Dan’s Daily: Penguins Mess; Canadiens Shopping; Where is Kingerski?!

EDMONTON, Alberta — The Pittsburgh Penguins find themselves in another fine mess, and it’s not Stanley’s fault. The external howling for coach Mike Sullivan’s job was a primary focus of the impromptu Pittsburgh Hockey Now Q&A, which also dealt with Joel Blomqvist’s progression and the changes Sullivan needs to make. Elsewhere in the Daily, the Montreal Canadiens are hitting the NHL trade market looking for an edgy forward. Brad Marchand directly refuted Elliotte Friedman’s report–by name–that Marchand was close to a three-year deal with the Boston Bruins. Nottingham of the English league honored Adam Johnson.

And just so Penguins fans don’t feel isolated, Toronto is concerned about the Maple Leafs’ inability to avoid mistakes that are costing them games.

The Penguins will practice at the UPMC Lemieux Complex at noon today. I very well might be there but if not, Shelly Anderson is already scheduled. If you didn’t follow my whining and sarcastic putdowns on X, I’m in travel hell. Delta Airlines check-in clerks left before my plane from Vancouver to Calgary–where I was to get a connection to Minneapolis then Pittsburgh–arrived. They had other jobs to do, so they just left the counter and were not available to issue my next ticket. I was officially going to be stranded in Calgary for days until a WestJet employee figured out a circuitous route to get me home. It involved an eight hour wait in Calgary. A six hour layover in Edmonton. Then a redeye to Atlanta for a tight connection to Pittsburgh.

A fun little moment from the road trip:

I don’t know if any of you saw the moment from last Thurday after the Penguins practiced in Edmonton. Debonaire Sportsnet reporter Gene Principe asked Sullivan the Jarry question, but from an entirely new angle and I think it even caught Sullivan by surprise. Gene asked, “What does the support from the organization mean to Tristan while he’s struggling?”

It took the Penguins coach a moment to adjust to the purely positive question. I loved it, both the question and Sullivan adjusting on the fly.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Penguins spent six minutes not in heaven, but in hell Saturday night. They gave up all four goals against in six minutes in the second period. It took a while to form my thoughts on the game. Here’s where I’m at — It’s time for coach Mike Sullivan to send some very LOUD messages to the Penguins lineup.

PHN Video: Can anything fix this? The postgame video deals with the Penguins biggest problem.

I’m not sure what was in the water this weekend on social media but it started badly and got ugly. Of course, I’m not one who’s going to take it, so I may have fired back at those who personally attack me over my coverage, especially over Sullivan. So, we used to the energy to have a pretty thorough Q&A session. We got some pretty good questions, including the million dollar Q on Mike Sullivan.

I promise nothing but the truth as best I can deliver it.

SteelersNow: Go ahead, guess. Guess who is in first place in the AFC North after a wild slate of Sunday NFL games. Yep, here are the details and scenarios, but it is the Pittsburgh Steelers.

NHL Trade Talk, News & National Hockey Now

Sportsnet: Montreal has been the subject of most of the early season NHL trade rumors. They don’t have salary cap space to burn but they have plenty of assets, tradeable players, and, well, it’s Montreal. Elliotte Friedman on Hockey Night in Canada reported Montreal is shopping for an “edgy” forward.

Boston Hockey Now: Friedman also tied Marchand to a three-year deal, but bad gas travels fast and Marchand directly and by name refuted the report. Our Andrew Fantucchio was right there and got the Boston Bruins scoop.

NYI Hockey Now: In case you missed it, Matt Martin is back with the New York Islanders.

New Jersey Hockey Now: Things are also getting wild between the Islanders and the Devils. Devils tough guy Kurtis MacDermid delivered a pretty good shot on New York defenseman Alex Romanov, who retaliated by going after Jack Hughes. That’s a no no, but then Romanov doubled down by calling out the New Jersey Devils.

It’s a shame the Islanders play in a spot in which one must first sail the river Styx.

Philly Hockey Now: It’s been a brutal start to the season in Philly. You might be hearing the new catchphrase in hockey, “connected play,” and that’s what the Flyers are lamenting in another loss. It’s getting frustrating and disjointed for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Sportsnet: One year on, Nottingham honored former Penguins forward Adam Johnson, who was killed in an English game last year.

TSN: Mistakes adding up. Haven’t heard that one before, eh? The errors are growing not dwindling and there’s some handwringing around the Toronto Maple Leafs.