Penguins/NHL category, Page 32
Minor league report: Joel Blomqvist returns in Penguins’ winVideo
Goaltender Joel Blomqvist made 22 saves on 23 shots for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 4-1 win against the Springfield Thunderbirds at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday. The result improved Blomqvist’s American Hockey League record to 8-5-3. Due to an undisclosed injury, Blomqvist’s most recent contest at any...
Penguins forward Valtteri Puustinen seeks more ‘unlikely’ goals near the netVideo
Scoring goals has never been a problem for Valtteri Puustinen, at least not in the American Hockey League or the Liiga in his native Finland. He has routinely put up healthy figures at lower levels of the sport. However, that acumen has not necessarily translated to his sporadic appearances in...
Penguins assign forward Emil Bemstrom to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
The Pittsburgh Penguins assigned forward Emil Bemstrom to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL) on Saturday. In 14 NHL games this season, Bemstrom has recorded one assist while averaging 8:20 of ice time per contest. An All-Star selection at the AHL level this season, Bemstrom has appeared in 45...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Erik Karlsson reached 200 goals and his expiration date with Penguins
Erik Karlsson scored his 200th career goal Tuesday night. That’s pretty impressive given that Karlsson never got to play against himself. The Pittsburgh Penguins have several players they would be well rid of at season’s end. But despite being a three-time Norris Trophy winner as the NHL’s best defenseman, Karlsson...
How Ray Shero turned the Penguins into champions in 3 years
Toward the end of its life, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ previous arena suffered from a poverty of luxuries. Like reliable plumbing and a roof that kept the rain out. But it was home. That was in part because of Ray Shero trying to spruce up the aging facility upon taking over...
Minor league report: Penguins’ losing streak reaches 4Video
Goaltender Sergei Murashov made 20 saves on 23 shots for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 4-2 loss to the rival Hershey Bears at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre on Friday. The result dropped Murashov’s record to 11-3-0. Forwards Tristan Broz and Mathieu de St. Phalle scored goals for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (37-22-7-1,...
Penguins beat Devils in final road game of season
Erik Karlsson has been on some bad teams before. And he has a pretty good idea of what it looks like when a squalid squad ceases to compete. He has seen no such evidence of that with his current employer, the Pittsburgh Penguins, as they play their final games of...
For Penguins players, the route from college to professional hockey varied for different reasons
This weekend is the most important part of the calendar for NCAA men’s hockey. On Thursday, Western Michigan and Boston University defeated Denver and Penn State, respectively, in the Frozen Four semifinal round of the NCAA tournament, setting up Saturday’s championship game. And on Friday, the Hobey Baker Memorial Award,...
Penguins’ Kyle Dubas named Canada’s general manager for IIHF World Championship
Pittsburgh Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas was named general manager for Hockey Canada’s entry in the upcoming International Ice Hockey Federation’s (IIHF) World Championship tournament. His appointment was announced Thursday. A native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Dubas has previously worked for Hockey Canada in international tournaments. Earlier...
Penguins’ Valtteri Puustinen, Vasily Ponomarev excited for call-up ahead of Calder Cup playoffs
By nature of having spent the majority of this season in the American Hockey League, as compared to last, when he was in the NHL for most of the year, 2024-25 could be framed as disappointing for Valtteri Puustinen. Becoming a full-time NHLer remains the primary objective for the 25-year-old...
Injuries to sideline 5 Penguins forwards for final 3 games this season
Pittsburgh Penguins forwards Noel Acciari, Blake Lizotte, Rutger McGroarty, Tommy Novak and Matt Nieto will miss the final three games of the regular season due to undisclosed injuries. Coach Mike Sullivan announced their statuses following a practice session in Cranberry on Thursday. Sullivan noted there is hope McGroarty, a rookie,...
Penguins recall trio of forwards from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
With three games remaining in the regular season, the Pittsburgh Penguins made a handful of transactions with their American Hockey League affiliate Thursday morning, recalling forwards Emil Bemstrom, Valtteri Puustinen and Vasily Ponomarev from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton under emergency roster conditions. Bemstrom, an All-Star at the AHL level this season and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s...
Tim Benz: Ray Shero’s sense for the moment served him, and the Penguins, quite well
When I heard about the untimely death of former Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Ray Shero Wednesday afternoon, a specific memory of interviewing him quickly came to mind. I think about it often, independent of hockey, the Penguins, or, up until Wednesday, even independent of Shero himself. In over 30 years...
Former Penguins general manager Ray Shero dies at 62Video
Ray Shero noted the pattern. And laughed about it. The son of legendary NHL coach Fred Shero, Ray Shero followed in his father’s sizeable footsteps and got into the business of professional hockey on the management side for more than 30 years. So, when Ray Shero’s college-educated sons, Chris and...
Mark Madden: Penguins’ development plan should focus on building a championship contender
The Pittsburgh Penguins have a plan. President of hockey ops/GM Kyle Dubas has a plan. Like with any plan, whether it works remains to be seen. The Penguins have 18 picks over the first three rounds of the next three drafts. That includes four first-rounders. That indicates a commitment to...
This weekend’s Frozen Four will have a heavy Western Pa. influence
As college hockey crowns a men’s national champion at this weekend’s Frozen Four in St. Louis, the event will have a significant Western Pa. influence. Nine skaters from the region will be on rosters from the four teams participating. Wexford’s Brian Kramer will be on defense for the Western Michigan...
Forward Boko Imama selected as Penguins’ nominee for Masterton Trophy
The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is often misconstrued as a “comeback award.” And sure enough, the three Pittsburgh Penguins players who have won it came back from some manner of personal hardship. Lowell MacDonald (1973) overcame severe knee injuries, whereas Mario Lemieux (1993) rebounded from Hodgkin’s disease, a form of...
Penguins assistant David Quinn shares thoughts on power play, Erik Karlsson, Matt Grzelcyk
At any given Pittsburgh Penguins practice, a mirror image often presents itself on the ice, as two men decked out in matching attire with similar physical attributes bark out instructions in a coarse New England accent. That would be Mike Sullivan and David Quinn, and one could be forgiven for...
Penguins, Tristan Jarry shut out Blackhawks, but Rutger McGroarty leaves with injury
There is nothing for the Pittsburgh Penguins to gain with what remains of the 2024-25 campaign, at least not from the perspective of contention for the upcoming postseason that they were mathematically eliminated from Sunday. But that doesn’t mean the members of this flawed roster have any intention of simply...
Forward Matt Nieto rejoins the Penguins
Matt Nieto was back in Cranberry for the second time in less than a week. Such an occurrence is standard for members of the Pittsburgh Penguins as that is where the team’s practice facility is located. But being a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins has not been as regular of...
Penguins forward Blake Lizotte sidelined due to injury
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Blake Lizotte will miss Tuesday’s home game against the Chicago Blackhawks due to an undisclosed injury. Coach Mike Sullivan revealed Lizotte’s status following a morning skate in Cranberry and labeled him as day to day Primarily deployed as the fourth-line center and with the penalty kill, Lizotte...
‘Eternal’ and ‘evergreen’ game of Sidney Crosby has aged as well as many predictedVideo
After scoring three goals against the Dallas Stars on Saturday, Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby was asked if netting a hat trick ever gets old. “No,” Crosby replied via audio provided by the team. “They don’t come along often. They are definitely fun to get.” Crosby’s hat trick over the...
Former Penguins goaltender Greg Millen dies
Were it not for a summer vacation, the fortunes of Greg Millen and the Penguins could have been very different. After the Penguins nearly upset the St. Louis Blues in a preliminary round series during the 1981 playoffs, Millen was a restricted free agent in the ensuing offseason. He and...
Penguins defenseman Jack St. Ivany is once again pushing for the playoffs
Jack St. Ivany is in a similar spot as he was a year ago. He’s helping the Penguins make a run to secure a playoff spot. To be certain, he’s helping the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins accomplish that at this moment. Having already secured a playoff berth in the American Hockey League’s...
First Call: Steelers among teams with most interest in QB Jaxson Dart; Penguins stars congratulate Alex OvechkinVideo
Monday’s “First Call” has congratulations for Alex Ovechkin from the Pittsburgh Penguins’ biggest stars. The Steelers appear intrigued by a quarterback prospect in this year’s NFL Draft. The St. Louis Cardinals make their first visit to Pittsburgh this week. We honor the life of a former Steeler who died over...
