ROOT Sports has replaced Paul Steigerwald with Steve Mears

Earlier this morning, the Penguins announced that Steve Mears has come back home to Pittsburgh to take over the play-by-play duties covering the Penguins on ROOT Sports.

Steve Mears has been hired by ROOT SPORTS as play-by-play broadcaster for the Pittsburgh Penguins, it was announced today by ROOT SPORTS General Manager Shawn McClintock.

Mears, a native of nearby Murrysville and a graduate of Franklin Regional High School, has spent the past five seasons as co-host of "NHL Live and NHL Now" on the NHL Network. He was the radio play-by-play voice of the New York Islanders from 2006-2009 and worked for the Penguins radio network from 2009-13.

"Steve is a tremendous natural talent who has established himself league-wide as a first-class professional broadcaster," McClintock said. "The fact that he grew up in the Pittsburgh area rooting for the Penguins is an added bonus. Steve has done an outstanding job with the NHL Network over the past five years - including play-by-play work on the Stanley Cup Final for NHL International, as well as the World Junior Championships - and we think he is a perfect fit for this new role with ROOT SPORTS and the Penguins."

Here’s the TL:DR version: Steve is coming back home, Paul Steigerwald is going to work with the Penguins organization in Communications and Marketing -- something perfect for the biggest Penguins fan in the city.

Good work, ROOT Sports. It’s a great day for hockey.