From the comfort of the homestead after a frigid ride out of the eastern Appalachian Mountains, the Daily has fewer stories, but some meaty topics, including Pittsburgh Penguins questions and more on their prospects. We’ve also included the annual examination of how the Stanley Cup Final teams are constructed, RFA chatter leading to NHL trade talk, and Toronto media is eyeing up the Penguins in trade talk, too.

Seriously, the temps were in the 50s until I got past State College. Dan and his two-wheeled best buddy were not fully prepared for that. The Under Armour, a T-shirt, a thermal, and $10 fleece hoodie from a clearance shop in the Wilkes-Barre mall weren’t cutting it. But I rolled past a little micro-brew outside State College, just off I-80 in Bellefonte, that was a worthy stop to share. The Robin Hood micro-brewery offered a pretty fair blonde ale, but their red was better. I ordered the Memphis Blues–a breaded pork flat iron, bacon, jalapenos, cheddar jack cheese, BBQ sauce, onion rings, and … bacon. Big, perfectly cooked bacon. Damn. I’ll give this monster an A+, and recommend a stop if you’re a Penn Stater who makes the trip for football games.

Even the chips were good, though the bartender looked at me suspiciously when I walked in wearing a thicker hoodie but shivering. No ma’am, it’s not what you think…

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: An offbeat Q&A included a full accounting of the controversial end of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ ending, more on the prospects, GM Kyle Dubas’s trajectory, trade targets, and the Penguins’ future.

If you missed it Sunday morning, we also had more from the inside on the growth and development of the Penguins prospects.

Tristan Broz could add another layer or two as a center, but he just commands the puck so well. If the Penguins are tepid on him, a rival GM would do well to ask for his inclusion in a trade. Rutger McGroarty’s breakdown of Broz’s game really opened my eyes to a couple of things I couldn’t put my finger on — McGroarty’s answer is in the story above.

Steelers Now: I thought it was an interesting quote from former Steelers coach Mike Tomlin about his role with NBC. He couldn’t really answer why he took the TV gig, but he gave an honest and self-aware answer about why he stepped away as the Steelers coach.

NHL Trade Talk, News, & NHN

NHLtraderumors.me: Here’s the list on which Penguins fans should focus when discussing offseason trades. Rick Dawal of The Athletic dropped four young defensemen who are RFAs but also–ahem–could use a better situation.

Sportsnet: Very simple title–Four trade destinations for Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Reilly. Gee, want to guess one of them? I can’t see it as a hockey trade, but I could see it if Toronto has to part with additional assets to make it happen.

And from Sportsnet, Justin Bourne put both finalists on the operating table to dissect how they were built. The Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes were built in much, much different ways.

I wonder if Vegas wins, will other owners feel free to be more ruthless? Hockey honors its warriors and loyalty like no other sport. It can be frustrating for fans who want shiny new toys, but it also would be a shame to lose that culture.

Philly Hockey Now: Will James takes a big…BIG swing today. I won’t go there for the Penguins, but Will looks at the cost for a Philly Flyers trade into the top-five of the coming NHL trade. It’s some heavy Flyers trade talk.

It took two first-round picks for the Flyers to snag the 12th overall pick last year. But the Flyers have the horses if they really want to do it.

What?! Finland beat Team Canada in the semis at the Worlds. So, later today, Canada will face Norway (what?!) for the bronze medal, while Finland meets Switzerland for gold. Here are the highlights of the Canadian loss:

The Worlds don’t matter much, but with the stars on Team Canada, that’s a stinging loss. The bright spotlight will soon begin burning Hockey Canada if they keep losing tournaments.

New Jersey Hockey Now: James Nichols has been dishing report card grades. Dawson Mercer and Cody Glass got their report cards, and here’s their diverging grades for the New Jersey Devils.

NY Post: It’s just sad. Friends say Claude Lemieux really died of a broken heart. He hadn’t spoken to a few of his children in a decade and was still depressed over not making the Hockey Hall of Fame. Things compounded for the agent and former sandpaper forward.

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