We head to the rink for hockey talk with Dave Molinari, a Hall of Fame writer who has covered the Pittsburgh Penguins and NHL since 1983. His legendary dry, sharp wit comes through in tales about superstars Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby, as well as other great players who have produced five Stanley Cup championships during his tenure on the beat. Molinari tells us about coaching legends Herb Brooks and “Badger” Bob Johnson, a playoff game lasting five overtimes, and old arenas that made the hair stand up on his neck. You’ll laugh about Gene Ubriaco’s escape tunnel, Lou Angotti’s epic rant, and witch doctors entering the press box.
Molinari was enshrined in the media wing of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009 when he received the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award for print journalism, which is given each year by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association. After beginning his journalism career at the McKeesport Daily News, Molinari joined the Pittsburgh Press as a copy editor in 1980. That paper assigned him to cover the Penguins and NHL in the summer of 1983. When the Pittsburgh Press folded at the end of 1992, Molinari moved to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and continued covering the Penguins and NHL until 2017, when his primary responsibility became Penn State football. He returned to hockey writing and the Penguins beat in June 2019 when, after 39-plus years at newspapers, he joined DK Pittsburgh Sports, a subscription website. Molinari began writing for a different website, Pittsburgh Hockey Now, in May 2022.
After growing up in the McKeesport suburbs of Glassport and Elizabeth Township near Pittsburgh, Molinari earned a journalism degree from Penn State. He is the author of two books:
“Mario Lemieux: Best There Ever Was,” written along with Ron Cook and Chuck Finder.
“Best in the Game: The Turbulent Story of the Pittsburgh Penguins' Rise to Stanley Cup Champions”
You can follow Dave on X: @MolinariPGH
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