Penguins/NHL category, Page 16
Tim Benz: Vibe around potential Penguins sale changes as a buyer not named Mario Lemieux emerges
According to Elliotte Friedman of SportsNet.ca, the Chicago-based Hoffmann Family of Companies “has emerged as a serious contender” to purchase the Pittsburgh Penguins from Fenway Sports Group. One of the businesses the Hoffmann Family owns is the ECHL’s Florida Everblades, winners of the Kelly Cup from 2022-24. Multiple stories emerged in recent...
Report: Billionaire businessman a ‘serious contender’ to buy Penguins
A billionaire businessman who owns an ECHL hockey team in Florida has emerged as a “serious contender” to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins from Fenway Sports Group, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.ca reported Monday. According to the report, David Hoffmann and his family are trying to buy the team for about $1.75...
Mike Rupp won’t return to Penguins broadcasts this season
Television analyst Mike Rupp won’t be back on Penguins broadcasts this season. The former NHL winger confirmed Monday that he will not return for a third season as color analyst on SportsNet Pittsburgh. Rupp, Colby Armstrong and Phil Bourque rotated in as color analysts with play-by-play man Josh Getzoff on...
Penguins name Ryan Papaioannou as new coach of Wheeling Nailers
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced Ryan Papaioannou as coach of their ECHL affiliate Wheeling Nailers on Thursday morning. Papaioannou (pronunced pa-pah-wawh-noh) succeeds Derek Army, who departed this summer to take an assistant position with the American Hockey League’s Colorado Eagles. Papaioannou, 41, joins the Penguins from the Brooks Bandits of the...
With physical style, new Penguins D Parker Wotherspoon hopes to be right fit on left sideVideo
When the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2024-25 campaign ended without a postseason appearance, stretching their playoff drought to three years, Kyle Dubas was blunt in discussing one shortcoming of the club’s overall game. “I think the left side of our defense, it’s been a problem,” the Penguins’ president of hockey operations/general manager...
New Penguins D Caleb Jones eyes earning everyday NHL role
When Caleb Jones reports to preseason training camp in September, he’ll be getting underway with the Pittsburgh Penguins at a time of considerable organizational change. With Dan Muse — a first-time head coach in the NHL — and a new staff replacing Mike Sullivan and his assistants for 2025-26 and...
Report: Lemieux-Burkle group ‘well below what Fenway would want’ to sell Penguins
If Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle are going to reclaim the Pittsburgh Penguins, their bid is going to have to increase. That’s the word from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. During his most recent “32 Thoughts” podcast, Friedman said if Fenway Sports Group wants to sell majority ownership of the Pens...
Former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forward Mathias Laferriere signs in Slovakia
Former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forward Mathias Laferriere signed with HK Spisska Nova Ves of the Slovak Extraliga. That team announced the transaction via social media on Saturday. Terms were not specified. ???????? Do kabíny rysov pribudol Kanaďan Mathias LaferrièreTesne pred štartom prípravy na ľade hlásime výrazné posilnenie ofenzívy.Novým prírastkom v našom...
Tim Benz: Sidney Crosby’s arrival was Pittsburgh’s most consequential sports event of the past 20 years
Wednesday marked the 20th anniversary of the Pittsburgh Penguins drafting Sidney Crosby. You could argue (in fact, I think I will right now) that Crosby’s arrival was the single most consequential event in Pittsburgh sports over the past two decades. If the Penguins don’t win the lottery to draft Crosby,...
Penguins prospect Brady Peddle signs with QMJHL’s Charlottetown Islanders
Pittsburgh Penguins defensive prospect Brady Peddle has signed with the Charlottetown Islanders of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) for the 2025-26 season. That transaction was announced on Monday and does not affect his status with the Penguins, who selected Peddle in the third round (No. 91 overall) in...
Mark Madden: Trading Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell is best for Penguins’ future
It’s imperative that the Penguins get a top-five pick in next year’s NHL draft. It’s a top-heavy draft. Potential stars are available, not least Penn State’s Gavin McKenna, the presumptive first choice overall. President of hockey ops/GM Kyle Dubas has done a good job restocking the Penguins’ system. But that...
Former Penguins forward Daniel Sprong signs in Russia
Former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Daniel Sprong has signed a one-year contract with CSKA Moscow of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). That team announced the transaction with a release on Wednesday. A native of Holland, the 28-year-old Sprong split the 2024-25 season between the Vancouver Canucks, Seattle Kraken and New Jersey...
Former Penguins goaltender Maxim Lagace signs in Austria
Former Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Maxim Lagace has signed with the Graz 99ers, a team based in Austria that competes in the International Central European Hockey League (ICEHL). That team announced the transaction via a release on Wednesday. A native of Saint-Augustin, Quebec, the 32-year-old spent the past two seasons with...
Former Penguins defenseman John Ludvig signs in CzechiaVideo
Former Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman John Ludvig has signed with HC Dynamo Pardubice of the Extraliga ledního hokeje (ELH), in Czechia, the home country of his family. That team announced the transaction via a release on Wednesday. His father, former NHL forward Jan Ludvig, is a skills coach with HC Dynamo...
Former Penguins forward Dominik Uher signs in Germany
Former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Dominik Uher has signed with Kolner Haie of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) in Germany. That team announced the transaction via a release on Wednesday. A native of Czechia, the 32-year-old Uher has spent the past seven years playing in Germany for the Fischtown Pinguins, also...
New Penguins defenseman Connor Clifton: ‘I want to get back to my old self’
Jason Spezza welcomed Connor Clifton to the NHL. And in a blunt fashion. Making his NHL debut as a member of the Boston Bruins on Nov. 16, 2018, Clifton, a defenseman, crossed paths with Spezza, then a forward with the Dallas Stars. A shove turned into a slash, then a...
New Penguins forward Anthony Mantha vows to be ready following knee surgeryVideo
Anthony Mantha doesn’t have specific goals in mind — aside from the goals that go into a hockey net — as he enters the 2024-25 season. Except for one. Be ready. Limited to 13 games last season as a member of the Calgary Flames because of a right ACL injury...
Former Penguins forward Matt Cooke hired as junior coach in British Columbia
Former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Matt Cooke was hired as head coach and general manager of the Vernon Vipers of the British Columbia Hockey League, a junior “A” league (the second-highest tier of junior hockey in Canada). That team announced the transaction on Friday. Cooke, 46, has coached at various levels...
Joe Morrow, Penguins’ 1st-round draft pick in 2011, signs in Poland
Defenseman Joe Morrow, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ first-round draft pick (No. 23 overall) in 2011, has signed a one-year contract with Unia Oswiecim of the Polska Hokej Liga (PHL) in Poland. That team announced the transaction with a press release on Friday. Morrow, 32, spent the past two seasons in the...
Former Penguins defenseman Ty Smith signs with KHL’s Dinamo Minsk
Former Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Ty Smith has signed a one-year contract with Dinamo Minsk, a team based in Belarus that competes in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). That team announced the transaction via Telegram, a popular social media platform in Europe. A native of Lloydminster, Alberta, the 25-year-old Smith spent...
Former Penguins goaltender Louis Domingue signs with KHL’s Sibir Novosibirsk
Former Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Louis Domingue has signed a one-year contract with Sibir Novosibirsk of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). That team announced the transaction with a release on Thursday. A native of Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, the 33-year-old Domingue has spent the past three seasons with the New York Rangers organization,...
Forward prospect Melvin Fernstrom has no complaints about trade to PenguinsVideo
On the eastern side of North America, the transaction was orchestrated within a few minutes of midnight. But in Sweden, it happened more than two hours before the sun came up. At 11:52 p.m. on Jan 31, the Pittsburgh Penguins officially completed a multi-player trade with the Vancouver Canucks. Forward...
Mark Madden: All bets are off with Arturs Silovs now in Penguins’ goaltending rotation
The Penguins’ goaltending situation seemed easy to read after Alex Nedeljkovic got sent to San Jose: Tristan Jarry is the starter in Pittsburgh. The backup is Joel Blomqvist, Filip Larsson or Sergei Murashov. The other two split netminding duties with the Penguins’ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton farm club. (Murashov, 21, is the franchise’s...
Penguins’ 2025-26 schedule announced
The Pittsburgh Penguins will face the New York Islanders at PPG Paints Arena on Oct. 9 in their home opener to the 2025-26 season. That contest was announced via social media Wednesday morning. Later in the afternoon, the entire schedule for the NHL’s season was revealed. Earlier in the week,...
Tim Benz: Mario Lemieux can’t be the Penguins’ savior this time, even if he does reacquire the franchise
Mario Lemieux doesn’t need to save the Pittsburgh Penguins this time. That’ll make his possible return to the franchise different from his previous reincarnations with the team. But, oddly, this one could be just as difficult. If Lemieux, Ron Burkle and David Morehouse eventually reacquire the organization (as reports from...
