The NHL certainly likes to cluster all of its news into small time frames. As the Steve Yzerman fallout remained red-hot in Detroit, the NHL schedule drop had a few teams’ creative departments go all-out. There are also a few heated games awaiting. And the Pittsburgh Penguins made news all day with the new Penguins schedule and their official breakup with Wheeling.
We also counted down the top five Penguins prospects and did a Penguins chat, which included a live reaction to the schedule drop.
Rest assured, since my last “work-cation” didn’t result in any Penguins trades, only Brandon Pridham being hired, I’ll have to take another one. I’m thinking maybe I’ll cannonball as far north as I can and spend a couple of days in Brockville, Ontario. It would be nice to see that town in the summer and not rush through on the way to Montreal or Ottawa.
Or another couple of days in Marietta, Ohio. I’m a sucker for quaint small towns with good people, restaurants, and historic hotels. Any suggestions?
Here is the Penguins Chat/No Pucks Given. I dug into the top prospects list, why the rankings fell as they did, some of the light criticisms (there’s always someone complaining, eh?), the Penguins’ overloaded roster, and the schedule.:
Here we go…
Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Here we go–84 games. Let’s start with the important games, road trips, and the full Penguins’ schedule.
Now then, it didn’t need to happen, but it was a foregone conclusion. The Penguins dumped Wheeling as their ECHL affiliate and are going with the Hoffmann Group-owned Florida Everblades.
The move doesn’t change the world, but it’s still an unforced error from a logistics and PR perspective. The Hoffmanns’ first big move was to break Wheeling’s heart and cast aside a small market that supported the Penguins because of the affiliation. No one feels good about the move, and I’ve heard some in the organization lobbied to keep Wheeling, too. But when the owners want something, they usually get it.
And to the top prospects–Here are the top five. Who got No. 1? Who is No. 5? Both spots drew some debate, but both are on the upswing. The top five Penguins prospects.
NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now
NHLtraderumors.me: The trade market leftovers reside with the Calgary Flames. After a couple of months of trade chatter, nothing has moved up north. What will Calgary do with Morgan Frost and Zach Whitecloud?
Detroit Hockey Now: No direction home. After Steve Yzerman stepped aside, the fallout is continuing, and the bottled criticism is being unleashed. Do the Detroit Red Wings have any direction?
Sportsnet: The schedule has some explosive games coming early in the year. Brady Tkachuk goes back to Ottawa early, and some other heated games are coming.
Montreal Hockey Now: Kirby Dach avoided arbitration with a one-year deal.
TSN: Bruce Boudreau gave his thoughts on the Yzerman situation, and the Dylan Larkin trade request might have been the beginning of the end for Yzerman–Boudreau had some experienced insights on what went down.
Tags: nhl trade Penguins Prospects Pittsburgh Penguins
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