Mark Madden stories, Page 26

When Mike Tomlin got hired to coach the Steelers in 2007, he inherited Ben Roethlisberger. Until now, he’s never replaced his quarterback. You can tell. He doesn’t know how to do it. Kenny Pickett turns 24 on June 6. He started 49 games during his Blutarsky-esque tenure at Pitt. If...

If the Pittsburgh Penguins continue performing as they have for the past month, they’re going to get swept in the first round of the NHL playoffs. Not just eliminated, but swept. The Penguins have lost 11 of 17 and appear to be slowing down with every game. They nearly ground...

The buildup to the Pittsburgh Steelers draft has been analyzed in overwrought and unnecessarily complicated fashion. The Steelers have a board, like every other NFL team. It ranks draft-eligible athletes in descending order of preference after due diligence is done. When somebody is selected, his name gets crossed off. When...

The bad side of high school sports got unfortunate exposure when a coach sadly chose to be a manipulator instead of an adult. A number of Bishop Canevin athletes competed as members of Carlynton’s boys track team as part of a WPIAL-sanctioned co-op. Between 10-15 of those Canevin athletes boycotted...

After Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Casey DeSmith made 52 saves to shut out Boston, 4-0, at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday, coach Mike Sullivan wouldn’t directly address the possibility of DeSmith starting in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Nor would winger Jake Guentzel. Nor would winger Jason Zucker. Nor would DeSmith himself....

The NFL Draft is a week away. The Pittsburgh Steelers have two options: Do a showbiz draft. Do a draft that 100% benefits the team. The showbiz draft consists of taking a quarterback with the 20th pick overall, then a wide receiver in the second round. Perhaps some tenuous connection...

With Tristan Jarry potentially out for the start of the playoffs with a reported broken foot, the Penguins have a goaltending dilemma. But it’s nobody’s fault. Sure, GM Ron Hextall could have traded for a backup superior to Casey DeSmith. Perhaps Hextall should have. But would that acquisition win a...

Mike Bossy was like a metronome. Nonstop. Inexorable. He scored, then scored again. The New York Islanders right wing netted 573 times in 752 regular-season games, 85 times in 129 playoff games, 13 times in 15 international games. That’s 671 goals of some gravitas, and a ton looked the same:...

Jake Guentzel is a coach’s kid and Sidney Crosby’s linemate. That’s a combination that dictates excellence. “Guentzel is as perfect as can be without being Sid.” That’s what ex-Pittsburgh Penguin and current TV analyst Mike Rupp said after Guentzel dropped two goals and two assists in the Penguins’ 6-3 home...

Scottie Scheffler won the Masters. He finished 23 strokes ahead of Tiger Woods, who finished 47th but was somehow the story. Skip Bayless of Fox said that as far as he’s concerned, Woods won the Masters. Bayless referred to Scheffler as “the bland leading the bland.” That’s wrong and unfair....

If you’re talking about the Pittsburgh Penguins, you can currently count on one man and one man only. That’s the captain. Sidney Crosby willed his team to victory over visiting Nashville on Sunday with two goals and an assist, netting the winner in overtime. Evgeni Malkin, meanwhile, is mostly a...

“SIGN THE HONEY BADGER!” It’s the war cry of local fanboys who want to collect football cards, not build a team. Tyrann Mathieu is a good safety. A bit beat up at 29, perhaps, thanks to being extremely physical, 5-foot-9, and having played nine NFL seasons. But he’s a three-time...

The Pittsburgh Penguins are standing at the crossroads. I believe they’re sinking down. The Penguins aren’t among the cream of the NHL crop. If they think that, they’re lying to themselves. If they believe they’re faster than the New York Rangers, that’s another whopper. If the Penguins feel they can...

Thursday’s matchup between the Pittsburgh Penguins and host New York Rangers isn’t a playoff game. But it’s got implications beyond a mere regular-season contest. The Penguins and Rangers are a good bet to play in the first round of the playoffs. The Rangers have beaten the Penguins two straight times,...

The Penguins are difficult to figure. They are on pace for 108 points, have the seventh-best record in the NHL and have allowed the sixth-fewest goals in the league. (That last factoid is so un-Penguins. It looks like a typo.) But Saturday’s 3-2 loss at Colorado was a microcosm of...

Mario Lemieux made a pass, then broke free to take an easy return feed. But the puck never got there. The rec-league player who took Lemieux’s dish tried to instead beat a defender one-on-one. That’s the beauty of the Mario Lemieux Fantasy Hockey Camp: Everybody is equal. (The puck hog...

The Toxic Twins are back at it. Marvel at their rare blend of stupidity and narcissism. (Actually, that’s a common combination.) “I still feel like I can put up big numbers, and I see what (other receivers) are getting paid,” Antonio Brown said. “I just wonder why my value isn’t...

There were disturbing takeaways from the Penguins’ 3-2 home loss to the New York Rangers on Tuesday. • The Penguins are built on speed, but the Rangers are clearly faster. That was evident Tuesday and in each of the Penguins’ three games vs. the Rangers. The Rangers’ forecheck overwhelmed. The...

Quarterback Deshaun Watson had his introductory news conference as a member of the Cleveland Browns. It was absurd and awkward. How couldn’t it be? The self-righteous brigade wanted Watson to make a full confession to his alleged sexual transgressions in Houston, triggering a lifetime suspension by the NFL and renewed...

When the Pittsburgh Penguins lost to the host New York Rangers, 5-1, on Friday, it was their third game in four days. The Rangers hadn’t played since Tuesday. When asked about the effect of that scheduling inequity, Coach Mike Sullivan said, “That’s the challenge of playing in the (NHL). You’ve...

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was at various college pro days making goo-goo eyes at quarterbacks. Liberty’s Malik Willis made Tomlin “giddy,” it was reported. Willis and Tomlin had dinner. Tomlin ate wings, just like a regular guy. (Then again, wings cost as much as steak right now.) Tomlin was said...

Regulation NHL rinks measure 200 feet by 85 feet. But Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel could ply their craft in a phone booth. If that’s an exaggeration, it’s a slight one. Crosby and Guentzel are hockey’s best at playing in small areas, sometimes almost on top of each other. They...

Pittsburgh Penguins GM Ron Hextall was in a tough spot as Monday’s NHL trade deadline approached. This is the Penguins’ last chance to make a playoff run with the current core, which makes it the team’s last chance for the foreseeable future. That’s beyond debate. Hextall had to strengthen. If...

JuJu Smith-Schuster is a testament to the power of self-promotion via social media. He was one of the most popular Steelers in recent memory. But Smith-Schuster wasn’t really that good. He had one great season in five: 2018, when he caught 111 passes for 1,426 yards as Antonio Brown absorbed...

Evgeni Malkin has gone six games without a point. It’s the longest slump of his career. But he’s playing OK. Malkin has taken on a bigger physical burden than usual. He’s trying hard to get things accomplished. He had points in seven consecutive games prior. Malkin’s problem is his wingers....