The Pittsburgh Penguins have a wonderful habit of breaking news in the middle of our Live Chats. They did so again in a Friday afternoon news dump as they confirmed their sale to the Hoffman Family of Companies. We also pulled back the curtain on a couple of Penguins stories for PHN+ subscribers, and got an unexpected one, too.

Elsewhere in the Daily, a pair of rumored NHL trades came to be and beat the roster freeze, including Philip Danault. One player is off the trade block, but it seems the Edmonton Oilers are back on the goalie market. The pile-on of the Toronto Maple Leafs has begun, and who is to blame, the coach or the players? And the Golden Knights are battered and depleted, and may have to get creative with their roster.

I don’t know what happened last night. First, had a great little dinner–a pulled pork poutine and a local blonde ale (in a much bigger mug than expected. The mug was a heavy plastic, which affected the taste. Beer was great, the mug was not).

The poutine was pretty great. The other patrons turned, stared, and asked about it. But the one reason I’m never very comfortable in Montreal is the language–they start in French, and I feel like an idiot explaining that I don’t speak the language.

And I grabbed a lovely chocolate cupcake topped with chocolate, with chocolate chunks and chocolate cream, on the walk back to the hotel.

The cupcake did not last long enough to take a picture.

The unfortunate part of most hotel rooms is that the best place to watch TV is on the bed. As I settled in to watch hockey and the Jake Paul fight, consciousness quickly left me somewhere around 8:30 p.m., and that was that. Out cold. There could have been fire alarms or nuclear blasts, and I don’t think I would have heard them. It has been a grueling schedule, and the late drive to Montreal Thursday night was not ideal, but I don’t sleep at 8 p.m.! Feels like a lost night in Montreal. Win some, lose some.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: SOLD! The story broke on Wednesday, but the Penguins confirmed it Friday afternoon with statements from the buying and selling parties. It’s a done deal that is now awaiting approval. The Penguins’ sale is complete.

PHN+: We pulled back the curtain on some of the issues affecting the Penguins. At the core of the struggles is a new element of doubt. We also dug into Kris Letang’s struggles and had an unexpected chat about a pretty great childhood with one of the forwards. It’s this week’s Penguins insider.

Use code Dan10 to save yourself $10 if you’d like. I hope our work has earned your support.

And here is the Penguins Live Chat–The new travel mic has a deficiency, the gain is awkward, but we fixed it on the fly. We had a pretty good discussion on Kris Letang, the losing streak, and the young players. I decided to keep my placeholder title: Everything TBD. Here’s the Penguins live chat.

NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now

Montreal Hockey Now: Trade! The Habs enter the next stage of their rebuild with a significant, though affordable deal. They get Philip Danault–here’s Marc Dumont’s reporting and instant analysis of the Canadiens trade.

That’s not going to help the Penguins’ winless streak, is it?

TSN: Mason Marchment was traded from Dallas before the season, and before the roster freeze last night, Seattle dealt him to Columbus. A player with Kyle Dubas ties heads to a division rival for a fourth and a second.

Good get by Columbus.

Sportsnet: So, Tristan Jarry gets hurt. It doesn’t look good. And Edmonton is right back on the goalie market–is Buffalo their next target?

We’ll stick with a couple of Maple Leafs stories from Sportsnet as the negativity is building around the blue and white. They need “more joy” amidst their great slide.

Video: Who is at fault for the turmoil surrounding the team–coach or players?

The Athletic ($): Pull one name off the trade board, at least for now. Ryan O’Reilly isn’t ready to leave Nashville. Pierre LeBrun has that nugget and some other trade tidbits.

Florida Hockey Now: Believe. It’s not just the Penguins that can cough up a three-goal lead. Apparently, the Carolina Hurricanes know how to do it, too. The Florida Panthers got them good.

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