NHL Eastern Conference Power Rankings: How Offseason Moves Shape 2024-25

16. Buffalo Sabres – Insert the Titanic film’s “It’s been 84 years” meme. In reality, it has been 13 seasons since the Sabres punched their ticket to the postseason. You’d imagine that Kevyn Adams and the Sabres would be aggressive this offseason to try to buoy the Sabres back to the postseason. Fast forward to… read more

The fall of a sports dynasty isn’t all that dramatic

To view the demise of the Green Bay Packers dynasty of the 1960s through my Generation X lens is to picture something theatrical and dramatic. One day, the Packers defeated the Raiders in Super Bowl II, the next day, Vince Lombardi stepped down as head coach. Not long after that, the stands at Lambeau Field… read more

The Penguins will miss the playoffs for a second-straight season

T.J. Oshie scored an empty-net goal to break a 1-1 tie with three minutes to go in the third period, and the Capitals went on to defeat the Flyers, 2-1, at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Tuesday night. The win clinched the second wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference for Washington, who will face… read more

Penguins fans have to become Flyers fans for just one night

The Penguins once again got zero help around the NHL as it pertained to their postseason fate on Monday night. Pittsburgh knocked off the Predators, 4-2, to wrap up its regular-season home schedule at PPG Paints Arena, which was the kind of self-help necessary to stay alive for at least one more day. However, both… read more

Penguins don’t control their own playoff fate with two games left

Not long ago, the Penguins were hopelessly out of playoff contention with precious little time remaining in the 2023/2024 NHL campaign.  Pittsburgh was either seven or eight points out of the second wildcard or the third seed in the Metro Division, depending on which slot seemed more realistic for the most optimistic fan at that… read more

The Penguins were never going to get a haul in the Jake Guentzel trade

The Pittsburgh Penguins, an extremely successful and popular NHL franchise that has seemingly had hockey’s top stars every year since 1984, aren’t used to selling anything at the trade deadline other than Stanley Cup playoff tickets. Unfortunately, the 2023/2024 season has been one of reckoning for the Penguins. After narrowly missing the playoffs for the… read more

Welcome to Pittsburgh: A city where every sports team lives on the playoff bubble

In the spring of 2009, I sat down to watch an NCAA regional final matchup between Pitt and Villanova. The Panthers entered the 2008/2009 NCAA Tournament as a number-one seed and made it to the Elite Eight for the first time since it was actually called that. I was stoked. There was no doubt in… read more

Jaromir Jagr is an all-time NHL great and still only the Penguins third-best player

The Penguins retired jersey No. 68 in honor of their legendary former forward, Jaromir Jagr, on Sunday, February 18, at PPG Paints Arena. It was an excellent evening in Pittsburgh, as several of Jagr’s old teammates were in attendance to pay tribute to him for what he accomplished during his 11-year career as a Penguin–including… read more

The Penguins are just good enough to not be bad

The Pittsburgh Penguins lost to the Florida Panthers, 3-2, in a shootout at PPG Paints Arena on Friday night. The loss dropped Pittsburgh to 21-17-7 and six points out of the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. If that all sounds familiar to you, it’s because it was the Penguins’ plight last year, when… read more

Steel Curtain Network: A Pittsburgh Steelers podcast

“Fire Canada!” chants at a Pens game are a sign that Steelers coverage is just too much

The Steelers won a game vs. the Ravens last week at Acrisure Stadium. Quarterback Kenny Pickett threw the winning touchdown to receiver George Pickens with 1:17 left in the fourth quarter, and everyone up in the coaching box applauded…except for offensive coordinator Matt Canada. Why didn’t Canada react in a positive sense? Was he mad… read more

SUBSCRIBE TO FFSN!

Sign up below for the latest news, stories and podcasts from our affiliates

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.