Dan’s Daily: Crosby Contract Coming; How Canada is Driving Away UFAs

Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins are close to a new contract, and Crosby is optimistic. Before that news broke, Pittsburgh Hockey Now looked at the glass as half full with three things to look forward to this season. Also, in the Daily, the Canadian government is doing its best to chase away free agents. A couple of the 2018 Team Canada members accused of sexual assault have filed motions to skip pretrial hearings. And the hockey world stopped Monday to pay respects and grieve with the Gaudreau family as Johnny and Matthew were laid to rest.

I am a firm believer that when bad things happen, there are usually unforeseen and equal or greater things of goodness that result. We’ll call it the Uwe Krupp principle–Krupp scored in overtime to beat the Penguins in the final game of the 1989-90 season, eliminating the Penguins from the playoffs. However, if Krupp had not scored, the Penguins wouldn’t have drafted fifth overall and would not have selected Jaromir Jagr.

However, I’m struggling to see any good that can arise in the Gaudreau tragedy. As for the service, Meredith Gaudreau paid a wonderful tribute to friends Sean Monahan and Kevin Hayes.

We’ll get to the hockey.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: It was gutwrenching. The emotional rollercoaster is unimaginable. The Gaudreau family gathered in New Jersey for Katie Gaudreau’s wedding, but the night before the ceremony, an alleged drunk driver killed Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau while they rode bicycles. Matthew’s wife is pregnant. Monday, Johnny’s wife announced she was pregnant with the couple’s third child. And the family is left to deal with the unspeakable loss. In a touching tribute during her eulogy, Meredith paid special tribute to Johnny’s closest friends, Sean Monahan and the Penguins’ Kevin Hayes.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Here’s the big hockey story of the day. Sidney Crosby is “pretty optimistic” that a new deal will be made, and he doesn’t expect it to drag into the season. Credit the Penguins PR staff for quickly sending the audio because Crosby said it at a media event in Las Vegas. Here is the full scoop on the coming Crosby contract.

If you’re into YouTube and video, you can hear the sound with my quick wrap on our Penguins YouTube page.

Also, make sure to like the video and subscribe to the channel so you’ll receive notifications about our Live Chats.

Since there’s been some fair criticism of the Penguins’ offseason and the lack of impact player additions, we flipped the script for a day. Here are three reasons to look forward to the Penguins’ season.

Steelers Now: I missed this. After the Steelers’ win Sunday, Joey Porter Jr. threw some shade at Drake London. Here’s the Steelers locker room story.

Pittsburgh Baseball Now: Paul Skenes set a team record and the Buccos beat the Florida, er, Miami Marlins. Here’s the Pittsburgh Pirates recap.

NHL News, National Hockey Now

Toronto Star: Credit to Spector’s Hockey for finding this one. We’ve all noticed the increase in signing bonuses and differently structured contracts. There are a few reasons, not the least of which is the Canadian government pursuing John Tavares for an extra $6.8 million because of the way his deal was structured. Big-name players are watching closely, and Canada is driving away free agents.

Every few decades, we need to be reminded that politicians are not the solution to our problems. In many cases, they are the source of our problems.

New Jersey Hockey Now: One player left hockey. A couple of players are unsigned. Two more of the accused 2018 Team Canada players filed motions to skip the pretrial hearings, which are beginning in the bombshell Team Canada sexual assault case.

I’m eager to learn the facts of the case, but I fear they will be convoluted, and little will be solved in this post-truth world.

NHL.com: Mike Gartner is going to take over as chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame committee.

AP: The PWHL has team names! After using only the city monicker for the past year, the league announced the six-team nicknames.

Washington Hockey Now: What is this?! Yeah, it looks like the Chinese-owned TikTok is here to stay (unfortunately). TikTok has partnered with the Washington Capitals.

I marvel that no one cares about the potential disaster that TikTok could inflict. The Chinese algorithm shows Chinese users reels of successful people and accomplishments, which is vastly different than what it shows U.S. users. Gee, what could go wrong with a Communist-backed company having full access to and influence over Americans’ information stream? Remember just a few months ago when, over the course of one weekend, thousands of “influencers” praised Osama bin Laden as being right?

Let’s end on both a high and low note. WWE Monday Night Raw was at the Saddledome Monday, and they paid a proper tribute to the Gaudreaus.

As #WWERaw is live in Calgary, we all came together tonight to pay tribute to Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau in a special moment. pic.twitter.com/LaOfeKwBla

— WWE (@WWE) September 10, 2024