Penguins/NHL category, Page 294
For Penguins, a potential Phil Kessel trade must be more than addition by subtraction
In the days immediately following his team’s first-round ouster from the playoffs, Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said he needed to take some time to make sure the emotion had faded from the decision-making process before plotting out his offseason plans. It’s a particularly good idea when deciding whether...
Penguins’ Patric Hornqvist has hot hand at World Championships
The scoring slump that plagued Pittsburgh Penguins winger Patric Hornqvist throughout much of the second half of the NHL season apparently hasn’t accompanied him to Slovakia for the IIHF World Championships. With two goals in a 9-1 victory over Norway on Monday, Hornqvist has scored in each of Sweden’s first...
Penguins castoff Greg McKegg finds scoring touch in Carolina
Pittsburgh Penguins castoff Greg McKegg has found a home on the fourth line of the Carolina Hurricanes. McKegg, who scored two goals in 26 games with the Penguins in 2017-18, has scored in each of Carolina’s last two playoff games coming into Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals against...
Olli Maatta puzzle frames difficult summer decisions Penguins must make
There are plenty of questions facing the Pittsburgh Penguins as they consider how to retool their roster after a disappointing 2018-19 season. Here’s a big one: Did the Penguins struggle in transition because their defense corps lacked the speed and skill to get the puck to the forwards effectively or...
Evgeni Malkin leads Russia past Norway in World Championships opener
Evgeni Malkin had a better time than Matt Murray as the IIHL World Championships began Friday in Slovakia. Malkin had a pair of assists as his Russian team cruised to a 5-2 victory over Norway. Murray stopped 24 of 26 shots as Canada dropped a 3-1 decision to Finland. Malkin...
Evgeni Malkin, Patric Hornqvist lead Penguins contingent at World Championships
When everything goes right, it’s a tournament Pittsburgh Penguins fans pay little mind. Everything didn’t go right for the Penguins this season, of course, so some of their players will be in the field when the IIHF World Championships begin Friday in Slovakia. Patric Hornqvist and Marcus Pettersson will try...
Despite Penguins’ exit, Pittsburgh market remains in top 10 in playoff TV ratings
Despite a quick exit for the home team, Pittsburgh remains one of the top markets in the country when it comes to TV ratings for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Through two rounds, Pittsburgh ranks as the seventh-best market with a 1.65 rating. It’s a big drop from last season, when...
Penguins sign defensive prospect Niclas Almari to entry level deal
The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed one of their top defense prospects to an entry level contract, announcing a three-year deal with 20-year-old Niclas Almari on Thursday. A fifth-round pick in the 2016 draft, Almari helped HPK to the championship of the Finland’s top league this season. He had a goal,...
Penguins learn they’ll pick 21st in June’s NHL draft
Barring something unforeseen, in less than two months, the Pittsburgh Penguins will be making a first-round pick in the NHL draft for the first time since 2014. On Wednesday night, they found out they’ll be picking 21st overall. When the NHL sets its draft order, it determines the first 15...
On Evgeni Malkin’s bad season, misleading stats and horrendous optics
At the core of the swirling offseason debate surrounding the Pittsburgh Penguins and their willingness to trade center Evgeni Malkin is one fundamental question: How much of the team’s poor 2018-19 season can be pinned on the 32-year-old Russian superstar? A closer look at Malkin’s stats gives one answer: He’s...
U mad, bro? Penguins, Steelers, horse-racing fans air frustrations
In “U mad, bro?” this week, Pens fans pop off about a lack of toughness and too much trade talk. People sure are touchy about the Kentucky Derby. And some Steelers fans want to pretend Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown no longer exist. Bob is boiling down all the Penguins’...
Report: Canucks won’t re-sign former Penguins defenseman Derrick Pouliot
The Vancouver Canucks won’t make a qualifying offer to Derrick Pouliot, letting the former Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, according to a report by Rick Dhaliwal of Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver. Pouliot, the eighth overall pick in the 2012 draft, had three goals, 12...
Mars defenseman goes first overall in USHL draft
Mars native Carter Schade became the first Western Pennsylvania player picked first overall in the United States Hockey League draft Monday night. The 5-foot-10, two-way defenseman who committed to Penn State as a 15-year-old last April was selected by the Lincoln Stars. He had 16 goals and 30 points in...
First call: Martavis Bryant vies for reinstatement; Therrien, Yeo to coach Flyers
In “First Call” Tuesday, Martavis Bryant wants to be reinstated in Oakland. Mike Yeo and Michel Therrien are getting reunited in Philadelphia. Gerrit Cole may be finding his groove in Houston. And bees are taking over Cincinnati. Bryant back? Former Steelers — and Raiders — receiver Martavis Bryant apparently wants...
Put in tough spot, new Flyers coach picks Matt Murray over Carter Hart for Canada starting job
Coach Alain Vigneault found himself in a bit of an awkward spot in the lead-up to the IIHF World Championships, which begin later this week in Slovakia. On April 10, Vigneault was named head coach of Team Canada for the tournament. Five days later, he was named head coach of...
Penguins agree to 10-year deal to keep top minor-league team in Wilkes-Barre
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ top minor-league affiliate will remain in Wilkes-Barre for the next 10 years. The Penguins and the Luzerne County Convention Center Authority agreed in principle on a new 10-year lease, the arena board announced Monday. The deal will be made official at a meeting of the arena authority...
Podcast: Mark Madden and Tim Benz on Evgeni Malkin, Kentucky Derby, Pirates
In this week’s “Madden Monday,” 105.9 the X’s Mark Madden and I cast a wide net over the sports world. We start with following up on last week’s podcast in which Madden told us there was some fire to the smoke when it comes to the Pittsburgh Penguins considering a...
Former Penguins coaches Michel Therrien, Mike Yeo hired by Flyers
Former Pittsburgh Penguins coaches Michel Therrien and Mike Yeo will have a reunion in an unexpected location in the fall – behind the bench of the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers announced Monday that Therrien and Yeo will be assistants on the staff of new head coach Alain Vigneault. Yeo was...
Mark Madden: Penguins face tough marketing decisions
The Carolina Hurricanes are playing to 101.7 percent capacity during home playoff games. But they attracted a meager 76.7 percent capacity during the regular season, third-worst in the NHL. Even with the “Storm Surge” sideshow act. That’s not remotely meant to ridicule. Winning draws money, and sports teams badly need...
Tim Benz: Penguins fans must prepare for real change … eventually
This is always a frustrating time of year to write about the Pittsburgh Penguins. Well, at least in non-Stanley Cup winning seasons anyway. The cycle is drudgery, and it is familiar. The Penguins lose a series. The fans, media, locker room, and management call for change. Rumors emerge about potential...
Mike Rupp on Evgeni Malkin trade talk: Penguins should at least consider it
Former Penguin Mike Rupp is chiming in on the Evgeni Malkin trade talk. Now an analyst for AT&T SportsNet and the NHL Network, Rupp was on 105.9 the X with me Wednesday, and I asked him what he thought about the idea of trading Evgeni Malkin. “I don’t see it...
Tim Benz: Time for Evgeni Malkin to follow his own advice
On locker cleanout day following the Pittsburgh Penguins’ sweep at the hands of New York Islanders, Kris Letang was indignant at suggestions that he may need to change his game. You know, be more structured and patient. Take fewer chances. Play more conservative. The response was not one of agreement....
Former Penguins coach Red Kelly dies at 91
Red Kelly, the defenseman-turned-center whose Hall of Fame career included eight Stanley Cups while playing for Detroit and Toronto, died Thursday at the age of 91. Kelly was also a former coach and GM for the Penguins. He finished with a 90-132-52 record. He took the team its first NHL...
Former Penguin Colby Armstrong talks about trading Evgeni Malkin
Our first Sided.co podcast of May features former Pittsburgh Penguins winger Colby Armstrong. He joined me on 105.9 the X Friday. The AT&T Sportsnet hockey analyst gives his opinion on the idea of trading Evgeni Malkin, or some other high-profile Penguins. Armstrong seems to think that the better route for...
Kevin Gorman: Trading Evgeni Malkin would only cause Penguins more problems
If the Pittsburgh Penguins seriously are considering a trade of Evgeni Malkin, they seriously should reconsider. It’s that absurd of an idea. Trading Malkin would be an emotional overreaction to a stunning sweep by the New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup playoffs and a foolhardy attempt at addition by...
