First Call: Can the Maulers return in the new USFL?; a snag in Robert Morris hockey talks already; Jordan Staal comes up big

Friday’s “First Call” wonders if a return of the Pittsburgh Maulers could be coming.

Brandon Saad and Jordan Staal are keeping Pittsburgh hockey fans interested in the NHL playoffs. Gerrit Cole gets burned by an ex-Pirates teammate.

And things may already be going backward in the Robert Morris hockey negotiations.

More of the Maulers?

The USFL is coming back. Will the Pittsburgh Maulers be returning with it?

Via Pro Football Talk, “The first incarnation of the USFL failed after three seasons when the league tried to move games to the fall and compete with the NFL in 1986, but plans to relaunch the league were announced on Thursday. Spring League founder and CEO Brian Woods has partnered with FOX Sports to bring the league back as an eight-team operation that will play in spring 2022.”

Fox is also apparently getting a stake in operation itself. It’s not clear where teams will play or what they will be called. But, according to PFT, the USFL “retains rights to key original team names” from the inaugural version of the league.

So, if Pittsburgh gets a team, yes, the Maulers could be returning. And oh, what a glorious moment that will be.

Bust out your purple and white Mike Rozier No. 30, folks! The original Maulers went 3-15 in 1984, their lone year of existence.

Saad staying hot

Gibsonia’s Brandon Saad is on a hot streak in the NHL playoffs.

The Colorado Avalanche forward beat Las Vegas Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury for a goal Wednesday night.

Okay but did you see the sneaky Saad move there

BRILLIANT#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/VYhYn9C33N

— p - Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) June 3, 2021

That gives him a goal in each of the past five games. The NHL record is 10, set by Philadelphia Flyers winger Reggie Leach in 1976.

Colorado won that game 3-2 in overtime. The Avs have won all six of their playoff games so far and hold a 2-0 lead on Vegas in the second round of the West Division playoffs. Game 3 is in Las Vegas on Friday night.

Saad had eight postseason goals with the Chicago Blackhawks during their Stanley Cup run in 2015.

Jumping Jordan

Former Penguins forward Jordan Staal is racking up points as well for the Carolina Hurricanes.

He scored a power-play, overtime game winner on a deflection as the ’Canes beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in Game 3 of their Central Division playoff series on Thursday night.

Take warning, we've got a @Canes OT winner inbound❗ #StanleyCup

NHL x @massmutual pic.twitter.com/DPwvtAc9IM

— NHL (@NHL) June 4, 2021

That was Staal’s fifth goal of the postseason. The Lightning still lead the series 2-1. Game 4 is Sunday.

Bombed in the Bronx

Former Pirate Gerrit Cole got smoked at Yankee Stadium on Thursday. And a fellow former Bucco did most of the damage.

Cole yielded five earned runs in five innings against the Tampa Bay Rays, en route to a 9-2 defeat. And Tampa’s Austin Meadows took his former teammate deep.

The Magnificent Meadows, VOL 14 pic.twitter.com/U9KdZwv3CG

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) June 3, 2021

That was Meadows’ 14th home run. Cole falls to 6-3. His ERA jumped from 1.78 to 2.26 in the process. The Rays lead the American League East with a 36-22 record. That’s two games better than the Boston Red Sox and four and a half games better than the Yankees.

That was quick

Just a day ago, we told you that Murry Gunty’s Black Bear Sports Group had made initial contact with Robert Morris University about a potential partnership that may resurrect the school’s recently cut hockey teams.

Black Bear owns and operates 27 ice rinks nationwide. The group was aiming to buy RMU’s Island Sports Center or at least partner with the school in some way to alleviate operational costs or offset renovation expenses in an effort to perhaps keep the men’s and women’s teams playing.

Apparently, those conversations have already hit a snag.

A source close to the negotiation say Gunty has been turned off by the extent and scope of the initial non-disclosure agreement. And there is apparently language in the deal that Black Bear feels would limit their ability to operate their existing rinks in the Pittsburgh area.

Those include locations in Canonsburg, Delmont and New Kensington.

There had been hope that Gunty and the Penguins may be able to partner to support the goal of keeping Division I hockey alive in Pittsburgh. That long shot suddenly — and quickly — appears to be getting longer.