Friday’s “First Call” gives us a fond farewell for Pittsburgh Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist after the team traded him to the Florida Panthers. The media down in Miami have some thoughts, too. And Steelers rookie Chase Claypool is becoming a star in his home country.

Praise for Patric

On Thursday, the Penguins traded Stanley Cup hero Patric Hornqvist to the Florida Panthers for defenseman Mike Matheson and forward Colton Sceviour.

But they didn’t do so without a proper goodbye.

“There’s no question, we will miss his leadership and we will miss him,” said general manager Jim Rutherford. “He’s one of the top character players in this league. … When you miss a player like that, other players have to fill in the gap.”

The team also tweeted this Hornqvist highlight montage.

We literally could not have done it without you.

Thanks for everything, Patric Hornqvist! pic.twitter.com/KNazEwH9Iu

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 24, 2020

Hornqvist leaves Pittsburgh after totaling 132 regular season goals and 132 regular season assists over six years in Pittsburgh. He added 22 goals and 16 assists over six postseasons.

None of them more memorable than his 2017 Stanley Cup game winner versus the Nashville Predators in Game 6 of the finals.

With 1:35 remaining in the 3rd Period, Patric Hornqvist scored the GAME-WINNER to WIN the 2017 Stanley Cup. ?@penguins | #CupClinchers pic.twitter.com/DRDlMAe9rp

— #StanleyCup Final on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) April 25, 2020

Panther perception

A lot of Penguins fans have reacted negatively to the idea of trading Hornqvist since the deal was first rumored on Wednesday.

Here’s the take from Florida. Check out what George Richards wrote for “Florida Hockey Now.”

“Once considered one of the bright, young pieces of the Florida Panthers’ future, Mike Matheson struggled the past two seasons. … Florida gets out from under the final six seasons of Matheson’s contract (of which he is owed $32 of the original $39 million).”

He added, “The Penguins are acquiring a player they hope can get his game to match his talent. Mike Matheson is extremely talented and when he’s on, he’s good. The Florida Panthers did not want to bet six more years of contract on that and are getting in return a player they think can help them in numerous ways — at least in the immediate future.”

David Wilson of the Miami Herald described Matheson’s tenure as “underwhelming.”

As for Sceviour, Richards in a tweet described him as one of the Panthers’ “top penalty killers and a counted on bottom-six forward. Going into the last year of his deal and playing for Pittsburgh, this change-of-scenery could also work out for the Pens.”

Oh, Canada!

Some familiar names are on the Canadian Football League’s exclusive negotiating list.

Two of them are ex-Penn State stars — quarterback Trace McSorley (Calgary) and receiver DeAndre Thompkins (Calgary).

The Saskatchewan Roughriders tabbed former Pitt receiver Jester Weah. Former Steelers Keion Adams (DL/Montreal) and running back Ralph Webb (Saskatchewan) are also on the list.

CFL teams can have up to 45 players on their negotiation list, which gives them exclusive negotiating rights to those players should they decide to play in Canada.

Speaking of Canada, eh…

Steelers rookie Chase Claypool is Canadian. And his native country is jumping on his growing role in the Steelers offense.

Claypool scored on an 84-yard touchdown last week against the Denver Broncos, the longest play from scrimmage for a Canadian-born player.

Speaking on a Zoom conference call with Canadian sports outlets, Claypool was asked about his “Mapletron” nickname — a hybrid of Detroit Lions great Calvin “Megatron” Johnson and the Canadian Maple Leaf.

“The Mapletron thing came up after the combine when I ran the time,” said Claypool via Steelers.com. “There was a pool on Twitter for a nickname. It was a fan favorite name. Pretty clever. When I ran it through my teammates, they thought it was kind of funny.”

Claypool said he hasn’t heard anything from Johnson about any, uh, international restrictions on trademarking issues.

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