Bennett to Wheeling in paper move; Despres to WBS, Pouliot back to juniors among today’s roster moves

The Pittsburgh Penguins had some cap maneuvering going on this afternoon to get cap compliant. Here’s a rundown on the announced roster moves: *Kris Letang and Tomas Vokoun have been placed on injured reserve *Beau Bennett has been assigned to Wheeling of the ECHL. *Simon Despres and Andrew Ebbett have been assigned to Wilkes Barre/Scranton. *2012 1st round pick Derrick Pouliot has been returned to juniors. *The Penguins have recalled defenseman Harrison Ruopp. OFFICIAL 23-MAN ROSTER AS OF 5:00 P.M. *The Penguins current active roster as of 5:00 p.m. has 13 forwards, 8 defensemen and 2 goaltenders. The official roster we see right now isn’t going to be the one Thursday night. FORWARDS: Chris Kunitz, Sidney Crosby, Pascal Dupuis, Jussi

Antonio Brown leads all NFL WR’s in first downs

Antonio Brown (32 REC – 412 YARDS – 2 TD) is off to a pro bowl season and meeting expectations as a No. 1 receiver through the first quarter of the NFL season. After a 9 catch, 196 yard performance vs the Bears in Week 3, Brown followed that up with a career high 12 catches for 88 yards vs the Vikings. Eight of Brown’s catches were for first downs and four of them on third down. Brown also set up a Le’Veon Bell 1 yard touchdown run by drawing a 48 yard pass interference penalty in the end zone. Antonio Brown’s NFL ranks through 4 Games: 32 Receptions (4th), 412 Yards (4th), 7 Receptions over 20+ yards (3rd), 23 First Downs

Defense surrenders 34 points, Roethlisberger again plagued by costly turnovers as Steelers fall to 0-4

STEELERS FALL TO 0-4 Adrian Peterson ran for 140 yards and two scores, and Greg Jennings made two touchdown catches, including a 70 yard catch and run, as the Minnesota Vikings held on to preserve a 34-27 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday for their first win of the season. The Vikings led 34-17 late in the third quarter but the Steelers rallied and threatened to send the game to overtime until Everson Griffen stripped Ben Roethlisberger on the Vikings 6-yard line with 19 seconds left to secure the win as Kevin Williams recovered. It was Roethlisberger’s second costly turnover of the second half and the Steelers fall to 0-4 for the first time since 1968. “We’re in uncharted

The Latest Roster Buzz as decision time nears for Penguins Brass

DECISION DAY FOR PENS BRASS The Pittsburgh Penguins have to be cap compliant by Monday afternoon and if the team were to demote any players on one-way contracts, those players would have to be placed on waivers by 12:00 p.m. Sunday. Throughout the NHL, we could see some interesting names on waivers today. The Penguins right now have 16 forwards, 10 defensemen and 3 goaltenders in camp, though Tomas Vokoun is obviously not participating. The Penguins plan to start the year with 21 or 22 players, and we’re likely to see 13 forwards, 7 defensemen and 2 goaltenders with Vokoun on LTIR and maybe one or two more players on injured reserve. ROSTER BUZZ FORWARDS DEPTH CHART Chris Kunitz –

PNC Park will be rocking Tuesday night

PNC Park will be rocking Tuesday night. The Pirates making their first playoff appearance in 21 years, will host the NL Wildcard Game vs the Cincinnati Reds Tuesday night. The Pirates clinched home field for the wildcard game with an 8-3 win over the Reds today behind their biggest power surge in six years. Neil Walker homered twice, and Marlon Byrd, Andrew McCutchen, Andrew Lambo and Pedro Alvarez also homered as the Pirates hit six home runs in the win. Pirates players and coaches have strongly felt getting the home game was very important and they delivered with two impressive wins. “Today showed how bad we wanted to go home. We answered in a big way,” Andrew McCutchen said. “The

Matt Cassel to start at QB vs Steelers on Sunday

Vikings starter Christian Ponder has been ruled out for Sunday’s game vs the Steelers. Matt Cassel will start. Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley should have a positive effect on the team for at least one week in being able to provide a detailed scouting report on Cassel who had a career year under Haley in 2010 throwing for 27 touchdowns. The Steelers also have a familiarity with Cassel in that they’ve faced him three times since 2008, including last season.

Zolnierczyk placed on waivers

The Pittsburgh Penguins have reassigned Zach Sill, Harry Zolnierczyk and Brian Dumoulin to Wilkes Barre/Scranton. Zolnierczyk who was in the running for one of the final forward spots, has to clear waivers.

Showdown in Cincinnati

SHOWDOWN IN CINCINNATI The Pittsburgh Pirates division hopes took a major hit Thursday as the St. Louis Cardinals keep winning and the Chicago Cubs took beat the Pirates 4-2 on Thursday afternoon. The Pirates are three games out of the division lead with three games to go. Barring a Pirates sweep of the Reds and the Cardinals being swept by the Cubs, the Pirates division hopes are slim as the two heartbreaking losses to San Diego and Cincinnati last week ended up killing their chances at the division title. All eyes are on the showdown in Cincinnati. The stage is set. Barring the scenario above happening, a three game set between the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates will decide who