Malone has good chance to join Penguins' roster

The Upper St. Clair native would become the first Pittsburgh-area Penguin.
CANONSBURG, Pa. (AP) -- In the Pittsburgh Penguins' first 36 seasons, there never was a Penguin from Pittsburgh. There could be now.
Ryan Malone, a 23-year-old forward who played most of last season at St. Cloud State, survived the Penguins' next-to-last cut-down Tuesday and seems likely to make next week's season-opening roster.
The Penguins have only two more players to cut, and since they're carrying three goaltenders, one will be a goalie.
Also, defensemen Michal Rozsival and Josef Melichar are fighting through injuries and might not be ready for the Oct. 10 opener against Los Angeles.
From Upper St. Clair
Malone grew up in suburban Upper St. Clair, which also produced Cincinnati Reds first baseman Sean Casey, and is the son of Greg Malone, the team's head scout and a former Penguins player.
The younger Malone has been going to hockey camps all of his life, but signed his first professional contract only this year.
A fourth-round draft pick in 1999, he would be the first player to advance through Pittsburgh amateur hockey to the Penguins.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Malone played some at left wing during the pre-season -- he's about the size of former Penguins forward Kevin Stevens -- but seems a more natural fit at center.
Eyed the big club
"Everybody expected me to play at Wilkes-Barre [AHL], but I wanted to make the big club," said Malone, whose only three minor league games were with the Penguins' top farm club last season.
Malone had 16 goals and 20 assists in 27 games at St. Cloud State last season.
Also still on the roster is forward Matt Murley, a second-round pick in 1999 who had 21 goals and 37 assists in 73 games at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season. He was kept over some better-known names, including forward Kris Beech.
Beech was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, along with forwards Colby Armstrong, Tom Kostopoulos and Eric Meloche, defensemen Patrick Boileau, David Koci, Ross Lapaschuk and Rob Scuderi and goaltender Andy Chiodo.
Young players
Murley and Malone are among 13 players aged 25 or under who are still on the Penguins' roster. Still, owner-player Mario Lemieux is disappointed that several young players, notably Beech, are still bouncing back and forth between the minors.
Beech, acquired from the Capitals in the Jaromir Jagr trade, had 10 goals and 15 assists while spending the entire 2001-02 season with Pittsburgh. But he played only 12 games with Pittsburgh last season, then had an up-and-down training camp.
"It's a little bit disappointing that some of the guys who have been here for a couple of years are going back to the minors with the talent they have, but they're still young," Lemieux said.