Oy boy. The clever headline on Pittsburgh Hockey Now was flypaper for those who don’t read but comment anyway, and the kneejerk reactions were plenty, though most then caught the pun and enjoyed a good read from Vince Comunale. Elsewhere in the Daily, the Vancouver Canucks ownership has ordered more salary dumps, agent Darren Ferris appeared on our associated site PuckPedia and dropped a couple of bombshells, including hammering the Toronto Maple Leafs for their handling of Mitch Marner. And the NHL rumors came true as the Chicago Blackhawks brought back prodigal son Patrick Kane with a hefty new contract.

Seriously, some of you all made me laugh Thursday. The headline was so clever that we couldn’t help but use it. Even with the hint in the headline by using quote marks, a few people just couldn’t help themselves and unleashed their ignorance, including the person whom I later blocked on social media who refused to “read your bullcrap!”

Most of you got a good read, and judging by the comments and the thumbs up, appreciated the wordplay by Vince.

As for me, I was busy tooling around central PA on a hot dog and moonshine run. Truly, my favorite little hot dog spots in the state are about 30 miles apart. There is the well-known spot off Rt. 6, The Hot Texas Lunch in Kane, but lesser-known unless you went to Clarion University (or whatever dumb name they’re calling the merger with Lock Haven) is Daddy’s on Main St.

The Eddie is a hot dog, chili, cheese, and Doritos. Cmon, that’s awesome, and I’ll take two.

My lunch bill was all of $9 with a drink. In deference to losing some weight, sadly, I adopted the Mario diet. I skipped the fries.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Here you are. I’ll only post the headline and dare you to read it. The Penguins are “miles” behind the competition. Check out Vince Comunale’s Penguins story here.

It was I who decided to use the photo of Evgeni Malkin laughing. Very appropriate.

Pittsburgh Baseball Now: The Pittsburgh Pirates draft day is coming together. Here we go–four more signings, including early-round picks and a prep pitcher. Danny Demilio has the Pirates news.

NHL Rumors, News, & National Hockey Now

The Province: I can’t believe this hasn’t been a hot story for days, but it’s just making its way around the internet now. Postmedia learned that the Vancouver Canucks not only cheaped out on hiring the new coaching staff, but also told new Canucks GM Ryan Johnson to dump $20 million in salaries.

Let the NHL trade chatter begin, again. I’m surprised Brock Boeser’s name has not been more prominent. He is Vancouver’s biggest chip.

Chicago Hockey Now: There is it–Chicago threw their wallet on the table and made the homecoming happen. Patrick Kane is back with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Sportsnet: Hart at PuckPedia dropped an explosive podcast with agent Darren Ferris. In the podcast, Ferris said that a team had offered Bo Byram $14 million a year. However, the real bombshell was his nearly eight-minute answer on the Toronto Maple Leafs and Mitch Marner situation. Ferris hammered Toronto for shrugging off misinformation about Marner and not protecting their star player.

Also from Sportsnet, they ranked the active first overall picks. I understand ranking Sidney Crosby lower because he’s 39 years old, but the players he trailed were staggering. And dogging Nathan MacKinnon?! OK, the list sounds easy enough, but their ranking was, at best, quite wrong.

A little newsbreak: The Columbus Blue Jackets and Jet Greaves reached a compromise, signing a (edit) three-year, $15 million deal–slightly more on the Blue Jackets side of meeting in the middle.

TSN Radio: The boys on the TSN radio side hit back at the Marner accusations. Brian Hayes downplayed what the Maple Leafs could do for their player.

Boston Hockey Now: The other surprising team in the East with a new coach was the Boston Bruins. They’ve had an offseason in the shadows, and Jack Studley laid out the possible Bruins opening night lineup.

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