Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - A shake up in the broadcast booth is coming, what's next?

Episode Date: September 1, 2023

Josh Taylor joins Patrick Damp on this episode of the Locked On Penguins Podcast and they discuss the breaking news that Steve Mears and Bob Errey will not be on the broadcast team this upcoming season and what could come next for the team's television broadcast. They also look back on the Penguins' career of one Carl Hagelin, the H in the HBK line, and what he meant to the team, the two Stanley Cups, and more. Lastly, on this day in 1999, Mario Lemieux's purchase of the Pittsburgh Penguins was made official by the National Hockey League. How all of that happened, what's happened since, and why it just had to be Le Magnifique who purchased the team.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Right now, NEW customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get TWO HUNDRED in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable free bets that expire in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Two. An offseason of change continues for the Pittsburgh Penguins this time in the broadcast booth. Here to help me out is Josh Taylor of 937 the fan right after this. Your Locked on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked on podcast network. Your team every day. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to another edition of the Locked On.

Penguins podcast. We thank you for making this your first watch or listen of the day. It's free and available on YouTube and anywhere you get your podcasts. And today's episode is brought to you by Fandul, the official sports book of Locked On. Make every moment count right now. And now new customers can bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets guaranteed. Visit Fandle slash locked on to get started. As I said in the intro, joining me today is one of my best friends, and you know them from 937 The Fan, you know them from KDK TV, and now you know them from Fourth Down in the Steel City, an incredible Steelers podcast that you should check out, of course, after you listen to us, you're on talked on. Josh Taylor, man, it's so much fun to get back on the mic with you,

and I said I was going to do this because we haven't shared a mic since. we had our new obsession start with everybody saying j t hd yeah i love it i love it that's the best intro ever um and uh my apologies to i was watching on youtube i literally just remembered to turn my light on because i'm like why don't look so dark yeah i didn't turn on my leg so there's that but yeah as as you can see now for those of you who have watched fourth down in steel city recently you're used to being you're used to seeing me like in the room with like the paint splotches and all the boxes everywhere i've typically i've temporarily been moved to yet another space until my office is done being renovated i'm not my wife's space but hey you know this you know it's part of the

process but no it's it's cool to be back on here man we i think we talk so much during the course of like a regular day about everything possible so now that we're actually in a space to talk about it with other people listening it's going to be a little bit different I'm excited for it, though. I think I think this is cool. And not to mention, I got to point this up where we get going, so maybe we want to get into the show. We're going into a holiday weekend.

It's, I have a Friday off. I have the weekend off. Big weekend coming up from my family. My daughter's been Kristen tomorrow, so it's a huge weekend for the family. So I'm like, all right, great, man, holiday weekend, nothing to do, nowhere to go. It's going to be a quiet day, get some laundry done. No, all this news breaks on the same day with the backwood.

So go figure. Go figure. No quiet days off. in this business. And I teased it on Wednesday when we signed off that we were going to do another edition of jumping into the Penguins Multiverse because who better than to get to do an MCU-adjacent episode than my good pal Josh. But if that's a good segue, let's get right into it. Announced this morning, not really announced, but confirmed by a bunch of different outlets, including Josh Yohe of the athletic. Shakeup is coming in the broadcast booth this season.

a day after the penguins made it official that they are purchasing AT&T Sportsnet and making it Pittsburgh Sportsnet or Sportsnet Pittsburgh. Excuse me if I got that mixed up. But they confirmed this morning that Steve Mears and Bob Erie will not be returning to the broadcast booth for the television side this upcoming season, which I don't think freezing cold takes listens to Locked on penguins. But if they do, go ahead and tag me because I said, probably a little too close to the season. for any wholesale changes. So, Josh, your reaction to this news because it kind of came out of nowhere. It's one of those things where when you're a fan of a team,

especially over a certain period of time, especially when you get to a certain age, you remember different eras in different, you know, time periods. I'm still one of those people, I'm one of those that are left that remember the Mike Lang Paul Stigerwald days. Like that was the first pairing that I remember. hearing the Penguins Hockey. And when that pairing got broke up, you're like, wait a minute. This is, this isn't supposed to happen because Mike Lang stayed on one medium and Paul Staggerwell moved to the other one because they eventually split the radio and TV broadcasts. And then, you know,

you went from away from the Paul Staggerwall era. And then you went away from the Mike Lang era. And you're like, wait a minute, what is happening right now. So to get to this point, it feels really, really strange because now it's like the post Bob Erie era. And that's, and Bob Erie did it for a long time. So it's another one of those odd transitions when you've been a fan for so long, like those eras change. But all the same. I am excited for a guy like Josh Getsoff, who's been doing great work for the Penguins for years now. He gets an opportunity to bump up yet again.

And I think it'll be great for him. Not to mention the fact, you know, shout out to another member of the Prosper of Josh's group. Shout out to Josh Banks, the president of the Raleigh chapter of the Prosper's Josh's group. It's always a big running joke we got going, but super excited for him. And yeah, this is a chance for a younger fan base to kind of latch on to another series or another team of broadcasters. And hopefully it provides some opportunities for guys like Colby Armstrong and Josh always report.

He said it might be an opportunity for Kobe Armstrong. He's a guy that some younger fans identify with. He was one of the transitional guys, if you will, with this payments organization before they got to the Sydney Krosby era. Colby Armstrong is one of those guys that help kind of ease that transition in. And he identified, people identify with Kobe Armstrong, not to mention the fact he's really good at what he does. So when you see that there are younger guys that are good at what they do and they have built up that kind of following, you're excited for him to get that opportunity. Agreed. And it's definitely bittersweet, I would say, because I've said it to you personally.

I've always thought of the past, in the past five, six years that the Penguins broadcast started, on the TV side, at least started to get a little bit stale. You know, as much as I enjoy the quirks and everything that Bob Barry brings, it brought, I guess we have to say it, sadly past tense now, it felt like it was time for a change. And it's tough because change is difficult. You never know what's going to come down the pipe. who's going to join gets off because as Yohe's report said, it's believed that he is going to be the one to get the play-by-play bump. I will miss Bob Erie because as much as he wasn't that big of an X's and O's guy, he had a good perspective because he'd been a guy who wasn't really a superstar in the national hockey league. He was in that kind of weird middle space of he wasn't a journeyman grinder. tooth and nail your way to the NHL, but he also wasn't a superstar

that you put on the billboards and the t-shirts and all the promotional material. So he had a really good perspective. I'm definitely going to miss it. I do feel bad for Steve Mears because this was a kid living his childhood dream. A Pittsburgh native who got the call to be the play-by-play guy for the local hockey team.

He is from a hockey family. Laura, my girlfriend always jokes. Everybody in Pittsburgh knows everybody. Well, I knew Mears his brother because my dad coached him when he was a high school hockey player. Wow. I do feel bad for the guy, but he's got the experience with NHL Network and a couple other broadcasting outlets. So he's most certainly going to land on his feet wherever he goes and he'll be successful. Yeah, he's done.

He wants to say the world juniors. He's called those games and things like that. So he's had opportunities. And like you said, the NHL Network experience, he's the guy who's been all over hockey and not just in this area. So he definitely has, I'm sure he'll have somewhere for him to land and wishing him all the best do. Yeah, he'll absolutely, because he did NHL. He's done NHL Network. He's done NHL Network games, NHL games, not like the, you know, Tuesday night.

We're broadcasting an AHL game, bringing Steve Mears kind of thing. They, you know, he made the call in 2017 when the first. Penguins won their second Stanley Cup or NHL Network. There you go. Best of luck to the guys. We're going to miss them. The good news, so fans aren't totally going to have to riot. Just before we hit record, according to Josh Yohe, Dan Potash will remain with the broadcast.

So all the player pranks, all the silliness from Potash are going to remain and thankful for that because he does such a good job bringing the lighthearted side of the broadcast to the game. If you are a person that does not like Dan Potash, there's something wrong with you. I don't know a single soul, whether affiliated with that team, whether affiliated, even with the pirates or anybody else just in the local media market, that has a bad word to say about Dan Potash. He's one of the just absolute best people, gets along with everybody, great to everybody. I remember early, early in my career before I was in front of the camera. This is back and I was behind the camera as a field producer.

No one knew who my name was. And I was kind of just starting out and covering his team as a field producer. And Dan was one of the guys that was, you know, very gracious enough to kind of, you know, show me all the pitfalls. Do this, don't do that. And it was the Dan Boatoshes.

It was the Ken Laird's and the Tim Benzes and the Jeff Hathorns that were just phenomenal to me. And I don't think anybody that's been on that beat or anybody that's been around that locker room, whether it's Pirates Clubhouse, or Penguins locker room that has a betting say about Dan Potash. So the fact that he's back, everybody should be happy. I'm sure the players are happy to work with him because he makes everybody comfortable.

I mean, he even found ways to make Dan Bilesma feel comfortable and smile here and there. That's not an easy thing to do for the record. Potash is a woman in this, man. And Mike Sullivan too. Mike Sullivan, a notoriously intense guy was getting chuckles and smiles from Dan Potash. So that's a skill of itself. So we're happy to see them here. And it's hard.

Sometimes it's hard to make the job fun. I know a lot of people will talk about we get into this because it's fun. I'm one of those people. But there are days. There are times. There are seasons. There are parts of seasons when the job is not fun. You are talking about a team that might be going through a slump.

Maybe they've got some guys injured. Maybe it's just a bad year. And sometimes the job is not fun. So the damn potash is of the world. You need those guys because sometimes even in spite of what's going on around you, they still make the job fun. So like we said, an offseason of change continues here in Pittsburgh. But when we come back, we're going to take a look back now at a guy who is a crucial part of back-to-back Stanley Cups has called it a career.

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I am Patrick Damp. You can follow me on Twitter at Synonym for Wet. Joining me today is Josh Taylor. You can follow him on Twitter at Josh Taylor H.D. And thank you again for making the Locked on Penguins podcast your first listen or watch of the day. As we said before we went to break there, a huge part of the 2016 and 2017 Stanley Cups. Called it a career earlier this week. Carl Haglin, the H in the HBK line hung him up because he had hip surgery as well as an eye injury

that was going to limit his ability to play. And man, it feels weird now saying guys like this are hanging them up because in the same offseason, the big Swedes from those teams, Carl Hagelin and Patrick Hornquist, both hanging them up. I remember when they traded for him, I was just over the moon. because if you remember the season prior, it was Carl Haglin who ended their season. Yeah.

It was in game five against the Rangers in overtime. So he went from a penguin killer to a penguin in a matter of seven and eight months. And just an incredible part of those two Stanley Cup winning teams. He had speed like none other that absolutely was perfect for my, Sullivan's system. He was a great locker room presence to the point when Rutherford traded him. And I think it was 2018, guys in the locker room were reportedly crying. He was that big of a part of the locker room. So Josh, he had great hair. Oh, unbelievable hair. I think I said it on Twitter, happy retirement, you beautiful sweet. Oh, my gosh. Like, I have friends, I have a few friends that are

women that, I mean, granted, they already love hockey, but they love it even more just thanks to Carl Haglin's hair alone. They thought that was, they thought it was a beautiful man and I'm not going to be the one to begrudge him about it. No, to your point, though, I'm glad you brought up, you know, when Mike Sullivan was coaching in the part of the roster that he became because to me, guys like Patrick Hornquist, it's crazy to see they're both gone in the same offseason that they're retired. But guys like Patrick Hornquist. Are we getting old? I think we're getting old. I've already acknowledged that I'm getting old because I dropped it. Eric Green reference on an episode of Fourth Down to Steel City earlier this week,

so I've already acknowledged it. Like I'm dropping 80s tight ends now. So yeah, I've already accepted the fact that I'm old. But yeah, we're getting to that point. I remember when Pascal DePuy retired. And I'm like, man, I remember when they trade for him. So it's getting to that point for me now where I'm like, all right, because when me get to the point and Godford me get to the point where it's like time for

Sidney Crosby and getting him all and the crystal tank move on. I'm going to be, I'm going to be having a lot of different, like, just flashbacks and like my life flashing before my eyes because it's going to be a huge chunk of my life that's gone. Kind of like when Ben Rafflesberger retired from the Steelers. He was the quarterback of my entire adult life. We were the, we came out of college the same year. So when he retired, it's like, oh, Ben's the old man. I'm like, no, no, wait, wait, wait, wait, he's just a few months younger than I am.

I wasn't ready for that. So, yeah, it's a lot to kind of take in to see guys like that that are moving on. But I'm glad you brought up Mike Sullivan's stewardship as head coach because guys like Carl Hagelin, guys like Patrick Hornquist, they embodied when Mike Sullivan always looks for in the team being tough to play against. They were guys that were tough to play against. Carl Hagelin, you mentioned he was a penguin killer. When they faced the Rangers, when Carl Hagelin was a Ranger, I'm like, you don't want to have to deal with that guy. You don't want to have to defend that speed. You don't want to have to defend, you know, that ability to change a game with just one play, one mistake where he can take it the other way and make you pay for it.

And that's both on the offensive end and turning defense into offense. And he was just, he was crucial that way. And Patrick Horquist, man, I used to always joke, he was, you know, these 20 goals of season with free shipping. Now he's going to find a way to put it in there one way or another. This guy closed out a Stanley Cup final with the game winner on the road and to Stanley. final. So those are two guys that were just, they were the personification of my. They both did. They both did. Hornquist in 2016 hit the empty net and then Haglin hit the empty net in 2017.

There you go. I always said with those two guys, Hornquist especially, because under the, like you said, under the radar, 20 goals with free shipping, he was automatic for it for five, six years. but the Neal for Hornquist trade when it happened, man, I remember at the time being more on board with it than most people. Because anyone who has followed any of my social media's work, whatever, fandom, however you want to describe it, I was, for lack of a better word, a sin for James Neal. Because everybody, when they first traded for him, was like, why did you get this guy?

He's not that great. He's not that great. I was like, you watch once he gets a Crosby or Amalkin, because they traded for him when both Sid and Gino were hurt after the winter, post-winter classic. And I was like, you put him with a Crosby or Amalkin, he's going to score 40. And he sure enough did. But that team at that moment needed a culture shift. And Patrick Hornquist, everybody that plays with him, whatever team, whether it was Nashville,

Pittsburgh or Florida, all said the same thing. this guy comes into the rink on on it at a 10 and it never goes down that guy I think it was citizen said I think the guy might sleep in his skates and then it was the same thing with carl hagglin because for all the intensity that Patrick hornquist brought Carl hagglin for all his skill and speed was just a great guy to have around because he was upbeat, positive, a guy that would bring you up when you needed it. Similarly to another guy who maybe he might be a penguin again, considering he said he doesn't put his Iron Man streaks in Jeopardy and Phil Kessel.

A guy who when you need a joke, when you need something to be lightened up, he's there for it. So, I mean, he's one of those guys that I literally never thought was going to retire. And not because he was a superstar, just because it was just, oh, there's Carl Hagglin, still going a million miles an hour. It's crazy because we keep talking about these guys, but we're listing the same exact things about all of them. And it really does give you that perspective of why those teams,

the 2016, 2017, Stanley Cup teams, it gives you the perspective as to why those teams were that good, why they were so talented, and why that group got along so well, why those guys loved playing together, why you can tell, I mean, after the first game in the cup, you can tell us a lot of excitement in the city, that was a big deal. But that second one, it was as much about those guys celebrating together

as it was celebrating with the fans because that group had such a very unique kinship to it. Because they had so many guys that were great guys in the locker room. They had so many guys that were great teammates. It had so many guys that brought that kind of attitude to the rink where, you know, it didn't matter whether you were playing Game 7 in Nashville or if you were about to play, you know, a series of Siberia somewhere. They didn't care. They were bringing the same attitude on the ice and into the locker room every day. And it showed as what the results were. And when you're led by a captain like Sidney Crosby,

who's pretty much as far as the steadiest hand you can find as captain ship goes, it creates the combination that in hindsight you're going, again, don't wonder why this work because these guys are playing together. And you're right, it does kind of give you a much deeper appreciation. I remember the Hornquist for Neil trade too. And the thing I think that kept coming up in support of the trade was, he's probably one of the best net front presences for this organization, probably since Ryan Malone,

because they hadn't really had that guy that just camps out there. You're playing him there. He makes something happen. I mean, as far as like net front guys, you think about the, there's only a handful of names. You're like, okay, he's a net front guy's going to do something. And the one that always pops out that most frequently is like, oh, like a James Van Riebsterke. You know, he's the guy, he just, he sets up.

base camp there and does his thing. But Patrick Horquist was one of those guys too. He could set up base camp and get it done. So when you have that many guys, the Hornquist and the Haglins and all these guys that are not only performers on the ice that perform well to a certain skill set, they're also great character and great locker room guys. It really does make for a great team dynamic. And I think it's one of those things that you take for granted when you have it. And then when it's gone and then these guys are tired and you're like, man, I miss those days when these dudes are all together because it was so much enjoy it was so much more enjoyable for a bunch of different reasons yeah i always i always go back i have it bookmarked it's one of my

favorite things to read i read it like three times a year an old grant land column by bill simmons called the consequences of caring and he has a line in it that i love he compares your favorite teams or your favorite core like two three four guys who are all with your team long term. You know, for us, that's Crosby, Malkin, Latang, and for 1617, Flurry. When they're young and rookies, it's like when, it's like when you have a puppy. And, oh, it's cute, it's fun. There's all this energy. But the real stuff, the real emotion is when they're older. And those 1617 cups mean so much more to me than 2009, because we knew these guys then. We knew Crosby was going to be automatic. We knew Malkin would go into bully mode. We

knew LaTang was going to play 30 plus minutes a night. We knew Mark Andre Fleury was going to be a contortionist and make an irresponsible save. So, and then you combine that with everything you said, like how likable those teams were. It's, it was such an incredible time. And when we come back, we're going to talk about how if it wasn't for one man, we may have never had those teams to root for. We'll talk about that right after this. We're back here on the Locked On Penguins podcast. I am Patrick Damp. That is Josh Taylor.

One more time for good measure. Thank you for making this your first watch or listen of the day. As we said before we went to break, on this day, September 1st, 1999, Mary Olamyue made his second save of the Pittsburgh Penguins when the NHL officially approved his sale or his ownership of the team. And Josh, I know we joked about us getting old. You are older than me. And I think your perspective on this is going to be a lot deeper than mine. So the floor is yours, my friend. You said 1999, didn't you? I sure did. On this date in 1999, there was a certain guy that was he's almost a month in. to his first year of college at Duquesne University.

He was about to turn 18 years old. And that guy became a fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins when he was about 7 or 8 years old, that 88-89 season was when he first became a fan of really a big fan of any team. But it just so happened, it was the Penguins. And the guy that was the star of that season was Mario Lemieux. He had 85 goals, 114 assists. just 199 points did not win the heart trophy.

Still a crime to this day. I got to point that out. But on this day, that's where I was. It was a freshman at Duquesne. I just got out of high school. I was starting my college experience at Duquesne. And we found that Maryle and you was part of the ownership group that was buying the Penguins.

And I'm just kind of floored because I remember what the beginning of his career was like. I remember that 88-89 season. That was the first time they made the playoffs with him on the team. It was a big deal back then. And then, you know, of course, after that, the 91 Stanley Cup and the 92 Stanley Cup happens and everything goes on from there. But it was one of those things where it felt like it was an entirely new phase or an entirely new chapter of a completely different book with you look at his entire career and what that was.

And now he comes back and he's part of the ownership group and you're going, man, it feels like he's, you know, kind of starting a career with the Penguins all over again, but just in a new realm. And then you see everything that came from it down the line, just the legacy of it all. And you and I talked about this off air. You know, I always thought a really cool 30 for 30 would have been just on this topic of Mary Olivia alone with the Penguins and the tagline was, what if I told you that a French Canadian saved a hockey team in Pittsburgh twice?

That's your tagline. He is being 30 for 30. Le Magnific, you're done. You sell it on that. done. And this was what the Penguins franchise in the Lemieux era had missed forever. Because, you know, Jesse and I, Jesse Marshall and I always fight this battle on social media. The reason the Penguins almost moved a bunch of times had nothing to do with the fans.

It didn't have a single thing to do with them. Nothing at all. This team, until Mario Lemieux, Ron Burkle, in that. group came along never had stable ownership. They either had people who just did not put a coherent business plan together and were completely blindsided by the realities of owning a professional sports team or they had people who just did not care what anything cost and would spend everything they could and think, oh, wow, that's weird. Why are we broke now? So getting a stable ownership of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1999 was the one thing this franchise had missed up into that point.

And now we see it all these years later from how prosperous the Lemieux Group was in its ownership with this team, selling it to Fenway Sports Group. Now having Fenway Sports Group is the ownership. So the penguins And that was the only way it could go. It couldn't get sold to some business. Like even though Pittsburgh is such an insular city, if PNC or something would have bought the penguins, people still would have been like,

eh, whatever. But Mary Olamy, putting a group together and buying the team was the only way it could go. I'm glad you brought up like that whole timeline that you laid out with FSG and everything because there were people that were actually skeptical about selling the team to Fenway Sport Group. I'm sitting there going

that's the group you want to buy your team. They own a few teams and they're pretty good. So don't question this move. This one makes sense. And they're like, oh, well, you got to have Yoterships or whatever to win championships. And I'm sitting there going, have you heard of how

it both win? Because might be a good time to check out Wikipedia or Google the name. I was around during Howard Baldwin years. Now, I was younger, but I followed and read some of the stories and watched some of the things that were said, you know, in media about the team stewardship under Howard Baldwin. And folks, it was not a very, it was not a very calm and tranquil time. It was not. On the ice, the team was doing some things that everybody could be happy with.

But in the boardroom, in the front office, in the ownership group, things were not great. Things were not good and they were not stable. And I literally had this discussion with somebody because, and it wasn't even, it wasn't even Penguins related. They were talking about like, oh, you know, you can't win a championship with certain ownership groups. I'm sitting there asking them, do you think it was Howard Baldwin as the owner? Or was it Craig Patrick and the coaching staff and the players that made that Penguins team in the 90s capable?

Or like, oh, it was Craig Patrick and the coached. Because I'm sitting, like, yeah, because that Howard Baldwin era, it was kind of It was kind of a train wreck. It was chaos. It was absolute chaos. And this is the perfect opportunity, the perfect example of maybe the best example of turning a frown upside down. Because let's remember how Mario Lemieux got involved with the ownership. It wasn't like this was a thing where, oh, yeah, let's make this the right decision because this is the right thing to do.

They kind of fell into it because they owed him a lot of money because they could not fulfill his God. And this was this is what happened that he ended up getting equity in the team instead of being ridiculously in debt. So they kind of fell into this and they just worked out in the best possible way. Well, because if I recall, the contract that Baldwin signed Lemieux to had a clause in it that said, I believe Mario Lemieux has to be the highest paid player in the National Hockey League by a million dollars every year he plays. And it was a very very big. It was a very Scott Hall and Kevin Nash type that contract. Yep, that was an NWO contract.

Yes, it was. Yes, it was. But because Lemieux had already made millions of dollars, both in playing and kind of like his successor in Crosby, had a bunch of money in promotions and everything else, he was cool enough to say, I'll defer that till next season. Go pay Yager. Go pay Francis. go pay Shraca, whoever.

And by the time Baldwin had to declare bankruptcy and lose the team, it wasn't the NHL at first that gave the Lemieux Group the team. It was the bankruptcy court. The bankruptcy court was like, well, they owe Lemieux all this money. So let's just turn that into equity. And voila, the NHL was like, oh, well, okay, that works. He can own it. And he's got in a rare smart move by the National Hockey League, he was like, oh, look.

And he has actual backers. It's not people cooking their books to make them look like they're going to own a team, which 30 for 30. You should watch. Big shot about the guy who was watching. Just about to say that. It gives you a much bigger perspective of how bad things could have been. They could have been so much worse for this organization.

Like it, you want to talk about tragedy to try it? that's what this was. This was tragedy to triumph. This could have ended so much worse for this organization. And I love how people were just like, oh, you know, the Penguins are a ping pong baller from going to Kansas City. They were a lot closer to leaving than that way before then.

You just don't know the history. Got to go back and get the full perspective of it all because it was a much bigger possibility back then than it was before this whole situation with the new arena came around. This is how bad it got. but this is what it turned into with things being in that particular situation and in that particular circumstance. And you're right. The NHL goes, oh, wait, well, he has financial support.

He has these guys behind him that can help this thing work. And that's what it turned into. So it was the absolute worst situation turning into the absolute best situation. It is, it is the best possible MCU timeline that this franchise is going to hope for. I don't know a better way to describe it. I was trying to lay off MCU references because you and I use a ton. But we've already used progressive references already, so the cat's out of the bag at this point. But I don't know a better way to describe it. There's no other timeline where a situation that bad, you know, almost 25 years ago, could have turned down better than it didn't. And just been a model franchise ever since.

You can hate the penguins for whatever reason you want, but they have done everything right. And the last thing I'll say on it before we wrap up here, if you've watched the Pittsburgh is home, or Pittsburgh is home 50th anniversary documentary, there's one quick anecdote in there from Doc Emmerich about Lemieux purchasing the team. And he said when they were going through all of the finalizing of the purchase and all the stuff with bankruptcy court, the Lemieux group paid everybody that was owed money. money from the people at the top to the lowest parking lot attendant at Mellon Arena,

all the money they were owed. Not pennies on the dollar, not settlements. If they owed you 15 bucks, you got paid 15 bucks. If they owed you 30 grand, they paid you 30 grand. And that was them saying, we are taking this seriously. that's doing good business and i and i and i say this as a guy who you know not too long ago kind of jumped into the entrepreneurship pool with both feet the thing that i think that you find out over time the thing that separates the companies that that last longer and rise and rise higher and stay at the

top it's the ones that actually do what they're saying that they say they're going to do and it's the ones that take care of their people it's the ones that treat people right. It's the ones that treat, you know, the people you're in business with, right. And that's the perfect example. And if it wouldn't have happened that way, if they would have settled for a fraction of it or paid pennies or the dollar like you mentioned, I don't think anybody would have batted an eyelash. I'm like, oh, okay, well, at least you know something. It's reasonable. No, like you said, to be able to pay every last time, that's doing good business. It's probably doing business higher than most people's standards that they have. And it's just, it really is an

amazing story of how something that bad can get turned around into something that great. And it speaks for generations of people who probably don't understand the business of sport and how it's run and how money changes hands and how easily things can go badly if you make the wrong decision. But this group made all the right ones following up a group that made all the wrong ones. Yeah, you aren't kidding. So that's going to do it for us on this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am Patrick Damp.

You can follow me on Twitter at Sindenham for Wet. Josh, you're everywhere these days. So floor's yours. Let people know where they can find you. It's funny. I can actually say I'm home most days now more than ever. But on the TV side of things, KDKATV, CBSPittsburg, KDK.com, you can read this man's column while you're at it.

While you're checking out some of my videos, read his column because it's good stuff. on the radio side 937 the fan took a hiatus from the fan because you know head kid number two and still trying to work out a time when I'm actually going to come back and be part of that rotation again I do miss working Sunday mornings but I love being home with my family and my kids so it's it's kind of a transition for me but working to get back to that just started a new project with 937 the fan fourth down in the steel city it's a Steelers podcast myself Chris Mack Greg Finley is our producer I get to work with two of my favorite people in radio.

And we just literally just got us off the ground within the past few days. And we're really excited. So check that out too. That's on the Odyssey app. And you can check out the video stream on the 93-7thof-Fand YouTube page. So there's all of it. And we're going to have to find out or we're going to have to reach out to

Locked-on Pirates so you can complete the Hattrick since you're a pretty recurring guest on Locked-on Steelers with our pal, Chris Carter. I'm trying to think if I've done Locked on Pirates. I can't remember. I don't think I have. But yeah, might as well collect the set. I mean, granted, I've done a lot of shows with Carter. I love working with Chris, man.

And it's crazy because we did the first fourth down in the Steel City podcast. I'm like, man, this is the first time I'm doing a podcast. We're talking about a bunch of football. Chris Carter's not here. It's weird. But no, it's cool to have, you know, it's cool to be thought of as someone people want to talk to. But it's also cool when you have people that, you know, make it a lot more easy and a lot,

a lot more fun to do it at the same time. So, you know, I appreciate you guys. Absolutely. Thank you, as always, for listening. We'll be back on Monday with another guest. Who knows? Maybe the Penguins will news dump some stuff for us. But if not, we'll think of something to do.

Thanks for listening. This has been the Locked-on Penguins podcast.