There wasn’t a single reference to Bobby Farnham, Steve Downie or Blake Comeau as the Penguins opened training camp Friday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry.
No talk of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin focusing on their 200-foot games, either.
Yet, for as much as the Penguins have fast-laned it past the rest of the NHL under coach Mike Sullivan, a few of those Mike Johnston memories appeared in the rear-view mirror. And not necessarily in a good way.
Derrick Pouliot, who played for Johnston in junior hockey, stepped on the ice Friday looking every bit the part of an NHL defenseman.