Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Opening up the Penguins mailbag part 2!

Episode Date: August 28, 2023

Happy Monday! Hunter and Pat are back with part 2 of the show's mailbag edition, and they have some great questions to answer! They first start out by discussing the goaltending and how Alex Nedeljkovic could be primed for a rebound this year. They look at how he played with the Carolina Hurricanes and discuss how he'll be going to a better defensive system than the one he was a part of while with the Red Wings. They also discuss whether Tristan Jarry will have a bounce-back season in 2023 before moving on to a few questions about the defense. They analyze PO Joseph and whether he can turn into a top-four defenseman for this year while also analyzing Ryan Graves and if he can be a true top-pairing guy for Kris Letang. Finally, they end the show by looking at whether the Penguins can beat the Hurricanes or the Devils in a seven-game series while also taking a couple of fun questions.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Right now, NEW customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get TWO HUNDRED in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED.  Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time for part two of the mailbag. We have some really good questions that we're going to answer today, and it's all coming up 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, and welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.

I am one of your hosts, Hunter Hodes. That is Patrick Damp, my co-host. You can follow me on Twitter. at Hunter Hohadis. You can follow Patrick on Twitter at Sinem for Wett. And you can follow these shows, Twitter, at L.O. underscore Penguins, of course. Thank you all so much for making this your first lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms.

So we had some great questions that we answered for you all on Friday. We now we're on to Part 2. We have some really good ones today as well. Starting off with one from Greg McCann, 12, from Twitter. He asks, Alex Adelkevich should get plenty of chances in gold this year with dubesis acquisitions, any thoughts on this guy returning to his Carolina form?

This guy could be a difference maker, question mark. And honestly, I wouldn't put it past Indelkevich to get back to his Carolina form. I think playing in Detroit with how much of a mess they were defensively this past season, how just much of a mess they were overall, I think, didn't really help him. Matt much you look at his numbers during the 2021-2020 season, played in 59 overall games. 20 wins, but 3.31 goals against average, 9-01, say percentage. This past year only played in 15 games, continue to struggle 8.95% of 3.53 goals against average.

Those past two seasons, easily his two worst of his career, but you go back to 2020, 2020, 21, 23 games, 15 wins, 1.90 goals against average, 932, say percentage. I don't think he's going to be at 932 as a backup to Trish and Jari. I think that's a little high, but I think he can definitely be at, you know, 10, 912, 914 range. Just average numbers for a backup. He can be playing behind a better defensive system in Pittsburgh than he was in Detroit. It's not going to be as good as Carolina.

I mean, that's the blueprint right there for God to your defensive systems. And I think just a change of scenery for him really benefit him. So I think in terms of a backup in net, yes, he was bad these last couple of years, but I think he's better than those numbers, and I think he will see that this year. So yeah, I do think he can be a better backup in case he's. to Smith, it's all about whether he produces better behind a better system and just, no, change the scenery, I think is also huge for him and confidence, obviously. Confidence is so big for a goaltender. Agreed. And this comes with a big caveat, too. A difference maker to

me is a little bit of a stretch because you sign a guy to a deal like that. You're not expecting him to be the starter. You're not expecting him to take Tristan Jari's job, nor should he. But I do think if you get him, like you said, 910, 915 range from your backup, that's big. And as long as he's not going to have to do what Casey DeSmith has done the last two years, which is essentially be a spot starter. And that's going to be our next question. Spoiler alert. But I do think this is a good bet on Dubus's part because we kind of went into this a couple episodes ago about how Dubus kind of has this spotty history.

when it comes to goaltending. He takes a lot of risks. He takes a lot of chances. He goes for guys who are reclamation projects or he's hoping they bounce back. With a guy like Nadelcovic, there's much more of a sample size that he can be an effective backup. He's playing every eight, nine games, ten games, taking some of the load away from Tristan Jari. I think he has a good chance to be a solid backup. And I also think there's an underrated point here.

Well, I don't think Nadelcovic is a starter. I don't think he's going to end up being the penguin starter. Tristan Jari reminds me a lot of Matt Murray before him and Mark Andre Fleury before him. He's at his best when there's somebody behind him that could theoretically take his job. You look at some of Flurry's best years and the couple of years Murray was really good. He had somebody behind him, whether it would have been Flurry, whether it would have been Jari, whomever, there was a world where those guys could take their jobs. And competition always brings out the best in people.

We're about 10-ish days away from Steelers season. So to quote the great Mike Tomlin, iron sharpens iron. So if you got a guy behind Tristan Jari, should Jari be healthy, that could theoretically take his job, that's just going to make him better because he's going to have to be at his best all year long. And I think having a guy like Nadelcovic behind him will help that. And especially someone who has started in the past for multiple teams, especially when he had his good sample size with the Carolina Hurricanes.

He was there, I believe it was with Auntie Ranta during the same season, if I recall correctly, one of those goals. The hurricanes cycle through goalies like it's nothing. So sometimes it's hard to keep track a little bit. But he had some pretty good competition there, and he still performed well. And if he can carry a little bit of just those numbers, not as good, obviously, but over to Pittsburgh, I think you're right, that can really push Tristan Jari.

And he may not even start just the back-to-back games, Pat. Like normally when Casey DeSmith was the backup, he would get the back-to-mat games, sometimes a little bit more, obviously way more when Jari got hurt. But when he was healthy, especially during the 2021-2020 season, before he got hurt,

the Under's league broke his foot. It wasn't super often that he would get starts. And when he would get starts, he would crush the team, which was why so many people wanted them to get a backup at the trade deadline. But then he kind of saved his, season when the new year came around because he actually started to perform a little bit better.

With Delkevich, I think he could, in theory, get more games than just the back-to-backs because, again, the times are gone where your starter is playing, what, 63, 65 games a year? It's just too much. I mean, heck, I think the best case for the Penguins this year for Tristan is him playing, what, 55, 56, even when fully healthy. I mean, if you can have Adelkevich play, you know, 20, 22 games, something like that, I think you're in good shape. And if he gives you at least average goal-tending, that could be, you know,

one of the better tundams in the league, especially if both are able to say healthy. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. So there's that, again, really hopeful on Adelkevich, just want him to get his confidence back and just not play as bad as he did in Detroit. Moving on to our next question. This comes from Pensburg News. Do you believe Tristan Jari will have a bounce back here?

Okay. I knew this was coming. It's hard to answer this because what exactly is a bounceback? Is it back to his form in 2021, 2021, when he was about top 10 in goals, so he above expected, then yes, I do think he can have a year like that. He's shown me he can do that. When he is healthy, he was about 921 that year. I think he can play at that level.

Now, if you're asking for anything more than that, 925, 930, I think you're probably setting yourself up for failure. But I do think he can have a year, similar to 2021, 2021, before he got hurt, where he was one of the 10 to 11, 12 best goaltenders in the league. And that will work for the Penguins. We always have said, give this team average goaltending, and they can go places. I think if he stays healthy, he can give them more than average goaltending. And I do think he will do that this year.

He's not going to be one of those top five to seven best goals in the league. I think that's some wishful thinking. but he's going to be in that range, eight to 12 for best goalies in the league. He'll give you maybe a goals against average of, I don't know, 2.3, 2.4, something like that with a 9, 20% percentage,

and top 10 to 12 and goals stayed above expected. I would say that's a balance back here, and I think he can do it. We're in a world now where, like we said, or you said in the last question, where your starting goalie isn't playing 65 plus games anymore. That's just not the reality of the national hockey league. But for Tristan Jari to have a bounce back, and I wrote about this last season with him, the bounce back has to be health.

He has to stay healthy. And I personally don't like labeling players as quote unquote injury prone because a lot of that just comes down to luck. I mean, my ultimate example for health is a guy like Alex Ovechkin. In his early years, there was no reason for him to be as healthy as he was. he played a style of hockey that was conducive to being hurt and he just didn't and that's luck of the draw sometimes you get hit in a way that looks like you're going to be absolutely destroyed and out for a while and you bounce back and then sometimes it goes the opposite way you get hit and you're out for three weeks so if he can just get back to a 915 920ish form in 50 55 games that's all we need him to be that's all he needs to be for the pittsburgh penguins and similar to what i was saying about Nadelcovic. There is a sample size there where he has done that. And again, when healthy, he is one of the better goalies in the national hockey league. He just needs to stay healthy. And take out the end of last season just because last season was

genuinely terrible all the way top to bottom except for maybe the top six forwards. So if he can be a 915, 920-ish goalie league average, that's all we're asking for him. and that's all you need from them. And the penguins will make the playoffs if they get that kind of goaltending. I mean, that's not a debate in my opinion. No, not at all. Yeah, hopefully that he bounces back. Hopeful about Nadelcovic.

That wraps up this first. But coming up in the second segment, we're going to answer a couple more of your questions, including about P.O. Joseph heading into the season because I do think this is going to be a big year for him. But before we get to that, get ready for the NFL season with incredible offers from Fandul, America's number one sports book, right? now, new customers can bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets guaranteed. Plus, all customers who bet $5 will get $100 off NFL Sunday ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV.

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I am your host, Honour Hodes, joined with my co-host Patrick Dam. So, Pat, moving on to another one of the questions, and as IT is coming into this segment, this is about POJ. This comes from Chance from Penguins Twitter, who asks, will P.O. Joseph involve and do a consistent top four defensemen this season. That's a tough question because I don't know if he's going to have. have the ice time available to him to develop into that. But if he shows what he can do in a bottom pairing role, which that's what he was last year. He was a bottom pairing defenseman.

He got about 10 to 12, 13 minutes a night. If he can show, you know, improvement in the defensive zone for this season, add even some more offense to his game, I definitely think he can take that next step and be a top four defenseman in the NHL. My only concern is playing time. You have the top four is set. You've got Graves, Crystal Tang, you got Eric Carlson, Marcus Pedersen. The only way he's really going to play in the top four, Joseph, that is, is if someone, God forbid, gets hurt.

And hopefully it's none of those four because they're both really, all four are really important to the team this year. So that's how I see it. Again, if he can work on his defensive zone coverage, especially on some odd man rushes because I think he really struggled in that department this past year, and even some more offense to his game, I think he can definitely develop into a top four defensemen for this team. I want our listeners to think of a name in their head.

And that name is Justin Schultz. Because this is the role I think P.O. Joseph can play. He's not going to get top four minutes simply because of the roster construction. He is not one of their four best defensemen no matter what. Chris Littang, Eric Carlson, Graves, and Marcus Pedersen. Those are your top four. no matter which way you cut it. What he needs to do is to do what Justin Schultz did in those heydays when they won the back-to-back Stanley Cops.

And that is provide the value of a top four defenseman while playing on the bottom pairing. Anytime he's out there, he needs to be good defensively. Doesn't have to be great. It just has to be good. Offensively does not need to produce like a Chris Latangor and Eric Carlson, but he needs to chip in a few goals here and there. A couple assists here and there. needs to get 25, 30-ish points this season. Because that's part of the reason you went out and got Eric Carlson

is to not just improve your blue line. That's the obvious one. You want to get one of the best defensemen, probably the best defenseman on the market at the time. But so you can push some of that talent down. So you can make it so you think of those cup winning teams in 16 and 17. They came at you in waves. It didn't matter.

there was very few, if any, weaknesses on those rosters. What they did was it didn't matter who you matched up against. You were going to have somebody who was a threat. So if P.O. Joseph can be an effective bottom pairing defenseman that occasionally chips in offensively, that's all they need to ask for him. And should he develop the way he should and has developed over the past couple of years, say if you lose a Marcus Patterson or Chris LaTang starts to go into a regression, same with there at Carlson. He's a guy who can fill in on those pairings or eventually become a staple on them.

So for him, the next step of his development is to become an effective bottom pairing defenseman that contributes offensively and can fill in when need be. Right. And it's funny, we have seen him fill in at times in the top four. Heck, just a few seasons ago when he came up for the first time, he played with Chris LaTang on the top pairing. A couple of games, I believe, against the Rangers when it was like that weird season where you had, you know, home, not the home and home, I should say, but like you play the series of games like you do in baseball. He came up and actually looked relatively good next to Crystal Tang. Now, I don't want him next to Crystal Tang for a full season because of the players in the top floor right now,

but say he needs to play up there for a few games this season. If he shows that he can do it, I think the Penguins will feel even better about him overall. And just thinking about him on the bottom pairing just for right now. Who do you think he's going to play with? Because right now, the favorite to me is Chad Roodle. He's fine. I know people are a bit scarred by what happened this past season. And don't get me wrong.

I thought he left a lot to be desired, took some really bad penalties late in games towards the late ages of the season, wasn't as good defensively as normal. He's not going to bring you any offense. He's kind of a defensive first player. But I still think he's the favorite to play with POJ. You could also look at Mark Friedman. I know Mike Sullivan really likes him. There's also Ty Smith I've seen throwing out there,

but I don't really know if a third pairing of Smith and POJ would be all that good just because I think Smith is a little more raw right now compared to POJ. I think it's just more of a risk, in my opinion. So of the options, who do you think is the favorite to play with him heading into the year? Yeah, I mean, I think it by default has to go to Chad Rue Riedel. I do think Mark Friedman isn't a bad option. I think the energy he brings, the physicality he brings can help, especially with some of the matchups you would get as a bottom pair.

It's always good if you can lay the body on a top two, one of the other team's top two lines and wear them down. But I also think people have a little bit of inflated expectation for Chad Ruehiel, which is unfair. He's very much a sixth or seventh defenseman. He's at his best when you don't notice him. so if you're not talking about him, then he's doing his job. So I think out of the gate, it is Chad Ruido.

I would like to see Friedman and Smith get some time with the big club just to see what they can do. Because we kind of talked about it last week with certain players, especially in Alex Neelander, where it's make a break time, in my opinion, for Ty Smith. It's time for him to show that he can make a consistent impact at the NHL level. and if he can beat out both Ruehiel and Friedman and have a good camp in preseason like he did last year, I mean, by all means, give it a chance. I mean, if it doesn't work after the first few games,

you can always reassess. Still, I think it's at least a decent risk, in my opinion. It's a little more raw, I think, again, at this point than POJ. And we've talked about this too. You have two absolutely elite minute eaters on your top two pairings in Latang and Carlson. So the third pairing isn't going to see a ton of time. So even if you do go with Ty Smith, you're going to have a chance to shelter them and put them in advantageous situations. So you don't have to worry about ruling them out there for 20 minutes a night.

Yeah, I mean, you can put them out there against some third liners, some fourth liners if you want to really, I guess, get their feet wet together if that's the way to say it. So, I mean, I guess that would make sense. I guess I'm just worried about Smith's defensive impact just because I know that's not the best part of his game. he's an offensive defenseman by default. But we'll have to see how that battle goes in camp. Next question on our list comes from Darren from Penguin's Twitter, who asks, what is your take on Ryan Graves slotting into a guaranteed top four spot when the results are a little bit mixed when he plays minutes, loads equal to that role?

His partner will be good regardless, but I'm not so sure it will be seamless. Well, they gave him the contract that shows that he's going to play in the top four, no matter what, especially when healthy. But I think with him, they really like. him defensively, but I also think they love him in transition. He can really move the puck from the defensive zone into the offensive zone. I also think he's a very shot happy defenseman when they first signed him on July 1. I was on the show with Zachary Smith from around the floor, one, two, shout out to him. He's awesome. And we were discussing that signing. And we were looking

at how shot happy he is from the point. If you look at his film, he has a canon of a slap shot. And I think they really like that. They like the way he can move the puck up the ice defensively, whether it's with Carlson, whether it's with Latang, he can cover for them. I don't think that's the best part of his game, per se, but he's still good enough that he can help cover when needed.

In my opinion, I think he's better suited for a second pairing role. I don't think he's really shown anything numbers-wise or I-test-wise to be a top- pairing defenseman. but I think they may give him a try there just because he was the Brian Dumlin replacement. I still think it'll be good. He's a better version of Duneland at this point in his career. And he's going to show why he's worthy of that contract when he steps out on the ice in October. What are your overall?

Yeah, I get the concern and it makes sense. There's definitely some data there to back up that when his minutes increase, he's not as effective. but I also think he's going to be with one of two, like the question, like Darren said, one or two very elite defensemen. So that's going to make up for some deficiencies. Everything that you said, though, we're talking about a slightly better Brian Dumlin in his prime.

A little bit of a better first pass, a little bit better in transition, better foot speed. And to me, adding that shot, like you said, will be valuable for just the general offensive. of attack because if you're an opposing defense or opposing team when say Latang and Dumlin were on the ice, you could cheat a little bit to Chris Latang because you knew that's where

the shot was going to come from. You knew that's where the offense was going to come from. It wasn't going to come from Brian Duble. Now, this isn't to say that Graves is suddenly going to become a big time scorer, but just the fact that he is more willing to take a shot to put the puck on net from the point adds a threat to that whichever pairing he's he's on whether it be Carlson or Latang so it gives them another element on that blue line that is going to give them an advantage so as long as he's still making a good first pass and being good in that transition game from defense to offense he's going to be fine because by all other accounts very good positionally great stick positioning so so long as he's not giving up any big

chances are taking huge risks, which is not part of his game. I think even with the increased ice, he's going to live up to expectation. He's also a great skater. When you go back and watch the film with whatever team he's been on, his skating jumps out at you right away. And I know, I know Brian Duman was, he was the defensive guy on that pairing with Latang. Graves can be that guy, but he can actually provide you offense. He's not going to score one goal over an 82 game season like Duman.

Hey, shout out to Dumo. He was awesome as a member of the person. Penguins, the poor guy just could never score. But hey, they didn't really ask him to score because they had Let's Hang on that pairing. But Graves, if you want him to score or also be a playmaker, he can do that too. So that will wrap up this second segment. Coming up to end the show, Pat and I are going to discuss a question regarding where the Penguins can beat two of the best teams in the Metropolitan Division in a seven-team series that's coming up right after this. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.

I am Hunter Hodes. that is Patrick Dam. So the next question comes from Jake, who asks, as the team right now is set up, how confident are you in them playing the Devils or the Hurricanes in a seven-game series? Okay. I'm going to say something here that may be a hot take.

I'm more confident in them beating the Hurricanes in a seven-game series than I am the Devils. I don't think that's that hot of a take with how the Devils are just overall, with how fast they are, with how skilled they are, how deep they are. It's such a bad matchup for the penguins. And I do think they match up better against the hurricanes who,

they're pretty deep as well, great defensively, but they don't have a lot of those game breakers that the devils do, or as many game breakers, as I should say. Spatiof's awesome. Spatianahu is awesome. They're not Jack Hughes, though. Let's be real here. Those two players are not Jack Hughes.

They're also, I don't think, Nikohisha, I think he's one of the best two-way centers in the game today. Defensive, again, they're very good. Goaltending. If they get average goal-tending, they can be a force. But I think overall, you know the Penguins did not beat either of those two teams last year. They match up better against the hurricanes than the Devils. So I'm going to couch my answer a little bit because there has been a pretty solid retooling of the Penguins this offseason.

So we don't really know what this team is going to look like. This is one of those rare off seasons where we know who's here, the long timers, the core, but we don't know what the rest of the roster is going to bring just yet. It's very much an open question. Here's what I will say, though. The big X factor for me and this folds into the whole episode is goaltending. The X factor to me is goaltending. Because when Tristan Jari's on, he's very good.

And then I look at Carolina and I look at New Jersey and it's like, okay, Carolina has Freddie Anderson and anti-Ranta. Good, not great. Can they hold up against a penguin's attack should it happen? I have questions. Then I look at the devils. Vita Check, Vanichekek, and Akira Shmede. Can those two guys shut the penguins down in net? Now, I do think the penguins are going to have trouble with the devils.

That's a fast, young, hungry, talented team. God, it feels weird saying that about the New Jersey Devils. Right. But that is a really, really. If there were ever a masterclass in bringing together a young, talented team and getting them all under contract with a rising salary cap, all the credit in the world of Fitzgerald for putting that team together because they're young, they're locked up,

and they're going to be good for a long time. So I think I'm with you, the better of the matchups for them on paper right now is Carolina. But I do think both those teams Achilles heel is goaltending. If Tristan Jari can steal you a game or two in that series, and by steal, I mean just only give up one or two and the penguins can go out and get three or four, that's the big question to me. I do think we've seen it, and I've talked about it on this show. The Penguins franchise throughout its history since they've had Mario Lemieux, they have made Vesna goleys look human. You look through a lot of playoff runs that they've had, whether they ended with Cups or not,

they have made some Vesna caliber goalies look very average. So you go up against the Devils team or a Carolina team that doesn't really have that. That's a check in the Penguins column. So I do think the depth is, again, going to be a question for the penguins. I think both these teams have better depth than the penguins. But again, this offseason who they got, maybe they don't. Maybe those guys show up and they give this team an extra push. So I'm with you.

Carolina is the better matchup. I'd have more confidence playing against them than I would in New Jersey. But like I said, big question for me for those two teams this season is goal-tending. My biggest worry with Carolina, even though I think they're the better matcher for the penguins, it's just how great defensively they are. They clog the high danger areas. They force you outside. Penguins, when they get a high danger chance in that series,

it's going to be very few and far between. They will have to make sure they pounce on it and put the puck in the back of the net because they will not get many of those against a Rod Brindamore coached team. That is how he coaches them. It's a little bit boring. Yes, it's maybe like a mini version of the Barry Trots Islanders from a few years ago, but it's still effective. And they do a great job of keeping the opposition to the outside,

forcing you to take shots that you probably don't want to take. So that's my biggest worry, to be honest, about the hurricanes. And the other thing with the hurricanes for me, looking at them really more than anything, I look at their top six depth. And yeah, there's a Svetnikov injury that might be a problem. But at the same time, I look at their top six, and I'm just not as impressed as I am with the Penguins' top six.

Like Michael Bunting right now is kind of slotted in to be one of their top wingers. And I like them. I thought he had a good year in Toronto, but he's not playing with the same level of talent in Carolina that he was in Toronto. So I look at that roster. And while I think on the whole, they're a deeper team because there's more consistency line to line, less of a drop off, there isn't as much high end top of the roster talent for Carolina. So again, that's to me the better matchup.

And then you look at the devils and it's just it's a murderer's row, man. I mean, Timo Meyer, Jasper Brought, Jack Hughes, Andre Palat. That's a damn good team. Nico he's sharing there too who's fantastic. I mean, got Ducky Hamilton there who's also great. I mean, Schmeet was also showed something against the Rangers especially. I think there's a chance he could be the starter this year. And if he's good, it's only going to make things harder for the penguins to win a series against them.

For sure. And they're going to very much do what is the trend of the NHL this year and that they're going to be goalie by committee. Vita, Vita Check, Vanichekek, and Akira Schmidt aren't going to be 65 game players. it's going to be 40, 42, 41 per player or per goalie. So if both of them can have league average numbers and start half the season each, like you're eventually going to want to pick one for the postseason and ride with it, because that still is a thing. That's still a thing.

You want to have a bona fide starter in the playoffs. But to get you there, to put you in an advantageous position going into the playoffs, having one A and one B is only going to make you better. I agree, wholeheartedly. So that should be interesting to watch. Just a series against those two teams, I think it would be fun, but it would also obviously be heart-wrenching for every fan watching. Get your blood pressure ratings, find out if you need meds,

chill out however you chill out, because a series against either of those two teams is going to drive you insane. Like the Steelers in this town, where every game they play takes 10 years off your life. I think every playoff game between the penguins and devils or hurricanes would take 10 years off your life. So if you are a fan of both teams, like, you know, we both are. God's feed.

And, you know, at the same time, though, man, like all the stress of playoff hockey, dude, would not trade it for the world. It's the most fun thing on the planet. 100% agree. I cannot stress that enough. But I think that will do it for this episode. Ugly Locked on Penguins podcast.

Unless we want to answer a couple fun ones to end the show, Pat. Like, for example, your favorite hot dog sandwich toppings from Josh Banks. I just go with ketchup. That's the only thing I do. So ketchup and mustard. Maybe some onions, maybe some cheese, depending on where I'm getting it from. But yeah, ketchup mustard. Simple, dude.

Catch up only for me. And then best wedding reception menu I've ever experienced. that's a great question. I went to a wedding earlier this year. They had some great steak with some mashed potatoes and I believe it was another vegetable, I think it was what it was. I'm trying to remember what it was. That was probably the best one.

I've been to a bunch of my other cousin's weddings and their food wasn't really that much to write home about. This one year for my best friend, Samantha, they had like on real food. But I guess if you want to say appetizers-wise, it was my cousin Lee's wedding when they have like a lobster mac and cheese as an app and they had some like god tier chicken tender.

The main course was terrible though. But the apps were good. Main course though this year for Samantha, they had these amazing mashed potatoes and steak. I'll take that any day. I got to give a shout out to my cousin Cameron, who I know listens to the show. His wedding,

him and his wife had just an absolutely unreal wedding. It was at the Cleveland Museum of Art. So like it was like I joked like because, you know, we all grew up the same. I was like, man, you guys threw a private school wedding for a bunch of state school kids. And like I remember like the, I think it was I got a steak potatoes and veggies. And like whoever they got to do the food for that, it like I was sitting there like it was a smaller portion.

But I was just like, man, if they would have filled my plate with this, I would have cleaned it. And dancing would have been off the table because I would have just been sitting there like, oh, it was so good. you're getting me hungry just thinking about that but i'm telling you like that the wedding that we went to earlier sure is back in june is actually right after the penguins hired kyle dubus because i was doing all that content i'm like okay you need a break you go to that wedding and that food was awesome but that again that would do it for this episode of the locked on penguins podcast if we did not get to your question we apologize there were so many that you all send in thank you all so much for sending in those questions and if you did not have your question answered send in another one

when we do another map bag, we'll be sure to answer it for that one, rest assured. But again, thank you all so much for listening to watch. We'll be back with another episode on Wednesday. That will be my final episode for about nine days, and then Pat will be taken over on Friday for a few episodes, and he has some fun things planned solo for two to three episodes of where I come back for my final vacation of the summer. But again, thank you so much for tuning in.

We'll be back on Wednesday.