First Call: Hines Ward gets 1st XFL coaching win; Marc-Andre Fleury has Sidney Crosby comparison for Wild teammate

Monday’s “First Call” tells you how some former Pittsburgh Steelers are doing as coaches in the XFL.

Marc Andre-Fleury has a Sidney Crosby comparison for one of his current teammates. A former Penguins player gets his number retired in his original city. Another former Penguins defenseman is getting traded.

And Penguins Elite alum Logan Cooley is living up to the hype in Minnesota.

A win for Ward

A week after losing his XFL head coaching debut — under some rather wild circumstances — Hines Ward’s San Antonio Brahmas got a victory in Week 2.

They defeated the Orlando Guardians 30-12. Jack Coan found Deon Yelder in the back of the end zone for a three-yard touchdown to open the scoring.

TUDS!

Deon Yelder for 6! #XFL2023 | #HornsForward pic.twitter.com/dy35jQ7VSj

— San Antonio Brahmas (@XFLBrahmas) February 26, 2023

The Brahmas blew a 15-3 lead over the final 90 seconds in Week 1 during a loss to the St. Louis BattleHawks. They were victimized by the gimmicky three-point conversion and by the BattleHawks taking advantage of the fourth-and-15 onside kick replacement rule that the XFL has implemented for fourth-quarter play.

Of the XFL coaches with Steelers ties, Ward’s team is the first to get a win. The BattleHawks beat Jim Haslett’s Seattle Sea Dragons 20-18 this weekend as well. And Rod Woodson’s Las Vegas Vipers dropped an 18-6 decision to the D.C. Defenders.

Both the Vipers and Sea Dragons are also 0-2.

Marleau memories

Believe it or not, there was a brief moment when Patrick Marleau was a Pittsburgh Penguin.

I know. I find it tough to remember too. And, frankly, Marleau may want to try to forget it ever happened.

He played in Pittsburgh for eight regular-season games in 2020 prior to the coronavirus shutdown — totaling just one goal and one assist. Then, he had no points in the “NHL playoff bubble” over four games as the Pens were eliminated by the Montreal Canadiens.

But Marleau had a record-setting career, largely with the San Jose Sharks. He retired with 1,779 games played, the most in NHL history. His career ended with 1,197 points, 1,111 with San Jose. That’s the most in Sharks history.

The San Jose franchise honored Marleau by retiring his No. 12 jersey Saturday. He’s the first Shark to receive that honor.

Pretty cool. A few members of the Bay Area retired jerseys club (Marleau, Bonds, Mullin, Fingers) #MarleauRetirementCeremony pic.twitter.com/18I4mueNa3

— Darin Stephens (@SharksStats) February 26, 2023

Other Bay Area star athletes including former Oakland A’s relief pitcher Rollie Fingers, Golden State Warriors forward Chris Mullin and former San Francisco Giants (and Pirates) slugger Barry Bonds were on hand for the ceremony.

Return trip

Speaking of wildly popular Penguins names in recent years, Jack Johnson is on the move again. The Chicago Blackhawks traded the 36-year-old defenseman back to the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. Johnson was part of the Stanley Cup-winning Avs a season ago.

Following a bumpy two years in Pittsburgh, Johnson went to the New York Rangers for the 2020-21 season and Colorado last year.

Johnson had no goals and four assists in 58 games with the Blackhawks this year. He was third on the team in ice time at 19:49 per contest. But he was also a team-worst minus-25.

In exchange, the Blackhawks acquired Andreas Englund. He’s a 6-foot-3, 189-pound defenseman who led the Avalanche with 105 hits. He has three assists in 36 games this season while averaging 11:15 of ice time.

More sports

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• Nothing normal about Pitt's historic improvement from 11 to 21 victories
• NFL analyst thinks Steelers, GM Omar Khan 'really set up well' with 2023 draft class

Cooley still hot

West Mifflin product Logan Cooley continues to impress during his freshman season at the University of Minnesota. He just had a four-point weekend (1 goal, 3 assists) as the top-ranked Golden Gophers swept eighth-rated Ohio State 4-0 and 5-2.

Cooley’s goal on Saturday night — off a beautiful feed from Matthew Knies — ended up being the game-winner for Minnesota.

Our jaw.

It's on the floor. pic.twitter.com/AZct1kypWC

— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) February 26, 2023

That’s five game-winning goals on the season for Cooley, third-best in the country. Knies leads the country with seven. Cooley also has 48 points, the most on the Gophers team and the third-highest point total in college hockey, two behind leader Adam Fantilli of Michigan.

Last July, Cooley was selected third overall by the Arizona Coyotes in the most recent NHL draft. North Huntingdon’s Austen Swankler is eighth in the country with 42 points. He is a sophomore at Bowling Green.

‘Sid’sational?

Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov scored an overtime game-winner against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday to complete a hat trick. He’s up to 37 goals now, the fifth-highest total in the NHL.

Brb rewatching this until further notice

KAPRIZOV HATTY #mnwild pic.twitter.com/XfhHAxFKl4

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) February 26, 2023

Former Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury got the win for the Wild. He had some lofty praise for Kaprizov.

Fleury on Kaprizov: "Reminds of me of Sid a bit. The way he’s built: big legs, big butt. Short, fast, goes to the corner, battles, big hits. Finishes his checks. Defense, comes back in the zone, helps out. It’s all similar to Sid. Obviously he’s got a great finish too."

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 26, 2023

Fleury stopped 22 for the Wild, who trailed 2-0 heading into the third period.