The Penguins will have their penultimate practice of the season at 11 a.m. at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. I’ll have live updates below, to be read from the bottom up.
► FOLLOW ALONG
• Kevin Hayes had a maintenance day, Kris Letang had a medical appointment. No decision yet on P.O Joseph’s availability for Thursday.
• Joona Koppanen asked how my Finnish is coming along and I gave him a couple of the useless sentences Duolingo teaches you — “I have an apple,” “You have a potato,” “The Finn is a wizard and the Swede is a viking.” He said it was good and that they don’t have many wizards in Finland.
• Evgeni Malkin’s habit of picking on director of security Ed Joyner has rubbed off on Vladislav Kolyachonok, who just pretended like he was going to roundhouse kick him in the face.
• Filip Kral, who is Czech, played in Finland last season. He said he learned some Finnish that he can use with the Finns on the team now — mostly just “good morning” and swear words. I asked Ville Koivunen if he taught Kral bad words. “Me?? No, I don’t even know any bad words! I don’t talk like that.”
• Prospect Melvin Fernstrom is here skating.
• They've got P.O Joseph skating as a forward. Vladislav Kolyachonok and Filip Kral are rotating with each other on the third pair, Kolyachonok took the first rep:
Matt Grzelcyk - Erik Karlsson Ryan Shea - Conor Timmins Ryan Graves - Vladislav Kolyachonok/Filip Kral
• For anyone confused: No, Joona Koppanen was not sent back to Wilkes-Barre. He's still here, he's on the ice, he's on the roster. He was put on waivers yesterday, but that was a formality because he's one of the few guys eligible to be sent back down for the AHL playoffs. That has no bearing on his availability for the finale on Thursday. They can send him back down after that game.
• Kyle Dubas is back in town from his various scouting trips
• Absent from practice: Kevin Hayes, Kris Letang.
• P.O Joseph is on the ice in a regular jersey in a practice for the first time since his injury.
• Filip Kral is here after being recalled yesterday. That's not an emergency recall, by the way. He's not here because someone's hurt.
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THE ASYLUM
Taylor Haase
4:04 am - 04.15.2025Cranberry, Pa.Final: Penguins practice
The Penguins will have their penultimate practice of the season at 11 a.m. at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. I’ll have live updates below, to be read from the bottom up.
► FOLLOW ALONG
• Kevin Hayes had a maintenance day, Kris Letang had a medical appointment. No decision yet on P.O Joseph’s availability for Thursday.
• Joona Koppanen asked how my Finnish is coming along and I gave him a couple of the useless sentences Duolingo teaches you — “I have an apple,” “You have a potato,” “The Finn is a wizard and the Swede is a viking.” He said it was good and that they don’t have many wizards in Finland.
• Evgeni Malkin’s habit of picking on director of security Ed Joyner has rubbed off on Vladislav Kolyachonok, who just pretended like he was going to roundhouse kick him in the face.
• Filip Kral, who is Czech, played in Finland last season. He said he learned some Finnish that he can use with the Finns on the team now — mostly just “good morning” and swear words. I asked Ville Koivunen if he taught Kral bad words. “Me?? No, I don’t even know any bad words! I don’t talk like that.”
• Prospect Melvin Fernstrom is here skating.
• They've got P.O Joseph skating as a forward. Vladislav Kolyachonok and Filip Kral are rotating with each other on the third pair, Kolyachonok took the first rep:
Ville Koivunen - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Danton Heinen - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Connor Dewar - Joona Koppanen - Phil Tomasino
P.O Joseph - Vasily Ponomarev - Valtteri Puustinen
Matt Grzelcyk - Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea - Conor Timmins
Ryan Graves - Vladislav Kolyachonok/Filip Kral
• For anyone confused: No, Joona Koppanen was not sent back to Wilkes-Barre. He's still here, he's on the ice, he's on the roster. He was put on waivers yesterday, but that was a formality because he's one of the few guys eligible to be sent back down for the AHL playoffs. That has no bearing on his availability for the finale on Thursday. They can send him back down after that game.
• Kyle Dubas is back in town from his various scouting trips
• Absent from practice: Kevin Hayes, Kris Letang.
• P.O Joseph is on the ice in a regular jersey in a practice for the first time since his injury.
• Filip Kral is here after being recalled yesterday. That's not an emergency recall, by the way. He's not here because someone's hurt.
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
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