Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - It's time for another Penguins preseason game!

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Penguins are back in action on Wednesday night, and because of that, Pat and I are going to preview the game against the Detroit Red Rings right after this. You're Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.

Starting point is 00:00:35 As always, I am one of your hosts, Hunter Hodes, joined by the wonderful Patrick Dan. If you can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, you can follow Pat's Twitter at Sinem for Wet, and you can follow the shows Twitter at LO underscore Penguins, of course. Thank you all so much for making this your first listen slash watch of the day. So Penguins have their second to last preseason game on Wednesday night, and yes, I will actually be there for that game.

Starting point is 00:01:01 I got offered a free ticket by one of my friends, so super excited to go. And I know three quarters of the PBG Paints and Reno, is going to be empty, but I will still gladly go to a hockey game anytime, and I can check out everyone that's going to be playing tonight. But a lot of the regulars, Pat, not to be playing in this one. It's a lot of the HL guys are some of the fringe roster players. It looks like the lineup for tonight. Ren Pitlick redeems Zohoran, Alex Neelander. So Zahorna and Nielander, getting another big chance to show that they belong on this team come next week. Austin Wagner, Colin

Starting point is 00:01:35 White, Denny Hino-Hannes-Hawson on the second line, Janssen, Harkin, St. Poulin, Val-Belsary Pustin on the third line, and then Avery Hayes with Andreas Yanson. And I apologize if I mispronounce his name. Jonah Coppinon, I believe is how you say that name. Again, I apologize if I butchered that name and then the defenseman rotated a little bit. But it looks like, again, a lot of the HL players playing in this one. But super excited for someone like Zornu, who I thought played pretty well. in that game.

Starting point is 00:02:06 And up in Nova Scotia, Alex Nealander draws back in, curious to see how he builds up on everything. And then, of course, Pustin and Poulan, big opportunity for them tonight as well. Yeah, this game is shaping up to kind of be the, quote, unquote, bottom six battle preseason game

Starting point is 00:02:22 where we're going to really find out here what a lot of these guys are bringing to the table. And they're going to get extended looks and extended chances because, like you said, none of the big guns up front are playing. So like we said, I do think Big Z has played his way onto the roster, but it'll be a chance for him to make a bit of a difference in an elevated role. Alex Neelander is going to have a big shot to show what he can do.

Starting point is 00:02:50 I think he's had a solid camp. I do think it was telling that he didn't play in Nova Scotia because it kind of gives us an idea of what they think of them. But again, I say this all the time. you can't take a ton away from a preseason lineup because until the roster is set, the roster is not set. So good looks here for a lot of guys who are buying for a bottom six roll up front. And we're going to see the likely backup goalie starting the whole game in Alex Nadelcovic.

Starting point is 00:03:23 So we're going to see a lot of role players get their chance to prove they belong at the NHL level tonight. another one, the latest waiver pickup, Jansen Harkins, is he going to get his Penguins debut tonight. Curious to see how he looks. And of course, Colin White, a player who I've been pretty intrigued about during camp in the preseason signed to a PTO. Is this the game where he makes his mark and shows that he belongs on the roster come next week? I've seen a lot of people, I guess, freaking out right now just because the preseason we're approaching the end. And there's still quite a few players on the team. You've seen a lot of call-ups and all that good stuff.

Starting point is 00:03:58 and oh, the bottom six is not going to be that good this year and all that. But we still got two games left for the preseason. You got to let some of these guys show what they can do. And that, especially for tonight, has to be the case. Yeah, another player that I'm going to keep a really close eye on tonight is going to be Ty Smith because he cleared waivers. He's still on the training camp roster. He's getting a chance to play tonight.

Starting point is 00:04:24 And you and I talked about this. Elliot Friedman spoke about Ty Smith on 32 thoughts and said the big deal with him is a lot of guys look at him as he's not willing to compete. He's got the skill, he's got the pedigree, but the guy just doesn't want to compete. And that's not my opinion on that's what I've heard about him. And that's what Elliott Friedman said he had heard about him. So tonight's kind of a way to say, hey, this is the first day of the rest of your hockey life. So go out there and show the detractors that, yeah, you will fight for a spot. You will be willing to say, actually, no, I belong in the NHL level.

Starting point is 00:05:04 I belong to be a serious candidate to make an NHL roster. So this is kind of proving ground for him. Can he turn that reputation around? Can he make a bigger mark than he has so far? Right. And outside of that, you still have the number six defenseman spot up for grabs. and both players it looks like are going to be playing tonight in Chad Rweedle and Mark Friedman, who is going to show that they belong in that number six spot.

Starting point is 00:05:34 That's going to be really curious as well. Xavier Lett is going to be playing Libor Hayek gets another shot. I think at this point for Leibor Hayek, he's probably not going to make the team out of training camp. We all kind of assume that even when he signed that PTO, there just wasn't a lot there. They were kind of just giving him that PTO. And I'm just to see if you can make it at some point in the NHM. just probably not with the penguins, I should say, but maybe he'll latch on to another team after he gets released,

Starting point is 00:05:59 or maybe he'll sign a two-way contract with the penguins, or stop the season down in Wilkesbury. I just don't see a fit for him on the Penguins right now. But, no, with Freeman and Ruiedel, times ticking on both of them to see who is going to get that number six spot. And it's a big chance for them, because you look at who Detroit's bringing to town tonight. And not all of them, but this is another opportunity where

Starting point is 00:06:23 a bunch of guys who are going to be NHL regulars for the Red Wings are going to come to town tonight with guys like Fabri, Zarnik, Raymond, Larkin, Sprong, DeBringcat, Petrie. Mo Cider. These are guys who are going to be on the Detroit Red Wings this year when they take the ice for the regular season. So while the big names aren't going to be playing for Pittsburgh, this is a chance for the guys on the penguins who are dressing tonight to show the show that they can and how they stack up against NHL competition. Agree. And I always like these kind of games, especially for the Penguins, going up against competent NHL talent.

Starting point is 00:07:05 See what you can do against really good players in a Dylan Larkin, and a Mo Cider, and a Jeff Petrie, Alex DeBrinke, all these other guys. In fact, I actually think when the Penguins ice one of these HL or whatever you want to call it a C-C-minus lineup, they actually play. better because these players coming in here going up against those competent NHLers, well, some of them, they don't have as much to lose because, you know, some of them know that they're probably not going to be on the roster to start the year. So they're like, okay, I'm going to go out there, play free-spirited, show what I can do,

Starting point is 00:07:40 leave it all out on the ice. Obviously for some other players, you know, they are playing for jobs this year and, you know, they're going to be playing their butts off too. But I still think overall, when you ice a lineup like this against a better team, no matter who it is, like the Red Wings, for example, probably bringing their B team or all that stuff. That other team tends to play up to that level of competition. Heck, we just saw it last week. Remember, in Detroit, the Penguins played a similar kind of lineup against the Red Wings.

Starting point is 00:08:09 We're playing a good chunk of their starters. And that was a one goal game. I thought the Penguins played really well in that game, especially Redeems O'Hourna. He was fantastic, him, Dau-Turray Pustin, all those guys, and Sam Poulin, too. So I think this has the makings of a potential really good game. And whether it's conscious or subconsciously, players, when they have the big names in the lineup in the preseason, it's easy for a lot of those hiccups, a lot of those mistakes to get papered over because you have the big talent playing alongside you. You don't have that safety net tonight. So tonight is a night where some of these guys who are buying for NHL jobs have to prove, hey, I can play without that big talent supplanting me.

Starting point is 00:08:53 I can be a contributor on this roster. And when you compare it to your opponent who is playing NHL-level players, it's a big proving ground for these guys. So you're right. This has the makings of what could be a pretty solid preseason game, especially because we'll get to learn a lot more about some of the guys who are suiting up for the Penguins tonight. Right.

Starting point is 00:09:15 And I always, I think, enjoy these kind of games, maybe at least a little bit more. And I know preseason hockey is not for everyone. I understand that, but I would say I kind of enjoy more of these games compared to some of the other games that we've seen the past couple of days where some of the big guns have drawn in because they're really not playing for anything at this point. You know, they're obviously working on the power play, but they have their places in the lineup cemented. They're obviously not going to be giving 100% in those games. Heck, Pat, would they even begin, I think 90% in those games? Probably not.

Starting point is 00:09:49 It's just kind of, again, it's like a warm up match. but for these players, this means a hell of a lot more. Which is really excited, yeah. But I think that does it for the preview for the game against the Detroit Red Wings. Starts at 7 o'clock Eastern time. And yes, it will be on Sportsnet, Pittsburgh, the first home broadcast for the new network. So if you don't have cable like Pat or I, you'll have to figure out something else. And for everyone that is listening to Slash watching, if you don't have cable, the same applies to you all.

Starting point is 00:10:19 But that would do it for this first segment. coming up in the second segment, Jake Gensel took contact in practice on Tuesday. Is it getting even closer to playing? And could he be available for that first game next week? Well, Pat and I are going to discuss that. But before we get into that, we got to discuss Indeed. It is the hiring platform where you can attract, interview, and hire all in one place. Don't spend hours on multiple job sites looking for candidates with the right skills

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Starting point is 00:11:45 Look like he took some small contact. So he's been cleared for a little bit of contact, not I think a full capacity of contact, yet, but it's another step for him in the recovery. And again, reading the tea leaves, I said it last week, I'll say it again here, he might be available before that timeline of the fifth game, fifth or sixth game of the regular season. All signs point towards that, doesn't it? It really looks like this guy might be ready to go earlier than expected. I don't want to get anybody's hopes up and have them think that, hey, if you got tickets to opening night, like Hunter and I do, wink, wink, nudge, nudge, that you're going to see Jake Gensel thude up that night.

Starting point is 00:12:30 But I also said this before on this show. I think they are going to play this very carefully because Stanley Cups are not won in October. You can make some statements in October, but you're not going to win the Stanley Cup. So it's going to be more imperative for this team to have Jake Gensel when they're going down the stretch run in February, March, April, than it will be to have him in October. Plus, again, softer schedule to open up the year, not a ton of divisional opponents, not a ton of contending teams coming to town, or they're not going to them. So you don't need him right away. And you also don't want to find out that you rushed him forward and he reaggravates an injury that he just had surgery on. So at this point, it's very positive news and it does seem like he's going to be available sooner rather than later, which is great news for this team.

Starting point is 00:13:32 But at the same time, the way I see this is they're not going to rush him, but he will be back sooner rather than later. right and i said it last week we've been saying it for a while now you can't rush someone back from an injury like this you risk having him have a setback which would obviously be really bad news so they're working him in slowly but surely he took a little bit of contact you can't go zero to 100 with something like that again you run the risk of having a setback there so easing him in letting him take a little bit of contact see how his body is especially his ankle reacts to it. And if it's good, okay, bump him up to a little bit more contact.

Starting point is 00:14:16 Same thing happens there. Okay, you can bump him up a little bit more and so on and so forth until it's a full contact capacity. Then you can see how the ankle responds to that. But, you know, just looking at some of the videos on social media, it honestly doesn't even look like he's hurt. But it just looks like he is skating beautifully. He's ripping the puck like it's nothing.

Starting point is 00:14:33 He is looking like the regular Jake Gensel. And that's obviously great news for the penguins. I'll keep saying it. They are a completely different team. When he is on the ice, you take out a player who scores 40, 45 goals a season, that that team is just not going to be the same. But the fact that there's a good chance it looks like that he might be available sooner than expected, just great news for the penguins.

Starting point is 00:14:57 And when he comes back, that bumps someone down the lineup and I think only makes them deeper. And the biggest thing I think that they're going to have to worry about here more than anything is conditioning. because he started camp kind of in the no contact jersey. He was skating before the sessions got going with some of the other injured guys. And while you can't simulate a game, even with the healthy players, you also have to factor in that he hasn't been part of the camp at large. So he's not in a lot of the drills. He's not in a lot of the workouts.

Starting point is 00:15:35 He's not doing all that because he's working in a different capacity. to help rehab the ankle injury that he is recovering from. So that's another factor that has to be considered is that they have to get him up to game speed. They have to get his conditioning in the place it needs to be a top six winger because he's going to play 22, 23, 24 minutes a night. And if he's not in the shape to do it, which I'm not insinuating Jake Gensel's out of shape, pro athlete, even with injury, these guys find other ways.

Starting point is 00:16:09 to work out and stay in shape unless they're completely hung up and incapacitated. But you have to make sure all of it is there. You have to make sure the lungs are there. You have to make sure the legs are there. You have to make sure just the general fit is there because it's really hard to drop a player into the middle of the lineup when they haven't been part of the cohesive camp as a whole. So that's another thing to keep in mind is they are going to have to make sure not only

Starting point is 00:16:39 is he healthy, but he's conditioned well enough to start playing games. And he's not a player that you ease back into the lineup. You're not going to put him on the fourth line and give him 10 minutes a night. When you have Jake Gensel in the lineup, you want him stapled to Sid's wing and playing 22, 23, 24 minutes a night. And his conditioning will probably only get even better. You know, the more game reps he gets whenever he does come back. Obviously, it's going to hurt him a little bit that he's not getting in.

Starting point is 00:17:09 preseason game reps. I mean, he's not going to be playing later this week in the Penguins final preseason game. But, you know, with his conditioning, hopefully good when he does come back, I do think it's only going to get better. Once he gets more game reps, shifts under his belt, excuse me, it's only going to be up from there for him. And you're right. You're not going to put him on the third or fourth line. Maybe if he was out for, I don't know, five or six months during a season, you would maybe do something like that. But you're starting this season. He's been skating for a allow now, it should be fine with that. You want them to be full go once you put them in.

Starting point is 00:17:43 You don't want to ease them back in. Yeah, and you obviously want to make sure that angle is 110% that there's no setback or anything like that. But I think that'll do it for the second segment coming up to end the show. P.O. Joseph got hurt in Nova Scotia, but it doesn't sound like it's that serious of an injury considering he skated earlier today. But before we get to that, we got to discuss Fandle. Snap into action.

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Starting point is 00:18:42 All right, we're back here on this episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined as always by the amazing Patrick Dam. So it doesn't look like P.O. Joseph's injury is that serious. He was skating on Wednesday morning, looked a bit gimpy during that game earlier in the week, to block a shot or something like that, and then took that nasty hit from Matthew Joseph. and P.O. was lining up to hit his brother and then he got the worst of it. But it seems like based on him practicing just two days after with the main group that's not going to be playing tonight, Pat, looks like good news, hopefully. Yeah, it doesn't seem like it was that serious. Plus, we got to keep in mind that it definitely looks like he's won the number five spot.

Starting point is 00:19:25 So he doesn't really have anything left to prove. He doesn't have to push through injury to show that he's worthy of a spot or do anything. crazy to earn his place in the lineup. So better safe than sorry when it comes to POJ. Make sure he's ready for when Chicago comes to town in about a week. And just rather than risk it, let him heal up, let him get back to 100% for when the serious hockey that actually means something starts. Right. There's really no reason to play him the rest of the preseason. You can just get him the reps to end training camp, get him the reps for practice for the regular season, and then just make sure he's good to go for next Tuesday against Chicago and then beyond.

Starting point is 00:20:07 Because as you said it, he's won the number five job for the Penguins defenseman group. We just got to see who he's going to be playing with once the season gets underway. Plus, man, we got to talk about the hit. One of the most embarrassing things that can happen as a hockey player is you go to line up a hit and you just bounce off of a guy. and to add insult to injury for PO, it didn't happen against just anybody. It happened against his brother.

Starting point is 00:20:40 So once again, these two are playing one another in a game that gets a bunch of national attention and something happens between them. It just reminds me of what happened last year when him and his brother took the matching penalties for the game up in Ottawa. And the camera pans to his parents. And their dad is just like this with his arms out. Like what the heck just happened? And I wish Sportsnet Pittsburgh did the same thing here.

Starting point is 00:21:10 Cut to the dad who I wish he had the same reaction. It would have been hilarious because that was all over social media when that occurred. I think the same thing would have happened here. Something funny always happens when those two go at it. And again, I loved how P.O. is like, you know what, Matthew? I'm going to get you here. I'm lining you up. And then boom, he just gets bulldozed.

Starting point is 00:21:30 Oh, it was so bad, man. I felt so bad for the kid. But you know what? It looks like he's going to make the team and he seems like he's going to be all right. So no worse for where. But Hunter, there is one last thing that we have to remind people about that we are just one week away from doing. What's that, Pat? The first ever warrior helmet Wednesday segment.

Starting point is 00:21:53 Oh, yes. We are going to crown our MVP of the week. and, well, to be fair, we're only going to have one game to choose from, but that's how these things start. And just so you got you listeners here of Locked On, no, it's not going to be just confined to us. We want to hear from you in the YouTube comments on Twitter, wherever. Let us know if you think somebody had a good week,

Starting point is 00:22:17 somebody we might have missed or overlooked, because that happens sometimes. I'm giving everyone that listens to slash watches the show permission to yell at us if we get this wrong. Whether it's- I thought you were going to give them a, I thought you were going to give them a pre-season Warrior helmet to say thanks for hanging with us when there hasn't been a ton of news

Starting point is 00:22:40 to talk about. We can do that. We can give all the listeners and the watchers that. We can give all the listeners and the watchers a warrior helmet for sticking through all of the training camp and preseason stuff. I promise the regular season, six days away, people. we are all most there.

Starting point is 00:22:58 And again, if you have any thoughts on the Warrior Helmet Wednesdays, if you want to submit your person that you think should get it, let us know. And if you think we're wrong, also yell at us in the comments, or you can send us mean DMs and all that good stuff. But again, I think that would do it, though, for this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for listening to slash watching this one. Pat and I will be back on Thursday to recap Wednesday's game against the Red Wings. and then we'll preview the Friday game, the final preseason game of the year,

Starting point is 00:23:28 before we get into the first week of the regular season next week. We're super excited about that. But again, thank you all so much for tuning in. Really appreciate it. We'll be back on Thursday.

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - It's time for another Penguins preseason game!

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