Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Could the Penguins look to Chicago for some forward help?

Episode Date: June 11, 2022

Everybody's working for the weekend, right? Hunter starts the show with some Penguins front office news as Kevin Acklin is promoted to David Morehouse's former position. He discusses what that means f...or the short and long-term of the franchise, plus how he and Brian Burke look to be running the show for the Fenway Sports Group moving forward. After that, Hunter continues the season reviews with Casey DeSmith. Was it a tale of two seasons for him? Hunter looks at how he started and then how he finished as his season came to a close in the worst possible way. He then discusses the pros and cons of bringing him back next season and if the team should look to find someone who's more reliable and more steady. IF the Penguins do bring him back though, what would the AAV look like? Hunter gives his best guess before looking at another potential trade target that would make the Penguins: A) Younger and B) faster. He's a player that's had some struggles with the Blackhawks, but also someone who hasn't entered his peak years yet and is an RFA, similar to Kasperi Kapanen. Finally, Hunter previews Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final and how the Lightning are taking a page out of the Penguins' book for slowing the Rangers down.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 “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.Athletic GreensAthletic 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/NHLNETWORK. 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.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Hello, happy Friday, June 10th. We've made it through another basically full week for this podcast. And of course now the month of June, we're almost halfway through June, which is absolutely ridiculous. I mean, it's been just about a month now since the Penguins got eliminated. Last night, Thursday night, it was 37 days since game one of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the Penguins against the Rangers. This has absolutely flown the heck by.
Starting point is 00:00:26 It is crazy to me how fast is here. how fast the off season, honestly, is fine. We have another jam-packed show for today. The Penguins made a front office move today from Mike DeFable. We're getting that and what that means moving forward for the Family of Sports Group. We're also getting into potentially another player that maybe is on the Penguins radar, but should that player be on the Penguins radar hinting he is from the Chicago Blackhawks? So if you want to guess that player at someone in the podcast, before I get to what you can,
Starting point is 00:00:56 we'll also get to K. C. Snis-Sniths. Season review, what grade I would give him and, you know, should the team bring him back next year? And we'll also get to game five of the Eastern Commerzano between the Lightning and the Rangers. The Rangers will face another do-or-die game on Saturday. So that's all coming up right after this drop. You're Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network.
Starting point is 00:01:29 Your team every day. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes. You're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at Ellen on School Penguins. And, of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen of the day. Another five-week show, another five-day week with the show, excuse me, basically done now. As you know, again, we are rolling through the off-season.
Starting point is 00:02:07 I've had more requests about NHL drafts up with regards to Pittsburgh Penguins. Again, I'll say what I said on Thursday for those that did not listen to that. You know, prospects is definitely the big thing for me where I do not know a lot about them. You know, that's the one area where I am lacking in my expertise opinions, I guess, but I'm going to try to bring on some people onto this show that definitely know a lot more than me. And potentially at some point, as we get close to the draft, make a big board of who the penguins could take at 21. I had a couple people DMing me some players that they're looking at.
Starting point is 00:02:44 I'm going to do as big of a dive as I can into those players. As the draft gets closer, and again, I am going to try to bring on some people that know a lot more about the players in this draft class than I do so they can give me a scouting report, give you all a scouting port, and you know, who is a realistic option for the penguins at number 21 because, you know, the penguins, they have a first-on pick this year.
Starting point is 00:03:04 I know it's very weird to say that, But, no, they have a chance, I think, to get a pretty good player that could contribute, you know, a few years down the line. You know, obviously, it's not like the NFL for most of these picks. A lot of these players still have to go through junior leagues, HL, all that stuff. But, you know, again, the opportunity will be there for the Penguins to make that pick. And again, as I get closer to the draft, I am going to, you know, focus more on some of the prospects and try to, you know, give you as well of a scouting report as I can, while also bringing on some other people who know a little bit more than me or a lot more than me, I should say. Now with that out of the way, let's get into some of the big new, well, at least this was recent news today.
Starting point is 00:03:45 So this is according to Mike DeFabo. Kevin Acklin, who has been in the organization, he is going to be named the Penguins President of Business Operations. So this was basically what David Morehouse was doing before he stepped down. He was the Penguins president and CEO as a whole. He is going to, Acklin is going to, you know, at least take most of that. He's going to be the president of business operations and Brian Burke were the main president of hockey operations.
Starting point is 00:04:10 So it's basically going to be Acklin and Burke running the show for the Fenway Sports Group. And Acklin's prior role with the club. So he was basically responsible for the business operations of the Penguins and their arena properties as a whole. So, you know, this is just a small little premise. motion for him. So he knows what he's doing here. According to Fabo, he also provided strategic advice to the senior executive team and ran the Penguins redevelopment efforts on the former
Starting point is 00:04:39 Civic Arena slate, which has gone through a whole lot of stuff. They have groveled about what they are supposed to do with that land for almost a decade now. I think they finally figured out what they're doing. I think they're going to be building apartments there. If I'm not mistaken, they've been, again, they've been going out more for that for got like I said close to a decade at this point prior to joining Penguins Act when he was the chief of staff and chief of element officer
Starting point is 00:05:07 for a Pittsburgh mayor Bill Paduto who was here until 2017 so that was the big news at least from the organization standpoint today they did not go outside the organization to fill that role if I anyway scores that is they stayed
Starting point is 00:05:23 in house so wanted to update you all with that search because you know I promised I would when they named Morehouse's replacement. It looks like it's going to be Kevin Ackland. So moving on from that, getting into our next topic. Casey DeSmith continuing on the season reviews for the Penguins. So DeSmith started in 26 games for the Penguins this year.
Starting point is 00:05:46 It was basically break-even and goals A-Bove expected minus 0.6. You know, rounds up to one if you really think about it. But still, you know, not the greatest year overall. I mean, 9-14, say percentage, that's. fine. That's only 0.5% lower than Tristan Jari. So he actually, you know, to Smith, you can honestly argue that he played better down the stretch than Tristan, but I also do think that Jari was a lot more fatigued down the stretch from playing so many freaking games in the first half of the regular season. I mean, he was saving their butts in a lot of those games
Starting point is 00:06:20 and making some 10-bell saves when the team was just not healthy. But, you know, again, that really, I think, screwed him in the second half of the other season because, you know, he was starting to give up goals that he was literally not giving up in the first half. And, you know, I will say this, credit due to Smith for actually figuring out, what was the word I'm looking for? No, just figuring himself out during that stretch run. Because, you know, there was a time, you know, he was, I believe, 880, 885 through the first half of regular season.
Starting point is 00:06:53 And to Smith, I think, spoke to the media and said, yeah, I mean, this is probably the lowest point of my NHL career. he was able to turn it around, was at a stretch, I think, five, six, seven starts in a row where he was at 9.30, looking like the goaltender that we saw in spurts this season before, before he went down when the playoffs started last year. It's crazy, two consecutive years where he just randomly gets hurt.
Starting point is 00:07:18 And again, you know, he was playing well down the stretch. The same percentage on unblock shots, 950 this year. Same percentage on expected save percentage on unblock shots, 951. 2.79 goals against average, 2.77 expected goals against average. He is an unriched out of the free agent, so he is going to be able to sign with anyone who he wants. So far, there's been no rumors about them in contract discussions. I'm sure you can get him for very cheap.
Starting point is 00:07:46 I don't think the guy is going to go out there and, you know, get 3.5 to 4 million or anything like that. I think he could probably get him for 2 million. And, you know, if he asked for 2.5, honestly, I don't, you know, maybe you do it, but I don't think he's worth to an half million for, you know, the level of play that we've seen for him at times when he's not been good. You know, it's a tough call because, you know, the goaltending market, while there are some names that I have touched on on this podcast a couple weeks ago, it gets dry pretty quick. You know, I already talked about Yarlestal Pallok.
Starting point is 00:08:23 He's kind of been, you know, washed at this point. Braden Holpey, he would make sense. Darcy Kemper is not going to come here. Jack Campbell, not going to come here. You know, there's, it falls off pretty quickly. This is not the best gold-tending market. You know, the gold-tending market where they could have made a move last off, you know, the gold-tending market where they could have made a move was last off-season where there
Starting point is 00:08:46 was a lot of 1-A, 1B kind of goalies. And, you know, sure, you can definitely make the argument that some of those guys, got too much money. And, you know, especially for someone like Linus or Mark who got what, six times six in Boston. That's ridiculous. But, you know, there was someone like James Rimer who only got 2.5 million, I think for what, two years with the sharks. And he would have been a perfect 1B stopgap option behind Jari. So I'm not really sure what the plan is from Hextall with DeSmith. I honestly think it's a true coin flip. It's 50-50 for me. What they should do. In my opinion, I do think they should try to go out and make a run at one of those
Starting point is 00:09:31 veterans like Holti because, you know, if say Jari goes down in the playoffs again next year if the Penguins make it, and I'm sure they probably will, you know, are you pretty comfortable in Casey to Smith or would you have more confidence in Brayden Holtby? I would assume a good chunk of you would say Brayden Holtby. I would understand if some of you didn't, but I would think the majority of you all would probably say someone like Holpey who is a veteran and a couple of the other veterans that are on the market as well. So, you know, I think that that's what they should do. They should look to move on.
Starting point is 00:10:07 But again, I will 100% not be surprised in the slightest if he does come back. In other words, I have no idea what's going to happen. I can only speculate on what is going to happen. don't have really any insight information on this. None of the other Penguins or Quarers are reporting anything on it either. You know, at the end of the day, there's still like 30 plus days until the agency. We're not going to really know the clarity on the situation for at least a few more weeks. So at the end of day, we'll see, you know, they got to find someone to back up Jari.
Starting point is 00:10:46 If it's running it back, it's running it back, if it's going on in the fee agency and doing that. And obviously that'll be a different story and something that we'll talk about at that time. Overall, liked what I saw from him down in the stretch. I do think, I personally think they win that series. If he is healthy against the Rangers, he played really well in game one. It was a shame that his hip basically gave out. Awesome to see him already back on the ice. I mean, it's already been a month.
Starting point is 00:11:13 And usually that injury is like I think six to eight weeks, potentially nine weeks with the surgeries that I've seen. other NHL players have. So it's great to see him back working out and all that stuff. And we'll have to see what the Penguins regime decides. So that wraps up this first segment of the podcast. For the season, you know, I'm going to give him a C. You know, C minus. Start off a season with an F,
Starting point is 00:11:37 but rebounded well down the stretch where I think, you know, average to a little bit below average is what I would say that the Penguins got from him this year. So coming up in the second segment, we're going to get to that player who, the Penguins could have interest in because he'll say he's on the trade block, but should they have interest in, you know, what could a trade package look like for him? And then to wrap it up, we're going to get into the Eastern Conference final. So before we get to all that, though,
Starting point is 00:12:07 Benline is your number one source for all your betting stats and sports info. You can find all the latest sports developments, news and nods, including this year's basketball championship matchup between the Celtics and the Warriors, the Eastern Conference final between the Rangers and the Lightning, MLB and, of course, the latest fighting news from MMA and UFC to boxing. Then online is your continued source for all of your sports information, including live-bending, e-sports, and more. You head to the website today or to use your phone to learn more about the trends in action.
Starting point is 00:12:33 That is been online where the game starts. All right, I'm back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hoddes. You can also follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can also follow the show's Twitter at L0 underscore Penguins. excuse me so let's get into another potential trade scenario that you know maybe has a chance of happening maybe it doesn't again we are in silly season here i'm going to keep saying that word almost every podcast until july 13th or potentially even further out from that if you are a
Starting point is 00:13:05 long-time listener if you are a first-time listener um just continue to get used to it or you know if you're again if you're first time um just again really get used to it so i did see the last couple of days Elliot Freeman's talked about the Chicago Blackhawks in the 32 Thoughts podcast on the Jeff Merrick show and he's reported that the Blackhawks are open to basically trading everyone except
Starting point is 00:13:27 Jonathan Taves, Seth Jones, and Patrick Kane. So they don't want to trade what they think is their core. They said everyone else is basically open for business. That includes Alex DeBrenkitt. And as much as I would love the Penguins to get him is basically the version of Jake Gensel. I don't see how they do that. His cap hits a lot.
Starting point is 00:13:44 They are going to want the house for him and rightfully so he is a very good player um i don't think um the penguins get him um but there is a player that is pretty young at this point and still could have a lot of really good years ahead and that is kirby doc um so far um he's played three seasons in the nchl he's only 21 right now he's going to be 22 um next season first year in the league in 2019 20 8 goals 23 points, 64 games. The next year got banged up. And then 21, 22 this past season, played 70 games, nine goals, 26 points, and 70 games. Those are all career highs for him. But then you go to the underlying numbers. And, you know, they weren't pretty. You know, the Boccox only had 45% of the
Starting point is 00:14:30 shot attempts with him on the ice. It's 42% of the actual goals, 44% of the expected goals for the Bockehams on the ice, 45% of the swing chances, 48% of the high danger chances. And then 35% of the high danger goals who are shot 8.3% this year, which is basically where he shot his rookie year, the season before this one, though, 11.3%, which is pretty crazy how high that is. He is a pure center, at least according to hockey reference, right hand shot, so that would be very beneficial for the Penguins.
Starting point is 00:15:01 So now it comes down to would he be a good fit on this team? I don't know if he would be a good fit, but I think he's a player that is the, perfect definition of a, you know, honestly a low risk, but high reward. Because, you know, he's only 21 years old. You know, I said it on my Thursday episode, for those not listen to me. Ages 22 to 26 are usually your peak years in NHL. Can you have great years when you're 27, 28, 29, 30? Absolutely. Can you even have great years after you're 30? Yes, Casesney Crosby, Austin Matthews, who's probably going to be like that soon.
Starting point is 00:15:43 Alex O'Betchkin, obviously Stephen Stanco's who's in his 30s now, he's still chugging along just fine. But for Doc, he's struggled in Chicago, but I'm wondering how much of that is due to the quality of teammates on there because he's on a rebuilding team and due to the fact the Hawks are one of the worst defensive teams in the league. that's my biggest question. You put him on a team like the penguins who, it's a much, I think a much better system for him because he's a dynamic player and a more defensively responsible team
Starting point is 00:16:18 because I definitely think the penguins fall in that category. Do his numbers improve? I would say they do. I'm not going to, I don't think this is a full on, you know, really good comparison, but you know, I kind of in a small way, related to Dan Hinen a little bit,
Starting point is 00:16:34 who was obviously a bit older, but, you know, he was with Anna Hunt. for a few of those years. Not a good offensive team. Also not a good defensive team. His numbers overall, county stats and his metrics were really fading. Comes to the Penguins, a brand new system that suits his abilities
Starting point is 00:16:51 and has his best season as an NHLer. And he's set up to either get a decent contract by the Penguins or by another team. Because if the Penguins aren't able to sign him as an RFA, I am sure he's going to go out there and get a decent amount of money. So, you know, I wouldn't be surprised as he's Chicago do sell on him just because he hasn't been the player that they thought he would be for his first three seasons. As far as the package goes, you know, his value is not at a big high right now. So I know I said for Jesse P.R.R.V. on Thursday, you know, P.O.J. and Kisbury County, right? You know, I honestly think you could probably get Kirby Doc for a bit less than that.
Starting point is 00:17:31 Maybe even that same package, you know, Paul Yardy. He's had better seasons than him. So he should be able to get a higher package, even though he's a bit older than Doc. But, you know, I could also see the Hawks going with Doc. Okay, you know, pretty young player. You know, if we're going to deal him, you know, we want to get a decent return back to, you have to set ourselves up for the future and all that. I can see the Penguins giving away a prospect and a pick for him. Maybe it doesn't even require a roster player.
Starting point is 00:18:00 So, you know, that's what I would think, what would be cost. you know, if you do P-O-J and, you know, maybe a second in next year's draft or a third-bound picking maybe this year's job, I don't think they're going to ask for a first for Doc. I don't think he deserves a first in return, just looking at his numbers the last few seasons and, you know, his counting stats too. But, you know, if you can get him for, you know, a future or two, I say you do it. You know, it makes the team faster going into next year. It makes them a hell of a lot younger.
Starting point is 00:18:30 And, you know, I think that those are two of the big things that I'm looking at, for Ron Hextall, this office, he's outside of bringing the big two back and Crystal Tang and getting Malkin. I want the team to get younger and faster because Sidney Crosby, beginning Malkin, Crystal Teng, they are not getting any younger. At the end of the day, you know, this is at work. We're at the end of their championship window here. They don't have time to mess around.
Starting point is 00:18:52 If you want to go out and get all three of them, if all three come back, one more Stanley Cup, you got to make the moves that puts them in the best position. You know, maybe this one is, maybe it doesn't. if you don't give up a lot, again, it's a low risk, high reward move. And, you know, maybe him in a different system is beneficial to him. You know, sometimes players need change of scenery. It happens all the time. And then they go to another team and they flourish.
Starting point is 00:19:18 You know, remember, I mean, Taylor Hall with Buffalo was playing really bad, goes to Boston, doesn't play like he does when he was in New Jersey, but still gets back to close to the level that we saw there. It's like, okay, you know, maybe this player did need a change of senior. He's never going to be like that 90 to 100 point guy that some people thought he was going to be. But, you know, he's still going to be like that guy that's about 50 to 60 points. I'm not saying Kirby Doc's going to be like that. You know, you can maybe put him in your top six, your third line.
Starting point is 00:19:42 I don't think you blogs on the fourth line or anything like that. But, you know, I do think with better teammates around him and a better system that, you know, fits his abilities. I really think the penguins would make sense here. And I think they would have the, excuse me, the ability to bring him in because, I'm trying to find what his contract is. I'm going to go on cat friend me here real quick. So his AAV is 3.425, but this year, only a 925K cap hit for the Chicago Blackhawks. So that's a pretty decent deal.
Starting point is 00:20:25 I'm trying to remember. Yeah, so he is an RFA this year. So honestly, he's probably not going to. get a raise. Considering what you just had, I mean, he only three points higher than his career career high. Honestly, in a way, it's kind of a little like capital, you know, could those two, could you see a one for one there?
Starting point is 00:20:46 I think that actually would make a little bit of sense, you know, two players that make very similar amounts of money. I think Doc would only make, if I call this correctly, 200K more than Caponin. If the Penguins are able to sign Doc to New Deal, I'm sure it would probably be less for $3 million or something like that. And I'm sure for Chicago with Capitan, he would probably sign for less than that too. So maybe a one-for-one does work there.
Starting point is 00:21:16 So I think I would be willing to take the chance on that player. I wanted to bring up that for the episode of Today Show. Coming up in the final segment, we're going to get to that Eastern Conference final between the Lightning and the Rangers and why, you know, Tampa Bay, they just continue to not go away quietly. So that's all coming up right after this commercial break. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hoadies.
Starting point is 00:21:45 You're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can also follow the shows, Twitter, at Eleanor School Penguins. If anyone can hear some weird sound in the background, the ice cream truck is apparently making its way through to the neighborhood here. the nine-year-old in me is just celebrating because I absolutely loved getting ice cream from the ice cream truck when I was a kid. But let's get now to a short little segment
Starting point is 00:22:08 on the Eastern Conference final. The Tampa A Lightning have won three in a row against the Rangers. They're up three games of two heading back to Tampa. I will say, I did say Bolts and Six from the start. Knock on wood. I am knocking on wood here. I know I've almost become like a mini version
Starting point is 00:22:21 of Andrew Philopony here with how horrible my takes have been lately with the playoffs and just jinxing teams. So I'm trying really hard not to do that. But what we saw last night was Tampa Bay getting better as the game goes on. And when you let a team like that hang around for that long, you're just going to get beat. And that's what's happened.
Starting point is 00:22:42 The last three games for the Rangers, game three, you're up two to nothing. You know, going into the second period, up two to one, going into the third, can't close the door. Games are less than a minute away from going to overtime. Tanbae gets that goal. Game four. Tambay brings their best. The Rangers are unable to stop them.
Starting point is 00:22:57 series tie two too. Last night, the Rangers, the garden's going crazy after Ryan Linger and gets a pretty fluky team of destiny goal. Tempe comes right back with Mikhail Surgicheth, and then they score again with a minute 50 left in the third period because the Rangers just forgot how to play defense in their zone and because the Rangers were horrible after the first period. They had one high danger chance in the last 40 minutes. And, you know, I'm sure some, you know, some people are probably going to blame the officiating because that's all we saw in the first round against the penguins. But at the end of the day, you know,
Starting point is 00:23:29 this team has one goal at 5E5 in their last 150 minutes. You're not going to beat a champion like that. And, you know, the lightning, you know, I think as Nick Zarara said it, they're like that big, bad villain in a movie. You know, you let it hang around. You know, just see when you think you have them dead, you don't.
Starting point is 00:23:48 It's almost in a way like Emperor Palpatine over here where, you know, it just comes back from the dead, which was a terrible decision, by the way. screw Lucasfilm for doing that. He should have died in the Return of the Jedi. But just when you think you have him dead, basically, especially in like Revenge of the Sith
Starting point is 00:24:04 for all the Star Wars fans out there, you know, he's able to kill May Swindu because, you know, had a little bit of help. But, you know, that's just, he's a perfect villain.
Starting point is 00:24:13 And that's what Tambay Lightning are for a lot of people here. They are the perfect villain. They do not go away. And, you know, if they are able to close out the Rangers on Saturday, that's going to be a Stanley Cup final for the ages. You know,
Starting point is 00:24:24 you have the team that's, a veteran, full of veterans that they want to think they can make more history here, going up against a team that's ready to win. You have the proven winners versus the team that's ready to just break through. They've destroyed every team in the Western Conference. The avalanche are ready for this challenge. I think they would skate circles around any of these two teams. But with Tampa May and New York, they have the answer, both of them in goal.
Starting point is 00:24:52 Vasilevsky is, I think, the best goaltender on the planet. and you know, Shasturkin is probably his air, honestly. I would say it's one A, one B between those two. But Tambay, you know, they also have elite talent in their own right. And, you know, just there would be so many matchups in that kind of final that would absolutely blow me away. You know, I'm not going to spend, I know some other, some other, you know, podcast I was listening to.
Starting point is 00:25:18 It's been a good chunk on the Jacob Trubo missed chicken wing. I think it goes on Andre Palat, if I'm not mistaken. and I'm not going to spend too much time on it. He was headhunting there as he's done basically all playoffs. That's all I'm going to say about that. He's not going to stop at this point. But I think it's going to be a really good game on Saturday night. I don't think the dangers are going to go down quietly.
Starting point is 00:25:43 They're five and no elimination games. When their backs are against the wall, they tend to play some of their best hockey. But this is going to be their biggest challenge for them. You know, they're going down to Tampa. It's the horn in its nest, basically. Andre Vasilevsky is, absolutely dynamite in elimination games.
Starting point is 00:25:58 I'm trying to, I'm going to go find this stat here from Adam Gretzky. tweeted this out. I believe it was today. Or last name, if I can find this here real quick. Yeah, so since the start of the 2019-20 playoffs, Vasselowski's played 15 potential knockout games. He's 10 and 5 in those games, 928 percentage. Of those 10 wins, six of them are shutouts.
Starting point is 00:26:21 Dude, usually does not miss a chance to win. a knockout game. He's going to be at his best tomorrow, and we'll have to see if Igor can step up to the play. And we'll have to see if the Rangers can actually start schooling a 5-8-5 here. You know, this is basically year 20 of the Rangers going, yeah, our goaltender is better than yours. And our power play is also pretty good.
Starting point is 00:26:40 But we're just going to pray to God that we win games overall when those two things are on. And maybe their power play wasn't as good during the Henrik Monquist years. It's obviously really good this year. But my point still stands at least a goaltending part where, you know, they're trying to win most 30. games by only giving up one or two goals because they're going to feel like, oh, our goal is just going to beat you every time. But, you know, usually, no, that's not a viable strategy.
Starting point is 00:27:03 The Rangers know they're not going to be able to bring this whole group back next year. I'm going to be curious to see how they look on Saturday. But right now, all the momentum is on Tampa Bay side. We'll have to see if they can finish the job on Saturday. And again, just to finish up this year, just to finish us up, it's crazy how, you know, Tampa, they're doing this three years in a row. And it puts into perspective just how special the Penguins run was because it's a really good Washington Capitals team
Starting point is 00:27:35 to knock them out in six games. The Penguins were 10 wins away from a championship, two wins away from going to a conference final where they would have faced the lighting, which would have been a heck of a series, would have been the second time in three years that these two teams would have went at it. It just goes to show again how special that run was.
Starting point is 00:27:51 And just how great this lightning down. dynasty is. I mean, their fans are going to be telling their kids about this or grandkids about this someday. So we'll have to see if the lightning due win tomorrow, Sam the Cup final will start next Wednesday and it will go through 28th and then two more weeks until the agency and all that. So again, thank you all so much for listening to this episode. I really hope you'll got something out of it and you enjoyed listening to it. If you did, leave a like on the YouTube page. Leave a review on Apple Podcast and Spotify. I always appreciate everything. I always appreciate everyone that reaches out telling me they love the show and all that.
Starting point is 00:28:27 And if you don't like a certain aspect of the show, just let me know. Be nice about it. But, you know, just definitely let me know. Again, I'm always looking to improve the quality of this show. I take this very seriously. And I know I've been doing this for almost three years. I absolutely love doing it. And if there's something that, you know, maybe you don't like or you want me to do better,
Starting point is 00:28:46 just reach out. We'll maybe have a conversation about it. So, again, thank you all so much for listening. And I'll be back with another episode on Monday. Hope you all have a wonderful mid-June weekend.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.