points in 2019. And it took until Game 81 to clinch a berth. And they couldn’t win a playoff...

This is the second of our five posts examining the “money quotes” from Mike Sullivan’s interview on 105.9 the X with Mark Madden this week. On Thursday, we focused on what the Penguins head coach had to say about Evgeni Malkin. On Friday, we look at his comments about the...

We do a lot of “Take 5’s” around here. Five takes on the Steelers’ loss to the Broncos. Five takes on the Steelers’ loss to the Raiders. Five takes on the Steelers tying the Browns. Five takes on why the Steelers can never get a win against a lousy team...

Matt Cullen, a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Pittsburgh Penguins and the oldest player to appear in a game for the team, announced his retirement Wednesday at the age of 42. Cullen made the announcement in a video and essay posted on the team’s website. “I will spend the...

Hall of Fame talk dots “First Call” today. Will the Penguins really miss the playoffs in 2020? And a look at how baseball financial inflation is out of control. Who besides Ben? This isn’t the most scientific NFL list of all time, but it may be worth a debate. The...

Former Pittsburgh Penguins center Greg Johnson, who spent parts of two seasons with the team in 1997, died Sunday in Detroit at age 48, according to multiple reports Tuesday. A cause of death was not immediately known. A skilled center who was the University of North Dakota’s all-time leading scorer,...

The arbitration hearing for Pittsburgh Penguins winger Zach Aston-Reese is set for July 22 in Toronto. Aston-Reese, 24, recorded eight goals and 17 points in 43 games with the Penguins last season while making $925,000. Evolving Wild’s contract projections suggest he is in line for a two-year deal worth about...

The Penguins signed one of the top minor league goalies on the free agent market Monday, adding Dustin Tokarski on a one-year AHL deal. Tokarski, 29, has won the Calder Cup twice in his 10-year pro career, including last season with the Charlotte Checkers. He was dealt to Charlotte at...

Mark Madden may be suspended from Twitter (#FreeMarkMadden), but he isn’t suspended from the “Breakfast With Benz” podcast page. We talk at great length about the United States Women’s National Team. They won the World Cup. Have the politics and self-generated sidebar stories surrounding this team outweighed their accomplishments? It...