Tim Benz Columns category, Page 87
Tim Benz: Mitch Trubisky navigating choppy waters of Steelers QB situation with ease on Day 1
If Mitch Trubisky can read a defense as well as he can read a room, then maybe the Pittsburgh Steelers really do have a diamond in the rough. Speaking with reporters Tuesday for the first time (in person, anyway) after the first OTA practice, Trubisky appropriately addressed, deftly sidestepped or...
Bryan Rust discusses new Penguins contract, his knee procedure and futures of Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin
Penguins winger Bryan Rust surprised many in the hockey world by getting to the end of the 2021-22 season as a prospective free agent but then signing a deal to stay in Pittsburgh before testing the waters. On Monday, Rust joined TribLIVE columnist Mark Madden on his 105.9 The X...
Tim Benz: Penguins GM Ron Hextall seems to want to keep the band together. I’m still hoping for a few new tunes
Based on what Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Ron Hextall said Monday, not only does he want to keep the whole band together, he wants to re-release a greatest hits album. As I listened to Hextall’s comments from his press conference, my mind started to picture Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, Evgeni...
Tim Benz: Cardinals vets feasting on Pirates an all too familiar scene
It felt like a turn-back-the-clock kind of weekend at PNC Park for the St. Louis Cardinals. For the Pittsburgh Pirates, meanwhile, time continues to stand still and the calendar never advances to a better year. Adam Wainwright spun a gem. Albert Pujols hit a pair of home runs. Paul Goldschmidt...
Madden Monday: What Bryan Rust’s signing means for Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin, Ron Hextall and other Penguins
A lot of questions are popping up in the wake of Bryan Rust’s decision to re-sign with the Pittsburgh Penguins. One thing isn’t up for debate, though. This is a good deal for the Pens. The franchise is keeping a two-time Stanley Cup champion who has 73 goals over the...
Struggling Pirates hitters now have to face pitching nemesis
For the Pittsburgh Pirates hitters, coming back to PNC Park on Friday might be a case of getting the wrong guy at the wrong time. The Buccos batters will face a familiar foe in Adam Wainwright and the St. Louis Cardinals to open a three-game series and a six-game homestand....
Tim Benz: Sidney Crosby’s comments on his long-term future should get us thinking
Because Pittsburgh Penguins star center Sidney Crosby is so consistent with his pragmatic, stay-in-the-middle-lane approach to dealing with the media, he rarely lets any quote slip that’s surprising. Frankly, the one he uttered Tuesday may not be all that remarkable either, but, during the Penguins breakup day interviews, the team’s...
Tim Benz: Steelers rookie DeMarvin Leal ‘touching the waters’ with decision to add some weight
Given the thirst so many people had for the Pittsburgh Steelers to draft a defensive lineman, I’m sure the instant reaction from most was to applaud when DeMarvin Leal’s name popped up next to the franchise’s logo in the third round last month. But that may have been followed by...
First Call: Vince Williams takes high school coaching job, endorses Antonio Brown’s idea to retire as a Steeler
A former Pittsburgh Steeler is making news by taking a high school coaching job. He is also endorsing a reunion between the Steelers and Antonio Brown. Things aren’t perfect in Cincinnati with the Bengals and a star player. The New York Rangers are underdogs in their next series despite dispatching...
Madden Monday: ‘Penguins blew it. Choked is too strong of a word. Or maybe it’s not.’
A lot of Pittsburgh Penguins fans seem to have sympathy for the club even though it blew a 3-1 series lead to the New York Rangers. Sunday’s 4-3 overtime result in favor of New York finished off the series comeback for the Blueshirts and ended the Penguins’ season. After all,...
Tim Benz: Blown leads result in blown series as Penguins season ends in New York
The Penguins-Rangers first-round Eastern Conference playoff series lasted seven games and 13 days. With all that happened during that time, it felt like it lasted 70 games and 130 days. We witnessed: • A triple-overtime Penguins win in Game 1 and an overtime Rangers win in Game 7. • The...
Tim Benz: ‘Rattled’ Penguins can’t write a better ending to familiar script
After 40 minutes of the Penguins-Rangers game Friday night, it dawned on me. Are we all really here at PPG Paints Arena for Game 6? Or is this a weird out-of-body experience? Are 18,187 of us just watching a hologram replay of Wednesday’s Game 5? As was the case Wednesday,...
First Call: Pitt’s possible partners in proposed ACC football scheduling changes; Capitals blow lead, on cusp of elimination
Thursday’s “First Call” provides some updates about potential changes to the ACC football conference. The Penguins-Rangers game at Madison Square Garden wasn’t the only crucial result to track in the NHL playoffs. The upcoming Pirates-Reds series this weekend has a different tone to it than the one they played last...
U mad, bro?: Steelers fans already sounding off about quarterback decisions; Penguins fans in goalie mode
Pittsburgh Steelers fans are in regular-season mode already when it comes to quarterback conversation. It’s playoff time, so Penguins fans are in a lather. And we discuss zoology on the North Side. It’s quite the collection of reader responses in this week’s “U mad, bro?” We begin with Jonathan. He...
Tim Benz: Penguins didn’t pass 20-minute test without Sidney Crosby. The road ahead now looks much longer
Once it was clear that Sidney Crosby wasn’t coming back from injury, the Pittsburgh Penguins needed to be better than the New York Rangers for just 20 minutes to end their first-round playoff series. They weren’t. Now they might need to be better without him for 60 minutes. Or else...
Tim Benz: Penguins’ spike in goals is impressive, but the work to create the shots is what shines
When it comes to the Pittsburgh Penguins’ goal explosion against the New York Rangers, the contrast is stark between what the Pens did in Games 1 and 2 at Madison Square Garden versus their output at home. Over the first two games at MSG, the two teams played a little...
As Penguins look to eliminate Rangers, momentum (and history) are on their side
The Pittsburgh Penguins are about to play the New York Rangers in a playoff elimination game. Momentum is on their side. And so is history. For the most part. The two teams have faced each other in the postseason seven times before this spring. The Penguins have won five of...
Tim Benz: The Penguins have suddenly reduced Igor Shesterkin from bold to broken
OK. Now, this is what it looks like to break a goalie. Penguins fans should know. They’ve seen it before. Penguins vs. that-season Vezina winners in playoffs, past 40 yrs-'96Rd1 WSH Jim Carey*✅'00Rd1 WSH Olaf Kolzig✅'01Rd2 BUF Dominik Hasek✅'16Rd2 WSH Braden Holtby✅'17Rd1 CBJ Segei Bobrovsky✅'22**Rd1 NYR Igor Shesterkin❓(*-lost job; **-presumed)...
Tim Benz: Bad time for Pirates to have a massive step up in competition
It’s been a while since we’ve really checked in on the Pirates. The NFL Draft and the Penguins playoff push has kept us pretty busy. That stuff and, well, the abject inability to be competitive and the organizational disinterest in trying. Those things come into play as well. But, hey,...
Tim Benz: Penguins, Rangers treat fans to 3 games in 1 night as ‘roller coaster’ series continues
During that triple-overtime Game 1 of the Penguins-Rangers Eastern Conference playoff series, the teams played what was almost the equivalent of two full games. Then, in Saturday’s Game 3, they basically played three separate games in one night. The Penguins dominated the first period, taking a 4-1 lead into the...
First Call: 2 names emerge to start 2nd round of Steelers GM interviews; how Malik Willis learned of Kenny Pickett’s selection
Friday’s “First Call” zooms in on a second round of Pittsburgh Steelers’ general manager interviews. The Seattle Seahawks may not be at the top of the Baker Mayfield sweepstakes after all. We also found out how Malik Willis discovered the Steelers were drafting Kenny Pickett instead of him. And the...
Steelers GM Kevin Colbert’s revealing take on how NFL ready Kenny Pickett may truly be
As I look ahead to Pittsburgh Steelers training camp this summer, my brain actually goes back to Saint Vincent College in 2010. That’s when we knew Ben Roethlisberger was going to be suspended for at least the first four (and perhaps six) games of the season. So we were all...
Tim Benz: Penguins still have a long way to go before they figure out Igor Shesterkin
How did Don Henley put it? “In a New York minute Everything can change In a New York minute Things can get pretty strange” OK. Maybe not a minute. But that was the experience in New York City over less than 48 hours for goaltender Louis Domingue and the rest...
Steelers GM Kevin Colbert addresses Stephon Tuitt situation, reveals plans for DeMarvin Leal
When it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive line, the team is still trying to figure out if Stephon Tuitt is going to play in 2022. He missed all of 2021 due to a knee injury and because he was dealing with the grieving process of his brother’s death in...
U mad, bro?: Steelers fans launch all sorts of opinions on Kenny Pickett, draft strategy, Devin Bush
This week’s “U mad, bro?” has all manner of heated reactions to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ selection of Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett. Others question the overall draft strategy. There is some push back to a column I wrote about Devin Bush. Plus, we have gratuitous shots at the Pirates … …...
