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Two sad Penguins news bits: Jordan Staal to miss start of season, Igloo will be demolished

Jordan Staal

NHL player profile photo on Pittsburgh Penguins’ Jordan Staal during a recent game in Calgary, Alberta. The Canadian Press Images/Larry MacDougal (Canadian Press via AP Images)

AP

The Pittsburgh Penguins received a double-shot of sad news this morning, with their past, present and future taking a bit of a blow.

Most importantly, comes the present and future: the team already announced that defensive center Jordan Staal would miss all of training camp, but now the Penguins are saying that he will not be available for the beginning of the regular season either.

Penguins center Jordan Staal is expected to miss the start of the regular season following a procedure this week to cure an infection in his foot, the team announced today.

Staal’s recovery period is expected to be 5-6 weeks. The Penguins open the regular season Oct. 7 against Philadelphia.

In other words, Jordan Staal could be out until Halloween. Sounds like a pretty scary situation for the Penguins, but the team is spinning the situation as an opportunity for its younger players to earn more time on the ice before the lanky pivot returns from injury. They’re even reaching into the bag of Chinese proverbs to find some sunshine in a cloudy scenario.

If that news wasn’t enough to ruin the coffee breaks of many Penguins fans, news out of Pittsburgh is that a board voted unanimously to demolish the Civic Arena (aka The Igloo). Of course, the decision is being made to allow “Penguins-led redevelopments” but for nostalgic Penguins fans, this has to be a bit of a blow. Read more about it from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.