First Call: Travis Kelce's high praise for Pat Freiermuth; Steelers' value bumps on Forbes list

Fridays First Call has the latest financial value of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Pat Freiermuth gets some high praise.

The Penguins look to carry over Thursdays success in Canada.

Plus, we check out this weekends slate of games in college basketball and hockey.

Money, money, money, money Forbes has published its annual list of the top 50 most valuable sports organizations in professional sports.

The Steelers are 28th at $5.3 billion, right behind the Liverpool soccer franchise at $5.37 billion.

Liverpool is owned by Fenway Sports Group, which also owns the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Steelers are 17th in the rankings among NFL franchises.

The league has 29 of the 50 teams mentioned.

The Steelers have grown at a 15% clip over the past year.

The Dallas Cowboys sit atop the list at $10.1 billion.

Thats a 12% bump from a year ago.

Canadian exchange rate The Pittsburgh Penguins first of two games in Canada worked out great.

They clubbed the Montreal Canadiens 9-2 on Thursday night behind a hat trick from Bryan Rust, and three assists from Sidney Crosby.

The Pens improved to 13-14-4 on the season.

Thats good for 30 points, but its still one off the pace for a playoff spot behind the New York Rangers and Islanders.

The loss dropped Montreal to 11-15-3 (25 points), the worst record in the Eastern Conference.

On Saturday, the Pens play in Ottawa.

The Senators have 28 points in 28 games (13-13-2).

They beat the Anaheim Ducks 5-1 on Wednesday.

For as mediocre as the Senators have been, they have actually been quite good on home ice.

With nine victories at Canadian Tire Centre, they have the third-most in the Eastern Conference.

Only Toronto (13) and Carolina (11) have more.

Tim Stutzle leads the way for Ottawa with 36 points.

Only 11 players in the NHL have more.

Drake Batherson is next on the team with 32 points.

The Sens have an excellent power play.

At 27.6% it is fourth in the NHL.

The clubs PK is vulnerable though.

It tracks at 75.6%, 24th in the NHL.

Teryl Austin, Steelers know they cant have A.J.

Brown repeat from last game at Eagles 'Execution fuels emotion': Steelers soft-spoken LG Isaac Seumalo wants win in return to Philly Pitt women's volleyball defeats Oregon in thriller to reach NCAA Tournament Elite 8 In his Muuuth era A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away Travis Kelce wasnt just known as Taylor Swifts boyfriend and a podcaster.

He was simply one of the best tight ends in NFL history.

Now Kelce is using his podcast platform and his tight end expertise to praise Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth.

Pat is actually one of my favorite tight ends to watch, Kelce said on the latest episode of New Heights with his brother, Jason .

Hes savvy in his route running.

He is very quarterback-friendly.

He knows angles coming out to where he knows he can get a guaranteed catch.

Quarterbacks (expletive) love it when you come out of your breaks in certain angles, depending on where the defender closest to you is.

Kelce says there is a lot of toughness to Freiermuths game, but a lot of nuance too.

He does a great job of filling voids and feeling how to get in and out of breaks, Kelce continued.

On top of that, he is just a tough football player.

He embodies the Steeler kind of way to play that Steel Curtain kind of toughness youve got to play with.

Hes willing to stick his face in the fan and do whatever (he) needs to take to help his team.

Over his past two games, Freiermuth has nine catches, 116 yards and two touchdowns.

Heading home The Duquesne mens basketball team is making its annual trip to Akron on Saturday.

Theyll play Towson at 6 p.m.

in the Morgan & Morgan Classic.

The game will be played at LeBron James Arena on the campus of St.

Vincent-St.

Mary High School.

Thats the alma mater of both James and Dru Joyce III.

They were teammates together there.

The team is also planning a visit to James I Promise school in Akron.

Duquesne comes in at 2-8 after a 61-56 loss to Maine on Wednesday.

Towson is 4-6.

The Tigers have lost four in a row.

As for the womens team, Dan Burts crew has won five in a row and is 7-2.

They host Canisius at 2 p.m.

Sunday.

Pitts mens team is off until a home date against Sam Houston on Dec.

21.

The women welcome Miami at noon Sunday.

Robert Morris womens team is at home against Mercyhurst at 2 p.m.

Saturday.

The Colonials mens team looks to snap a three-game losing streak on Tuesday when Towson visits Moon.

Holiday road The Robert Morris Mens hockey team continues its heavy December road schedule this weekend.

The Colonials are at Canisius to play the Golden Griffins.

RMU last played at home when the team split a series with AIC on Nov.

29 and 30.

Since then, the Colonials also split a series at RIT, they go to Canisius this weekend before having the next two weeks off for Christmas.

Then they travel to Arizona State for the ASU Desert Classic with the Sun Devils, Cornell and Umass on Jan.

3 and 4.

Derek Schooleys club doesnt play at home again until a Tuesday night game against Canisius on Jan.

14.

RMU is 6-7-2 this season, with 12 conference points, ninth in Atlantic Hockey.

Canisius is sixth with 17 points.

Meanwhile, the womens team (5-12-1) is at Long Island this weekend.

Both teams have players who were nominated for the schools athletics Hall Of Fame this week.

Brittany Howard is going in from the womens club.

She concluded her career as the programs all-time leading scorer with 181 points on 79 goals and 102 assists.

Zac Lynch is going in from the mens team.

He also became the programs all-time leading scorer his senior season in 2015-16 with 156 career points thanks to 67 goals and 89 assists..

This article has been shared from the original article on triblive, here is the link to the original article.