True story: While working on a story in 2012 about Pittsburgh native J.T. Miller, I covered an OHL game in Erie where the Rangers' first-round pick was playing for Plymouth.
Looking to get some insights, I talked to an amateur scout from a Western Conference team in the stands about Miller and what he looks for in prospects.
This old-school guy, a hockey lifer, spoke glowingly and incessantly about Miller's teammate, a kid named Tom Wilson. More even than Miller, the 15th pick in the 2011 draft. Even at 17 years old, Wilson's size and strength was evident, but what the scout loved about the kid was his mean streak.
Wilson put that on display that night, showing why he'd be the 16th pick that year to Washington. Wilson got into a fight and, later, delivered a hard, high hit which had an Otters player taken out on a backboard.
Some things never change.
You know, things like a pro sports union siding with the aggressor instead of the aggrieved. It's not just the league that gets it wrong on head shots, it's the union, as well. That's what one team source was questioning the other day before Wilson's three-game suspension was officially announced.
Where was Donald Fehr's outrage? Where was the National Hockey League Players Association following Wilson's hits to the head of Brian Dumoulin and then Zach Aston-Reese?
Surely, Wilson had legal representation courtesy of the NHLPA during his phone hearing on Wednesday. And while it's commendable the union defends its members, who stands up for the injured players? Isn't Aston-Reese a card-carrying member too?
Sadly, the source said, what does it say when even the union, which is supposed to protect the players, won't be even stand up for its rank-and-file?
The source went to on to say everyone knows what will have to happen before the league properly addresses head hits. Somebody is going to have to be very seriously injured. No one wants it to be to them or their teammate when it happens.
• No, if Ryan Reaves were still with the Penguins, he would not have been able to stop Wilson's hit on Dumoulin. It's doubtful he would have even been in the lineup for Game 2. Assuredly, he would have been in for Game 3 . Whether it would have deterred the hit on Aston-Reese, we'll never know. What good would Reaves do when you have a player who won't engage in a fight? Jamie Oleksiak tried to fight Wilson, but the Capitals forward wanted no part of it. The same source from above said Wilson is exactly like Matt Cooke. "He's not wired right," he said. With so much at stake in the playoffs, the Penguins will have to wait until next season before exacting their revenge, especially if this series doesn't go seven games, which would be the earliest Wilson can return. — Bradford
• Never mind the Department of Player Safety stuff, the on-ice officiating has been equally bad. One source told me it seems like the referees are afraid to make calls for fear they will face scrutiny if they are wrong. The league had been enforcing slashing all season but seemed to have backed off in the postseason. Case in point was Chad Ruhwedel's slash on Devante Smith-Pelly's ankle as the Capitals forward drove to the net in Game 2. Smith-Pelly told me it was a penalty "100 percent of the time" in the regular season. And that missed call was nothing compared to the non-call when Anton Stralman slashed Brad Marchand's hands, negating a clear breakaway in Game 2 of the Lightning-Bruins series. — Bradford
PIRATES
H.K. Kim, the interpreter for Jung Ho Kang from 2015 to early this year, will not return in the same capacity, sources confirmed. The Pirates are searching for an interpreter to also serve as Kang's personal driver. — Lance Lysowski in Milwaukee
• Multiple players expressed excitement when informed by reporters of Kang receiving his visa to return to the United States, and a few I've spoken with, particularly Kang's former teammates, seemed to believe it will take Kang only a few months to rejoin the Pirates. — Lysowski
• One pitcher in the Pirates' rotation told me following Nick Kingham's 6 2/3 perfect innings, "He has to stay, right? He has to. You can't send him down after that. He deserves a few starts now." The pitcher got his wish. Kingham will start against the Brewers Friday night in Milwaukee, although I've been told his stay in the rotation will last only one more start beyond that. The Pirates intend to send Kingham back to Triple-A once Joe Musgrove is done with his rehab assignment, although Kingham has positioned himself to be the first pitcher recalled in the event of injury or underperformance. — Lysowski
• There remains optimism within the organization that Gregory Polanco will find a solution to what's ailed him at the plate, and he has shown signs of improvement over the past two weeks. Any talk of Austin Meadows potentially being recalled is premature. In fact, Jose Osuna and Jordan Luplow would be recalled before Meadows if the Pirates were in need of an additional bat. The plan is to give Polanco ample time to solve his problems, and the front office wants Meadows to produce consistently for months before even considering him as an option in Pittsburgh. — Lysowski
• Equipment manager Scott Bonnett distributed Penguins jerseys to players prior to the team's four-game road trip to Washington D.C.; however, one player who is a Blackhawks fan described wearing one during the trip as "taking one for the team." Ivan Nova, meanwhile, doesn't follow hockey, although he enjoyed attending a few Lightning games during his time with the Yankees' minor-league affiliate in Tampa. — Lysowski
STEELERS
• I have to give myself a little pat on the back for calling the fallout from last week's draft in my wrap-up column. First, as I have been predicting since the NFL Scouting Combine, safety J.J. Wilcox was released thanks to the selections of Terrell Edmunds and Marcus Allen. Then, Ben Roethlisberger had the exact reaction expected from the selection of Mason Rudolph in the third round. He said he might play longer than the three years he had told teammates he'd like to before the selection of Rudolph. Star quarterbacks just don't take well to young guys coming in to replace them. Roethlisberger has been the alpha dog in the Steelers' locker room for a long time. And he's not about to give that up without a fight. Landry Jones and Josh Dobbs weren't threats to Roethlisberger. But he's seen Rudolph play in college. And Rudolph is a threat. This could spur Roethlisberger on to play his best football. At the very least, perhaps he avoids the slow start he had to last season. People have asked how this draft makes the Steelers a better team. How about a more engaged Roethlisberger? Think that will make a difference? Expect him to be a more regular participant in OTAs . He would skip days on a regular basis in the past. — Dale Lolley
• The release of Wilcox and trade of Martavis Bryant give the Steelers just over $6 million in salary cap space. A small chunk of that will be used on signing the draft picks, but the Steelers also could use it to up the money in their offer to Le'Veon Bell — as Kevin Colbert said at the combine — and still have enough money to sign a veteran free agent at inside linebacker to improve the depth there. Everyone is focused on Lawrence Timmons and that would make some sense — if he's willing to take a backup role. Timmons doesn't run as well as he once did and I'm not sure he'd be an upgrade over Vince Williams or Jon Bostic at this point. Novorro Bowman would make more sense — if he's willing to sign a short-term deal and move across the country. Though Bowman is from New Jersey and played at Penn State, he's spent his entire NFL career in the San Francisco Bay area. He's also made a lot of money — $42 million — over the course of his career. Does he want to take a last shot at a Super Bowl, or is he content with the money he's made? The Steelers now employ his college defensive coordinator as their defensive backs coach. If he wants to play and, more importantly, is willing to uproot his family, that would make sense. But there also will be some other guys cut loose in coming weeks, so the Steelers might just watch the market for a while before making a move. — Lolley
• Seventh-round draft pick Joshua Frazier could wind up being a steal. He was a five-star recruit coming out of high school and heading to Alabama. He played regularly for the Crimson Tide, even though he wasn't a starter. But when you're trapped playing behind a bunch of first-round draft picks and future first-round draft picks because you're a true nose tackle in a game that doesn't value those type of run-stuffing players as it once did, that will happen. Had Frazier, for example, stayed close to home and played at Arkansas, he's likely a four-year starter and winds up getting picked in the third round. Or higher. At the very least, he pushes Daniel McCullers off the roster, which makes the Steelers' decision to give McCullers a $90,000 signing bonus with the one-year contract they gave him interesting. It's only $90,000 and a drop in the bucket against the team's salary cap when he's released. But it's still $90,000 the Steelers didn't need to spend, especially considering Fitzgerald Toussaint got nothing to sign and he's been way more valuable than McCullers. Neither will be on the roster this season. — Lolley
• As pointed out by Dale Lolley above, Rudolph is potentially and eventually a threat to Roethlisberger's job. Until that time, he's a safety net, and one that came at a high draft price. There is a camp of people out there, however, who believe Rudolph is a product of a Mike Gundy system in a Big 12 Conference that scores, and scores a lot. There's obviously the fear of him being Brandon Weeden in the pros. Having covered Rudolph in games against West Virginia and Pitt over three seasons, he has something "extra" that doesn't come with the system. It's the extra, unexplainable intangible that drives you to an overtime win on the road in Morgantown, W.Va. while sporting season lows in completion percentage and QB rating. The eye test is what tells you that Rudolph is more skills and determination than system. But, that doesn't mean that Rudolph agrees completely. It was after Oklahoma State's 59-20 win at Pitt in September that Rudolph caught me snapping photos of him leaving the field and engaged me in quick conversation as he left the tunnel. As I stood against the wall shooting away, Rudolph pointed at his offensive coordinator, Mike Yurcich, and told me I should be taking photos of him. He believed that Yurcich was the guy to talk to after thrashing Pittsburgh. This came from a guy who threw for 423 yards and 5 touchdowns in the first half against Pitt. Disregard what you think about that confirming Rudolph as a product of a system. The tools are there, and he's just as humble as he is talented. — Matt Sunday
PITT
• If there’s one thing that can be taken from the scholarship offers Jeff Capel has handed out since being hired, it’s that he doesn’t view the word Pitt on his clothing as a handicap when going after top recruits and views the nation as his recruiting base. After offering two national top-100 players from the New York metro area a couple weeks ago, his latest offers for 2019 went to wing Au’Diese Toney and guard Kira Lewis, both four-star players from Alabama, though Toney now attends school in North Carolina. Whether he lands any of those players is yet to be seen, but Capel’s biggest strength so far appears to be that he doesn’t buy into any supposed limitations that exist when recruiting for Pitt. — Matt Grubba
• Just as the men’s basketball team is having to overcome some departures brought on by a coaching change, the women’s program is in the same boat. Yacine Diop, the Panthers’ leading scorer and rebounder a year ago, announced earlier this week she will play her final season at Louisville as a graduate transfer. Without question, Diop leaving is a blow to new coach Lance White for next year. But much like Capel after the departures of Parker Stewart and Marcus Carr, White now has additional flexibility to try and rebuild the roster for the long term. — Grubba
• Departure season also has arrived in football with the semester ending last weekend. So far, senior linebacker Jalen Williams is leaving as a graduate transfer, and junior offensive lineman Tony Pilato also will seek to transfer. Both players already are off the Pitt roster, as is tight end Chris Clark. Clark left the team during spring for personal reasons, and at that time, Pat Narduzzi said he wasn’t closing the door on a return. While no official change to that status has been announced, his removal from the roster seems to indicate a return isn’t anticipated. — Grubba
PENN STATE
• Had there been a run on quarterbacks early on in the NFL Draft, Saquon Barkley still would have been off the board by the time the Denver Broncos selected fifth, a source confirmed. Barkley was viewed by John Elway's franchise as a can't-miss prospect and they would've selected him ahead of Bradley Chubb, the player they eventually picked. Of course, it's highly unlikely the Browns would've passed on Barkley twice anyhow, right? — Audrey Snyder in State College, Pa.
• Hindsight is always 50/50, but it's safe to say Penn State might not follow the same blueprint with Ricky Slade as it did with highly-touted running back Miles Sanders. Penn State helped sell Sanders in part because of the chance for early playing time. The coaching staff delivered with a few carries — which goes a long way in terms of teams holding true to their word, which all prospects keep an eye on — and it also gave him an opportunity at kick returner. The experience helped him grow, but because his reps were so limited as Barkley evolved into a dynamic force, there is some second-guessing within the program about the reality that Sanders possibly would've been better off getting redshirted that season. If Slade doesn't play this year — and that's still a big if — this likely will be part of the thought process. — Snyder
• Redshirt freshman KJ Hamler could be a breakout star this year but it also helps he has some star power in his corner, too. Hamler is in regular contact with former Nittany Lion Allen Robinson and fellow NFL wide receiver Devin Funchess. Funchess, a Farmington Hills, Mich., native, has been in contact with Hamler since he was about 5 years old, while Robinson and Hamler both attended Orchard Lake St. Mary's High School. While they're years apart, Funchess was one of the first people Hamler contacted after he blew his knee out as a high schooler. He'll now help Hamler with his routes, while Robinson is available to do the same. — Snyder