Mark Madden Columns category, Page 2
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Penguins are misusing Ben Kindel, Ville Koivunen
Ben Kindel, 18, is a center. That’s where he should play. Ville Koivunen, 22, is a top-six winger. That’s how he should be deployed. The Pittsburgh Penguins got caught up in their hot start, and who can blame them? (That’s disintegrated, by the way. They’ve lost five of their last...
Mark Madden: Paul Skenes excites Pirates’ true believers with championship talk, but it changes nothing
As expected, Paul Skenes got the National League Cy Young Award on Wednesday. Was a unanimous selection to boot. What Skenes said after was embraced like the Sermon on the Mount by those dumb enough to be among the Pirates’ true believers. Skenes was asked about a report that he...
Mark Madden: Every point counts, so Penguins must solve shootout problems
Most (including me) had the Pittsburgh Penguins pegged as a non-playoff team angling for a top-five draft pick. But the Penguins have the fifth-most points in the Eastern Conference and two straight sellouts at PPG Paints Arena. That changes priorities. If the Penguins’ contention continues into 2026, the hockey media...
Mark Madden: Despite offseason additions, Steelers headed for the same destination
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a bad team. The host Los Angeles Chargers were badly banged up for Sunday’s prime-time clash, but the Steelers were flat, Aaron Rodgers performed at a New York Jets level of bumbling, big-money bozos T.J. Watt and DK Metcalf were invisible and the Steelers committed hara-kiri by...
Mark Madden: Sidney Crosby is sizzling, Ben Kindel brings power-play brilliance and more Penguins thoughts
The Pittsburgh Penguins are 9-4-2, top of the NHL. Sidney Crosby is the league’s leading goal-scorer at 11. The (unexpected) situation fairly begs for refreshing Penguins notes! • Crosby is also just two points off the NHL’s points lead. Even for him, he’s sizzling. If Crosby drags this rag-tag Penguins...
Mark Madden: Steelers’ actions at trade deadline show they’re hardly ‘all in’
The Pittsburgh Steelers work in mysterious ways. This season, allegedly “all in” with a roster full of senior citizens, they did nothing at Tuesday’s trade deadline. AFC competitors like Baltimore, Indianapolis, Jacksonville and the Los Angeles Chargers all got better. The Steelers didn’t. If you want to lump in the...
Mark Madden: Some say MLB is broken, but World Series numbers prove otherwise
In the wake of Los Angeles’ second straight World Series win, we’re being told the Dodgers “bought” victory. Well, of course they did. Their payroll was $350 million this season, $266 million in 2024. But Toronto tried its best to do the same. The Blue Jays paid their players $255...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Why would Aaron Rodgers play another season with the Steelers?
When it got reported that the Steelers were already leaning toward bringing back Aaron Rodgers next season, I initially felt it was far too early to decide that. But then I considered that, except for the foolproof act of inheriting Ben Roethlisberger, coach Mike Tomlin has done nothing but mangle...
Mark Madden: How did the Penguins get off to such a torrid start?
Gavin who? In just one month and 12 games, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ priorities have dramatically shifted. The goal is to build on their torrid 8-2-2 start and make the postseason for the first time since 2022, perhaps even win a playoff series for the first time since 2018. If you’re...
Mark Madden: The teenagers have helped rejuvenate the Penguins, so keep them around
Ben Kindel has played nine games, Harrison Brunicke seven. Each of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ teenage rookies can play nine NHL games and be returned to his Major Junior team without burning a year of his contract. It’s decision-making time, especially with Kindel right at that deadline. Brunicke, 19, has struggled...
Mark Madden: Aging stars, lack of splash plays expose Steelers’ ‘historic’ defense
The Steelers’ defensive weaknesses are easily defined. That “historic” defense can’t do anything. The NFL’s highest-paid defense can’t tackle or cover. Can’t stop the run or pass. All of its big names are past their primes and fading. The Steelers don’t know how to fix that defense. Don’t know what...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: If the Penguins want development, a kid line is the answer
Winning when it’s not expected and when you’re supposed to be rebuilding comes with an unusual set of challenges. You’ve got to keep trying to win, but development can’t be put on the backburner. That’s the circumstance the Penguins find themselves in after a whirlwind 6-2 start that sees them...
Mark Madden: Eddie Johnston laid foundation for Penguins’ success
Eddie Johnston gets inducted into the Pittsburgh Penguins’ in-house Hall of Fame on Saturday night. Johnston is renowned for much during his tenure with the team, but his masterpiece was general managing the Penguins to finishing last overall in 1984, then drafting center Mario Lemieux. The tank job was fabulous,...
Mark Madden: Will the Penguins repeat a costly mistake with Ben Kindel?
It’s early in the development of rookie forwards Ben Kindel and Ville Koivunen. Kindel is with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Koivunen with their Wilkes-Barre/Scranton farm club. But here’s a cautionary tale: The Penguins picked Russian winger Aleksey Morozov in the first round of the 1995 NHL Draft (24th overall). Morozov played...
Mark Madden: No one is afraid of Steelers’ predictable defense
Let’s take a look at the reality of the Pittsburgh Steelers defense. Not the myth. The myth holds that the defense is elite. It’s not. It’s predictable. As Cincinnati wideout Ja’Marr Chase said after he, the Bengals offense and 40-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco dropped 33 points on the Steelers on...
Mark Madden: Tip your cap to Dodgers for not babying pitchers
Something refreshing happened within the context of MLB’s current zeitgeist Monday night: A starting pitcher threw eight innings. No, it’s not a complete game. And the length of Blake Snell’s stay on the mound for Los Angeles was made more palatable because he only threw 103 pitches, less than usual...
Mark Madden: Mike Tomlin is wrong; Andrew Berry did what’s best for the Browns
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin fairly berated Cleveland GM Andrew Berry for trading quarterback Joe Flacco to AFC North rival Cincinnati: “It doesn’t make sense to me to trade a quarterback that you think enough of to make your (Week 1 starter) to a division opponent that’s hurting in that area....
Mark Madden: Why couldn’t Penn State tolerate 1 bad year?
Last season, Penn State football was 13-3 and made the semifinals of the College Football Playoff. This year, Penn State was ranked No. 2 in the country to start the season. But franchise quarterback Drew Allar fell apart and is now out for the season. Penn State is 3-3 after...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers’ problem isn’t who they draft; it’s why they sit on the bench
Cam Skattebo had a huge game for the New York Giants on Thursday: The rookie running back carried 19 times for 98 yards and three touchdowns. He’s a human bowling ball. The cry emanated immediately from Yinzer Nation and a fair hunk of the attendant stooge media: “THE STEELERS SHOULD...
Mark Madden: Steelers’ prehistoric approach of 7 offensive linemen worked but has its flaws
The Pittsburgh Steelers were founded in 1933. Right now, they’re using an approach fit for 1933. Coach Mike Tomlin has become enamored with deploying, for all intents and purposes, seven offensive linemen. What’s next, the single wing? Spencer Anderson serves as an extra tackle. He played 19 snaps in the...
Mark Madden: Penguins mix old, new in sharing-the-torch season opener
Some strange things happened Tuesday night when the Pittsburgh Penguins opened their season at Madison Square Garden with a 3-0 win against the New York Rangers. For example, Erik Karlsson played a responsible, mistake-free game. (Except for one gratuitous turnover.) That’s been a rarity during his Penguins tenure, now entering...
Mark Madden: Penguins are rebuilding the right way
The Pittsburgh Penguins are going to be OK. Just not this year. They’re not a playoff team, even though the Eastern Conference looks terrible. But they have a potential star defenseman in Harrison Brunicke. He’s 19. They have a potential star goalie in 21-year-old Sergei Murashov. (He’s with the Penguins’ affiliate...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Penguins defenseman Harrison Brunicke could be victim of archaic rule
It appears that Harrison Brunicke will start the season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He should. Brunicke is just 19, but he’s been the Penguins’ best defenseman in the preseason and scored a nifty goal in their final exhibition game, a 5-4 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday at...
Mark Madden: Pirates’ thievery is not a problem for elected officials or MLB
Theresa Kail-Smith is a member of City Council. She wants City Council to have a discussion with Bob Nutting re: what has to be done to make the Pirates a winning team? Kail-Smith isn’t a baseball person. But she couldn’t have a worse plan than Pirates GM Ben Cherington. This...
Mark Madden: Begging for mercy isn’t solution for Baldwin, Fox Chapel
High school football used to be a big deal in Western Pennsylvania. Not just in selected communities, but everywhere. Now it’s come down to negotiated surrender. Baldwin and Fox Chapel high schools have teams so bad that they’ve contacted opponents about playing shorter games: eight-minute quarters instead of 12 minutes,...
