Pondering Evgeni Malkin's injury, NHL playoffs without Penguins, Tristan Jarry as full-time starter

It didn’t last very long, did it?

Mid-summer excitement about the return of Pittsburgh’s pro sports world was brief. And frankly, not that enjoyable.

Hey, better to have it than not. But it hardly felt like the real thing. Especially based on how short of a run it was.

The Penguins came back to “compete” for all of four games before getting eliminated by the underdog Montreal Canadiens.

The Pirates are still playing. Well, whenever possible, anyway. Because of coronavirus concerns, they’ve already had a series against the St. Louis Cardinals canceled as well as a pair of games against the Cincinnati Reds.

And whenever the Pirates do play, it’s ugly. They are 4-14. That’s the worst winning percentage (.222) in Major League Baseball right now. And they are trying to avoid the lowest mark of all time.

Rumor has it that Steelers training camp is taking place. But it is occurring behind doors that are 99% closed at Heinz Field, as opposed to in public at Saint Vincent College. It’s also happening without preseason games and in a much more limited capacity than what we are used to witnessing.

So we’ll all hold our collective breath to see if the team, and the NFL, can get off the ground and keep the league going all season long.

Let’s hope the Steelers can get off to a faster start than they have in recent seasons and stay competitive throughout the 2020 campaign. Because the likelihood of either the NHL or NBA rebooting in a timely fashion next winter — if at all — seems bleak without the prospect of fans in the stands.

These players may be willing to “play in a bubble” for one short spurt of a playoff to conclude 2020. But don’t expect that to happen for a full year. Plus the leagues desperately need revenue from ticket sales.

Not to mention the questions surrounding college basketball and hockey. I won’t believe any high school or college sport can get off the ground until I actually see it with my own eyes.

Brian Metzer of the Penguins Radio Network joins me to talk about filling the void. Are the NHL playoffs — sans les Penguins — enough to keep the interest of the average hockey fan in Pittsburgh? Or are we too downcast and jaded by the defeat of the team?

There are some interesting storylines remaining. Rooting against the Philadelphia Flyers is always top of mind, especially since they appear to have a frighteningly good chance of winning the Stanley Cup this year.

It’s also interesting to monitor the Washington Capitals and if they are regressing at the same rate as the Penguins.

Metzer and I talk about those topics and if the Vegas Golden Knights can be adopted as a fallback team to root for as so many of us did in 2018 because of Marc-Andre Fleury.

The issue there is how often Fleury is going to actually play? It appears as if Robin Lehner is the flavor of the month with Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer. We investigate how that is going to go over with Fleury on a big-picture level.

Back in Pittsburgh, Evgeni Malkin is recovering from elbow surgery. Allegedly, that was something that happened before the team left for Toronto. But all we heard from many media members that were covering the closed practices in Cranberry was how great he looked and how engaged he appeared. So what happened with that injury and how did it seemingly get worse once the playoffs began?

Same thing with Zach Aston-Reese and his shoulder.

We also talk about the Penguins’ approach to roster management this offseason, a power play they should emulate, and the notion of Tristan Jarry as a full-time starter in 2020-21.

Listen: Tim Benz and Brian Metzer discuss the Penguins early exit from the playoffs and what’s next in the offseason