Mike Sullivan confirms starting goalie for the Pittsburgh Penguins' first pre-season game tonight
Mike Sullivan confirmed that Joel Blomqvist will be the Pittsburgh Penguins' starting goalie tonight for their first pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres.
Hockey is finally back! The first pre-season games are set to take place tonight, marking the start of the 2024-25 NHL regular calendar.
In Pittsburgh, the game promises to be interesting for many reasons, but a lot of fans are hyped for the same reason: Joel Blomqvist.
The 22-year-old Finnish goaltender was drafted 52nd overall by the Pens in 2020 and impressed many people last season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the AHL. He had a 25-12-6 record and was able to maintain great statistics (2.16 GAA and 0.921 SV%).
Fans seem to be happy with this decision, as we can see on X:
The Penguins also released the rest of their roster, giving other reasons for fans to tune in tonight. Indeed, Ville Koivunen, Rutger McGroarty, and Vasily Ponomarev will be in uniform, among others.
Here's the Pittsburgh Penguins full roster, as seen on NHL.com:
30 - Joel Blomqvist
31 - Filip Larsson
DEFENSEMEN
4 - Nathan Clurman
5 - Ryan Shea
7 - John Ludvig
27 - Ryan Graves
45 - Harrison Brunicke
57 - Philip Waugh
81 - Mac Hollowell
FORWARDS
2 - Rutger McGroarty
10 - Drew O'Connor
11 - Vasily Ponomarev
16 - Jimmy Huntington
18 - Jesse Puljujarvi
19 - Cody Glass
26 - Tristan Broz
41 - Ville Koivunen
48 - Valtteri Puustinen
52 - Emil Bemstrom
74 - Tanner Howe
84 - Atley Calvert
85 - Avery Hayes
In addition to the Penguins and the Sabres, the St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets, and Minnesota Wild will also be in action.
Tonight will also mark David Quinn's first game as the Penguins' assistant-coach. Make sure to stay tuned to find out the latest developments from this first night of what is set to be an interesting NHL season!
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 21 | 55 ANSWERS Mike Sullivan confirms starting goalie for the Pittsburgh Penguins' first pre-season game tonight Are you eager to see the Pittsburgh Penguins promising prospect Joel Blomqvist in action tonight against the Buffalo Sabres? | ||
| Yes | 42 | 76.4 % |
| No | 13 | 23.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
