Jonathan Bombulie stories, Page 17

When he traded defenseman Olli Maatta to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night, Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford jumped feet-first into the busiest time of the offseason. The NHL Draft is set for next weekend in Vancouver. On July 1, the league’s free-agent signing period opens. It’s prime time...

A Stanley Cup Final matchup between the St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins was popular with local television viewers, but nowhere near as popular as last season’s meeting between the Washington Capitals and the Vegas Golden Knights. Wednesday’s Game 7, a 4-1 victory that gave St. Louis its first Stanley...

Despite an uneven season and a dismal playoff showing, the Pittsburgh Penguins remain in the top third of the league as far as bookmakers are concerned. The Penguins are an 18-1 shot to win the 2020 Stanley Cup, according to odds released by BetOnline.ag hours after the St. Louis Blues...

James Conner was a workhorse in his first season as a Pittsburgh Steelers starter last year, eating up more than 62% of the carries in the ground game and 64% of the targets to running backs in the passing game. At least one key player in the locker room believes...

After several controversial calls sparked outrage during the Stanley Cup playoffs, the NHL/NHLPA competition committee has recommended an expansion of instant replay. The committee called for changes to the coach’s challenge system as well as the expansion of a referee’s ability to review calls on his own. The committee did...

Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford has found trading winger Phil Kessel to be a difficult proposition. So for now, he says he’s given up. “It looks like he’ll stay here,” Rutherford said Tuesday. According to reports, Rutherford worked out a deal to send Kessel to the Minnesota Wild for...

Not every coach on the practice field at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex for the start of Pittsburgh Steelers minicamp on Tuesday was blowing a whistle or barking orders. Mike Sullivan and the entire Penguins coaching staff, including assistants Jacques Martin and Mark Recchi, goalie coach Mike Buckley and video...

Former Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Robert Bortuzzo has become a hated man among Boston sports fans. In the waning moments of Sunday night’s 5-1 St. Louis Blues win over the Boston Bruins in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, Bortuzzo and forward Noal Acciari had words. Bortuzzo caught Acciari with...

As the Stanley Cup gets closer to being awarded, local hockey fans are paying more attention to the final series between the St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins. The Pittsburgh market ranked fifth in the country with a 6.0 rating for Thursday night’s 2-1 Blues victory on NBC, behind Boston,...

St. Louis Blues coach Craig Berube is one win away from joining an exclusive club. If the Blues can close out the Boston Bruins in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Sunday night (or in Game 7 on Wednesday), Berube will become the seventh NHL coach hired midseason...

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The Pittsburgh Penguins are shopping an incredibly productive winger in the hopes that the move will improve not their skill level or goal scoring but their overall style of play. It describes the summer of 2019, with Phil Kessel on the block....

Plum native R.J. Umberger is part of the 2019 class of the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame, the school announced Thursday. Umberger played three seasons for the Buckeyes from 2000-03, leading the team in scoring all three years. He finished his college career with 129 points in 112 games....

Jase Bowen could be the next Kirk Gibson. The Pittsburgh Pirates hope he’s not. Bowen, a 6-foot-1 outfielder, was the Pirates’ 11th-round selection in the 2019 draft, which concluded Wednesday with the final 30 rounds. He hit .550 with 31 RBIs and 14 stolen bases as a senior at Toledo...

With front-end starters Trevor Williams and Jameson Taillon sidelined by injuries, the Pittsburgh Pirates asked Nick Kingham and Steven Brault to patch holes in their rotation over the past few weeks. Kingham’s audition is over. He is headed to the bullpen, replaced by 26-year-old righty Rookie Davis. Brault’s spot remains...

The beleaguered Pittsburgh Pirates starting rotation finally got some good news Wednesday. Trevor Williams was scheduled to throw a bullpen session consisting of about two innings’ worth of pitches before the Pirates faced the Atlanta Braves. If all goes according to plan, he will pitch a simulated game this weekend...

Broadcaster Steve Blass came under fire Wednesday for on-air comments he made during Tuesday night’s game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves. In the fourth inning, Pirates pitcher Steven Brault hit Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. in the elbow with a 2-2 pitch. Blass made note of Acuna’s animated...

Last weekend, the Pittsburgh Penguins relinquished the NHL rights to 2017 second-round pick Zachary Lauzon, who has battled post-concussion problems. Last year at this time, they gave up the rights to 2016 third-round pick Connor Hall, who has suffered recurring shoulder problems. While the Penguins can’t be blamed for the...

St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington has a chance to set a rookie record that even Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray didn’t reach during his memorable first-year playoff run in 2016. With a 4-2 win over the Boston Bruins in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night,...

Because of the way the Marc-Andre Fleury era quickly became the Matt Murray era, the Pittsburgh Penguins haven’t gone into a draft explicitly looking for a No. 1 goaltender in 15 years. Instead, their goaltending development plan has been to look for talent in a variety of places in an...

Pittsburgh Penguins head trainer Chris Stewart has received a prestigious award from his alma mater, IUP, being named one of the inaugural members of the school’s College of Health and Human Sciences Hall of Distinction. Stewart has been the Penguins’ head trainer for 13 years. Including a year spent as...

If the Pittsburgh Penguins, as expected, trade Phil Kessel this summer, they’re probably going to need the right wings that remain on the roster to ramp up their production next season. That’s why Patric Hornqvist’s resurgence while playing for the Swedish national team at the World Championships last month is...

The Pittsburgh Penguins relinquished the NHL rights to 2017 second-round pick Zachary Lauzon, failing to sign him to an entry level contract by a Saturday deadline. Lauzon, 20, was limited to 25 games in the regular season and five more in the playoffs due to concussion-related problems while playing for...

With Tristan Jarry’s days in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization seemingly numbered, the team added to its goaltending depth Sunday, signing 22-year-old Emil Larmi to a two-year, entry level contract. Larmi emerged as one of the top unsigned goaltenders in Europe this season, leading HPK to a championship in Finland’s top...

A trade that would send Pittsburgh Penguins winger Phil Kessel to the Minnesota Wild remains a possibility, TSN’s Bob McKenzie said on his podcast Friday. The Penguins reportedly had a deal done to send the popular 31-year-old to the Wild for speedy winger Jason Zucker, but Kessel used his no-trade...