July 4
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Penguins coach Dan Bylsma's staff will have a different look next season. Tom Fitzgerald has relinquished his duties as an assistant coach and accepted a new position as assistant to general manager Ray Shero. Dan MacKinnon, who formerly served as director of professional scouting, will fill the role of director of player personnel that Fitzgerald held before joining Bylsma's staff on Feb. 15 after the Penguins fired former coach Michel Therrien. Mike Yeo, a holdover assistant from Therrien's staff, will remain behind the bench. Fitzgerald said last weekend that he had not decided upon his future. However, his family is deeply rooted in the Boston area and he admitted that could play a ..."
July 4
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Coaches interested in joining Dan Bylsma's Penguins staff should be prepared to answer one question: "How are you going to help this team get better?" head coach Bylsma said Friday after the Penguins announced that Tom Fitzgerald has excused himself from assistant duties to accept a new position of assistant to the general manager. Fitzgerald, who worked with forwards and penalty killers after joining Bylsma's staff Feb. 15, was originally hired by the Penguins two years ago for a front office position. He began last season as director of player development. Fitzgerald jumped behind the bench only because former assistant Andre Savard was re-assigned within the organization after Bylsma ..."
July 4
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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A Ukrainian assured American-born Penguins coach Dan Bylsma of a wonderful Independence Day weekend. Winger Ruslan Fedotneko agreed to a one-year deal Friday with the Penguins, taking $450,000 less than he earned last season - and turning down more lucrative offers - for a shot to win the Stanley Cup again. Fedotenko, 30, will earn $1,800,000 next season. He made $2,250,000 last season, which wrapped with his second Cup victory. Bylsma, who increased Fedotenko's responsibilities upon replacing former Penguins coach Michel Therrien on Feb. 15, was quite satisfied with the developments on the third day of the NHL free-agent signing period. "Being able to put Ruslan back up there on our board ..."
July 3
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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With defenseman Rob Scuderi off to Los Angeles, the Penguins remain engaged in discussions with representatives for wingers Ruslan Fedotenko and Petr Sykora, the two most notable of five remaining free agents. Scuderi, 30, has agreed to a four-year deal worth an average annual salary of $3.4 million, his agent confirmed. The Penguins are thought to have offered a five year deal at a $2 million annual average salary, though the club would not confirm those details. "I always had hoped maybe something could be worked out," Scuderi said. "It was strictly a numbers thing, not a lack of need or want on either side. "Of the offers I was considering, certainly, hockey-wise, (the Kings were) up ..."
July 2
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Sidney Crosby was a lock, but he'll have company in August at Canada's men's ice hockey Olympic orientation camp. Joining the Penguins' captain and top center will be center Jordan Staal and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who silenced many of his critics last month by winning the Stanley Cup. The camp will be held in Calgary from Aug. 24-27. Crosby, 21, Fleury, 24, and Staal, 20, are three of 46 players invited to the Canadian camp. Invitations do not guarantee a spot on the 2010 Canada men's ice hockey Olympic team, but Crosby is a virtual lock for that squad. Fleury and Staal, who scored two goals in the 2009 Cup Final, will have a chance to play his way onto the roster with a strong first ..."
July 2
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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One part of the Penguins' shutdown defense pair will not return next season. Defenseman Hal Gill, who paired with Rob Scuderi to go against top opposing forwards, has signed with the Montreal Canadiens. Canada's TSN reports Gill, 34, has signed with Montreal for two years at $4,500,000 total. The Penguins were not interested in a multi-year deal with Gill. Mathieu Garon will go from backing up Marc-Andre Fleury to serving as the No. 2 to Steve Mason in Columbus, where he will play for the next two years at $1,200,000 million annually. The Penguins added checking-line winger Mike Rupp with a two-year deal. Rupp, 29, spent the past three seasons with New Jersey. He will count $850,000 ..."
July 1
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Penguins defensemen Brooks Orpik and Rob Scuderi have been invited to the 2009 U.S. Olympic men's ice hockey orientation camp. In all 34 players representing 22 NHL teams were invited to the camp, set for Aug. 17-19 in Woodridge, Ill. The camp is designed to assist in the preparation for the 2010 U.S. Olympic men's ice hockey team that will compete at the Vancouver Winter Games from Feb. 12-28. Orpik and Scuderi will be greeted by some familiar faces, as former teammates Ryan Whitney and Ryan Malone also received invites. Whitney, a defenseman with Anaheim, and Malone, a winger and Upper St. Clair native now with Tampa Bay, joined Orpik and Scuderi on the Penguins' 2008 Stanley Cup Final ..."
June 30
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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By keeping a couple of wingers Monday, the Penguins left themselves not much of a prayer to retain a trio of key contributors to their Stanley Cup championship squad. After re-signing veteran wingers Bill Guerin and Craig Adams, Penguins general manager Ray Shero has today to secure the services of other notable players eligible to become unrestricted free agents Wednesday - specifically winger Ruslan Fedotenko and shutdown defense paring Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill. That won't be easy and might prove impossible. With Guerin, who signed for one year at $2 million, and Adams, at $1.10 million total over the next two seasons, the Penguins are committed to $51,218,000 for 17 players next season. ..."
June 30
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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The Penguins today re-signed forward Craig Adams to a two-year contract. Adams, 32, was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent July 1. Adams, acquired off waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks in February, became a capable role player for the Penguins in their run to the Stanley Cup championship. In 24 playoff games, he contributed three goals and two assists. In the regular-season, he had one point in nine games with the Penguins. Adams has accumulated 37 goals and 53 assists in 507 career NHL games. "Craig is a steady, reliable, physical player who was an important part of our mix this season," general manager Ray Shero said. "He plays with a lot of grit, but he also contributed ..."
June 29
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Without the other kid selected by the Penguins in the 2005 entry draft, Sid the Kid might not have become the youngest captain in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup. Crosby, their 21-year-old captain and goal-scoring leader in 2009 playoffs, was the first overall pick in 2005. Selecting him was the no-brain choice of this hockey generation for then-Penguins general manager Craig Patrick. "That's true," Penguins goalie coach Gilles Meloche said, "but we got one hell of a bargain with that third-round pick." Without that pick - a slick, right-handed shooting defenseman named Kris Letang - the Penguins would not have won the Stanley Cup earlier this month, Meloche said. And they certainly ..."
June 28
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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It wasn't quite all in the family for the Penguins on Day 2 of the NHL entry draft, but a couple of their selections had a "Those Were the Days" vibe. "Bloodlines probably won't be a factor in any of us making it to the NHL, but it's cool to talk about," center Andy Bathgate said late Saturday afternoon after the Penguins selected him on the fifth round. "At least people will know how to spell our names in Pittsburgh right away." Bathgate wasn't at Bell Center yesterday to hear his name announced as the 151st overall pick - an acquisition that simply had to happen after the Penguins used their second-round selection on defenseman Philip Samuelsson (61st overall) and an earlier fifth-round ..."
June 28
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Good times have a short shelf life in the NHL. "We have to turn the page at some point," Penguins general manager Ray Shero said Saturday after the last round of the NHL Draft at Bell Center. Their Cup win not even three weeks old, the Penguins are preparing for yet another busy offseason. Free agency opens Wednesday. Shero started finger-flipping through his offseason playbook last week, discussing parameters of a new contract with winger Bill Guerin - one of eight potential unrestricted free agents to play at least one Final game with the Penguins. Guerin was offered a one-year deal (salary unknown), and Shero is confident "he wants to come back." "More likely (on) Monday we'll look to ..."
June 26
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Jay Heinbuck doesn't see the waiting as the hardest part. "Thirty is a nice number to have," said Heinbuck, the Penguins director of amateur scouting, of the club's final-slot selection spot tonight in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft at Bell Center. "Thirty is a lot better than 120, where we made our pick last year." As Stanley Cup champions, the Penguins will pick last in the opening round tonight, and they own the final selection in all but two of the final six rounds Saturday. However, with a high third-round pick acquired from Tampa Bay last season for the rights to wingers Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts, the Penguins possess three of the first 63 selections this weekend. They did ..."
June 25
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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The Stanley Cup was Must-See TV for Pittsburghers. According to Nielsen Media Research, more than 485,000 local television viewers watched Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Penguins and Detroit Red Wings. The NBC broadcast June 12 drew a 42.2 rating - the highest local mark for an NHL game since the league began tracking in 1995. One local rating point equates to 11,500 viewers. Also, 61 percent of regional television sets were tuned to Game 7, won by the Penguins to claim their third championship. The one quarter-hour peak rating/share was 54.6/73, with another quarter-hour at 53.1/73. "These are NFL-type rating numbers," Penguins president David Morehouse said, adding that he ..."
June 25
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Last week's Downtown parade celebrating the Penguins' Stanley Cup victory will cost taxpayers nearly $72,600, city officials said today. An estimated 375,000 fans lined a mile-long parade route June 15 from Mellon Arena - the home of the Penguins - to a huge LED screen and reviewing stand at the corner of the Boulevard of the Allies and Stanwix Street. The Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 on June 12 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in Detroit's Joe Louis Arena. Public Works officials set up scores of barricades along the parade route. Police patrolled the parade route to keep back crowds and stood on nearly every street corner. Two people were arrested; 23 were treated for ..."
June 21
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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As you might have heard, the Penguins are Stanley Cup champions. Unfortunately, they won't have long to savor the moment. The NHL entry draft is this weekend at Montreal, and many big-name players are expected to move - likely to some Eastern Conference teams with the Penguins in their sights. The free-agent period opens in 10 days, and as Penguins fans learned last summer the makeup of a team can change dramatically after July 1. As general manager Ray Shero said this week, "This difficult part comes next, because everybody has emotions, and this organization has a deep connection to players that went on this journey." Seven players active for Game 7 of the Cup Final can become ..."
June 21
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
columnist Joe Starkey
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Ryan Malone watched Game 7 from a bachelor party, but we'll get to that in a minute. First, let's be frank: If a man owns even an ounce of humility, he will, at some point, find himself in a reflective mode during his most triumphant moments, thinking of those who lit the trail for him. So, it was for the Stanley Cup-champion Penguins of 2009. Executives, coaches, players and scouts echoed a similar refrain in the wake of a dramatic Game 7 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. "I'm going to celebrate with the people who helped me get here," assistant coach Mike Yeo said Monday, during the parade, when asked how he would spend his day with the Cup. "That might sound boring, but it's the ..."
June 20
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Penguins center Evgeni "Geno" Malkin was surprised to hear the words leave his mouth during a conversation two years ago with his father. "We talked after my first year, and he asked how I like Pittsburgh," Malkin recalled Sunday, fewer than 48 hours after winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as Most Valuable Player of the playoffs. "'Pittsburgh is very good for me,' I tell him. Other cities in America are too big, so fast. Nice to see, not good to live. Pittsburgh is good place to live. Nice people. Helpful. Leave you alone, but also support you. "'Pittsburgh is the place for me,' I tell him. Now he agrees." Since 2006, Evgeni Malkin has matured from a shy 20-year-old with tons of potential ..."
June 19
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Standing on the red carpet leading into the NHL Awards Show at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas, Penguins coach Dan Bylsma almost had a story for the ages Thursday. His cell phone, low on battery charge, rang and a voice said, "Hold for the President..." "I was scared big-time," Bylsma said. "I didn't know he was calling. My phone charger is broken, and I was down to my last bar. I was scared it was going to go out. "In the two seconds that I'm waiting to hear from him, I'm wondering, 'Does the President call back?'" President Barack Obama would know what area code to dial. His congratulatory call to Bylsma, whose Penguins won the Stanley Cup last Friday, was his second to a member of a ..."
June 19
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
columnist Joe Starkey
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Before we get to the topic at hand - the rematch that really must happen - a quick story from Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final: That morning, in a 2-on-1 drill with Tyler Kennedy, Sidney Crosby beat Marc-Andre Fleury to the far high corner, and the puck stuck in the top of the net, below the crossbar, twisted in the twine. I hadn't seen such a thing in 14 years of watching mostly monotonous morning skates. What made it more interesting was the Penguins' refusal to remove the puck. It stayed stuck up there for the duration of the skate. "We were admiring it," Kennedy said that morning. Crosby was asked if it might be a good omen. "I hope so," he said. It sure seemed that way when Max Talbot ..."
June 19
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Giving directions to people lost in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh is nothing new for Andy Redman. Redman, 26, of Springdale Township, has been a police officer with the University of Pittsburgh for about two years. But when two men in a black sport utility vehicle flagged him down shortly before 9 p.m. Monday on Forbes Avenue and said they were lost and trying to get the Stanley Cup to Mario Lemieux's house, Redman was skeptical. Then they showed him the Cup. The Cup that Sidney Crosby hoisted over his head in Detroit after his team won Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Cup that had been paraded before hundreds of thousands gathered downtown earlier that day to celebrate the city's ..."