Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Josh Yohe returns for all kinds of Pittsburgh Penguins talk

Episode Date: November 4, 2021

As promised, Josh Yohe returns to this episode of the Locked On Penguins podcast and there are no shortages of topics to discuss. Sidney Crosby and Brian Dumoulin are now out with COVID, leading to a discussion about ramping up the protocol. Should the Penguins do more testing? Is this more unfortunate than anything? How will the Penguins get through this? The two also discuss Kris Letang's pending return and what that means for the blueline. Who will he be paired up with? Is it time for POJ to show the organization that he's here to stay? Other topics discussed: What's the latest on the lawsuit against the Penguins? Is Josh hearing anything new on that front? Could Filip Lindberg be called up if Casey DeSmith continues to struggle? Has the timeline on Evgeni Malkin changed? All that, and a lot more on this episode of Locked On Penguins.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.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.ShopifyGo to Shopify.com/lockedonnhl for a FREE fourteen-day trial and get full access to Shopify’s entire suite of features. 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.

Your Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Well, welcome to this Wednesday evening episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. Remember to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at L.O.R.R.Penguins.

And, of course, thank you all so much for making the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Your first listen of the day. day, you know, or, you know, if you're listening to this on Thursday, I can say the same thing for that as well. As promise, we have Josh Joey back on the pod from The Athletic. He has been on this show. I've lost count now, probably around, I think, four to five times, but, you know, wanted to get his thoughts and everything that's going along, everything that's going on,

excuse me, with this team. And it is a whole lot. So, Josh, I know it's probably been a crazy day for you. How are you doing? I'm good. I just got home from the gym, in fact. My hair's a little poofy. I was sorting the Pittsburgh is stronger than cancer shirt, which Crystal Tang was wearing

today. He looked a little better in it than I did. That's okay. You know, to compare ourselves to Tanger's physical appearances, you know, asking for failure. So, no, I am okay. It's good to be back on the show with you. And I wish we had more like just hockey-related things to talk about. But that's not the way things go with this franchise sometimes.

And it's certainly not the case right now. Yeah, that's for Dan. I'm sure. Tanger, obviously one of the most conditioned players in the league. It's great to see him back, though,

from COVID protocol. Obviously, I'm concerned for all players that COVID, but especially him just because of all the health issues that he's gone through for his career. Josh, you know, the big news today.

Again, I've made this reference on the show many times. It's kind of like a soul-for-a-soul thing with Thanos from Marvel. Two players come back to practice. Two players are absent from practice, and now two more players have COVID-19, Cindy Crosby and Brian Dumlin,

both players who, you know, you don't want anyone on the team to test positives and obviously for this virus, but you especially don't want both of those players, especially Cindy Crosby, you just positive. Josh, that's now, what, eight positive tests in a month? Is there going to be some more strict protocols being in place with this team or just what's going on?

Because it's interesting that, you know, again, nothing like this happened last season, with no vaccinations, and now it's all happening this year with all the vaccinations. And don't get me wrong. No, obviously, I know anyone can test positive for this virus, excuse me, if you're not vaccinated or even if you are vaccinated. I expected some positive tests around the league this year. But I don't think I expected this.

No, I mean, I'm no scientist. I'm no doctor. I can tell you it's pretty obvious that even if you're vaccinated, you can still get this thing. this is proof the penguins have eight positive tests in the past four weeks they get tested two or three times a week

at least might be every day right now so yeah you can still get it that is pretty clear I didn't expect the numbers to be this high and this is wild luckily none of the guys have gotten extremely ill Chris Latang and Zach Asherry did have some pretty significant symptoms in fact Chris talked about his

this afternoon with the media he said you know was dealing with some back pain and really bad headaches, stuff like that. So for about five days, he was pretty miserable. Looks good. I would guess he will play against the Flyers tomorrow night. I was watching him in practice. He looked good. So that's encouraging. But, you know, anytime Sit is involved, that's always bigger news. And you have to feel for him. He really worked hard to get back after the research that he had. We were watching him. You know, it's something I've been watching for more than a decade. He just has a way about him the way he works. and the effort that he put in after practice every single day.

It meant a lot to him to be back in the lineup last Saturday against the Devils. And, you know, I was sitting there watching practice. I think I was, like, looking on my phone and drinking my hot chocolate and not really paying that close of attention to the first couple of minutes. I was watching a drill when I said, oh, shit, where's 87? This isn't good. And you kind of knew. And, of course, Dumlin wasn't out there.

And for those who don't know, when we meet with the players, with the media aftermores. The players always talk with us first and then Sullivan speaks last. When you see Sally walk in first, that's a, uh-oh, that's medical stuff. That's not good. So we kind of knew what it was. And I certainly wish those two and also Marcus Pedersen and Chadra Weidel, a speedy recovery. And it's just a bad situation for the penguins right now, Hunter.

They haven't had a bad start to the season. They're three, three, and two, which given the lineups they've had to use, I think is pretty good, but they have not been good the last couple of games, clearly. They're in a division that is just relentless. I mean, this division is so good right now. You just feel like they can't afford like some seven or eight game losing streak right now. That would be a serious, serious problem. And with the lineups that they're fielding right now, frankly, you get worried that could happen.

Yeah, no, absolutely. I agree. You know, you're right. They haven't had a bad star. I mean, I know they've lost five of their first eight games, but two of them, they got the loser point. It stinks that they have dropped three straight in regulation at PPG Payne's arena. That has not happened.

And I want to say a few years, I think at least, because they're one of the best home teams in the league. But you know, you started the season with Gensone and Austin Reese. You know, then you get to Carter. Then Tristan Jari has a false positive. Now you have all four of these players. And then you have the injuries to Rust and Malkinsill. It is just, yeah, I mean, you could not have dialed.

up a worst, worst start, I mean, injury and health-wise, or sickness-wise, to the season with this team. And, you know, people I've been, you know, saying on social media and stuff, like, is this the curse for winning juicy on the Cups? I wouldn't say that. It's just more so bad luck than anything else. And it's just, it's been like this. You know, obviously there's no, not a lot of COVID cases for the team last year, but just even with injuries, it's been like this ever since I can remember. And, you know, some of those lineups that they were putting out there. It was pretty crazy they were getting the results. You know, they crushed Tampa in Tampa, they crushed Toronto at home. They honestly should have beaten the Panthers in Florida if it weren't

for a couple interesting calls towards the end of the game. You know, obviously they've hit a bit of a lull these last three games. Me personally, I think they've just run into three really good goaltenders who just are just getting, they're getting goalied, I think is my big thing. But yeah, man, I just, I feel terrible for, you know, all these players that keep testing positive. And, you know, right as it looks like, Josh, that they're getting healthy. Players start coming back to practice, one comes out. And it's just, it's so frustrating. Even if getting Malcon has started to really ramp up the skating, obviously we'll get back

to that in a little bit. Brian Rust, I think we joined the team at practice today. You know, it's just, it's unfortunate, I think, is my main thing. Yeah, it is. if you put yourself in Mike Sullivan's shoes right now, what's he supposed to do? He's got a different lineup every night. That makes it really hard.

And, you know, I think just from a psychological standpoint, it was really easy to motivate these guys the first couple of weeks. It was like, okay, no Sid, no Gino. Everybody thinks you guys are going to get crushed when you go down to Florida for that first road trip. You know, we're going to show them us against the world. You can do that. for, you know, a short burst, right?

And they did. They got the job done really before Sid came back, but they were not in some terrible spot in the standings when he returned. But now that he's going to be out again, probably going to miss, I'm guessing at least five games. Yeah. That's where you worry if this team gets a little deflated, like, man, what are we going to do?

You can't keep winning with all of your best players out, and they know that, right? Yeah. So I'm curious to see how they come out against the Flyers tomorrow night. It's a rivalry game. You got Philly at home. They should be up for that game. If Latang is back, that certainly will help.

But, you know, you're still without your big two. You're still without rust. You're still pretty depleted on the blue line. This just Crosby alone missing the next few games is a real problem. And if you look at their schedule, you've got two more home games against Philly and Minnesota, which aren't really easy game. Philly's up to a decent start. Minnesota's good.

At that, you've got 12 be your next 16 games on the road. They've got two pretty big Canadian swings coming up, and you're going to have to play, you know, in Edmonton and in Calgary. When is that Western Canada road trip, just curious? It starts at the end of November, November 29th. So it's less than a month away, so Seattle will be at the end of that, too. And then they got out Washington after that trip is the next game, which makes no sense. So you play like Western Canada and then you go to Seattle,

then you go straight to Washington. I'm not sure how that scheduling works. But no, it's a really nasty stretch of schedule coming up. Crosby's going to miss some of those games. So we don't know exactly when he'll be back. If history is any indication, I would think he's going to miss at least 10 days. I think that's probably best case scenario.

And what's this? I think this is November 3rd, whatever it is. So, you know, do the math. He's going to miss five or six games, I would assume. and let's hope he doesn't have any symptoms that linger. So it's danger time for the penguins right now. I know it's early and it sounds silly to say that. Just, you know, eight games into the season.

But look at the division, man. This division is scary. Assuming the islanders will heat up, Carolina's eight, no. The Rangers are pretty good. It's making me eat crow right now, that's for sure. I wasn't that high on New York coming out just because I think their bottom six is just a bunch of sandpaper. But, you know, Panair and Adam Fox is just,

Wow. Yeah, I mean. There's a real talent on that team and they've got a goaltender too. I mean, they look like a playoff team to me. So this division is pretty stacked. They're towards the bottom, but they're not so far out just because everyone is so close. But you're right, Josh. They got to start banking points sooner rather than later.

Obviously, it stinks that there's so many players out. But, you know, if Mike Sullivan's able to get through this, just give him the Jack Adams. I mean, I think that's the big thing right there. God, if the Penguins make the playoffs, seriously, just give it to him. I mean, I don't care what other team has a great season. I really don't care. I think he's already done a wonderful job, quite honestly, with what they did the first two weeks of the season. That had good coaching written all over it.

And he will keep this team focused. That's one of his great strengths. But even Sullivan today, you know, he just projects confidence, right? He's got just that confident strut about him. He's like an alpha male, right? Even today, there was almost a sense where he was just like throwing his arms up in the air. Like, what's going to happen next? I mean, I mean, you could tell.

I asked him at the end of, I asked the last question in the press conference. I said, Mike, I said, is this like a Baltimore Ravens thing last year? We're like they had to shut down their practice facility for a couple weeks. Like, are we to the point where you, you know, you're thinking about canceling practices? And he basically said, I don't know. like maybe. You never hear him say that. And that just tells you that this is uncharted waters for everyone.

And, you know, they're thinking, hey, we're vaccinated. This isn't really going to be a problem this season. And obviously it is. Yeah, I mean, one thing's for sure, though, he's definitely going to cancel most of the morning skates, even though I don't think he's ever been a fan of morning skates even without COVID-19. So I think he's probably going to do away with a lot of those.

And, you know, I wouldn't be surprised if they did start, you know, not practicing on some days. that this can hopefully go away because, you know, as it right now, it doesn't look like it's going away. I know coaches hate that, but, you know, at some point, I mean, yeah, you're right, they don't always do morning skates anyway. I think morning skates are slowly starting to fade away. Thank God. As a member of the media, I certainly hate having to get up for them.

And they're kind of stupid. You know, morning skates exist. It goes back to the 70s. I think it actually started in Russia, but it was just, you know, because guys were out drinking all night and coaches just wanted to make sure they were, you know, up and conscious at 11 o'clock the next morning. That's literally why morning skates exist. Like it kind of antiquated at this point and probably not a very good idea right now.

Yeah. I don't really think that Sullivan's going to do much with them moving forward. You know, also still have a lot more to get to on this episode of Lockdown Penguins, you know, including Brian Russ returning when could his return be coming pretty soon. Just get Josh's thoughts on Gisbury Cappin and a whole lot more. But before we do that, so a couple things. One, I love Thanksgiving, all the good food and treats, and there's plenty of them, but maybe you want a yummy dessert. That means it's the perfect time for Bilt Bars.

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entire suite of features grow your business with Shopify today remember that is Shopify.com slash locked on NHL right now Shopify.com slash locked on NHL all overcase All right welcome back to this episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast.

I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. Remember to follow me on Twitter at Honor Hodees, follow the show's Twitter at L.O. Underscore Penguins. I did forget about this, Josh. I wanted to just ask you about this just for a few minutes before we get into the overall team stuff. Yesterday, the whole situation with the lawsuit against the penguins,

with Dili Garen and Mary Lemieux and Ron Berkel involved. Are you hearing anything with that just in terms of punishment or just I saw the team release their statement? Part of it, you know, I had a full segment on yesterday's episode. touching on it you know i didn't think part of the statement sounded too good just because i think the waiting the waiting seven months part you know you probably could have done without that especially what just happened to the chicago black hawks um do you have like any update on and what's going on with that just wanted to ask you not really i we will have articles on this

situation coming pretty soon at the athletic um you know it's it's a very sensitive situation obviously um yeah i saw the penguin statement yesterday i probably would have worded it a little differently than they did. I also would remind people, it's just a statement that a PR person made. It's not like, you know, the end of the world. I, you know, people are, especially on social media, always love to get worked up about stuff like that, too. Like, you know, I know the people who write the press releases,

they're good people. I don't think any harm was intended. Maybe it could have been worded a little differently for sure. You know, it's not a good situation. I have certainly looked into it. I've talked with a lot of people, but it's just until all the information comes out, it's really hard to say anything. And I certainly think the Scaldives deserve to be heard,

and we will see what comes out. But I also am not going to say that Billy Garren's a terrible human being, and the Penguins are a garbage organization because of it just yet. Like that's like the really easy thing to do right now. We don't know. Let's wait until the evidence comes out. Let's see what happened before we make any judgment. And I mean that on both sides, that that's really all I would say about it.

And, you know, it's just a bad time for the league right now. The way the Black Cox handled everything was disgusting to me. The fact that, I mean, Gary Bettman's press conference the other day. It's a joke. What a horrible look. Like he seems to me like he's literally incapable of identifying with people on a human level. and that that was embarrassing the whole thing was embarrassing

he shouldn't have even talked if that's how it was going to go also Josh I saw he wouldn't even take a question from Rick Westhead who was one of the nine of the first that was awful good for Pierre Lebrun my colleague who actually called out the commissioner so maybe Rick should

get to ask a question how about that good for Pierre and that that was horrendous the way the league has handled it Donald Fair hasn't handled it much better um listen obviously Beach is somebody that deserves so much praise right now.

The courage that it took to do that interview, I can't even imagine what kind of guts it takes to do that. Good for him. He's a heroic figure as far as I am concerned. But the way the league is handled it, the fact that Joel Quinvo was allowed to coach that game the day before he ultimately resigned, just embarrassing.

It doesn't mean he had to be fighting. that night, but it means given a situation. A good PR team should have stepped in and be like, hey, come on. Hey, you're going to sit this one out. Doesn't mean you're being fired. All the evidence will come out. That's fine. But, you know, it's kind of like if you're, you know, charged with murder, well, guess what?

That doesn't mean you're going to jail the rest of your life, but it means you're going to jail tonight until the trial. Like, that's just the way it is. Terrible situation, all the way around, really. The Blackhawks, I mean, everything about the way they've handled. this and I don't just mean the stuff from 10 years ago I mean like the way their team has handled stuff in the last week or two that I got talking about the statement the penguins released and it maybe it could have been worded better well the statement the black hawks released last week should have gotten people fired that that was embarrassing the bar was low for pittsburg to have us

the statement it had to be better than that I mean again it was probably it should have been worded better but it was still better than the other one and again that's not saying right because that one was really bad. And I'm not diminishing the Scaldi's loss of it at all, but it's apples and oranges too. Yeah. It's hard to compare the situations. They're just different. But no, it's been a horrendous look for the NHL the last week.

It really has. It's like they can't help themselves. In a situation like this, when somebody has obviously been harmed and it was on your watch, it's not that hard to show some sympathy and to say the right things and to do. more importantly, do the right things. It shouldn't be that hard. And yet the NHL just continues to put its foot in its mouth and just make itself frankly look like bad people.

And that's tough because, you know, I've dealt with enough players in my life. I promise you most of them are good people. But I don't know that I can say that about the people running the league quite honestly. I'm sorry. They've proven time and time again that it's all about money and power. And they don't always care about people.

and that couldn't have been more evident during the last week. Yeah, and I read your colleagues, Sean Dentilly's article in The Athletic about it. That was great. He nailed it home, I thought, really well. But, yeah, I definitely agree over all the Scaldies. They deserve to be heard. You know, as of right now, you know, I read through a lot of stuff. You know, there's some stuff on the Penguins, you know, not as much, obviously as a Chicago backhawks.

You know, let's see, you know, when all the details come forward, what exactly happened. and then, you know, everyone can, you go, we can make our judgments and all that. You know, I just want to ask for an update from you and see where that was. Keep it right here with Lockdown Penguins just because I'll be reporting on this story. As more details emerge, obviously, because, you know, it is a very, you know, it's a sense of situation. It's a very big story. Yeah. It's a serious thing.

And it's just, it's, we've known about this for quite some time. Yeah. This has been out for around a year, I think. I believe so. So this isn't, like, I remember when Jim Rutherford. resigned, which was in the end of January, I think. It was the end of January.

That was one of the things I asked them that had anything to do with this investigation. So it was out before then even. So yeah, but it's in some ways it's still so early, and we only know so much. So I don't, you know, I'm not going to be one of these people. Trust me, I've had people call me and say,

hey, this is just a cash grab for the Scaldives. Like, that's not appropriate. I don't know if it is or isn't, but it's not appropriate to think that. Maybe it's not. And also, but I'm not going to villainize the penguins just yet either. Let's let's let the details come out and draw our conclusions. I think that's really the only appropriate way you can look at it. Yeah, I completely agree.

You know, not, you know, yeah, not trying to be a home or anything. Let's just, yeah, let's just see what happens, you know. Yeah. And, yeah, well, obviously, you know, the details will come forward when they eventually do. I think they had to move the news conference for it because I think another woman came forward. You know, getting forward to some hockey talk, Josh. Brian Russ practiced today. That's pretty big, I would say.

It's his first time. I believe that he's practiced with the team since the injury. I would assume that means probably within the next week he's going to come back. Yeah, I think so. He's so wearing the no-contact jersey, so I can't imagine he would play against Philly tomorrow night. Even against Minnesota Saturday would seem iffy. Next week, however, yeah, I would expect there's a good chance he could return next week. I think they've at Chicago, Tuesday, home to Florida, Thursday, and at Ottawa, Saturday.

So I would think one of those three games, it would be possible that he returns. And let me tell you something, that can't happen a day too soon for the penguins. I always tell people, never ever underestimate Brian Russ' importance to the penguins. He is really, he's become one of the better two-way players in the game. There's only so many guys who are going to score you 25 to 30 goals, give you top six minutes, and be a great penalty killer and a reasonable power play guy and in a big game clutch legend. I mean, that's what he is. He gives you all of those things.

So whenever he is back, that's a really, really big deal. For the penguins, he looked fine in practice today. I hate to say how long it will be for sure because you never know. But I would think within a week sounds very reasonable. Yeah, and you are right, man, not a moment too soon. Another injured player looks like Josh, Gino has been. ramping up his skating from the videos that I have seen. I know the timeline says December.

I don't know when in December. I know I think your colleague Rob said Christmas. From the videos that I've seen, it looks like he might return before then with how he's skating. His shot looks good. Are you hearing anything new on Gino? The timeline could be maybe early December or something like that? Yeah, December is all we ever really hear.

He looks good. He looks better than I was anticipating. just watching him skate a couple of times, frankly. He looks very comfortable. Gino has always been a quick healer. He's had that reputation, really, all of his career. He tends to come back pretty early from injuries. You will recall, in February of 2011, he tours ACL.

That was the year Malky and Crosby were both out for the season. I have been told by many people that if the Penguins had made it to the conference final that year, he was going to try to play. Of course, they lost to Tampa. in the first round in game seven. So I would have dated close to another month to come back, which would have been coming back from ACL surgery in like four months, which is crazy.

But he was serious about it. Like he really wanted to come back. He was that ahead of schedule with his recovery. So, yeah, I mean, December at some point, like I said, they had that Western Canada trip in early December. I think they played December 6th in Seattle, and then they play December 10th in Washington. I can't think it would be before.

then. But, you know, they got some home games right around the holidays and right before. It wouldn't shock me if he's back at that point. I think it's conceivable. And let's see where they are in the standings when he comes back, you know? If they are within striking distance of a playoff spot, you know, it just means so much to Crosby and Malkin to maintain that playoff streak. I know it does. And I know Penguins fans don't want them to be like, you know, like eight or ten points out of a playoff spot when those guys are both healthy. But if that is the case, it would be great theater watching those two try to put the team on their back and get them back into the playoff race.

It would be something to see. Yeah, and just I think the playoffs overall mean it's just a lot to Gino just because you saw what happened this past year. Dude comes back, plays on one leg and has over a point per game. You know, people always say he doesn't care or anything. That guy cares. Of course he does. Yeah, I always laugh when people say that. He can drive you crazy sometimes,

some of the decision-making. And, you know, it's Gino. But, I mean, not only is he one of the top 100 players in NHL history. I would argue he's, in fact, one of the top, like, 30 or 40 in NHL history, easily, actually, maybe 20. But he's actually that great. But he's also one of the great playoff performers of all time. The guy always brings it in the playoffs. I thought he was their best player against the Islanders last spring, in fact,

on one leg. He was sensational. So, yeah, everything I have heard is that he is very much on schedule for a return at some point in December. I would guess middle of the month right before Christmas in that range.

Don't hold me to that. That's probably not even fair to say that because he knows his body better than we do. But I think in that range, we could see him back and that will be something to see. He will get one heck of an ovation once he plays his first game at PVAG Paine's Arena in a long time.

Moving on just a little bit, Joss before our next commercial break. Gotta bring him up, Caspari Kappan. He was a player. I know you were very high on coming into this season. I was high on him, probably not as high. I had him pencil for around 20 to 25, though I also said to a few people, beware of just his shooting percentage from last year because it was absurdly high than the norm.

I believe that he finished around 16, 17%, usually it's around 11 to 12. But this year, he's just not getting a lot of really good looks. He's still getting chances, but not what you were used to seeing. What would you do if you were Mike Sullivan with this player? Well, Mike Sullivan put him on the fourth line in practice the other day. So I guess that's what he's thinking. I can tell you, I've covered Sullivan long enough to know

Casbury Cap and it gets on Sullivan's nerves, much the way Phil Kessel did. Capitan, I don't think Casperry's a bad guy. He's actually very personable, very likable. His teammates like him. He's a pain in the ass. Like he is.

He's got an attitude problem. And you can see it in games sometimes. There have been a couple of games recently. He just looked lazy to me. He really did. I mean, and I don't say that about players very often. I think it was, oh gosh, I want to say it was the game against Tampa, the home game last week.

He got knocked off the puck on the power play. It was kind of a puck battle. He didn't even try to engage in the battle and just kind of made his way to the bench. And I saw Sullivan just glaring at him and I heard Ron Hextall pounding his fist in the booth behind me. Like they were very aggravated with him. He did have a great training camp. He was the best player on the icing training camp. He looked like a star.

He really did. He'll obviously produce when he's got Malkin to play with. We know those two are good together. But he's allowed to do some things without Malkin. They really need him right now. I just see him shine away from the net area. And he's just very predictable right now. Watch him when he has the puck.

Every time he skates into the zone, the offensive zone, he pulls up at the blue line. Every single time he's just pulling up, looking for the trailer. You're allowed to beat a guy one-on-one. You're allowed to try to go to the net. He just never does it. You can have some of that in your game, but you need some diversity. he's just doing that way too often in my opinion. So I know that's like hockey cliche to say he's got to go to the net or whatever,

but he really does. And I think he needs to play a little harder and get his nose dirty. He's playing too pretty of a game right now. Yeah, you know, he needs to start using his speed to his advantage, I'm pretty sure. He's one of the fastest players on the team. I have seen him come into the zone one-on-one numerous times against either a forward or a defenseman. He just stops. And it's like, Casperry, I know you can burn this guy because,

I know you're probably faster than me and you're really good at the top. And he has a great shot too. So it is kind of weird to see that. You know, a lot of the shot looks like he's getting on the power play that either being one blocked or two way high or way wide of the net, which is just very uncommon for him. And I agree with you. He obviously is going to produce a lot with Gino or Sid. You know, I'd honestly argue until Gino comes back. Just put him with Sid and see what he can do with Jake. I think that would be fine to me. and if you really want to get a player going, put him with arguably the best player on the planet

and just see what he can do. But yeah, you know, it's something that needs to change. He's getting too much money to play like this, I really think. And, you know, I would honestly say the same for Jake Gensel as well. I think he's not himself right now. No, he's not. Yeah, well, so he probably gets to that in the next seven right after this.

But yeah, he's not himself, because Barry's not himself, and there's one other that I'm, It'll come to me once I'm probably talking about BetOnline here. So that's a perfect way to segue into this. They are back and better than ever. They have a new web interface for the start of basketball season. That means more props, odds, and lines than ever before. Beton line remains your number one spot for all the basketball and football action this season.

You can head to the new updated desktop or mobile website to Sam today and receive your 50% off welcome bonus on your first deposit. Just use the permanent code locked on to be. receive your bonus. Bet Online is the fastest and easiest way to bet on all your favorite sports that has been online where the game starts. All right, welcome back to this episode of the Locktime Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. Remember to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, so all this shows Twitter at L.O.Ns score Penguins. The player somehow did not come to mind, so I'm kind of like kicking myself a little bit off that. But now there is a player that looks like he's going to be making his debut on Thursday, Josh. P.O.J. He's

called up from Wilkesbury. Looks like he's going to be playing with John Marino, which is an interesting pairing. It's also going to be funny to see Matheson with Latang. I think that's just going to be total chaos because you're going to have Latang covering up for his defensive inefficiencies on his night on just every ship. That's actually, that's a good point. I'm looking forward to seeing those.

I think Latang is just going to rip his head off when he sees what he sees what he sees what he's going to do in the defensive zone. But Josh, POJ, up for his first game. the season. I know Hextall talked to a couple other people today. I think I saw from the Penn's media and he discussed P.O.J. And he said, I thought he had an okay camp. Didn't wow me, which is why I wanted to send him to Wooksbury. He's had a few games there. Now he's called up. I feel like this is his first big shot at showing the team that I'm here and I'm here to stay. Yeah, no, sure it isn't. P.O., he didn't have a bad camp, but he was pretty bad in a couple of the

exhibition games and some really bad turnovers. I thought it was a fair thing that Hextall said about him. He didn't while anybody. That's fair. This is an opportunity for him. I do believe he is a legitimate NHL defenseman. I think this fan base, for whatever reason, has a really bad tendency to get a little too excited about prospects.

Everybody thought Derek Pooley out was Bobby Orr, as I recall, and Beau Bennett and now Sam Poole and, Everyone wants Sam Pullen on the team. Like, if I got news for him, he's not that good. That's the problem. Joseph's a little different, though. I was quite impressed with him last season, the way he played at the NHL level.

He looked like an NHL player to me. And he's a year older, year wiser now. I think he'll be just fine. He's going to play with Marino, which is interesting. I kind of thought we might see POJ with Latang, given that they played together a lot in the preseason. And maybe you could see Matheson with Marino. is your second pairing.

But whatever. We know that's the top four right now, no matter who plays with whom. So it'll be fun to watch. And you're right, Matheson and Latang together will either be a train wreck or it will be the most beautiful hockey that anybody's ever seen.

It will be nothing in the middle. I have no doubt. So it'll be fun to see. And, you know, Marino, I know the analytics said that he was terrific the first few games. He's also been responsible for a goal against in three straight games. He needs to play better.

He's made some really bad. decisions lately. So let's see how he does with POJ. There's no shortage of talent on that pairing, that's for sure. Yeah, I think the main thing, yeah, Josh Wickmino is playing, I think, too many minutes. I mean, you're not going to replace Chris LaTang. I mean, no one really can, obviously. And, you know, I think some people, you know, thought that Marino was going to be the next,

you know, top pairing bona fide defenseman. I think he's fine just where he is personally. You are right. I think it was the turnovers on the power play, especially against the devils that led to the Jimmy V.C. breakaway. I know Sid was bad on that one. He usually always makes that pass, but Marino can't jump up there and make that pinch. I think that was just a rookie mistake. I also don't think he's really used to playing on the top power play, which I mean, he is.

He's not. And, you know, I like John. I think he's a very good player. I'm not sure that he's ever going to be a number one defenseman. And that's okay. There's no shame in that. If he's a good right-handed second pairing defenseman for the next decade, hey, that's great. there's nothing wrong with that. I think he was so incredible his rookie season that we all kind of thought, oh my God, this kid's a star, and maybe he's not a star,

maybe he's just a solid defenseman, and that's okay. But he's not Latang, that's for sure. And when Chris was back in the lineup, and I suspect he will be tomorrow, it makes everyone's job easier. I am curious, though, to see if Chris is feeling himself. He said the last couple of days his conditioning's,

been a lot better. But he also said for five days, he didn't do anything. And he was really sick. And for a guy who plays 25 to 30 minutes a night, that's a big deal. So I'm curious to see if he looks okay in the third period, if they watch his minutes, maybe he'll only give him 20 tomorrow night just to make sure he's okay. But I would expect that top four to play an awful lot with all due respect to Friedman and Ricola. Those are two guys who haven't played together a whole lot. And I don't think they'll get more than probably around 10 minutes of ice time

if I had to guess. Though the top four, still four pretty good players there. They will rely on them pretty heavily. Yeah, no, absolutely. Speaking of Rekla, it definitely surprised me in that last game that Sullivan played him

and Freeman came out. I did not. I don't think anyone expected that just because Rieckla is always in Sullivan's dog house for whatever reason, but then Josh comes out, makes that awesome play on Danton Hinen's going. It's like,

why is this guy in the press box every night? It's just so funny. But he looks good when he plays. That's the thing. He does. He's got talent. He's got a really good shot too. He's got a heavy shot from the point.

In practice, I always notice that he beats goaltenders clean from 40 feet a lot. And not many players really do that. And he's got a physical edge to him. He throws like old school hip checks. He's an interesting player. The problem with him, people always ask why Sullivan gets ear.

irritated with him. He just has mental lapses on occasion, and they're the kind of mental lapses that drive coach is crazy. That's all. It's Sullivan a little too hard on him, probably. It's not like old number 58 doesn't make the occasional mental lapse, right? He certainly never gets punished for it. Now, granted, he's one of the great defensemen in franchise history, so it's a little different with him. But, yeah, I would love to see Ricola just play for 15 straight games. Not that I want anyone else to be sick or anything, but I would love to see him play to see what's there. Because you can see a physical skill set there that is really legitimate.

I mean, the guy has talent for sure. And Friedman's an interesting player, too. I mean, that's a guy who can really skate who's got a little bit of offensive upside there too. So that's kind of an interesting pairing. But we will see. And I still think the top four is going to play at a time. Yeah, no.

Absolutely. I think, you know, when healthy, they're going to throw Dumilatang and Pedersen-Marino out to the wolves. And speaking of Mark of Peterson, Josh, what a start to the year? He's had, I think he's been, honestly, their best defenseman. If you look at the, not even just the eye test, you know, you look at the underlying numbers. Expected goal, shot attempts, high danger chances. He is doing everything and anything, anything, excuse me, for this team.

And it's just honestly, I think, been a night and day season for him thus far. Obviously, it is a small sample size. But he's been awesome to say the last. Marcus has been lights out good. He really hasn't. You know, he's one of those guys. He's a human being. He heard what everybody was saying all summer.

Like, oh, you got to train him, get that $4 million off of books. He's not that good. I suspect that motivated him a little bit. And it's a small sample size, but I have been quite impressed with how he has played. He's been really good. You're right. And we forget, Marcus is still pretty young. He's like 24, 25.

He's a young guy. He may well still get better And when the penguins, I know this is a big if for when But let's just assume they get healthy at some point this season And when they do You're going to leave Latang and Dummelin together obviously I really think the second pairing should be Marino and Pedersen Just because those guys are good together

Mike Matheson might have you know more upside than Pedersen And I'm not a Matheson hater by any stretch I think he's been pretty good with the penguins But he doesn't look right with Murmonds He never has to me. Whereas Pedersen and Reno play very well together. So to me, you roll with that. You put Matheson on the third pairing with Ruudel probably or Friedman, whatever.

And that's a pretty damn good blue line, really. So, but yeah, you're right. Pedersen has been excellent so far. And it's too bad he has COVID right now. I hope he can get back in the lineup quickly because he was really on to something. Yeah, no, absolutely. You know, to your point with Mathis and Reno, it never has worked, I don't think. It's just because, you know, they're both.

offensively minded, I guess, for the most part. And I don't really think John, excuse me, you know, has the capability, he always has to cover up for Matheson's mistakes. You know, I think John prefers working with someone who can play well in the defensive zone and he can carry the puck up to ice and do his magic in the offensive zone. It's just, you know, you put two players of two similar skill sets together. I just don't think it works. I'm at least in my opinion.

Finally, Josh, you know, before I let you go, goaltending, Tristan Jari, you know, starting to, I guess shut up some people. You know, obviously, I said this many times on my episodes this season. You're not going to write a redemption story through eight games. You're not going to write a redemption story through a whole regular season. Everyone will judge you for what you do in the Stanley Cup playoffs and rightly so. He basically was the reason they lost.

But so far, he saved 2.5 goals above expected. His save percentage, I think, is around 9.29.30 something. Goals against average is pretty decent. He's the work with Andy Kyoto. seems to be paying off this far. Though, can't say the same about Casey DeSmith so far. I think he's definitely not off to a good start, which leads me to believe, you know, I just saw this.

Philip Lindbergh was the A.HL. Goldtender of the month from October and was like 940. So if he continues to play well on DeSmith Walters, I wonder if the organization is like, okay, we're going to call this kid up and give him a few starts. Possible, yeah, he's been great. Boy, Lindbergh was good in camp too. he's young let's give it some time but he might not be a fluke

and that could be an awfully big deal for the penguins hot Jari's been good I won't say he's been great but he's been good and he's got his he's got his head on straight I was curious to see what his mindset would be coming into camp that had to be a hard summer for that kid Mike Sullivan can talk all he wants about ignoring the outside noise well let me tell you if you're a human being and you're aware of what people are saying about you. And so far, he has rebounded nicely.

He has been solid. I like what I've seen from him. You mentioned to Smith, he's given up nine goals in two games, which is bad. Granted, I felt like against Florida, they were getting steamrolled a little bit at times, and that's tough. But if you go back to last season,

there is a troubling trend with him. He was great early in last season. However, his last six games have been, this season and then his first two games this year. So eight games total. He's given up four or more goals than six of those games. He has not played well. And the penguins are in a position right now where they can't be sacrificing points

just because their backup goaltenders playing. Casey to Smith needs to be better. We might not see a lot of him. There's no back-to-backs until the day after Thanksgiving, that Friday and Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend is the first back-to-back set of the season. I think it's because the Islanders Montreal. Also, you know, we don't necessarily, we're not necessarily going to see Casey much until December. But, yeah, I didn't think he had a bad camp at all, but he needs to be better.

Yeah, no, absolutely. Yeah, I just, I've always noticed with him, he keeps just going a bit low too often. Obviously, he's not a big goaltender. He's not built like Justin Jari, but he has not been good as my dog continues to whine in the background for some unknown reason. I guess he probably just has to go out again, but he always does. That was a full noise right there. But Josh, again, man, thank you so much for coming on.

I very much appreciate it. And, you know, I assume you will be at PBG tomorrow. It stinks at the South Street officially ended. But it looks like, you know, when Sid came back, it looked like it was their biggest crowd of the season. So I assume, as you said earlier in the episode, they will be fired up for this one. It's Philly.

Carter Hart is coming to town. I know Penguins fans like to get on him for what happened last season. So it should be a fun one, even though the rivalry is, you know, it's not what it used to be. Yeah, it's still Penguins Flyers, which means it's still a big deal. We have not seen the hostility between these teams over the last few years. Mainly, I think because the Flyers no longer have a Goon Squad, which was always kind of their M.O. forever. I think that's the biggest part of. it but yeah no sid that sucks because sit against the flyers is always great theater

but this is a big game for the penguins no matter who's in the lineup and i think they'll play hard uh they will have five days of rest entering this game it should be a good one yeah no absolutely yeah it was weird how the schedule worked out this week because they don't really have five days off i was so used to a game on tuesdays but um again josh thank you so much i very much appreciate it and i'll definitely try how to have you on soon again in the season. Yeah, Hunter, it's always a pleasure, my friend. Will you be going to the Penguins games in Washington coming up in the next month or two?

So the November 14th game, funny enough, I'm going to Pittsburgh that weekend for the Steelers game. My girlfriend got me tickets. A little Detroit Lion Steelers actually. Yeah, she was like, which one do you want? And I'm like, I guess I'll go with the Steelers because it's a trip to Pittsburgh. So I'm like, okay. And then I'm going to definitely go try to go to the one at the one at the one. the end of the month. I'm going to look for some cheap tickets.

All right. Well, I'll be at the game in D.C. in December, so I hope to see you there. Yeah, absolutely. Always a pleasure, my friend. Yes, absolutely, man. Again, I very much appreciate it. We'll have another episode tomorrow evening as a game recap for the Philadelphia Flyers. And then Friday, there will be another episode as well. So I will talk to you all of them.