Dan’s Daily: Penguins Make Moves; Vultures Circle Rangers; USA, USA!

DETROIT — We’re in Motor City for one more day as the Pittsburgh Penguins practice at Little Caesars Arena before we all shove off for Florida and 79-degree weather. The Penguins went through a little drama Tuesday and then suffered a hard-fought, bad-luck loss Tuesday night. We’ve got the analysis and locker room insider. Elsewhere in the Daily, the vultures are circling the New York Rangers, and big names could be on the move. Patrick Roy pulled a shocking move at the end of the New York Islanders loss, and Team USA added more salt to the Team Canada wound with a solid pool-play win.

Happy New Year, everyone. This has been a wild ride from the end of last season through the first 39 this season. I’m a little worn down trying to hit all 82, so I apologize. My work over the last week was a little bit sloppy on PHN and not up to my best. I couldn’t even keep my days of the week straight!

THANK YOU–I am honored that PHN+ subscriptions were up significantly in 2024 (40%!). We ran a couple of flash sales that really boosted our numbers (yinz love a deal, eh?). Hopefully, you all stick around for ad-free and exclusive hockey content in 2025.

Last year wasn’t a banner year for the industry as the tech giants actually admitted losing control of their AI-driven algorithms and couldn’t explain why a lot of established but smaller or indie publishers (like us) were essentially being attacked. The industry norm was to lose at least 25% of traffic by Google’s hand, and many, many outlets lost well more than 50% overnight. It wasn’t uncommon to hear of 90% losses.

I’m happy to say that PHN fought through. After taking heavy shrapnel, we rallied to be down only 20% year over year, and we’ve rebounded to get back to par in the last couple of months, with over 500,000 readers in December–just for hockey! We added over 300 subscribers in 2024, but inflation and carrying two others on the beat mean we can’t rest. We won’t rest. Bring on 2025!

YOU saved the ship. THANK YOU.

Pittsburgh Penguins

OK, let’s start with the drama. The Penguins waived Jesse Puljujarvi on Monday, and Tuesday, we got a chance to ask coach Mike Sullivan about the motivations and the situation. I thought he gave a genuine answer on the controversial Penguins news.

Marcus Petterson played Tuesday night, but Sullivan also offered updates on Owen Pickering and good news on Kris Letang.

The Penguins lost so we’ll skip the game recap, and go straight to the analysis and locker room sections. The Penguins were quietly angry after the game. They played well enough to win and hard enough to deserve it, but the hockey gods had different ideas. However, there was one tactical thing (taking the Detroit bait) we didn’t like about their game. Here’s the breakdown, the player grades, and the inside reaction in the Penguins Report Card.

Detroit Hockey Now: The Red Wings locker room was pretty happy. Moritz Seider talked about his incredible pad save (that saved the game?), there was also the breakaway goal and plenty more. Get the flip side from the Detroit Red Wings room.

PHN Video: Also–make sure to follow our YouTube page. I learned that if I post the videos here, we don’t make any money on the views?! So, go to the YouTube channel for the postgame analysis and a thorough Q&A session — Penguins postgame video.

And I’m done talking about Puljujarvi. DONE. It’s been like dealing with a rabid cult. You don’t make a chocolate cake by pouring more and more fudge into the bowl, even lower-quality fudge. You need some eggs, some flour, etc… It’s the same with building a hockey team.

NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now

HockeyFights: There was a pretty good scrap at the Winter Classic between the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks. Luke Schenn said he’d treasure the fight forever. OOOoooK. He got some good rights but ate a couple from Nick Foligno, too. You can watch the knuckle sandwiches at HockeyFights.

Is it me, or is Chicago in just about every outdoor game?

32 Thoughts Podcast: The vultures are circling the New York Rangers, and the NHL trade rumors are swirling. Trade Mika Zbinajead? How about Vincent Trocheck? Elliotte Friedman broached that possibility and said teams would “climb buildings for a chance at Trocheck.”

TSN: The Canadian giant has full coverage as Team USA USA USA! beat Canada to win Group A. Lane Hutson’s younger brother Cole Hutson even taunted the Ottawa crowd with his goal celebration. Here’s the gamer and the video Highlights of USA! USA! USA!

NYI Hockey Now: The Islanders lost which is a good thing for the Penguins, but the story of the game became coach Patrick Roy pulling the goalie with 42 seconds remaining with a faceoff in the Islanders zone. It was quite the hubbub for the New York Islanders.