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Photo by Ben Jackson/NHLI via Training camp this week debuted everything from a new defense pairing to a revamped bottom six. Since Mike Sullivan stepped in as head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins in December 2015, he’s seen everything from two championships to the team’s first postseason whiff in 17 years. But he’s never seen anything quite like this week’s training camp. “This might be the most competitive group of players we have ever assembled,” Sullivan said Friday, per the Penguins on X, formerly known as Twitter. The Penguins began training camp on...

Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire via The first new winger in training camp for Sidney Crosby was veteran Vinnie Hinostroza When the Penguins got on the ice yesterday, a big question to be answered would be which forward would fill the spot on Sidney Crosby’s wing. It’s a temporary job with Jake Guentzel is on the shelf, but an important one nonetheless. As it turned out, it was Vinnie Hinostroza skating with Crosby and Bryan Rust. This development could mean something for the future, or it could be nothing — just ask Valtteri Puustinen who started training...

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports New look Penguins open training camp in Cranberry after a summer of change. There is still a bit of waiting left to do before the Pittsburgh Penguins start playing hockey that matters but Thursday was a good first step towards that with training camp getting underway for the 2023/24 season at UPMC Lemieux in Cranberry. After a summer of upheaval, this was the first sign of a return to normalcy with the Penguins back on the ice. [Pensburgh] Pens Points... On the first day of camp, players were split into three different groups with...

Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via A look at who is playing where early on in Penguins training camp With 58 healthy players on the ice and currently with the club, the Penguins have announced how they are divvying up into three groups for practices to start out their training camp. NHL training camps always move quickly and are subject to have players flip as soon as tomorrow if the coaches decide to do so. Either way, this current incarnation and split of the talent won’t last very long based on the scheduling. The rhythm of the early days of camp have the Pens...

Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via We continue our position-by-position look at the competition in the Metropolitan Division. We wrap up our look at the positional rankings across the Metropolitan Division with a look at the top-10 goalies in the division. Two different teams have multiple players crack the list (including one team that, shockingly, has three goalies) while one team does not get a single player in the top-10 (Columbus Blue Jackets starter Elvis Merzlikins does not make the top-10 here). Let’s get to the list! 1. Ilya Sorokin, New York Islanders. Not...

Photo by Gregory Shamus/NHLI via The Pens set their TV broadcast teams and a heaping helping of news and notes as training camp officially kicks off on the ice today! Per multiple reports, SportsNet Pittsburgh, announced four game & studio analysts for Penguins telecasts. Colby Armstrong as in-game color analyst and studio analyst, Phil Bourque will jump over from radio to do TV color analyzing and Mike Rupp as in-game color analyst and studio analyst. Jay Caufield will also be back as a studio analyst. [Twitter - Bob Pompeani] Erik Karlsson is having fun already in...

Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire via No one was happy at the end of last season The season’s getting close when Elliotte Friedman drops a written version of 32 Thoughts. And here we are to breakdown the Penguin-related notes on a full bag of tea getting dished out that goes heavy on the topic du jour around the NHL about Mike Babcock’s exit from Columbus (and OK, apologies to Japers Rink and a retroactive bump up for their coach from the prior ranking earlier this month). Written 32. https://t.co/HsAtVBZaOD— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) September 19,...

Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire via Today’s episode is out a day later than its usual Monday release, but we have some news to share with you. We have another extra-extra large mailbag for you fine purveyors of the Skating Penguin Network this week. Today’s episode is out a day later than its usual Monday release, but we have some news to share with you. We have launched the official Skating Penguin Network YouTube channel. Starting with next week’s mailbag and all videos moving forward, the channel will be home to all future podcast episodes, which can...

Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via A new season is about to begin The long but incredibly busy summer for the Pittsburgh Penguins is almost over. Training camp officially begins tomorrow, even though most players have been in town and skating for weeks. The team reports for off-ice events tomorrow and gets back out there for practices on Thursday to being a pre-season leading up to the regular season opener on October 10th against Chicago. From the team: The players will take the ice for the first day of camp at 9:00 AM on Thursday, September 21 with Teams 1 and 2...

@wbspenguins The Pens get ready for the real thing after a quality finish in Buffalo to the Prospects Challenge The Penguins’ youngsters finished up a three-game set in Buffalo at the Prospects Challenge yesterday after securing a 3-0 victory against the host Sabres. The Pens downed Ottawa 8-3 on Saturday following a 4-2 loss to Boston in the opener on Friday. Here was the lineup: A few random, various thoughts: Joel Blomqvist picked up the shutout, going the distance and making 34 saves along the way. Promising to see, after a somewhat shaky start to...

Photo by Ethan Miller/ The Pens have names but a weird mix on the wings Well gang, we’ve almost made it. The Penguins officially report for training camp tomorrow, and get back on the ice formally for practices starting on Thursday. For a crash course on the changes of a very busy summer, we’ve talked about the goalies, defensemen and centers in preview-style for the season. Next and last up: the wingers. Kyle Dubas made his mark by switching up the team at every level, and the wing positions are no different. But while most of the other positions look relatively...

Pittsburgh Penguins It’s become a rite of passage for the Penguins players. Several lucky fans had some dreams come true yesterday as Penguins players continued the annual tradition of hand-delivering season tickets across the area. When you realize Sidney Crosby is the one delivering your season tickets pic.twitter.com/Pd7Fn7ntoc— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 18, 2023 It’s become a rite of passage for the Penguins players, making visits at different homes throughout the Pittsburgh region, spending time with fans, their kids, and even their...

Photo by Melynda Pilon/NHLI via The Pens have set their new radio team, with a familiar voice joining up Steve Mears was recently removed from the Penguins’ television broadcast, but he won’t be going too far. Mears was tabbed as the team’s new radio play-by-play voice, to join Phil Bourque for the 2023-24 season. The Penguins have named Steve Mears play-by-play broadcaster of the Penguins Radio Network. Mears joins long-time color analyst Phil Bourque in the broadcast booth, while Paul Steigerwald will continue his duties as pre and post-game host.Details:...

@pensinsidescoop A new cult hero emerges Few things are better in the sport of hockey than the obscure cult hero. A new one is budding in Jagger Joshua. His name is cool to say. He’s a ton of fun to watch play hockey - using his size and going out of his way to be physical before and after the whistle. It’s a throwback style, and it’s going to earn a lot of fans. In fact, even non-partisan Buffalo natives were won over by Jagger’s antics in the Penguin prospects 8-3 win over Ottawa on Saturday. Joshua was a heat magnet, throwing out huge hits all game and...

Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire via Big moves happening for the Pens forward It was a big summer for Drew O’Connor that started off by representing Team USA at the World Championships (and being among the highest-scoring players on the team). He also celebrated his 25th birthday in June and signed a two-year contract with the Penguins to pay him a total of $1.85 million in August. But those achievement pale in comparison to earning a degree from an Ivy League school, which he also found the time to do. Former @Dartmouth_MIH standout Drew O’Connor returned...