Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Mike Lange isn't just Penguins royalty, he's HOCKEY royalty...

Episode Date: August 11, 2021

Today's episode starts with a heartfelt tribute to Mike Lange after he announced his retirement earlier this week. Hunter goes over what made Mike truly special as it was almost as if you could see the game with your eyes closed while he was calling it. He also discusses how Mike was almost everyone's childhood in this fanbase, especially when it comes to so many fans growing up with him in the 90s, plus over a decade later with everyone growing up with Sid and Geno. Where does he rank in a Penguins Mt. Rushmore? How great was he away from the rink? Hunter also discusses those two points before moving to ZAR's new contract. Was it a fair price or a bit of a bargain? Is it likely he walks next season? Who should play next to him and Blueger? Finally, Hunter issues a dire warning to the Penguins fanbase as a Locked On NHL Top 50 players list is about to go out and yes, Geno will somehow not be on there.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.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.StatHeroStatHero, the FIRST Ever Daily Fantasy Sportsbook that gives the PLAYER the ADVANTAGE. Go to StatHero.com/LockedOn for 300% back on your first play. 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. Hey, everyone, 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. underscore Penguins.

It's getting ready to storm pretty badly. been storming all week here in northern Virginia. Today's episode is brought to you by a Rock Auto, amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts of car ever need. Visit Rock Auto.com and tell them locked on since you. So for today's show, basically we're just, you know, obviously we're going to have a big tribute to Mike Lang. I know I didn't do an episode yesterday. I apologize for that. You know, we are back to three a week. As you all know, had the big crossover with Seth on Monday. Thank you all so much for listening to that one. And thank you all so much for listening to the interview with Brock McGinn.

It's been something I've been wanting to do since I was a little kid and talked to a player on the Penguins. But the grind does not stop there. I'm going to be trying to bring on almost every player from this team. I think my long-term goal for this podcast is to bring on a ton of players on the team, whether it's from that season or a few seasons prior to that, and also a lot of former players as well. So I just want to share with you my long-term goals for this.

I want to keep expanding, they're bringing on players that have not gone on podcast before. So that is my goal moving forward with bringing on some new guests outside, of course, of the local media and some other people that I plan to bring on as well. But, you know, getting into today's first topic, you know, obviously in case you are living under a rock, which I don't think a lot of Penguins fans were the last couple days, Mike Lang has decided to step away and retire after being the voice of the Penguins for the last 46 seasons.

When you think of a Mount Rushmore for this franchise, and it can involve players, coaches, radio announcers, other people inside the organization, Mike Lang is on that, and it's not even close. I mean, he was here before the team even got good in the 90s when Mario came around, or the late 80s as well. He was here announcing well before that.

And I think my favorite part about Lang and the way he announced the game, game was that when you were listening to it on the radio it was almost as if you were there like you could I so many times when I would be listening to him you know in the call with my family when I was a little kid I would close my eyes and just picture melon arena right there or you know later obviously PPPG paints arena and just picture what was going on as he's talking about it and I felt like I could be watching the game when I wasn't even seeing a TV or a stream on my laptop or something like that. That was one of the biggest reasons why I loved listening to him.

Obviously, his catchphrases were so incredible, you know, slap me silly, Sidney, you can stick shine your shoes, baby Elvis has just left the building, Michael Michael motorcycle, getting the fast laying grandma the bingo game is ready to roll, et cetera, et cetera. But I think the best thing about Lang when he was calling the game was that it put you as a fan right into PBG Paints arena and just when you close your eyes it was just if you were watching it i really think that was my favorite part of listening to lang and also you know some of the radio personalities that you listen to these days you know they know a bit about the game but you know it's not as much obviously as the color commentator but with lang he knew so much about the sport and it was almost just like

he could picture what was coming before he announced it i think that was also a huge thing with me with Mike Lang throughout his career because he was so knowledgeable about the sport and especially of course about the Pittsburgh Penguins and you could feel that something was coming even before it did due to how great of an announcer he was so I mean this the organization the fan base everyone in the hockey community is going to miss him I will forever say that he is the greatest hockey announcer of all time any team any national team coverage. I love Doc Emmerk as much as anyone and a couple others, but they do not compare

to Mike Lang in the slightest. And he also was just such a great ambassador for the organization when he wasn't calling games as well. Just a great dude off the ice. I mean, I know I never got to met him, excuse me, but seeing the countless stories written about him and how he always gave back to the city and to so many foundations, et cetera. He was just a wonderful human being again. The organization is going to miss him a whole lot. I remember, you know, that the first time I heard Mike Lang's voice, you know, this has obviously going to be a lot more recent than some of the people that listen to this podcast.

You know, 2003, I believe the game was in October, November. I was up on Mount Washington at a restaurant called The Georgetown Inn, which it's not there anymore, but just an amazing restaurant overlooks. the city, of course. I mean, it was just amazing food. But I remember I walked in with all my family. He's calling the game on TV. This was before I think he had moved from TV to radio. And I was just basically starstruck about how he was calling the game. I think I was only six years old at the time. I remember the game though, because Rico Fada scored the game winner. I don't really remember what team it was against though, but I remember hearing the way he was calling the game and just

watching it live. I was hooked right then and a big part of it was due to Mike Lang and it's honestly crazy as well. He has been the voice of this franchise for, you know, so many old fans and so many new fans, you know, just, you know, thinking about it, you know, with the late 80s and the 90s children that came up and watched Mario 2 now with fans like me and a lot of other people my age are a little bit older who grew up with Sidney Crosby in the beginning, Malkin. You know, we all got to hear the same announcer call games on a nightly basis for this team. And again, you know, he basically is everyone's childhood in this fan base with, except anyone that was born in like the 60s and the 70s.

That's a different story. But, you know, obviously the team got very popular in the late 80s and 90s. You know, a lot of people that I follow on Penguins Twitter were just kids during that time. So that's what I'm basically basing this off of because, you know, Mike Lane got to basically be their childhood, but then also be someone like my childhood and a lot of other fans my age, as he was just an incredible person to listen to. And again, a wonderful ambassador for the Penguins organization. It's not going to be the same. I know it's going to be weird starting next season full-time that we're not going to be hearing Lang's voice. Josh Getsoff is returning to take over full-time

for Mike, and it'll be with Phil Bork. But I personally, and I'm sure hopefully a lot of you feel this way as well. I'm so thankful that we got to hear Mike's voice for so many iconic moments in Penguin's history. I remember, you know, towards those last two copiers, you know, especially in 2017, he let it rip a few times. I'm

not even going to imitate it because it's just, it's Mike's thing and he was just so good with the score thing when he let it rip. But, you know, calling five Stanley Cups, calling so many memorable OT winners. I mean, you know, Yager's goal in 99. It basically saved.

the franchise. Darius Casperitis to win it in the early 2000s to send the Penguins to the next round to Chris LaTang's O'T goal in 2009 to Mario Lemieux in 91 with the iconic that the Stanley Cup is coming to Pittsburgh call

on May 25th of 1991. I mean he was, he's been here for everything and again I can't thank him enough for everything that he has done to this organization. Everyone will miss him and they will always be a special place for anyone that has ties to the city of Pittsburgh in their hearts.

Again, everyone, when you're thinking of Mount Rushmore for this franchise, players, coaches, radio announcers, play people in the organization. Mike Lang is on there 100 times out of 100, and I wish him the very best in retirement. So I wanted to dedicate this first segment to him, and I can't wait to see what Josh Getsoff does in filling his role. But, okay, before we do get to the next segment, it's time to talk about. about Rock Auto, why should you choose to spend 30%, 50% or even 100% more for the same parts from the chain store or car dealership?

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I'm your host hondra hodies follow me on Twitter at hunter hodys follow this show's Twitter at l-o or squir penguins so I think I have not

shared my thoughts on a couple other things that happened with the team over the weekend Zach Ashton we signed his deal I know, guys, I'm so far behind right now, but I just, I don't think I did an episode last right, and I apologize for that, and then, of course, I had my crossover with Seth on Monday, so I didn't get to touch on it there.

But I wanted to spend a little bit of time talking about the Austin Reese contract. So one year, $1.8 million, and that's a totally fair deal, in my opinion. I think that's a steal, just to give even more thoughts on that. I mean, he's one of the best defensive players, not only on the team, but in the league. I thought he for sure was going to get potentially over 2 million on this next deal, especially because he had a really good season offensively for Pittsburgh. I think this was his best season offensively yet in the league. So I really thought his agent was going to use that to their advantage.

But he came in at $1.8 million, which is definitely a huge bargain for the team. But I do think this could signal that he's probably going to not come back after next season. And I say that because this is only a one year. deal. I think he's maybe taking this as kind of like, okay, you know, I know I played well last year, but if I play even better this year in my role, play good defensively, potentially do even more offense, he can go out on the open market and really cash out. And I'm not saying he's going to go out there and get $4 million per or something like that. I don't think, you know, you're going to see him get Brandon Teneve or Barclay Goodrow money. But I definitely think he could go

out there and get himself a nice contract, a little over two and a half, potentially $3 million. per. And I think he would probably be close to deserving that. Probably not, you know, in a four to five to six year term, but I think on a two to three year deal, a lot of teams would be foolish to not sign him to that kind of contract, especially with how good he already is as an NHL player. But it's still big that he is back in Pittsburgh for another year. He is the engine that makes that line with him and Teddy Blueber go. I saw a lot of weird takes during this last season that, you know, Brandon Tanniv is the engine that makes that line go. And, you know, if you take him off that line, it's going to stink. But, you know, if you look at the underlying numbers,

it's actually the opposite. If you take Ashton Reese off that line, their number is greater and they're not nearly as good defensively in shutting teams down as they would be without him. And, oh, yeah, this was also in Jesse Marshall's article the other day. That trio with Ashton's Blue Rattanoe, when they were on the ice at 5B5 last year, they didn't allow a single 5E5 goal against. and a lot of that again it has to do with Zach Aston Rees. Just to borrow a little something here from the great Pierre

McGuire who of course, I've never said a bad thing about Pierre McGuire on this podcast before, nope, just not one, you know, there's no analytic equation to show how good that line is defensively okay, I had to throw it in there I know I'm just messing around but the fact that they didn't allow a

single 5E5 goal against with Ashton Reese on there with that trio just goes to show how freaking good he and how he's a pretty irreplaceable player, I think, on this team going into next season. If you take him off there and say he gets hurt for a long time, God, hopefully not. This team suffers for the worst defensively. So I just wanted to throw that out there. Glad that the cap hit came in at a bit lower than I thought,

but definitely a bit upset that it's only a one-year deal because I think he's going to cash in a bit next season. I don't think the penguins are going to have room to pay him, to be honest with you all. Because remember, everyone, Let's hang in again. Any Malkin's contracts are up after this season. They're going to take up a huge chunk of the cap space whenever they get those signed. They still have to figure out what they want to do with Brian Rust. That's another interesting wrinkle right there.

Do they want to extend him or do they want to let him walk and see what he can get on the open market? I personally would bring him back, but there's a hard number. I have talked about this on the podcast before. There's a hard number of maybe five to five and a half million that I would not go over. I think if he won $6 million per or even $5.75, you walk away from that. I mean, obviously they're going to have a little bit of money freed up with Caputin and probably walking. I don't think they're going to have the room to keep him. I think there's a couple other players that are up next season as well.

I think Jeff Carter is up next year as well, but his contract is not even worth discussing because he makes like $2.6 million. So it's not even that big of a deal. But they're going to be hard pressed to keep him, I think, next season. And this could go the way of what happened with Cody Cici, where Ron Hextall said multiple times that he wanted to bring back C.C., but at that term and at that cap hit, it just didn't make any sense. You all saw what happened with the Edmonton Oilers giving him just way too much of both. So I think he may see that with Hextall wanting to keep Ashton Reeks next season,

but due to their cap restrictions, they wouldn't want to get out a lot of term and a big A.A.V. Even though I don't think Aston Reese would get a big AV, next season. If I were them, I try two years times three. See if that gets it done. If not, you know, if he's declining that, I think you just let him walk and try to replace him the best you can, at least in my opinion. Now, as regards to TANiv's spot, I really think they are going to try McGinn there to start the season. And I think that would be a pretty good role for him, just because, you know, obviously, you know, Tannab was great defensively, but, you know, if you look at, you know, the isolated individual impact at 5B5.

McGinn outpaced him last year, and he's a better player offensively than TANF. So, you know, you kind of get an upgrade on TANF in both facets for that line, which I think that line desperately needs because, I mean, obviously, you want them to be really good defensively. You know, you want them to keep doing what they're doing, and Mike Sullivan can send them out against anyone he wants to, you know, like he did in the playoff series against the top line of the Islanders, or maybe even the perfection line in Boston, or the top of line in Washington, but this really is going to be, I think, a much better line offensively this

coming season than it was this past season. I think you really will see Aspen Reese be better offensively. And, you know, again, this was his best season in terms of scoring goals with nine of his 15 points in those 45 games being goals. This is also in terms of counting his second highest career point total outside of 2019 when he had eight goals and 17 points in 43 games. If he can get back, if he can maybe score 11 to 12 to 13 goals next season, and Brock McGinn can come onto that line, scroll around that clip or maybe even around 15 goals, and then Teddy Bluger gets close to 10, this line is going to be so much better than what it was with TANF there. And again, I understand what TANF did and how he was just basically a

folk hero in this city, but I really don't think the team is going to feel his presence lost as much as some people are making it out to be, at least in my opinion. Overall, I really like this, Ashton re-signing. I think he has even more to give next year for the team. I'll say that. But still have a little more to get to for today's episode of Locked-on Penguins. Before we do get to that, though, we do have to talk about everyone's favorite bar, which, of course, is Billed Bar, which has many, many delicious flavors.

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I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. remember to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes follow the show's Twitter at L.O.W.N.Square Penguins. So this topic I was not expecting to talk about on today's show. But soon, very, very soon, everyone, you're going to start to see the top 50 players and the NHL rolled out by the Locked-on NHL podcast. You know, I think the higher-ups of the NHL channel,

basically the manager of the channel and a couple other people made the list. And now all the hosts get to go, vote on it and rank the top 50 players in the league. I think the first video that's going to come out is the snubs, then it's 50 to 41, then 40 to 31, and then, you know, et cetera, et cetera. I will say this right now. You all are not going to like that a certain player is left off of it.

I am not happy myself. That is of Guany Malkin. You will not be on the top 50 list. I pleaded and pleaded with the people in the upper management to reconsider this because it's just looking really stupid and kind of looking like how bad it was with Malkin being off the top of 100 initial players of all time it just wasn't meant to be because they

see it as him struggling this year and not knowing what to expect going into this year though there's going to be some players on there I'm not going to name names there's going to be players on there that you will see that are not even close to the skill of Evgeny Malkin I will say that but I'm just you know I think I'm just sick and tired at this point of Evgeny Malkin being very underappreciated

not just by people in the Penguins fan base, but just by people overall when it comes to the sport. And he's had this ever since he came into the league too. I mean, the fact of the matter is, this is a top five player of this generation. He was the best player in the world for a couple of seasons, especially the year he won the heart. Just a year ago when Jack Johnson was playing so many minutes with him,

he had 74 points in 55 games. But now that he had one kind of so-so year, even though he was heating up before he blew out, his knee almost with a torn MCL, and I think potentially a torn PCL, he's not a top 50 player league-wide. I just, I think that's silly. You know, I understand that there are definitely some players who have passed him by. I mean, don't get me wrong.

You know, I don't know if he's a top 10 player in the league anymore, but he's definitely top 30 at the very least top 15, top 20 players still, I think, in the game of hockey right now, in my opinion. It's just, it's kind of silly that we keep having this. conversation with this player. But again, I didn't make the list. I think it's stupid that he's not on there. But I still will be submitting mine.

And then there's going to be a snub section where I'm going to be putting a of Gunny Malkin in there. Honestly, in that section, I might just put my revised list and then include of Gunny Malkin and then move down the rest of the players that I would have below him. Because trust me, I absolutely think that it's BS that he won't be on that list. And a lot of times I like to usually laugh at this stuff. You know, when National Network does their top 10 goalies thing or their top 10 defensemen, it's usually so far out of here. It's just you're looking for reactions.

But this one, I kind of took a little personal offense to you because we've seen this time and time again through of Gunny Malkins' career with him not getting the respect that he deserves. And I'm kind of sick of it. So, you know, again, I pleaded and pleaded to get him on that list. You know, I explained my reasoning. And I'm sure a lot of Penguins' hands would have the same reasoning. You know, at the end of the day, it's just a poll. all know how good he is with his three Stanley Cups and having over 1100 points as a player and probably many, many more to come and, you know, all those heart trophies and the Yard Ross and

the consmite that he has from 2009. Again, he's one of the five best players of this generation. Probably a top 20 to 30 player of all time, in my opinion. So, you know, at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter that much, but I did want to warn you all when this comes out. I will be retweeting it onto my Twitter accounts and I figured this would be good to have as segment because I wanted to defend Afghani Malkin over some people who I think, to put it nicely, have not watched a lot of Evgeny Malkin, either for his career or in the last couple of years, because if they had, they would see that this player is still at least a top 20 to 30 player league-wide.

I think that's it when it comes to this podcast. Oh, I did want to say my thoughts and prayers are with Tony Esposito's family during this very difficult time, rest in peace to him, one of the greatest goaltenders of all times. And remember, you know, he was a GM in Pittsburgh for a very shorn stint, which mercifully was not very long because he was doing such a terrible job. And then Craig Patrick came in there and really knew what he was doing. But, you know, to get back to my original point, you know, rest in peace to him. One of the greatest to ever do it. And will always be a hockey legend.

So rest in peace to Tony Esposito. And again, my thoughts and prayers are with Tony's family and friends during this time. But I think that will do it for this episode of the Locktime England's podcast. I'll have another one of these coming sometime on Friday. Again, thank you all so much for listening to my interview with Brock McGinn. I will say this, that this is not the end of having players on this podcast. It is only the beginning. My goal is to have as many players from this team,

whether it's the current team or former teams as I can, because it's been a dream of mine ever since I was a little kid to talk to, so many players I used to play or current play for this organization. Want to leave you all at that. Again, thank you all so much for listening to this episode, and we'll do another one of these on Friday.