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<\/p>\nThe NHL trade chatter is queued up as the Columbus Blue Jackets are trying to sign Adam Fantilli, but his demands exceed their salary cap space, while the Dallas Stars are back at the table trying to get a long-term deal with Jason Robertson. Also in the Daily, one of the Atlanta expansion bidders had to walk back their social media posts touting approval of an arena development plan, and the NHL said it\u2019s not currently considering Atlanta. Whoops. And we tried to build the perfect Pittsburgh Penguins player. <\/p>\n
And there\u2019s another update on Friedman\u2019s contract talks with Sportsnet. Call me sentimental, but I\u2019m rooting for him to stay with Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada. He has equaled Bob McKenzie\u2019s insider status, and that institution means something. Also, Elliotte is the guy who filled Don Cherry\u2019s chair. That\u2019s a lineage.<\/p>\n
I know, it\u2019s a holiday weekend, but we\u2019re still putting out hockey content because that\u2019s just what I do. But I got about eight hours of two-wheel therapy Saturday, up to Tionesta and then Rt. 666 to 66 and Ridgway, then home on Rt. 949 to 58 into Grove City and highway south. Let me tell you something\u2026<\/p>\n
I had a great time getting to Matt\u2019s Happy Cow BBQ up in Tionesta. It\u2019s a little shed in the makeshift town square, and I admire the town\u2019s ingenuity. I\u2019ve been riding up there since I first found it in 2019. Their pulled pork crunch wrap is one of my summer ride staples, but this was the first time all year that I had the chance to stop. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, it appears Tionesta is the latest little town hanging by a thread. The kayak and bike rental place is out of business. Half of the sheds in the square, including the winery, went out of business this year (though the winery wasn\u2019t very good; it was PA sugar water, but still). The square closes for the winter tomorrow, but everywhere I went this summer I heard the same troubles. Business was down everywhere. <\/p>\n
So, if you\u2019re on the fence or feeling like you missed a vacation this summer, hop in the car and pick a small town. Do some exploring. Take that left turn that has no sign. Pick a little concrete-block bar that\u2019s not near anything else, and walk in like you know everybody. Enjoy the food even if it\u2019s not Michelin-star quality, because the food isn\u2019t the point. Soak in a few stories. Over a $3 beer, listen to the retired guys rail on Trump, praise Trump, argue about the 1979 Pirates, or let them tell you about their farm. <\/p>\n
Go to the pie shop on Rt. 62 in Tidioute or the little wood-paneled bar across the bridge and check out the Tidioute overlook. Or head to the microbrews in Franklin or Titusville, then bounce over to the locals\u2019 bar. Maybe some day, I\u2019ll write a little e-book on all of these places, but I fear that by the time I do, they won\u2019t exist anymore. <\/p>\n
So, put the phones down. Hop in the car and have some fun with other humans. Turn up the radio and roll down the windows. These little towns badly need it. And I think we all do.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m off on a ride to Bedford today. I am going to take Rt. 30 through Ligonier and over the mountain past Noah\u2019s Ark (actually called the Grandview Hotel). Remember that? There\u2019s nothing there anymore, but one heck of an overlook<\/a>. <\/p>\n Pittsburgh Penguins<\/p>\n Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Let\u2019s build the perfect Pittsburgh Penguins player. At first, I was going to use Penguins history to construct the perfect player, but then I realized every answer would be Mario Lemieux, so we limited the scope to the current team. See if you agree or disagree with our choices. Let\u2019s hit the lab and build a Penguins player<\/a>.<\/p>\n Steelers Now: The Joey Porter saga rages on. There are even trade rumors today that the Steelers will deal him. As Alan Saunders writes, the team needs him, and there are no winners in this head-butting contest that will ultimately hurt the Steelers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Pittsburgh Baseball Now: The Pittsburgh Pirates had a big chance to get back in the wild card race, and \u2026 they blew it. Danny Demilio has the big and small picture for those pesky Pirates<\/a>.<\/p>\n NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now<\/p>\n Toronto Sun: Amazon is out of the picture (woohoo!), but the contract standoff between Friedman and Sportsnet is dragging on with the season fast approaching. Here\u2019s the latest with hockey\u2019s premier insider<\/a>.<\/p>\n Perhaps the Flyers will offer a stupid contract that destroys the market? <\/p>\n NHLtraderumors.me: Friedman isn\u2019t entirely on the bench, as he joined the NHL Network to discuss some hot topics, including the inching, halting, and high-stakes progress of the Adam Fantilli contract talks<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fox5 Atlanta: It\u2019s a big deal, I guess. After a social media announcement trumpeting that all was moving forward and the skies would part, and NHL hockey would return to Atlanta, one of the developers and potential owners competing for the Atlanta franchise had to walk back much of their announcement<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sportsnet: And boom. The NHL put the brakes on Atlanta, too, saying they are not yet considering Atlanta for expansion<\/a>.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not sorry to write that neither Atlanta nor Arizona should get an expansion team. Gary Bettman\u2019s first and lasting love has been pushing the game into the Sun Belt and non-trad markets, but how many times do consumers in these markets need to say \u201cMeh\u201d before we believe them?<\/p>\n Quit kowtowing to the Maple Leafs and put a second team in southern Ontario, for gosh sakes. And start looking at places that make sense and that like hockey\u2014like Milwaukee. As your next commissioner, I promise hockey teams for hockey fans!<\/p>\n Dallas Stars: GM Jim Nill said the team and Jason Robertson are trying to finalize a long-term deal, and the Stars boss conceded that star players deserve big paydays. Notably, Nill didn\u2019t set a timeline for negotiations, so these talks will drag on through the season<\/a>. <\/p>\n Or will they, ahem, Kyle Dubas?<\/p>\n TSN Video: Prime Minister Mark Carney gave a transit investment speech and took a little shot\u2026at the Maple Leafs<\/a>.<\/p>\n New Jersey Hockey Now: And, if there\u2019s doubt about Steve Yerman\u2019s foibles as the Red Wings GM, he dealt Elmer Soderblom to the Penguins for a third-round pick. It\u2019s fair to say Soderblom showed a lot more talent than a cast-off. New Jersey GM Sunny Mehta also quietly plucked one of the Red Wings\u2019 depth prospects for a fourth-round pick, and now Mehta is humble-bragging about what a player he got in the Devils trade<\/a>. <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTags:jason robertson<\/a> nhl expansion<\/a> nhl trade<\/a> Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a><\/p>\n Categorized:Links<\/a> NHL Trade Rumors<\/a> Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NHL trade chatter is queued up as the Columbus Blue Jackets are trying to sign Adam Fantilli,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":838982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[31689,385,311224,4983,1790,99],"class_list":["post-838981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-jason-robertson","tag-nhl","tag-nhl-expansion","tag-nhl-trade","tag-pittsburgh-penguins","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=838981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/838982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}