Chris Adamski stories, Page 56

Rickard Rakell was skating swiftly and taking part in every drill his teammates did. But don’t be fooled by the black jersey he wore that matched half of the other Pittsburgh Penguins on the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex ice Tuesday. The practice between Games 4 and 5 of the Penguins’...

There are three other men who have been a head coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins when they claimed the Stanley Cup. Two are in the Hall of Fame. The other was once named NHL coach of the year. None, though, have won as many playoff games for the franchise than...

Unlike his game, Kasperi Kapanen’s sense of humor never abandoned him throughout this season. Told that his coach said he is currently playing his best hockey of 2021-22, Kapanen was as quick with a quip as he is in taking that initial stride through the neutral zone. “Yeah, I mean,...

Five stats-based observations about the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 7-2 win Monday that afforded them a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series against the New York Rangers: 1. No danger For the first time after a victory in this series, the primary storyline surrounding the Penguins wasn’t Louis Domingue. Domingue wasn’t...

For all the talk about goaltending or matchups or that speed and age have been working against the Pittsburgh Penguins in recent postseasons, perhaps their captain serves as the proverbial weather vane for the team’s fortunes. Over the prior three playoff runs from 2019-21, Sidney Crosby combined for six points....

Jason Zucker’s 11th NHL season has been his toughest to endure, he said Monday. Moments later, though, the Pittsburgh Penguins veteran wing spoke of “the joy” he’s feeling these days. “Just excited to be in the lineup, excited to be out there playing,” Zucker said after the morning skate in...

Paul Steigerwald and Colby Armstrong will handle the local radio call Monday night for the Pittsburgh Penguins’ playoff game against the New York Rangers. The Penguins’ radio network’s regular team of Josh Getzoff and Phil Bourque are unavailable because of NHL covid-19 protocol. The team made the announcement of the...

Five stats-based observations about the Pittsburgh Penguins after a 7-4 win against the New York Rangers in Saturday’s Game 3 at PPG Paints Arena (analytics courtesy naturalstattrick.com unless specified otherwise): 1.Vezina-ed Though balloting won’t be announced until next month, Igor Shesterkin is the presumptive Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL’s...

The first bullet point among the “Player notes” on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ team release after Saturday night’s game featured two names. One was Even Rodrigues. The other was Mario Lemieux. It was that kind of night for Rodrigues. And certainly, it was that kind of first period. “Any time you...

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jason Zucker made his 2022 postseason debut Saturday night during Game 3 of a first-round series against the New York Rangers. Zucker missed the regular-season finale and the first two games of the series in Manhattan because of an undisclosed injury. According to a team-provided lineup sheet,...

Statisticians will say reading too much into a small sample sizes is folly. But when it comes to the recent performance of the Pittsburgh Penguins penalty-killing unit, coach Mike Sullivan isn’t going to let its failures attribute to math. “No,” Sullivan said Friday when it was posited that a recent...

The bombshell dropped that Casey DeSmith would miss the rest of the postseason and the Pittsburgh Penguins would be forced to rely on their No. 3 goalie for the foreseeable future, but there were other injury updates after practice Friday. Forward Jason Zucker took part in an optional practice at...

Move over Mr. Game 1. Welcome, Mr. First Round? Six years ago, Jeff Zatkoff forever earned him a place in Pittsburgh Penguins lore when, as a third-string goalie, he started and won the first game of the first-round playoff series en route to the franchise’s fourth Stanley Cup. A few...

Five stats-based observations about the Pittsburgh Penguins after a series-evening 4-2 loss to the New York Rangers in Thursday’s Game 2 at Madison Square Garden (analytics courtesy naturalstattrick.com unless specified otherwise): 1. Everything but the goals The Penguins had more shots on goal Thursday, they had more attempted shots, they...

Five analytics-based observations about the Pittsburgh Penguins after a postseason-opening 4-3 triple-overtime victory against the New York Rangers in Tuesday’s Game 1 at Madison Square Garden: 1. First(-class) line The Penguins’ top line of Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust accounted for all three of the team’s regulation goals...

The Pittsburgh Penguins were forced to turn to their third-string goalie at a most inopportune time. Louis Domingue came on with 10 minutes, 42 seconds left in the second overtime period of what ended up a 4-3 triple-overtime win in Tuesday’s Game 1 first-round playoff series at the New York...

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Rickard Rakell left Monday’s playoff opener against the New York Rangers after absorbing a hit to his head area late of the first period of Game 1 of the first-round series at Madison Square Garden. The Penguins’ second-line right wing, Rakell was subjected to a penalized check...

Forward Jason Zucker skated prior to Pittsburgh Penguins practice in Cranberry on Monday morning, coach Mike Sullivan confirmed. Speaking after practice, Sullivan gave an upbeat assessment of what that development meant in regards to Zucker’s status for the Penguins’ first-round playoff series against the New York Rangers that begins Tuesday....

The Pittsburgh Penguins signed 2020 fifth-round pick Raivis Ansons to a three-year entry-level contract, the team announced Monday. The 20-year-old Ansons this week will embark on the QMJHL playoffs for the major-junior Saint John Sea Dogs. Ansons, a leftty-shooting forward, had career-highs in goals (18), assists (42), points (60) and...

It was 16 months ago that the 2020 Pittsburgh Steelers’ season ended. It probably seems like a lot longer ago than that,and not just because of the stunningly disappointing result, a 48-37 wild-card playoff loss to the rival Cleveland Browns. The offensive lineup for the Steelers that Jan. 10, 2021,...

Just as seemingly everyone covering the NFL has a mock draft, those same analysts also seem to want to grade out each team’s draft within hours of its completion. None of the players taken have stepped onto a practice field for the new teams, but that doesn’t stop those from...

Mike Rupp played under 10 head coaches and dozens of assistants over 11 NHL seasons spent with six teams. Three of those head coaches won the Stanley Cup before or during Rupp’s time with them. Several of the assistants did, too. Rupp quickly identified one of those myriad assistants with...

The questions needed to be asked of Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin, even if an on-the-record answer wasn’t likely to be provided. As if on cue, the Pittsburgh Steelers general manager and coach dutifully dodged shedding all that much light on two significant personnel decisions the franchise is dealing with....