Penguins have little to say about proposed sale
Things were status quo for the Penguins on Wednesday.
At least on the ice.
They engaged in a brisk-but-efficient practice at their facility in Cranberry. Their sputtering power play was a focus. And they even managed to work in the occasional shootout attempt to break up the monotony.
It was as mundane as any other practice they have had in six years at UMPC Lemieux Sports Complex.
Off the ice, well that’s another matter.
On Tuesday, it was revealed Penguins ownership was in the advanced stages of negotiation with Fenway Sports Group to sell the franchise.
Things are far from final, but majority owner Ron Burkle is expected to sell most, if not all, of his stake in the Penguins to Fenway Sports Group, an organization that owns some of the marquee franchises in all of sports, including the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool F.C. and RFK Racing.
While Penguins ownership or management have yet to officially comment on the proposed transaction, coach Mike Sullivan was asked about the matter Wednesday.
“I wasn’t aware of it until yesterday,” Sullivan said. “The way I look at it, I don’t think it changes anything we do from our standpoint. What I will say is I have so much respect for Ron and Mario and their leadership and what they provide for us from a resources standpoint to give us every opportunity to win. From my standpoint, it’s just been a terrific experience working with those guys. I don’t envision anything from our standpoint changing very much. We’re going to go about our business the way we always do. That’s trying to help this team move forward and try to help this team be successful.”
As for players, they’re certainly aware of the potential sale but didn’t offer much substantive commentary regarding it.
“It was told to us briefly that there may be a sale of the team,” forward Bryan Rust said. “We were told that all things are going to kind of be run the same. I don’t think there’s any good or bad feelings about it, from what I’ve heard. I haven’t heard too much about it, obviously. You can speculate, but until it’s done, I don’t think there’s going to be too many real opinions coming out.”
Heinen’s hometown flooded
Record rainfall in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia has caused unprecedented flooding and mudslides in that province this week. That includes Langley, hometown of Penguins forward Danton Heinen.
“I do have some family back home there,” Heinen said. “It’s unfortunate. It’s looking pretty bad. My family is doing good, but my heart goes out to all those who have been affected by it. My thoughts and prayers are with them, and, hopefully, everybody stays safe.”
Langley is about an hour to the southeast of Vancouver near the border with Washington State.
“A pretty tight-knit community,” Heinen said. “I love it there. I grew up there. Most of my family is still there. Love going back. I hope everything’s OK back there.”
Reirden to substitute for Sullivan again
Sullivan again will be absent from the bench for the Penguins’ road game against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
He missed five games earlier this month after testing positive for covid-19. While he is now out of the NHL’s protocol for the virus, he is not eligible to coach Thursday’s game because of Canadian laws that forbid anyone who has tested positive for the virus within 14 days from entering the country.
Assistant coach Todd Reirden will serve as head coach for Thursday’s game but will be in contact with Sullivan during the intermissions via video conferencing.
Sullivan is expected to rejoin the team for its road game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
Lines and pairs
The Penguins’ lines and pairs during Wednesday’s practice were:
59 Jake Guentzel – 87 Sidney Crosby – 17 Bryan Rust
16 Jason Zucker – 77 Jeff Carter – 42 Kasperi Kapanen
43 Danton Heinen – 9 Evan Rodrigues – 49 Dominik Simon
12 Zach Aston-Reese – 53 Teddy Blueger – 23 Brock McGinn
8 Brian Dumoulin – 58 Kris Letang
28 Marcus Pettersson – 6 John Marino
5 Mike Matheson – 2 Chad Ruhwedel
The top power-play group included Carter, Crosby, Guentzel, Letang and Rust. The second power-play group involved Heinen, Kapanen, Marino, Rodrigues and Zucker.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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