In Tuesday’s “First Call,” former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger tamps down any questions of a comeback. He also fans the flames of criticism when it comes to the coaching staff’s clock management.

In hockey, the Penguins welcome Logan Cooley for the first time. And two other local skaters are shining at the college level.

Don’t hold your breath for Big Ben

Ben Roethlisberger is not coming back to the Steelers. That’s what he said on his “Footbahlin’” podcast on Monday.

When Roethlisberger’s podcast partner Spencer Te’o jokingly broached the topic of quarterbacks going down across the NFL, the former Steelers quarterback jumped in and said he’s not going to make a comeback.

“No, I’m good,” Roethlisberger said. “The Steelers have not called me. The wing feels great. The legs? No… I can sit in the pocket. Just don’t let me get out of the pocket.”

The notion of a potential Roethlisberger return was bandied about on 93.7 The Fan Monday, given Joe Flacco’s successful return to the NFL in Cleveland.

No bones about it

Also, during the podcast, Roethlisberger didn’t mince words when it came to the Steelers’ clock management in the 21-18 loss to the New England Patriots on Thursday.

“At the end of that game, if we had one more timeout, we have another chance,” Roethlisberger said. “When you lose timeouts because of silly penalties — too many men on the field, not enough men on the field — you can’t afford in the second half of games, to burn silly timeouts and not have them late in the game. To me, that is… that’s bad. It’s bad coaching.”

The Steelers were late deciding if they wanted to go for a fourth down with roughly seven minutes left. So, they had to use a timeout at that point. They converted. But the sequence resulted in a punt later in the drive anyway.

That was the second wasted timeout. The Steelers had to burn their first timeout of the half on the previous possession after they got a first down in the red zone on a pass to Darnell Washington.

Also, in the loss in Cleveland back on Nov. 19, the Steelers had numerous issues when it came to game management. The club had to burn three timeouts because they couldn’t get players deployed properly. They were flagged for a delay of game on offense. On one play in the second half, guard James Daniels clearly was confused and just stood up wondering what was happening. Then the ball was snapped. In the fourth quarter, they almost had to take another delay on a punt when they didn’t have enough men on the field.

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Looking for Logan

When the Penguins take the ice Tuesday, they’ll do so against the Arizona Coyotes, who feature West Mifflin’s Logan Cooley.

The former Pens Elite prospect went third overall in the 2022 NHL draft and played one year with the Minnesota Golden Gophers before turning pro this year.

Cooley has had some flashy moments. So far his rookie year, the 19-year-old has three goals and 12 assists in 27 games.

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— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) December 5, 2023

Arizona is 13-12-2, good for 28 points. That has them slotted as the second wild-card team in the Western Conference entering Tuesday night’s faceoff. They lost 5-2 in Buffalo Monday. Cooley had an assist and was a minus-2. The Coyotes have now lost three in a row.

Meanwhile, the Penguins (11-12-3) have lost four straight. Their 25 points have them in seventh place in the eight-team Metropolitan Division.

Veltri’s victories

Fox Chapel native Chad Veltri has been a standout for the recently rebooted Robert Morris hockey program.

The grad transfer goalie was just named Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week for his 88 saves over two games last week against the Niagara Purple Eagles. Veltri had 38 saves in the 4-1 home win on Thursday, then 50 saves en route to a 3-1 victory over his former team on Saturday.

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— Atlantic Hockey (@Atlantic_Hockey) December 11, 2023

That is Veltri’s third 50-plus save performance this season. It helped the Colonials (4-11-3) gain their first sweep of the season. Veltri now has 3,137 saves, which ranks No. 8 in AHA history. The first 2,560 were over four years with Niagara.

Veltri’s 45 career wins place him No. 9 in conference history. This is his eighth career Atlantic Hockey weekly honor. He and the Colonials host Arizona State on Saturday (7 p.m.) and Sunday (5 p.m.).

The AHA’s Defensive Player of the Week is another local product. It’s Wexford native and former Colonial Brian Kramer. The American International College defenseman scored the game-tying and game-winning goals in Friday’s 3-2 overtime win over RIT. He now has nine goals on the year. That puts him in the lead nationally for defensemen, breaking AIC’s Division I-era single-season record on the blue line.

Kramer transferred to AIC when the Colonials program was discontinued for two years after the 2021 season ended.

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