Good morning, Pittsburgh. Here's your day in sports for Tuesday, September 21, 2015. What's on tap for today: The Penguins (1-0-0) will skate at Consol Energy Center for the first time in the 2015-16 season. The Pens will host the Carolina Hurricanes tonight at 7:00 p.m. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury, Kris Letang and Phil Kessel (above) are all expected to play for the Pens. 105.9 WXDX-FM Pirates (90-60) lefty J.A. Happ will continue his audition for a spot in the postseason ... Read More
AM Joe: Bucs in Denver as manager Hurdle faces former squad
Good morning, Pittsburgh. Here's your day in sports for Sunday, September 20, 2015. What's on tap for today: The Penguins (0-0-0) will open their preseason with a 7:00 p.m. face-off against the Blue Jackets in Columbus, Ohio. 105.9 WXDX-FM The Pirates (89-60) are in Denver for the first of a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies (63-86). Pirates manager Clint Hurlde was the manager of the Rockies from 2002 to 2009 and took them all the way to the World Series in 2007 (right). A.J. ... Read More
AM Joe: ‘Ground Chuck’ on the lunch menu for Bucs/Cubs
Good morning, Pittsburgh. Here's your day in sports for Thursday, September 17, 2015. What's on tap for today: The Penguins will open training camp at their new Cranberry Twp. practice facility. General manager Jim Rutherford and head coach Mike Johnston will speak to the media around 11:00 a.m. The Pirates (87-58) will try to salvage a split of their four-game series with the Chicago Cubs (84-61) this afternoon. Charlie Morton will do the heavy lifting for the Bucs. First pitch is at ... Read More
Mike Johnston fared well in debut season as Penguins coach
Mike Johnston fared about as well as expected as a rookie coach in the 2014–15 season. The numbers stack up well against other coaches debuts, while Johnston arguably faced greater challenges and adversity throughout the season, namely injury and salary cap woes. Of 12 NHL coaches, only five finished debut seasons with higher win percentages compared to a 0.598 win percentage by Johnston. Five of the 12, including Johnston, lost in the first round of the postseason, while only two advanced ... Read More
AM Joe: Playoff spot on line in Hounds home finale
Good morning, Pittsburgh. Here's your day in sports for Wednesday, September 16, 2015. What's on tap for today: The Pirates (87-57) will go up against Chicago Cubs (83-61) Jake Arreita in what could be a preview of the NL Wild Card game. A.J. Burnett takes the mound for the Bucs at 7:05 p.m. ROOT Sports Pittsburgh. The Riverhounds will host the first-place Rochester Rhinos in their final home match of 2015 tonight. The Hounds are one point out of playoff position with two games to ... Read More
Pens will bring 53 players to camp on Thursday
After a long offseason, the Pittsburgh Penguins will step on to the ice for the first time in the 2015-16 season this week. It’s been the second consecutive offseason of change for the franchise. A year ago, the team completely restructured the front office and coaching staff. This offseason, the team has been put up for sale, opened a new practice facility and brought in 16 players – most notably, right-winger Phil Kessel -- that will be taking to the ice wearing a skating penguin for the ... Read More
AM Joe: Let’s play two
Good morning, Pittsburgh. Here's your day in sports for Monday, September 14, 2015. What's on tap for today: The Pirates (86-56) will play their first two games of their four game series against the Chicago Cubs in the first doubleheader of the 2015 season for the Bucs. Gerrit Cole and J.A. Happ will take the mound for the Pirates. First pitch its at 1:35 p.m. The second game is expected to start around 7:05 p.m. ROOT Sports Pittsburgh. Steelers (0-1) head coach Mike Tomlin will have ... Read More
Penguins rookie tournament recap
The Pittsburgh Penguins went 2-1 over the weekend at the annual rookie tournament in London, Ontario. On Friday, they defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in overtime, then on Saturday they beat the Ottawa Senators, 4-1, and finally on Sunday, they fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-2. They came out as the overall winners for the weekend, earning four of a possible six points. Defensemen Derrick Pouliot got to demonstrate the results of his summer training with Gary Roberts in Toronto. Pouliot ... Read More
AM Joe: Bucs close to 2.5 games back on Cardinals
Good morning, Pittsburgh. Here's your day in sports for Saturday, September 12, 2015. What's on tap for today: The rest of the NFL kicks off the 2015 season today, starting at 1:00 p.m. KDKA-TV, CBS The Pirates (85-56) Have a Sunday matinee at 1:35 as the go for the series win in their four-game slate with the Milwaukee Brewers (62-80). Francisco Liriano will start for the Bucs. A win would put them just two games back of St. Louis for first place in the NL Central. ROOT Sports ... Read More
Who is the next great Pittsburgh-born NHLer?
Almost everyone knows about Ryan Malone, R.J. Umberger, Josh Gibson, J.T. Miller, Vince Trocheck and other current NHL players that are from the Pittsburgh region. But what about the next generation of Pittsburgh hockey talent? Just like Malone idolized Mario Lemieux, and Miller grew up during Jaromir Jagr's reign as the best player in the world, there is a group of young players that have developed in Western Pennsylvania since Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have taken up the Penguins ... Read More