{"id":119703,"date":"2021-10-11T14:15:09","date_gmt":"2021-10-11T18:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=119703"},"modified":"2021-10-11T14:19:55","modified_gmt":"2021-10-11T18:19:55","slug":"penguins-to-sign-brian-boyle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2021\/10\/11\/penguins-to-sign-brian-boyle\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian Boyle Expected To Sign With Pittsburgh Penguins"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\">Forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/boylebr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brian Boyle<\/a> is expected to sign a one-year deal worth $750,000 with the Pittsburgh Penguins after a successful camp with the club. This signing comes after Boyle was on a professional tryout with the team.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Yes, Brian Boyle will be accompanying <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/pens?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#pens<\/a> on their flight to Tampa this afternoon, expected to sign a 1-year, $750,000 deal with PIT tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p>What a story. The 36-year-old did not get a deal last season, played for Team USA at the Worlds and worked his way back to NHL on PTO.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/frank_seravalli\/status\/1447567612666331141?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 11, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>The Story of Brian Boyle<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">If you want a story of perseverance, look no further than the career of Brian Boyle. Diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia on Sept. 19, 2017, Boyle\u2019s life was forever changed.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Boyle entered the league in 2007 as a 26th overall pick by the L.A. Kings. The towering 6\u20196\u201d centreman gained the reputation and respect of his peers as one of the best defensive-forwards and face-off artists in the NHL. He lent his talents to four different teams in the first 10 years of his career, helping both the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2021\/10\/10\/mika-zibanejad-agrees-to-new-extension-with-the-new-york-rangers\/\" target=\"_self\">New York Rangers<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2021\/10\/11\/lightning-extend-coach-jon-cooper\/\" target=\"_self\">Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a> make the Stanley Cup Finals in 2014 and 2015, respectively.<\/p>\n<h3>Everything Changes<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\">But after a routine blood test during training camp with the Devils in 2017, his physical yielded abnormal results. Boyle was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia, cancer that starts in the blood-forming cells of the bone marrow and invades the blood. Originally, Boyle was told by doctors that it could take up to 18 months before the disease would go into full remission. Fortunately, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2018\/10\/24\/new-jersey-devils-brian-boyle-cancer-in-remission\/\" target=\"_self\">he would enter remission<\/a> in 12 months and 33 days.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Despite the diagnosis, Boyle pushed through and would play 69 games with the Devils, recording 13 goals and 10 assists. He would also play in the NHL All-Star game and receive the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/mastebi01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bill Masterton<\/a> Award from the Professional Hockey Writers Association for his perseverance and dedication to the sport.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">For the next two seasons, Boyle would split time between the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2021\/10\/06\/mnm-hockey-podcast-nhl-storylines\/\" target=\"_self\">New Jersey Devils<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2021\/09\/27\/puck-drop-preview-2021-22-nashville-predators\/\" target=\"_self\">Nashville Predators<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2021\/10\/10\/canucks-trade-olli-juolevi-to-panthers\/\" target=\"_self\">Florida Panthers<\/a>.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Playing time and his roles with teams began to diminish, and entering the 2020-21 season Boyle found himself on the outside looking in. Boyle believed his body was sharp and ready to go for the shortened 2020-21 season. However, 31 NHL teams did not seem to agree. And so for the first time since breaking into the league in 2008, Boyle found himself watching the league move on without him.<\/p>\n<h3>An Opportunity Presents Itself<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\">Boyle knew he had more to add to his legacy. His work in the greatest league in sports was not over. Boyle continued his workouts and on-ice drills throughout last season. His efforts awarded him a PTO on the eve of camp with the Penguins this year.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/russianmachineneverbreaks.com\/2021\/09\/23\/evgeni-malkin-joins-sidney-crosby-on-the-injured-list-will-miss-at-least-first-two-months-of-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Injuries\u00a0to Crosby and Malkin<\/a> to start the year have exposed a lack of centre depth for the Penguins. An opportunity for Boyle to insert himself into the opening day lineup presented itself. Pairing that opportunity with a productive camp, he&#8217;s now on the verge of signing a one-year deal with Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Boyle\u2019s leadership, perseverance, and dedication to the sport will be most welcomed into the Penguins&#8217; locker room. It&#8217;s hard not to believe those honourable attributes will rub off on the rest of the roster.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo: <a id=\"znT-6IsQSaBacQkP_mUhGQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1345551227\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'znT-6IsQSaBacQkP_mUhGQ',sig:'BWEQaItNkwG8yBAgrXLSYmui-4IOt7BEzi0CrTutYuA=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1345551227',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Forward Brian Boyle is expected to sign a one-year deal worth $750,000 with the Pittsburgh Penguins after a successful camp with the club. This signing comes after Boyle was on a professional tryout with the team.\u00a0 Yes, Brian Boyle will be accompanying #pens on their flight to Tampa this afternoon, expected to sign a 1-year, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3976,"featured_media":119721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,4547,34,4548],"tags":[544,140],"class_list":["post-119703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-penguins","category-hockey","category-news","category-nhl","tag-evgeni-malkin","tag-sidney-crosby"],"modified_by":"Noah Foster, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3976"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}