The Pittsburgh Penguins shredded the Carolina Hurricanes Tuesday, and that is a sentence that has never before been typed in Pittsburgh Hockey Now’s eight-year history. We’ve got the complete breakdown, including a detailed explanation of the Penguins’ tactical flex. Elsewhere in the Daily, the New Jersey Devils coach called out his team’s lack of testicular fortitude. Players across the league are anxious this morning, hoping for a call from the national federation with an invite to play in the Milan Olympics. And for some NHL trade rumor fun, the Penguins are being mentioned as buyers for necessary salary dumps and sellers in the goaltending market.

Thank you all so much for a raucous 2025. Professionally, it was a resurgence of sorts as our printed content gained significant numbers of new readers. Muchos gracias! Our YouTube page has added a few thousand subscribers. We merged with an ad platform that is going to take it us–or we’re going to take them–to the next levels of the industry. And I think you and I have a pretty good rhythm going.

From the subterranean microbrew in St. Paul to the second-floor speakeasy Italian restaurant in Vancouver, Luke’s Italian Beef in Chicago, to Pat’s in Philly, I’ve had some amazing experiences in cities across the league and been able to uncover some hidden gems.

In 2026, my goal is to find some time to rebuild a bit of myself and my personal life. This job, the overwhelming time commitment and physical stress of writing and running a company seven days a week, has been a wrecking ball. So, if I do get to step back for a moment or two, in the next 12 months, maybe you can help me out–by simply clicking on everything! Or maybe you’ll love the new subscriber platform and can join that way.

It’s going to be a fight this year because the gale-force winds against this industry are only getting stronger. Every outlet that starts using AI, I’m going to burn publicly, and I hope you’ll avoid them. But I’ll always carry with me the resolute anger formed by the 2017 commenters on Reddit who mocked this startup. It’ll never work, eh?

Let’s do the hockey. And Happy New Year.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Need the details of the resounding 5-1 win over Carolina? The Penguins Big Boys Bounce Hurricanes — Here is the Penguins recap.

Now, let’s really dig into the game. I mean, tear it apart and leave the spare parts on the floor (It’s always nice when the players talk about exactly what you’re writing and give you the green light with quotes). It was a tactical masterpiece. The Who and the How in the Penguins Report Card.

And here’s a story I forgot to link you to yesterday. It’s a dive into something that’s really working for the Penguins–the third pair with Ryan Shea and Jack St. Ivany. I didn’t see this coming a month ago, but it’s a strong upgrade, literally, for the Penguins’ defense. The Penguins found something good with Ryan Shea and Jack St. Ivany.

The trade on Monday pushed back Shelly Anderson’s big story. She spoke with Justin Brazeau. Seems appropriate today, doesn’t it? Shells goes one-on-one with the big winger, and she had a pretty good chat with the guy unexpectedly filling the nets. Who is this guy? Mr. Justin Brazeau.

NHL Trade Talk, News, & NHN

Edmonton Journal: I say hard pass, but with Andrew Mangiapane driving the struggle bus in Edmonton, eyes are again turning toward a possible Oilers-Penguins trade. Edmonton is trying to get out from under another failed UFA contract.

There’s also some chatter, though none credible yet, that Carolina would look at Stuart Skinner. For now, that’s just external speculation, but if we get wind of real interest, it will go straight on the homepage.

Boston Hockey Now: Jack Studley, and that is his real name, put the Bruins on the operating table. After six losses in a row and a general feeling of turning back into a pumpkin, which Bruins will be available at the NHL trade deadline?

New Jersey Hockey Now: No balls? Coach Sheldon Keefe brusquely called out his team’s toughness and character after captain Nico Hischier had to be the one to drop the mitts in an uninspired loss. The postgame analysis and the stern comments–Things are not going well for the New Jersey Devils.

The Province: It seems Vancouver still feels a little spurned by coach Rick Tocchet, who declined extensions and eventually bolted back to Philadelphia. Tocchet talked about his decision to leave, but an interesting question has also surfaced. Did Tocchet know Quinn Hughes was out the door, too? What did Tocchet know, and when did he know it?

Philly Hockey Now: In Tocchet’s return, the Flyers beat up on Vancouver. Eventually. Here’s the Flyers postgame blog.

TSN: Nick Suzuki on Team Canada? He’s feeling anxious. We’ll find out today. A lot of guys are getting calls in the next couple of hours, and we’ll find out who won the battles for Team USA and Canada later this morning. Here’s TSN’s best guesses.

Maybe I favor the underdogs too much, but could you imagine a Team USA third line with TJ Miller and Bryan Rust? Miller will be there. I don’t think Rust is under heavy consideration, but he did attend the 40-player orientation camp in August. Perhaps Billy G surprises everyone and picks the gritty winger because of the shorter ice.

Lastly, since many professionals read this column, we are hiring. We’re looking for some all-purpose writers to produce hockey content; not beat writers, but focused on one or two teams. Clean and interesting content wins, and you must be able to work without me looking over your shoulder. Visit National Hockey Now to apply (this job is not yet listed, but use the application).

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