Eddie Johnston

Eddie Johnston ended a 10-year coaching layoff yesterday by returning to the two-time Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. "I feel like a kid in a candy store," Johnston said. "I want to win another Stanley Cup, and this is the place. The challenge is tremendous, but I wanted to be the coach. " Johnston, a longtime NHL player, coach and general manager who was responsible for drafting Mario Lemieux, inherits from Scotty Bowman what many still consider the most talented team in hockey - and all the inherent pitfalls that accompany a team that isn't supposed to lose.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, long accused of running a country club, hired a drill sergeant yesterday when they made Kevin Constantine their new coach. Constantine is a former coach of the San Jose Sharks who spent last season as an assistant with the Calgary Flames. He replaces the man who hired him, general manager Craig Patrick, who finished the season as interim coach. Eddie Johnston coached the Penguins for most of the season, and Constantine brings a no-nonsense approach that will be altogether different from Johnston's easy style.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are streaking, but Mario Lemieux might not be around for a while to enjoy it. The Pens' star could miss the next three games with back spasms suffered while ramming the net Tuesday against Calgary. Lemieux was in visible pain when he left the Civic Arena before the game ended. The back stiffness was even worse yesterday, according to coach Eddie Johnston. "There's a possibility he could be out until the early part of next week," Johnston said. "It all depends how he rebounds in the next 48 hours.

Hartford and Pittsburgh are off to surprising starts this season - surprisingly good for the Whalers and unexpectedly bad for the Penguins. Geoff Sanderson and Jeff O'Neill scored two goals each last night as the Whalers beat the visiting Penguins, 7-3. Hartford, which has missed the playoffs the last four seasons, is 2-0. Pittsburgh, which lost to Florida in the Eastern Conference finals last season, is 0-2. "We looked pretty solid...

Free agent center Ron Francis is expected to sign with the Carolina Hurricanes this week. The 35-year-old Francis, the ninth-leading scorer in NHL history with 1,434 points, has been offered a four-year, $20.8 million deal to return to the team he played for when they were the Hartford Whalers. Francis played his first 10 NHL seasons with Hartford before the Whalers traded him to Pittsburgh in 1991, the year the Penguins won the first of their consecutive Stanley Cup championships.

Even with former Mighty Ducks coach Ron Wilson now on the market, Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Craig Patrick isn't rushing out to hire a coach. Patrick said he has no timetable for hiring Eddie Johnston's replacement and does not necessarily need a coach in place before the June 21 entry draft in Pittsburgh. "We're doing a lot of research on the candidates," Patrick said. "We have not spoken to any. We're still doing background checks. It's a long list and it changes every day. " Wilson was likely added to the list after he was unexpectedly fired despite leading Anaheim to the playoffs in the franchise's fourth season of existence.

Herb Brooks is out as coach of the Minnesota North Stars. Or is he? The North Stars yesterday introduced Jack Ferreira as their new general manager and added the bombshell that Brooks was being fired after one season as coach. Well, make that sort of fired. Brooks was released to pursue opportunities with other NHL teams, along with everyone else in the hockey department except former GM Lou Nanne, now the club president. But Brooks still has a year remaining on his contract, and Ferreira called him "a candidate" for the position.

Patrick Roy never did it. Grant Fuhr never did it. One more game like this, and only Patrick Lalime will have done it. Lalime improved to 12-0-2, matching the best start by an NHL rookie goaltender since the 1967 expansion, and the Pittsburgh Penguins ran their unbeaten streak to 12 games last night by beating visiting Dallas, 3-1. Jaromir Jagr's league-leading 39th and 40th goals broke a second-period tie and Pittsburgh, the NHL's best...

IF THE FLYERS want to win in Pittsburgh on Saturday - and in the first round of their likely Stanley Cup playoff series - they will have to do so without their good luck charm. Peter Laviolette said that the Flyers' reason for success in Pittsburgh is their postgame meal, in which they have ribs delivered to their charter plane from DeeJay's in Weirton, W. Va. The Flyers are 5-0-0 at the Consol Energy Center since it opened on Oct. 7, 2010. Turns out, the owner of DeeJay's, Dewey Guida, couldn't take the heat from the kitchen after getting blasted by Penguins fans.

It was the greatest third period in Florida Panthers history - and it was no surprise that center Stu Barnes was in the middle of it. Barnes, who came in with 10 playoff assists and is known as the team's playmaker, scored twice as the Panthers burned visiting Pittsburgh in a three-goal third period. It translated into a 5-2 victory over the Penguins last night in the Eastern Conference championship series as the Panthers continued their surprise playoff run. "I'm disappointed and embarrassed about what happened," a livid Pittsburgh coach Eddie Johnston said.

IF THE FLYERS want to win in Pittsburgh on Saturday - and in the first round of their likely Stanley Cup playoff series - they will have to do so without their good luck charm. Peter Laviolette said that the Flyers' reason for success in Pittsburgh is their postgame meal, in which they have ribs delivered to their charter plane from DeeJay's in Weirton, W. Va. The Flyers are 5-0-0 at the Consol Energy Center since it opened on Oct. 7, 2010. Turns out, the owner of DeeJay's, Dewey Guida, couldn't take the heat from the kitchen after getting blasted by Penguins fans.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 1990, fired coach Kevin Constantine yesterday and hired Herb Brooks, who coached the famed 1980 "Miracle on Ice" U.S. Olympic team. General manager Craig Patrick, who fired Brooks as the New York Rangers coach in 1985, made the change in consultation with owner Mario Lemieux after deciding Constantine had lost control of a talented but underachieving team. A few hours after Patrick made the change, the Penguins stopped a three-game losing streak by beating visiting Washington, 3-0, in Brooks's first regular-season game since April 16, 1993, with New Jersey.

Free agent center Ron Francis is expected to sign with the Carolina Hurricanes this week. The 35-year-old Francis, the ninth-leading scorer in NHL history with 1,434 points, has been offered a four-year, $20.8 million deal to return to the team he played for when they were the Hartford Whalers. Francis played his first 10 NHL seasons with Hartford before the Whalers traded him to Pittsburgh in 1991, the year the Penguins won the first of their consecutive Stanley Cup championships.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, long accused of running a country club, hired a drill sergeant yesterday when they made Kevin Constantine their new coach. Constantine is a former coach of the San Jose Sharks who spent last season as an assistant with the Calgary Flames. He replaces the man who hired him, general manager Craig Patrick, who finished the season as interim coach. Eddie Johnston coached the Penguins for most of the season, and Constantine brings a no-nonsense approach that will be altogether different from Johnston's easy style.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, who went 38-36-8 this season and were eliminated by the Flyers in the first round of the NHL playoffs, hired Kevin Constantine as their new coach yesterday. A former drill sergeant, Constantine is a former coach of the San Jose Sharks. He spent last season as an assistant with the Calgary Flames. Constantine replaces the man who hired him, Penguins general manager Craig Patrick, who finished the season as interim coach. Eddie Johnston coached the Penguins for most of the season, and Constantine brings a no-nonsense approach that will be altogether different from Johnston's easy style.

Even with former Mighty Ducks coach Ron Wilson now on the market, Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Craig Patrick isn't rushing out to hire a coach. Patrick said he has no timetable for hiring Eddie Johnston's replacement and does not necessarily need a coach in place before the June 21 entry draft in Pittsburgh. "We're doing a lot of research on the candidates," Patrick said. "We have not spoken to any. We're still doing background checks. It's a long list and it changes every day. " Wilson was likely added to the list after he was unexpectedly fired despite leading Anaheim to the playoffs in the franchise's fourth season of existence.

With the Pittsburgh Penguins slumping and Mario Lemieux's influence fading, Eddie Johnston is out again as coach, and general manager Craig Patrick is in again as interim coach. The Penguins fired Johnston yesterday. Patrick will coach the last 20 games of the season and the playoffs. He intends to turn around a team that has lost eight out of nine games despite a glut of talent. "We've got a ship that's off course and listing, and we've got to get it back on course," Patrick said.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are streaking, but Mario Lemieux might not be around for a while to enjoy it. The Pens' star could miss the next three games with back spasms suffered while ramming the net Tuesday against Calgary. Lemieux was in visible pain when he left the Civic Arena before the game ended. The back stiffness was even worse yesterday, according to coach Eddie Johnston. "There's a possibility he could be out until the early part of next week," Johnston said. "It all depends how he rebounds in the next 48 hours.

Patrick Roy never did it. Grant Fuhr never did it. One more game like this, and only Patrick Lalime will have done it. Lalime improved to 12-0-2, matching the best start by an NHL rookie goaltender since the 1967 expansion, and the Pittsburgh Penguins ran their unbeaten streak to 12 games last night by beating visiting Dallas, 3-1. Jaromir Jagr's league-leading 39th and 40th goals broke a second-period tie and Pittsburgh, the NHL's best...

Hartford and Pittsburgh are off to surprising starts this season - surprisingly good for the Whalers and unexpectedly bad for the Penguins. Geoff Sanderson and Jeff O'Neill scored two goals each last night as the Whalers beat the visiting Penguins, 7-3. Hartford, which has missed the playoffs the last four seasons, is 2-0. Pittsburgh, which lost to Florida in the Eastern Conference finals last season, is 0-2. "We looked pretty solid...