Game preview: 09.29.24 in Ottawa (Hockeyville)

Game notes

Earlier this summer, the Penguins added David Quinn to Head Coach Mike Sullivan’s coaching staff as an assistant coach. Quinn, 57, joins assistant coaches Mike Vellucci and Ty Hennes, goaltending coach Andy Chiodo, video coach Madison Nikkel and assistant video coach CJ D’Alimonte. Quinn will oversee the team’s defensive group.

Quinn, who has more than 30 years of coaching experience, was head coach of the San Jose Sharks (2022-24) and New York Rangers (2018-21). Under his reign as head coach with the Sharks and Rangers, two defensemen captured the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defensemen, with Adam Fox and Erik Karlsson claiming the award in 2020-21 and ’22-23, respectively.

The Cranston, Rhode Island native has extensive experience at the international level with Team USA, most recently as head coach of the 2022 and ’23 World Cup teams and the ’22 Olympic team. Quinn also represented Team USA as an assistant coach at three World Championships (2007, ’12 and ’16) and the 2005 World Junior Championship. He spent two seasons (2002-2004) as head coach of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program. Quinn also helped lead the U.S. Women’s National Team to a pair of silver medals (2000 and 1999) at the Women’s World Championship.

The Pittsburgh Penguins selected six players for the 2024 NHL Draft at Sphere in Las Vegas. The Penguins selected defenseman Harrison Brunicke (44th overall) and forward Tanner Howe (46th overall) in the second round, defenseman Chase Pietila in the fourth round (111th overall), defenseman Joona Vaisanen in the sixth round (175th overall) and forward Mac Swanson (207th overall) and defenseman Finn Harding (223rd overall) in the seventh round.

Brunicke, who was drafted by the Penguins in the second round (44th overall) last June, has played parts of three seasons with the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League. Last season, the defenseman recorded 10 goals, 11 assists and 21 points in 49 games. In 110 career junior games, he scored 14 goals, 15 assists and 29 points. Brunicke also played for Team Canada at the Under-18 World Championship this past year, scoring one goal and four points in seven games.

Howe, who was drafted 46th overall by the Penguins in June, spent four seasons playing parts with the WHL’s Regina Pats. As captain of the Pats last season, the forward scored 28 goals, 49 assists and 77 points in 68 games. In 207 career junior games, Howe has recorded 92 goals, 141 assists and 233 points. He played in two World Under-18 Championships with Team Canada in 2022 and ’23, winning the bronze medal in ’23.

Harding, who was selected in the seventh round (223rd overall) in 2024, spent the past two seasons with the Mississauga Steelheads of the Ontario Hockey League. In 2023-24, the defenseman scored 10 goals, 24 assists and 34 points in 68 games. Over the past two seasons, Harding has scored 12 goals, 32 assists and 44 points in 131 games.

Pittsburgh’s prospects went a perfect 3-0 in Buffalo during the 2024 Prospects Challenge, winning the tournament for the second straight season. Below is a summary of each game:

Friday September 13 – PIT vs. BOS: Pittsburgh got off to a slow start, falling behind 3-1 before scoring five unanswered goals to win the opening game. Tristan Broz scored twice for Pittsburgh as he was one of five players to score multiple points.

Saturday, September 14 – PIT vs. OTT: Three second-period goals by Pittsburgh helped them get off to a 2-0 start in the Prospects Challenge. Jack Beck (1G-1A) and Atley Calvert (2A) each earned multiple points.

Monday, September 16 – PIT vs. BUF: The Penguins ended the weekend with a tournament-high eight-goal outburst. Atley Calvert recorded a hat trick (3G-1A) while he and Tristan Broz (1G-3A) each scored four points. Rutger McGroarty (1G-1A) and Ville Koivunen (1G-1A) each had multiple points in the win.

On September 16, the Penguins re-signed captain Sidney Crosby to a two-year contract extension that runs through the 2026-27 season and has an average annual value of $8.7 million.

The three-time Stanley Cup champion (2009, ’16 and ’17) will enter his franchise-record 20th season in a Penguins uniform and 18th with the “C” on his jersey, trailing only Detroit’s Steve Yzerman (19) as the longest-running captain in NHL history. Crosby is the Penguins’ franchise record holder in games played (1st, 1,272), even-strength goals (416, 1st), even-strength points (1,025, 1st), and game-winning goals (90, 1st), and only trails Hall-of-Famer Mario Lemieux in every major category in Penguins history, including goals (2nd, 592), assists (1,004, 2nd) and points (1,596, 2nd).

Named one of the “100 Greatest NHL Players,” the 37-year-old ranks 10th in NHL history with 1,596 points (592G-1,004A) in 1,272 games played, and has scored in each of his 19 NHL games averaged at least one point per game. seasons, a feat only he and Wayne Gretzky have accomplished. The 6-foot-2, 201-pound forward ranks in the top 25 in league history in goals (592, 21st), assists (1,004, 14th), points (1,596, 10th) and game-winning goals (90, 23rd ). ). The 50-goal scorer in 2009-10 has surpassed the 30-goal mark, a franchise record, 12 times and the 100-point plateau six times, the seventh most in NHL history.

Among players drafted first overall in NHL history, only Lemieux (1,723) has recorded more points than Crosby’s 1,596.

The Penguins coaching staff will be well represented on the national stage, as Mike Sullivan was named head coach of Team USA for the 2025 Four Nations Face-Off and the 2026 United States Olympic men’s hockey team earlier this summer. In addition, David Quinn will serve as an assistant coach for Team USA during the Four Nations Face-Off.

The Four Nations Face-Off 2025 is an international tournament featuring NHL players from the US, Canada, Finland and Sweden to be played February 12-20, 2025. The tournament will take place in Boston, MA and Montreal, QC. The 2026 Olympic Games will be held from February 6 to 22, 2026 in the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.

The 56-year-old Sullivan will represent his native country at international level as a coach for the fifth time. He previously served as an assistant coach at the 2006 Olympic Games. He also represented his home country as head coach of Team USA at the 2007 World Championship and as an assistant coach at the ’08 World Cup and the ’16 World Cup. He was named head coach of the 2022 Olympic team, but was not present because NHL players were not participating in the Games.

The Marshfield, Massachusetts native will be the third U.S. Olympic head coach in the past two decades with Pittsburgh Penguins connections. Herb Brooks was a Penguins scout in 2002 when he guided the Americans to a silver medal in Salt Lake City, while Dan Bylsma was Pittsburgh’s head coach when he was the bench boss of the U.S. Olympic team in 2014.

Sullivan has a career NHL head coaching record of 445-275-115 with Pittsburgh and the Boston Bruins, and is one of only three American-born head coaches, along with John Tortorella and Peter Laviolette, to reach 400 wins. This past season, he played his 800th NHL game as head coach on February 6, 2024. His 430 wins in his first 800 NHL games were the 11th most in NHL history.