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The Big Announcement: Matt Gajtka Joins Pittsburgh Hockey Now!

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Dan Kingerski and Matt Gajtka, freezing on the North Side on Friday.

How many Polish guys does it take to cover hockey? At least two! Pittsburgh Hockey Now is pleased to announce former Penguins beat writer Matt Gajtka has joined both the staff and management of PHN.

Matt had covered the Penguins and the NHL since 2015 at DKPittsburghSports.com, holding the role of lead hockey reporter this season, but that’s far from the extent of his puck-heavy background. Prior to that, he served as sports information director for the Robert Morris University varsity men’s hockey team, a gig that brought him back to the region after chasing the hockey dream elsewhere.

After graduating from Marshall University with a broadcast journalism degree in 2007, Matt set up shop in the United States Hockey League for two seasons, working in a media and broadcasting capacity for both the Youngstown Phantoms and Muskegon Lumberjacks. (No, he never met Jock Callander or Dave Michayluk at the latter stop.) He also co-founded City of Champions, an all-around Pittsburgh sports website on the FanSided network, running operations there from 2011-15. On top of all that, Matt has been the voice of the Peters Township varsity boy’s hockey program for the past three seasons, broadcasting home and road games on Facebook Live with help from our friends at Pittsburgh Hockey Digest.

Now, Matt is set to contribute intelligent, in-depth multimedia content in the form of written stories, podcasts and videos as co-owner of PHN.

“Getting a chance to both continue to cover the Penguins and participate in a true partnership at PHN is a perfect opportunity at this stage of my career,” Gajtka said. “Can’t wait to dig my skates in.”

Clearly no opponent of corny wordplay, Matt will contribute his first story to PHN on Monday, Feb. 5.

Until then, find him on Twitter and Facebook, as well as in this intro video he and I shot Friday on the North Side: