Pittsburgh Penguins

Friday Insider: Marte didn’t appreciate back seat

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

fridayinsiderA weekly feature aimed at rounding up a whole lot of odds and ends from a whole lot of time spent around our local teams …

• Starling Marte is best buds with Gregory Polanco. The two hang together, in the Pirates’ clubhouse and in the outside world. Both are Dominican. Marte is only three years older.

And yet — and I’m going to be careful in wording this — I can tell you that Marte wasn’t all that thrilled when all of Pittsburgh was almost hysterically clamoring for Polanco early this summer. Again, not because of any issue with Polanco the person or the player. “He’s a great hitter,” Marte told me at the time. “I want to see him here, too.” But there also was a bit of a chip with the sentiment. “I’m here, too. I can play.”

Well, flash forward to Thursday night and the 3-2 edging of the Red Sox at PNC Park, in which Marte’s 13th home run — a bomb to the bleacher walkway — that made the difference. Seven of those home runs have come in the past 35 games. So have 19 RBIs. And since the All-Star break, he’s batting .356. Not many have been better, and no one tops his .616 slugging percentage.

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Column: Five faceoff factors for Penguins’ camp

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The double-doors to the Penguins’ locker room open to reporters Thursday morning. — DEJAN KOVACEVIC

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

There’s no crying in hockey, either.

For all 32 forwards, 17 defensemen and six goaltenders reporting to the Penguins’ 48th training camp on this 18th of September, the only number that matters to this most starcrossed of franchises is 16, that, of course, being the playoff victory total of the Stanley Cup champion. And make no mistake. For all the Taylor Chorney, Reid McNeill, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond types taking the ice for the opening session Friday, any roster with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on it will come with nothing less than that expectation.

I loved the way newcomer Christian Ehrhoff put it Thursday, this after a year of fishing pucks out of his own net in Buffalo: “I was with the team that was 30th in the league, and it was no fun. Everybody knows what the Pittsburgh Penguins are, how they’re always contending for the Cup. I don’t expect that to change.”

Nor should he. Or anyone.

I could get into all kinds of reasons why, or I could just cut it off by saying the Rangers were the Eastern Conference rep in the final last spring. They were right there. The Kings were a good bit better. A handful of Western teams undoubtedly were a good bit better. But that New York team was right there. And, as I don’t need to remind anyone, the Penguins held New York’s spot before sadly, sloppily conceding it.

That’s how close they were.

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Tuesday 12 Qs: Charlie, Rocky, Pascal, Teke

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

photoWelcome to Tuesday Twelve Qs, our chat that takes place each week at 1 p.m., shortly after the Mike Tomlin news conference. I won’t be covering that this week because of Pirates-Red Sox tonight, but I’ll be as riveted as the rest of the city, if not the Nation.

The format is simple: Use the comments section below to submit an entry, with no more than one per person, please. Submit it anytime you want. I’ll pick from those to get the thing rolling, then monitor new entries once we go live.

All topics welcome, as always.

IndyPittFan: I thought starting Charlie Morton tonight would allow the Pirates to reset the rotation in advance of the Brewers/Braves series. Now seeing that Francisco Liriano and Gerrit Cole will still make planned starts against the Red Sox. Isn’t it a bit risky to plug a less-than-100-percent Morton in at this point?

DK: Risky might be too kind a word. It really doesn’t make much sense, and that’s independent of the wholly justified debate as to whether Morton should be supplanting Vance Worley at all.

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Tuesday 12 Qs: Holdzkom, Ike, Sid, JoePa

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

photoWelcome to Tuesday Twelve Qs, our chat that takes place each week. This week’s edition will have to start at 2 p.m., an hour later than usual, because of the Steelers’ schedule being messed up by the short week for the Thursday game in Baltimore.

The format is simple: Use the comments section below to submit an entry, with no more than one per person, please. Submit it anytime you want. I’ll pick from those to get the thing rolling, then monitor new entries once we go live at 2. All topics welcome, as always.

UPDATE 1:47 p.m.: OK, I’m back from Steelers HQ, so let’s get going now because we already have so many Qs lined up in the queue …

Wild Bill: Would you agree that the chaos the Ravens are going through right now gives the Steelers a Thursday night advantage? Or, is the crisis something that might help the Ravens rally together with an “us against the world” mentality?

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Friday Insider: Pirates’ truth odder than fiction

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

fridayinsiderA weekly feature aimed at rounding up a whole lot of odds and ends from a whole lot of time spent around our local teams …

• The numbers and narratives that get tossed around in public about the Pirates’ finances often border on the insane, but a few of late have crossed definitively into that territory. The latest — and maybe greatest ever — is that the team took on $25 million, no $35 million or is it now $45 million in new monies since last season.

Do I have a taker for $55 million yet?

It isn’t true. It isn’t close to true, and I’m about to waste my breath here sharing why.

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Tuesday 12 Qs: Tomlin, Broxton, Geno, Dri, Clash

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

photoWelcome to Tuesday Twelve Qs, our chat that takes place each week at 1 p.m. live from the Steelers’ headquarters on the South Side.

The format is simple: Use the comments section below to submit an entry, with no more than one per person, please. Submit it anytime you want. I’ll pick from those to get the thing rolling, then monitor new entries. All topics welcome, as always.

UPDATE 1:05 p.m.: Sorry, a little late. But away we go …

TLCinDC: If the Steelers finish worse than 8-8 this season, does Mike Tomlin end up on the Rooneys’ hot seat? In that instance, what’s your best guess on how that scenario plays out?

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Friday Insider: Rev up Penguins’ cycle

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

A weekly feature aimed at rounding up a whole lot of odds and ends from a whole lot of time spent around our local teams …

• Hints have been scarce about what the Penguins’ new system will look like under Mike Johnston, but I was able to cull this much from the staff, based on another hint that was dropped several months ago: They’re about to get back on the cycle.

My meeting this week with Johnston and assistants Rick Tocchet and Gary Agnew confirmed that one of the reasons they — and Jim Rutherford and management — are making such a priority of mobile defensemen is that they’ll attack the opponent more by wearing them down than by simply out-rushing them up ice. All three forwards will be expected to be proficient at the cycle, center included, and a defenseman will be involved, as well.

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Interview: Mike Johnston, Penguins

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Mike Johnston, the Penguins’ new coach, visited the Steelers’ HQ today for several hours, along with his top assistants, Rick Tocchet and Gary Agnew. They participated in different meetings, including one with the offense that was game-planning for the preseason game Thursday vs. Carolina. They also were taken for tours around the facility by Mike Tomlin, mega-hockey fan Kevin Colbert and Art Rooney II.

This is my interview with Johnston once they were done.

A few other related items/thoughts from my time with the staff …

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Tuesday 12 Qs: Le’Veon, Neal, Wing, Kirk, Niko

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

photoWelcome to Tuesday Twelve Qs, our chat that takes place each week at 1 p.m. live from the Steelers’ headquarters on the South Side.

The format is simple: Use the comment section below to submit an entry, no more than one per person. Submit it anytime you want. I’ll pick from those to get the thing rolling, then monitor new entries as we move along.

All topics welcome, as always.

UPDATE 1 p.m.: OK, away we go …

Josh: Very interested to see how the Steelers handle Le’Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount, considering Santonio Holmes in the past. Do you think they will act on the matter before the NFL does? The NFL process is very drawn out.

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Friday Insider: What had Troy so hot?

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

PHILADELPHIA — A weekly feature aimed at rounding up a whole lot of odds and ends from a whole lot of time spent around our local teams …

• Apparently, TV only caught a moment of Troy Polamalu getting heated on the Steelers’ sideline Thursday night in the loss to the Eagles, but I’ve since heard from witness that it was really, really passionate at one point.

Below is a shot taken by DKonPittsburghSports.com subscriber Greg Conn from his seats at Lincoln Financial Field. It’s after the fact, but you can see the defense off to the left and Polamalu kind of being held off at the right …

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