Dan’s Daily: Coaches on Hot Seat; Penguins Active on Trade Market

There are a growing number of coaches on the hot seat across the NHL, though Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan’s seat appears to have cooled this week. Sullivan made line changes at practice after the Penguins trade for Philip Tomasino, and we’ve got full coverage of Tomasino’s arrival. Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas is reportedly one of the more active GMs on the NHL trade block, and former Penguins scrapper Paul Bissonnette, aka BizNasty, detailed the parking lot assault in which he essentially fought off a half dozen guys who were abusing the staff at a local restaurant.

We had a great live chat yesterday. I raced home from practice, threw the laptop down in the studio (which is actually a lengthy and sturdy dining room table that I rescued from an apartment on the South Side years ago and restored from a beer pong table to a spiffy centerpiece), and got to work. Make sure you subscribe to the YouTube channel so you get notified of the chats. Since I do them solo, including publishing and producing, I didn’t have time to prepare lots of graphics and audio for this one; it was just you and me, but I think we covered about a light year of information.

You can also download the No Pucks Given podcast on YouTube. It has proven to be our best distribution channel.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Sullivan stopped practice for a moment Tuesday, and he had a go at someone or someones after a botched penalty kill in practice. They got the booming heavy voice. Then Sullivan skated back to the bench to have a second bite at the apple to drill home his point. Assistant coach David Quinn did similar to the first power play unit. The coaches cracked down Tuesday as Sullivan juggled the lines to give newly acquired Tomasino a prime opportunity. Here are the new lines and injury updates and the Penguins practice report.

We’ve got the video of Tomasino’s first locker room introduction. The young man has some pretty lofty hopes for his situation and wants to be the “sparkplug” for a turnaround. He’s not shy. Here’s the video and the full Philip Tomasino.

Now, the hard-hitting stuff. Sullivan retrenched. Some genuine criticism of Dubas. And some inside nuggets in the Four Penguins Thoughts.

NHL Trade Talk, News & National Hockey Now

TSN Insiders: From Detroit’s Derek Lalonde being in deep trouble to Dubas scouring the NHL trade market looking for young players.

Philly Hockey Now: The Flyers are wheeling and dealing behind the scenes, too. Several Flyers veterans are drawing interest on the NHL trade block.

Gino Hard: The update on Spittin’ Chiclets from the man at the center of the story (and the hero by all accounts), Paul Bissonnette. BizNasty confronted some idiots at a local restaurant who were abusing the staff, and things got violent. Biz vs. six. Here’s the updated and longer version of the story, which you can view on the podcast or read up here.

Good on Biz. Can’t say I’ve been in that situation, but some years ago, I may have put a drunk in a full nelson and politely and softly took him to the floor with a loud thud when he raised his hand to hit a bartender who cut him off. The bouncer/manager was kind of disappointed, “Dan, thanks, but that’s my job, and I enjoy that part of my job.” But 1v6?! Dude.

Sportsnet: The Flames’ game against the Blue Jackets will be emotional, as the Gaudreau family will attend. The Flames and Blue Jackets are preparing for the emotional night.

I’m sure the new normal is setting in for the family, but it must still be a 100-pound anchor to carry around. God bless them.

TSN: Bruce Boudreau knows about “that” phone call from the GM. Some mistakes in Montreal, including signing Juraj Slavkovsky for eight years and coach Marty St. Louis, could be in trouble very soon.