Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - BONUS: A very special Penguins-Ducks recap with JD Hernandez!

Episode Date: February 11, 2023

It's a special Saturday episode of Locked On penguins as Hunter is joined by Jason Hernandez of Locked On Ducks to recap Friday night's contest. The two start with how dominant the Penguins looked as they made a statement in this game. The momentum from the Colorado game carried over into this one in a big way. Hunter goes into how the Penguins got depth scoring from all over the lineup and how they fired the third-most shots in franchise history on poor John Gibson. The two then discuss just how bad the Ducks have been this season while JD wants Hunter to make him an offer for Adam Henrique. They also get into Sidney Crosby being a boomer to Trevor Zegras and why it's a nothing-burger before previewing Saturday night's Pens-Kings contest. All of that, plus much more on this episode of Locked On Penguins.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.Athletic GreensTo make it easy, Athletic Greens is going to give you a FREE 1-year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athleticgreens.com/NHLNETWORKFanDuelMake Every Moment More. Place your first FIVE DOLLAR bet to get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Free Bets – win or lose! Visit Fanduel.com/LockedOn today to get startedFANDUEL 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.

Well, it looks like the Ducks and the Penguins played a game of sorts last night. Was it even really a game hunter? I would say it was a game for at least part of the first period before the penguins absolutely obliterated them for the next, well, 40, 50 minutes. I mean, this was a 6-to-1 game with about six minutes left in the third period. People freaked out about two goals given up, but that's garbage time. So, you know, I would say it was not a game, especially when you're out shooting another team, 24 to 6 in the first period.

Yeah, I think. It was not a game. It was a bloodbath. And Hunter and I are here to talk about it on this edition of Locked on Ducks, Locked on Penn's crossover. You're Locked on Ducks. Your daily podcast on the Anaheim Ducks. Part of the Locked on podcast network. Your team every day.

Well, how do you like that, Hunter? Oh, man. Hi, everyone. Welcome to this crossover edition of Locked on Ducks, Locked on Penguins. You know how you could tell it's a crossover? Because I have two jerseys up there. See, one, two. I know Hunter always, he always appreciates that.

I'm Jason J.D. Hernandez. And that is Hunter Hodes. Yes, it is. And that is a beautiful Robo Penguin jersey that you have right next to the Mighty Ducks jersey, which, yeah, it's perfect. Oh, yeah. So, first off, I have to mention that this episode is brought to you by Fanduel. official sportsbook of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Make every moment more.

Visit fanduil.com slash locked-on today to get started. All right. So let's us get into this game, massacre, whatever word you want to use for this. It is what it is. Hunter, what happened in that first period? The penguins came out with guns and blazing. Very nice start, probably the best start they've had to a game.

and wow, I'll almost say last few weeks, last month, something like that. They were firing everything at John Gibson. And, you know, poor John Gibson, man. He was billing them out as much as he could. He was the only reason that game was not 10 to 3, maybe even 11 to 3 at the end of it. The fact that he gave up six goals is nothing short of a miracle, to be honest. When the Penguins put out 59 shots, Jason, third most shots the Penguins have put up on an opposing and goaltender in franchise history.

First time they put up at least 59 shots since 1976. The record that they have is 75, where they put up 65. They were won away from tying their second most of all time. But they absolutely took it to the Ducks. They wanted to win this one bad just because they played the L.A. Kings tonight. 10.30 p.m. start time, yes, and lay night hockey is awesome. But P.O.J. got things started. Ducks Gibb got a power play goal.

but after that, you know, Spirit Capital scores, Jeff Carter scores, you know, the asteroid is usually coming when those two score in the same game. Let alone when one scores,

when both them score, I think it's the end of all times here. I mean, but the ducks, I will say, the ducks had a couple good shifts in the second period. Outside of that, though,

Jason, just complete domination from the Penguins, their best performance, I would say, in the last six to seven weeks. Okay. You want to talk records, Hunter?

How about this? John Gibson set the franchise record for most saves in a game with 53. That's the franchise record. That's the most shots the Ducks have ever seen. 59. 59 shots. How the... I'm going to be careful here because I don't want to get myself into an R rating here.

But how the crap do you give up 59 shots? Well, look at the defense that the Ducks have had. It's questionable at best. Ducks fans broke a lot. record time, the Ducks once again gave up 40 shots on goal. The Ducks once again gave up 40 plus shots on goal. They've given up 40 plus shots in half their games. Half their games, Hunter.

They're averaging, averaging 39 shots allowed per game. That's on average, Hunter. I'm used to this. I mean, that's just bad. I mean, the Penguins had over 40 shots, Jason, by the end of the second period. I'm serious. I think it was about 40 to 42. at the end of the second, and they still put up 17 more in the third period,

because they just, they didn't let up. And a lot of times the penguins, they'll go in like these, these phases, you know. Yeah, sorry, I have the number here. It was 40, oh, God, I need a lozenge. 43 to 18 was the shots on goal. I was close. That's disgusting. They have some of these phases, the penguins where they'll play good for 20 minutes and

they'll lease up. I'm going to play good again for 10 minutes and they'll ease up. Not in this game. The Ducks got had a little bit of life early on the second period where they push back. But even when this game was over in the third period, 4-1-5-1-6-1, Penguins kept coming. Yeah, the Ducks got a couple garbage time goals. Okay, whatever.

But even after they got both of those goals, Penguins still kept coming. They were trying to get goal number seven. Heck, they were trying to get 60 shots for only the second time in franchise history. They, they. Stop. Stop. I know. It's a painful number.

It is. It is painful, especially if you watch the Ducks a lot and you root for the Ducks. I do think they want to make a statement in this game. I'm not trying to go so far because, again, they beat the Ducks. This is what you should be doing to a bottom feeder. You should not be having to tie the game against the Ducks like they did two weeks ago with less than 20 seconds left and then getting lucky when Trevor Zegris did not pass on a breakaway in overtime. So, you know, they needed to win this one. I said coming into it, four out of six points on this trip before going to the island next Friday would be good enough. We'll have an opportunity to get points three and four tonight against the Kings. But if you don't, you still have the game on Tuesday against the sharks to do that. But you have a couple of bottom feeders on this road trip.

They accomplished the first one here by beating the ducks and getting two crucial points. Thanks for that reminder, Hunter. Thanks for reminding me how that game ended. I mean, we'll talk. It's a lot closer than this one, that's for sure. Did you know, by the way, the Ducks are tied with the lead league in something? Good? They're tied for the most overtime wins in the NHL 10 with Carolina.

So the Ducks have seven regulation wins in 50 games. Yes. I don't know how that's possible, but that's bad. The NFL record is 8th. They still haven't hit 8 yet. They could still lose the rest of their games, and they would have the NFL record for fewest regulation wins in a season. Hell, they could tie that right now still. That's sad.

That's really sad. That's very, very bad. But, yeah, I mean, P.O. Joseph gets to the depth scoring comes through, which is nice. You know, for once, the top six didn't have to carry them to a win. but they still got a goal again. I'm going to quote you right now. Jeff Carter scored for the first time since NAM. Or I could also, I was listening to Deo Kovachievich with him and Danny Shirey,

and he said he did something for the first time since the eighth grade picnic. So I'll quote him there as well. That's also a good one too. So you want to say eighth grade picnic. You want to say NOM, you know, first time since, you know, since whatever. You know, it's, I'm glad he did something well. But the funny thing is, every penguin player was above water in terms of scoring chances, shot attempts, high goals of chances, except Jeff Carter. And he scored.

And you outshot the Ducks 59, 28. How is that possible? Why are you still a drag on your line and needs to be fixed? But he still scored, so I'm not going to go at him too much. He looked good because of the Ducks' lack of defense. That's really why. And one of- towards us the ducks every time they play.

Yeah, I know that. The Ducks fans hate Jeff Carter. Going back to 2012, especially, especially going back to 2014 during that seven-game series. They don't like him for that reason. Oh, all right.

Hey, Hunter, we have to head to the first intermission, but we have a bit more to talk about. I have my little list right here, because I'm posted note guy. We're going to talk a slight bit of Z-Gre And I'm also going to talk a little bit about why the ducks are that much worse without their All-Star. And I guess we'll talk trade stuff later, right? Because tis the season to be trading.

Fala la la la la la la la. Anyway, we'll get to that on the other side. But first, we're really excited. Well, Hunter and I are really excited about our new sports betting partner for Locked On because they're the number one. sports book in America. That is Fandual. And if you're new to Fandual, that's even better. Why is that?

Because they have so many great features that make betting on sports fun and easy. Download Fandual right now on your mobile device. So you can bet on Super Bowl 57 with a no sweat first bet between the Chiefs and the Eagles. See, that was for you, buddy. So between the Chiefs and the Eggles, you'll get up to $3,000 bucks. in bonus bets if your first bet doesn't win. So you could bet on anything on that game, including the anthem and also the coin toss. Who bets on the coin toss, Hunter?

Come on. I mean, who wants to bet on that, right? I'm not going to bet with the coin toss. Now, I'm saying on my show. I like the Eagles money line. I think they're going to win. I think they're the more complete team. I like, for player props, give me Jalen Hertz, maybe over 200 plus passing yards.

Patrick Mahomes, if there's something for him there, for passing yard prop, I like that too because I think he's going to have a really good game. But in the end, I like the Eagles to come away with this one. And hopefully, for my advice, you're able to win some money. Oh, yeah. Who doesn't love winning money, right? So join Fanduel today at Fanduel.com slash locked on

to claim your no sweat first bet on Super Bowl 57. That's fanduel.com slash locked on. Make every moment more with Fandul. the official sportsbook partner of the NFL, and please gamble responsibly. You know what? Hunter, I'm going to make a sad joke, like a self-joke here. Would it be funny if there was a line up on FanDuel for every game?

Will the Ducks give up 40 plus shots in this game? Yes or no? Biggest free money you've probably ever gotten in your life. It's a 50-50. It's like literally half the games this season. They've given up 40 plus. Oh, that would be a funny money line. I was still, I was waiting because the duck scored, I think.

They scored six total total goals against the Penguins for those two games, none of which were scored by Frank Petrona, who I kept saying, easy, anytime goal score, go on to Fan Duel, make a prop bet. Nope, he decided to go against me, so I probably cost maybe a few people some money on that because he always scores against Penguins, except when he's with the Ducks, apparently. Oh, thanks, Hunter. Thanks for that. All right.

So we kind of have to talk about this because everyone's talking about this for whatever reason. I don't know why. Trevor Zegris, I'll get your first thought on that. What was your whole takeaway on what Trevor Zegris may have done? It was weird. It was an offside play. It looked like he tried to fire the puck down in frustration. I think he whipped on it from what I saw.

He did. He whipped on it. And Sid saw it. And just because he's an old man. aka boomer now 35 years old he just goes over there gives him a nice little bum saying like dude really don't be such a punk he's dumb 21 year old wherever he's probably thinking in his head and it just you know led to a couple of teammates you know going after sid and then zegra started barking at him and then sid barked in him back um you know he's probably just saying like hey stop being a dumb young

kid whatever you know it's it's weird because sid doesn't you know he doesn't usually do that stuff now Right. I was, I was going to say that. Like, this is not like Sid all that much. No, he doesn't get frustrated like that on the ice anymore. I mean, like, you know, when he was Sid, the kid, you know, he would, you know, do some stuff on the ice. It's obviously people don't like him because of that. But, you know, the guy's in his mid-30s now. Not much usually phases him, but when he did see that, you know, something just ticked him off.

I don't, I was trying to see. I don't think he spoke to the media after the game. I think he was out of the locker room pretty quick from what I saw. Yeah, he was. So I was trying to see if he said anything about it, did not. Maybe he'll get asked about it tonight after the King's game. We'll see. It could be old news by then.

But yeah, he just probably didn't like that. Zegra attempted it. And then so he probably just went over to tell the young kid like, hey, you know, stop being stupid. The Shug was maybe something he probably shouldn't have done. But at the end of the day, you know, no harm, no foul. And I think everyone will just forget about it in five, five, four minutes, I would say. Oh, yeah. I think the reason people are talking about it is because it's Trevor Zegris,

because of all the other stuff that he's done earlier this season when he talked about Troy Stetcher's non-wife, I guess, because they're not actually married. Or maybe they are, we don't know. But, you know, Zegris, some people said he crossed the line because they don't talk about family. Look, we've been around hockey for a while. I don't know if you've ever played beer.

league hockey before or like pick up hockey um i've i've heard that chirp before people chirp about each other's girlfriends and wives almost all the time i've been down like on the pa level for years i've heard worse i've heard much worse so while all the coyotes fans are still saying like no he's a statement on his dad no it it was confirmed it wasn't his dad it you know who Troy Stecher is with yeah

yeah still still maybe a bit too does Trevor Zegroes need to calm down maybe a little bit right now probably

I mean I mean I feel bad that you know he's such a he's such a great young talent and you know he spent the first couple of years just doing so much losing so maybe that's getting to him a little bit.

I think he's just, he's probably just really frustrated with how these last couple seasons has gone. I don't think it's at a level that, you know, was that for Jack Eichol and Buffalo when he requested out because he was done. He hadn't been in the playoffs in about 10 years. But, you know, I think it's at the point where he's just like, okay, you know, I'm tired of doing this on a nightly basis at this point.

I'm just frustrated. That's a good point. I mean, any player would be pissed off if they start losing over and over and over and over again, especially in the fashion that the Ducks have, especially given the trajectory that Trevor Ziegress had his rookie season when he got benched multiple times, when he got sent down to San Diego, his rookie season. And he'd never really had a chance at a full rookie season last year.

Because again, beginning of last year, Zegris was still getting benched even then. So, yeah, Zegris probably should calm down. He has to be careful with what he does, what he says, who he does it against. but at the same time, I could understand to your point because it's been miserable in Duxland. There's not been a whole lot of winning, except for the first half of last season, that's been it. Yeah.

I mean, and again, like this just goes back to, I saw a tweet from Adam Grets last night. He does stuff for Pensburg and a couple other things. And, you know, he even said, if I can, I can just find this. Yeah, I'll let, I'll let you find that. No, I mean, I have it. right here for you know it's just you know he even said you know the thing about them being bad is that you know do the ducks front office

did they see them being this freaking bad this year because I don't think a team that goes out in signs Frank Petrono Ryan Strom John Klingberg two deals two of them are four to five year terms five year per five year terms excuse me one's a five one to three

oh yeah apologies on that so three to five years from two of them One of the other one of the other one's a proof it deal. I don't think a team, a front office of a team goes out and makes those moves and is like, oh yeah, we're going to tank this year. We're going to be really bad. So I think they're probably feeling like total crap right now, to be honest. It's just, and I was asking me any about this on my show on Friday. It's just what really has gone wrong to make them this bad this year? Yeah.

And there's a lot of things that have gone wrong. And I watch a part of that. I know Dallas Eakins was mentioned. And, you know, Annie and I do both agree on that one thing. Because I think her and I have had a back and forth about Dallas Eakins over the past four years now. Neither of us think that he's going to stick around after this season. I'm still surprised that he got that one year extension after last season. Dallas Eakins is a big part of what's been wrong with the Ducks for the past four years.

And it's going to get worse. It's going to get worse, Hunter. Because you saw how much worse the ducks are without their lone all-star Troy Terry. I'm sad you didn't get to see him on this game. Because you've seen how good Troy Terry can be. And the fact that he's weak to weak, it's going to be worse. So much worse. And you kind of alluded to this.

Where do the ducks go from here, right? Trade deadlines coming up in 20 days. When I put it in those terms, it's coming up pretty fast. The ducks are big time sellers. You mentioned the Prove It Deal. So John Klingberg is trade bait. There was another player that you liked that could be traded. Adam Henrique.

So Hunter Hodes from Locked on Penguins, make me an offer. Who do you want? I have been beating this drama on my show. I feel like the last week, you know, a couple of listeners actually mentioned him to me. as part of a mailbag segment, I looked into it. They were 100% right. He makes a ton of sense for this team. Only 32, 33 years old.

Caput two years or more years left. 5.8 million, if that sounds correct, J.D. And you're talking about Adam Henrique, right? Yeah. And I think the Ducks, the Penguins will probably ask them to retain some money on that deal. I'm more than willing to give you a high pick for him, a decent prospect, and probably a roster player, like I'll out of the Ricard Raquel trade from last season. You're welcome.

Yes. And, you know, I'm sure you saw he got that wonderful ovation last night that he very much deserved from the Ducks faithful there. Oh, oh, tear. I don't know if they're going to trade their first for Henrique. I don't know if they're going to trade their first in general, but I would because who cares? That the Penguins don't have a lot of prospects outside of Owen. which I think is probably all who is off limits right now. Roster players, though, they could trade a roster player or two off the team to make it work for money.

But again, I just don't really know who is total trade bait on the Penguins in terms of roster players because Ron Hextall kept saying, I like my team. Well, he said this last Sunday. On paper, I like my team, but when they play, I don't really like my team that much. And he even also admitted, like, yeah, the bottom stakes has not been my vision. And it's like, yeah, well, I think everyone's all about coming into this season. So, Judge Dr.

Traybate, you know, Teddy Bluger maybe, but you can move Ryan Pilling over to center. That makes sense, but I don't know if they want to give him up. You know,

I don't know if they'd want to give him up either. Yeah. I would love to give up Jeff Carter, but they're not going to do that. I would be fine with moving on from Brock McGinn because he also has not done a thing since non. He started out the season playing well. Can't score to save his life lately.

I think I would be open to as well, but they just signed him. I don't think he's going to be. moved. They're not going to move anyone from the top six. Okay. All right. So, they like the six that they have. So it's, it's slim pickings here, Jason, is what I am saying. I don't know who they would like to trade off this roster. Okay. So I will just say this. First, I think the ducks will be more than willing to take on half of Henrik's contract because the ducks still need to be above the cap floor. Remember that?

Remember the cap floor? Remember that thing that most teams don't have to worry about. The ducks are one of, I think only two teams that have to worry about the cap floor because they didn't spend a whole lot of money outside of the players you said. They had to spend that money to get above the cap floor. So they're still like kind of on the edge. So they'll gladly take half of Henrique's contract. That's not a big worry this year or next year. So with that being said, now that I've offered you, Henrique at half salary, make me an offer. Make me an offer.

I mean, I'm good with the first round pick, but what else are you offering as far as prospects? Can give you a first or second, which one of the two? Well, you know, prospects, geez. Again, the Penguins don't have a lot in terms of this, you know. Sam Poulan down Wilkesbury, Nathan Ligree. I like Coulat. I mean, Tristan Bras, Tristan Bras, but I don't know if they'll probably get me that deal. I don't know.

They could. It's just, again, it's slim pickings. That's what it is here, you know. It would be kind of similar to the deal you saw, you know, like the Rangers, for example, they got Vladimir Tarasenko for kind of peanuts. They gave up a first and basically nothing else worth of value. You know, if you're looking at it like that, you know, maybe the Penguins gave up a first for him plus a met prospect in the ECHL from someone from Wheeling or another player from

Wilkesbury. And look what Teresanko does. did his first game with New York. Look at that. And then someone equivalent to Sammy Blay in their bottom six, but also, I don't really know if the penguins, their bottom six is bad, but I don't think they have anyone as bad as Sammy Blay. Like, that's, and that's saying something.

That is. And I think the good thing, yeah. I will say the good thing about putting Henrik on the Penguins, Henrik doesn't have to be one of the guys. Henrique, I think at this point in his career, could do very well on the second. or third line. He could be an extremely good middle six, and that'll give the pens so much more depth

to put them in line for at least some kind of possible run. Maybe. Yeah, they have to fix their third line. It's easily the biggest weakness on the roster. The three Stanley Cups, they've won in this era. They've all had great third lines. I don't have to remind you about HBK and then the Cookstall Kennedy line from 2009.

They have to get new third lines center. Drift Carter, well, all due respect, cannot do it anymore. He has to shift to win. You can get someone like Henrique there, put them at center, you can move Carter to wing. Oh, the vet line. Yeah, maybe Pooksbury-Captain on your other wing, see how that goes. Maybe you want to move Jason Zucker down.

I don't really know if they want to do that. They got to figure something else out for that line. I mean, I would replace at least two-thirds of it. They probably may only do one-third of it, but they got to bring someone else to that line. because right now the fourth line is basically their third line with how it's playing and how it's producing. So that's easily the biggest thing. And they would, I think, use Henry as their third line center. All right.

So would you be willing to offer your first because of what you just said? Because everything else that the pants are offering is basically peanuts. Yeah. I mean, I would because, again, you know, you're more likely to get someone like a Sam Coo-in and the first round, like a Caspari Capitan at that time of that pick because, you know, it's just the odds are against you getting a franchise player with that big. You know, the franchise players, where are they at? Pretty high up, top five, top 10.

But once you get, you know, below number 15, stuff like that, it's kind of a coin. It's, it's probably less than a coin flip. It's honest. So I don't really care about that first-run pick. The moves that you made this summer, that shows that you are all in. I don't care what you say. I don't care that the GM is going to sit here. and say, well, I'm not going to attach the first rounder to shed salary.

That's fine. I don't mind if you don't do that. But if you're not going to even include it to potentially make a trade, when you said to the whole hockey roll that you are all in, that's GM negligence, in my opinion. And the team just had a great game against the ducks. They had a big comeback against the avalanche. Yeah, that was a big game. Yes.

If they can start turning it around here these next few weeks, I think it would be hard for Hextall to say no to giving up a first evening. even though I know he doesn't want to because he's been really heavily scouting the NHL draft later this year. He's been watching a lot of prospects lately, it looks like. Yeah, but it would be prudent for Pittsburgh to possibly make some kind of run. Because as I've said in the past, all you need is a chip in a chair to get in. And you never know what can happen. Because as of right now, Pittsburgh would be facing Carolina in the first round.

It's probably, funny enough, you say that. Adam Grets out of pro hockey talk and Pensburg. He actually did just do the math right now. And in terms of, you know, the Penguins have, they have four games in hand on the Islanders. They have two games in hand on the Capitals.

They have games in hand on the Panthers. Their math is the best right now. Their point production is 98, which would put them six points clear of the Capitals for the seventh spot. The East, well, card one. People have been asking, oh, can they catch the Rangers?

They're seven points back, but even with a game in hand, it's probably not going to happen. And if they get in, you're going to play Boston or you're going to go down to Raleigh and play Carolina, a team that, oh, they haven't beaten either of those teams yet this season. Hold on. I'm going to use this pun here. I'm going to play devil's advocate here. I don't think they need to worry about catching New York.

I think they should worry about catching New Jersey. Because New Jersey has struggled recently. Yeah, I think New York can overtake the Devils for that two spot in there. the east. I really think that. It'll be interesting. It's just, you know, the devils are also last I checked,

and I'm pretty sure this is still true right now. They're 11 points clear of the penguins, no games in hand. That's a tough ask with 31. But no Hughes, no Hughes. I'm just saying. They've also only gained one out of four points against the Devils in two games this meeting.

Two games is here. You got to sweep those two head to add. At least you got to sweep the next head to head. They have one more after that. I think they play that four times. So you got to do that, and you've got to pray that the devil's do falter a little bit. But right now, it's looking if they get in,

which I do think they will at the end of the day. You're going to go down to Raleigh or going to go up to Boston. I would think Raleigh at this point. Yeah, it would. They can get the capitals, and they have the games in hand on them. But, again, you've got to win those games in the end. If nothing else, that would be an entertaining as hell series.

Penn Oh, Penn's games would be fun. We could have had it last year. Heck, I lived in Richmond this time last year. The Penguins were one game away from winning that series. I was more than prepared to go buy tickets to go down to Raleigh for a game. So now, of course, I live in Pittsburgh now. It would be a little bit easier.

It would have been a two and a half hour drive. But it's still a series I've been wanting to see ever since the 2000-9 Eastern Conference Final. The games this year, people are going to say, well, you know, they struggled. And then they did. But I'll also say that they were all one-goal games that could have went either way. A lot of them were coin clips. So, you know, that goal goes out the window with the playoffs. Just saying.

So I'm going to write this down. Henrique, 50 retained, first round pick plus someone else. Yeah, prospect, roster player to even out the cap if they need to, something like that. Maybe it's like three different assets. Yep. I don't think you won John Klingberg. No. No.

At this point, even though Climbled, even though. Even though Klingberg scored last night I hate to say as Dux fans Klingberg probably won't get a first at this rate. He probably won't.

The show me deal has not worked out. Someone's going to get him for maybe a third? No. A second. I would say way more likely a second than a third at this point. Okay.

All right. So the Ducks have a game. during Super Bowl Sunday, by the way. I don't know who decided that. But the ducks are playing Vegas. I expect pain. Except for the fact that Logan Thompson is now out for Vegas.

So this could be a total crapshoot of a game between the ducks and Vegas Golden Knights, but I still expect Vegas to get like 50 shots on them. That's a terrible prediction to make, but that's going to be pain for the ducks. As far as you, you have a game. tonight against the Los Angeles Kings of Los Angeles. Sorry, that was a jab at the Angels there. Yes, that was funny. Yeah, 10.30 p.m. start time.

This one should be a lot of fun. You even said this on my Twitter last night, Jason. This should be a bunch of pusper challenge. Kings have not played. I don't think they played at all this week. I think this was there by week. It was. They're well rested.

Yeah, they're well rested. Dustin Brown's retirement ceremonies tonight. They're going to put his... I don't know. Are they putting his jersey up to the rounders? Okay, so here's what's going on. And I actually have the schedule here because of who I am. So they're asking all the fans to be in their seats by 6 p.m.

However, there is going to be something outside Staple Center earlier in the day. They're erecting a statue up for Dustin Brown outside of, I can't believe it's not Staple Center. Now, before you face Palm, Dustin Brown was the captain for the LA Kings when they won their two Stanley Cups. I don't expect Dustin Brown to be in the Hall of Fame. So this is it. This is his moment. If he's not going to be in the Hall of Fame, they'll at least give him this.

He'll get a statue. He'll get his number retired. It's going to be a whole hour-long ceremony. And the reason they're starting at 6 is that way they can start the game at 730. that's why they're asking fans to get their stupid o'clock early I was going to ask about that because people were saying Jason oh this is not going to start until close to 11 p.m. Eastern but it looks like it's probably not going to do that.

No, it's it's going to be a 7.30 start time because they're starting the ceremonies so early and you know what like you know what good for him. I mean Dustin Brown is a franchise player he was with the team for his entire career. he deserves to get his number of retired. Statue, I mean, you know, you know what? I'm okay with the... I'm okay with the statue

because he was there for the whole time. Just like I'm of the opinion because I've always loved El Capitan. I would be okay if the ducks put a statue over and gets lost. Plus the top of that statue would be really shiny. I'm just saying. That was mean.

No, I love Ryan Gessloff. Like, I love El Capitan. Like, if any recent Ducks players should get a statue up, it should be Ryan Getslough, who, again, spent his entire career with one team. And to go back to Pittsburgh, I wouldn't be surprised if we see maybe a tri statue of the Big Three in Pittsburgh one day. That would be cool. That would be a lot of fun if they put that out there. Like somewhere, it wouldn't be near where Marios is,

but maybe somewhere down near the People's Gate or something like that. But, you know, they're going to have their fun moment as well. But, you know, this should be a fun game. The Kings are very good. They're deep. They're quick. They have good underlying numbers. Their top six is very nasty with Bifield, Copa,

Kempay on their top line. They can run to note on their second line with Arvids and I follow. They have freaking Kevin Field. Wow. as a third liner. Great luxury to have because he has been awesome this season. He was great with Minnesota. You know, then defensively, Drew Dowdy, Mikey Anderson, Sean Dersy, Matt Raw.

Alex Edler, who is still somehow in the league, even though he's very old at this point. And then they can also start, well, I think it'll probably be Jonathan Quick tonight. No, no, nope, nope. Actually, you know what, it might be Jonathan Quick because it's a special night's, because it is a ceremony. night, they might start Jonathan Quick, but Phoenix Copley just got a one-year extension with the Los Angeles Kings, one year one and

a half million, I think. And Copley has been the hot goalie, so they might start Phoenix Copley on this game. And give Jonathan Quick the night off, that way Quick can take part in the ceremonies. That would be interesting. Yeah, that would actually be

intriguing, because I didn't know Copley was having that good of a year, to be honest. So I've been under the impression that quick will start, but we'll have to see. But, you know, it's so tough because the penguins, they just played last night. I don't think they exerted too much energy, but you're also going up against a team that hasn't played in a week.

That's so stupid of you to say, but it's so true. I know. They shot the puck 59 times, yet they didn't put all their energy in the game. Oh, my God, the ducks are terrible. When you put it in those terms, it's even worse, man. I know. I just, it's so.

whack but you know the penguins they usually struggle a lot in the second half of back to backs they have not been good in those games which i think they've only won one or two games on the second half of the back to back to season the one win was against chicago who obviously is really bad um but that it's just that's going to be to be tough for that reason um the legs may not be for as fresh goal tending i'm curious to see what mike sullivan does i'm curious to see what tom mcclellan does yeah i mean me too From payment's perspective, though, Desmith only saw not even 30 shots last night.

Didn't get a lot of workload. Did he go back? Did Smith relaxed? He relaxed. He kind of let in that third goal. There was four minutes left. Throw John Kling. That's what I thought when I saw that goal.

My first thought was, I let him have that. I legit said that out loud. I can't let him have that one. Because DeSmith would stop that 99% of the time. Like, throw a bone. Garbage time. Love me some garbage time goals. I mean, they could go to Dustin Dukarski, but Tristan Jari, not ready just yet.

He should be good by Tuesday. They're going to give him another night off. He'll be back next week, Tuesday or Friday against the Islanders. But, you know, wouldn't be surprised either way if they go back to the Smith or if they give Tokarski the start. It's just, I look at this as almost like a scheduled loss in quotation marks because you're playing a really good team. No, I'll give a, not a score prediction, but I'll give a slight prediction.

I think this one goes late, late nights. Okay. I'm implying that it's going to go extra at Staples. Yeah. Would be great for the penguins if they can get a point at, at least a point out of this. You know, they already got the two against the ducks. If they can get a point out of this at least and then beat the sharks, I think that I consider that a very good California road trip.

Yeah, I remember back in the day when the California gauntlet was alive and well and everyone was afraid to go through California. God, I miss God, I miss those days. I really do. Let me dream about that for a second. 2014, 2015,

2016. Okay, I'm done dreaming about that. Even before that, 2012, 2013, those years. Yeah, even my dog here remembers those. Yeah, back when the ducks were winning divisions. Man.

I'm going to get pains thinking about that. So we're going to wrap up. right now. But let the fine folks know where they can find you, where they can find your work and all that jazz. Yeah, you can follow me on Twitter at Hon Rohde's. The show's Twitter is at L.O. I'm store Penguins. You can find the show wherever you get your podcast, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon, Amazon, oh well, Amazon, yeah, Amazon now because we are ad-free on there. And all of that good jazz. And yeah, she'll be a good one against the Kings tonight. Penguins, I think, got to keep some things simple. don't try to force too much.

They're going to have some tired legs and see if they can get good goaltending and see if they can get another win tonight. But I'll say, ask the same for you, J.D. Where can everyone find you in the show? Well, they can find the show wherever podcasts are available, like Hunter just said. All the places that Hunter just said,

you can find mine as well. Just type in Locked on Anaheim Ducks because there's that Pack 12 team in there as well. Not them. Locked on Anaheim Ducks. The show's Twitter's at L-O-U-U-U-Dx, and you could follow me. me on Twitter at Stimpy J.D where I talk about anything under the sun.

And I guess it's no secret now, like I've told everyone, I'm not the public address for the Ontario Junior reign, Empire Strikers, and now the Coachella Valley Firebirds. So the voice of the valley, as it were. Hopefully y'all come down and visit me at some point when the Coachella Valley Firebirds make a deep run at the Calder Cup. plane into June. Hey, you'd like Palm Springs in April. I do want to check that out.

It's nice. You know what the temperature is in Palm Springs right now? 65 degrees. More than it is here. Yeah, what is it over there, buddy? Cold, right? Too cold. The invite is open for anyone to come down to Palm Springs.

Fun time. Perfect. All right. Once again, thank you for, your support and thanks for coming on Hunter. Really appreciate it. Yeah. Thank you for coming on mine as well. Appreciate it.

On behalf of Hunter and myself for Locked on pens, locked on ducks. That's Hunter. I'm Jason saying, have a great rest of the weekend. Please be kind to one another. And ducks and ducks fly together. Penguins don't fly, do they?

They waddle. Have a good weekend, everyone.