Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Part 1 of 2021 in review for your Pittsburgh Penguins!

Episode Date: December 31, 2021

2021 is almost over and that means it's a time for a year in review! First though, Hunter does a full game preview for Sunday's contest against the San Jose Sharks. How have they looked this season? Is this a team that needs to start rebuilding? Are some of their older players turning back the clock a bit? After that, Hunter starts the year in review with team awards! Who gets the Hart Trophy? What about most improved? Who gets the Selke or the Norris? Hunter also gets into a few of the top overall moments in this year before saving some for Friday's episode.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. 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. Hello, happy Thursday. Welcome to this, the second to last episode of 2021 for the Locked on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hote. He's going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes.

You can also follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins. Have a special episode for you all today. So first of a two-parter, just a year-in review for the Penguins. Today we're going to go into some year awards. Look at how the team did overall some of the best moments. And then for Fridays, so we're going to go into the best games, some of the moments from those games, and just all about jazz.

Today, we're also going to have a preview for the San Jose Sharks. That's actually going to be coming up here in the next couple of minutes. And then we're going to get into our starting our year-in review series for the Penguins as the next time it will be playing. will be January 2nd against the same as a sharks. So getting into it with a full sharks preview, you know, this is a team, you know, they're middling. And that's not a place that, you know,

I as a fan of a team or, you know, you as a fan of a team would want, you know, just your team to be. You know, I think a great example that is the Steelers in a way, just because this year they really weren't contending, even though they were kind of selling it off as such. and they've just been a middling team all year. And I think in my eye, you're either rebuilding or you're contending. You're stuck in neutral.

You're really not going to go anywhere. And I think that's been the sharks for the last three to four years. They got to the final against the penguins. They lost in six games. Those are great series. Martin Jones probably should have ended in five because the penguins just flat out dominated the sharks in game five. He was the only reason why they won.

Benino. I still remember that play. Second period. Penguins are down 3-2 and Jones just makes this ridiculous pad save. It was unreal. And then he just kept making save after save. And then the 2017, they played well, didn't win.

And then, you know, they had that huge comeback against Vegas. They were down three games to one in the series. They go down, what is it, three goals in game seven, roar all the way back. They get close again. And, you know, now they've missed the playoffs the last couple years. And a lot of that is just because their roster is a lot older. I know Joe Thorne's not there anymore.

Patrick Marlowe is gone. But, I mean, they still have good players, but it's just, again, they're on the opposite side of the Gertura is getting older. Brent Burns does not have a lot left in the tank. Eric Carlson is not near the level that we saw from him in Ottawa in 2017. When he was playing the Penguins with, I think that was a fractured foot. If I recall correctly, he was probably a top five player in the game since then. So he has been anything but that.

You know, it looked like a bad trade at the time for the senators just because they were trading in while he was still in his peak years. But he just fell off a cliff right after that. I know he's had a bit of a renaissance this season, starting to play a little close to the level that we saw from him in 2017. But still, it's just not enough to cover up what he's been, you know, the last few seasons. And, you know, this is what you get. There are expected goals for 5.5 or 49.2% this season. their actual goals for 47.4%. They're shot attempts for C.

They only have 46.6% of those. Their goal differential is minus 6. I mean, their expected goals for is, it's not bad. I mean, as I just said, but you know, you still want to be, you know, a little over 50%. I mean, I should say there are goals for per 62.16, goals against per 62.3.9. So they just had a lot of trouble scoring this year. their depth is not that good. I mean, I know Shark's fans are definitely glad that they do not have Martin Jones anymore

because he stunk up a joint for them last year. I believe he was bottom five and goals saved above expected for them. Goes to Philadelphia has had a bit of a better year. But still, you know, this is, they needed better goaltending. And they've got it so far. I'm going to their left wing lock actually as we speak just so I can, you know, see this, you know, James Reimer. You know, he's played fine this year.

He's always been a pretty decent starter in this league. You know, he was at least average for the Maple Leafs after all those years. I'm actually going to find what his goals saved above expected is this year. I mean, he actually is one of the leaders, 7.4 goals he had above expected. His safe percentage on unblocked shots, 963. His overall safe percentage is 928, 2.33 goals against average. He has been one of the main reasons why the sharks are right around 500 this year. The only goalies that are above him in goals he above expecting, you know, Demko, Soros,

Carver Hart, Markstrom, Barovsky, Helobok, Shasturkin, Tristanjari, Jonathan Quick, Anderson, Vasilevsky, and Jack Campbell. So he's actually been one of the best goaltenders in the league this season. It's just, you know, the team around him is kind of mad. You know, Kutur is on the first line with Tim O'Mire, who's had a really good year, leads the team in points. Hurdle is on the second line with a couple of players that I do not really know who they are. That's just, excuse me, that just goes to show how little I follow the sharks as much.

But, you know, it's just, it's weird seeing players you don't recognize on a team like that just because they've had so many great players over the years. Old friend Nick Benino were returning back to Pittsburgh with Matt Nietto, Andrew Coagliano. That's actually a decent third line. Benino, I think, has been pretty decent. for them this season, if I recall correctly, he was really good down in Nashville a season or two ago and actually produced him the regular season. Unlike, excuse me, what he did when he was with Pittsburgh in 2016, it was only after that, you know, he absolutely lit everyone up in the

playoffs. So a bit of a different story there. Excuse me. And my apologies, only five goals and five points and 31 games this season. So definitely not been. at the level we've been accustomed to. So again, my apologies on that. Minnesota last season had 10 goals, 26 points, and 55 games. Before that, though, in Nashville had three really good seasons. You know, 25 points in 71 games, 35 points in the next two years with 17 and 18 goal seasons. That's what you want in a third line center.

And the penguins were trying like heck to replace him right after he left to go to Nashville. I wanted Pittsburgh to bring him back. But at the end of the day, there was just no. no cap. I mean, Rutherford was really, you know, hamstrung by, you know, how many contracts he had. It doesn't help that they decided to sign Jack Johnson during that offseason and just be completely stupid. So at the end of the day, it stunk, but, you know, they did get the replacement in Jeff Carter all those years later. But, you know, wasting all those assets to try to replace him was definitely not the greatest, I should say. Again, you know, defensively, Burns is on the top pairing.

Carlson's on the second pairing and Mark Edward Vlasic is still on the sharks but he is on a third pairing role that contract continues to look worse and worse by the day if I remember correctly I think it was an eight year seven to eight million per contract that was signed only a few years ago that again that's probably one of the worst contracts in the league right now if I were Doug if I were the sharks what I would do since they're around 500 right now and they're not really going to contend this season, they should just sell some of the remaining pieces. I mean, hurdle, his contract is up. I said out on my last episode, I would love if the penguins could get hit.

I mean, that would be a slam dunk acquisition. The only problem is, do the penguins have the assets to get him? Probably not. I mean, you'd have to probably do a first round pick. P.O. Joseph, a top-tier roster player, and probably more, I would say. I think he's probably going to go somewhere else out east if he gets traded. But I don't think it's going to be the penguins. Timo Meyer.

He's really good. Do the sharks want to get him up, though? Not sure. I think Logan could sure if they wanted to, they could trade him. But, I mean, he's the face of that franchise right now. I really don't think that's going to happen. And then Burns and Carlson, I don't really think you're going to go anywhere. But, you know, some of those depth pieces, you know, like a Nick Mino, like a Matt Nietto,

like an Andrew Cogliano, you know, and some of these other defense in that they have. They could probably get a decent package for some of those players. But I still don't see the sharks trading some of their big ticket guys. But it's just they're a weird team this season. You know, they played better than what I expected them to, but it's still not good enough where they're going to make the playoffs at the end of the season. I know the Pacific Division is really weak. But this is still a team that even though the penguins are banged up with injuries

and they have a lot of positive COVID tests, I still think this is a game that the penguin should be able to win on Sunday. And thank God this team does play in a few days because it has been a long two weeks waiting for this team to play. You know, just the NHL seems to be, or some of the teams up in Canada are just everywhere. They seem to be making stuff up as they go along just with this. And there's really no consistency. But, you know, that's a topic for another day. Coming up in the next segment, we're going to start our part one of two parts with a year in review for the Penguins.

You can get into a whole bunch of stuff, you know, who won the Penguins version of the Heart, the Selki, all that good stuff. But before we do that, if you or someone you care about has a beard, it needs to get primal. Maybe you're that guy who has never considered the benefits of treating your beer with product. Primal origin oils will stop the edge and make your beard look healthy and groomed. The products are free from pompal synthetic ingredients and with low impact on our planet. Primal origin oils make bombs, oils, and whipped butter that are renowned as the best feel in beer products available. All products are fair trade certified and handcrafted in the United States. The combo kits also make a great holiday gift, and if you're shopping for yourself, you will be glad you did.

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All right, welcome back to this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hoadies. You're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can also follow the show's Twitter at L0 underscore Penguins. So a year in review for the Penguins overall team stat, they played 86 regular season games for the calendar year, 54 and 24 and 8 record. That's a 671 points percentage. That ranks eighth in the NHL.

I am done with these Discord notifications. And if I hear another Slack notification as well, there is going to be a serious problem. So apologies on that. So again, 6.7.71 points percentage, eighth, eighth in the NHL. if we're doing a heart trophy, it's tough. You know, my finalist would be Chris LaTang, Jake Gensel, and Cindy Crosby. And my winner for that would be Jake Gensel. It was going to be Sid, because he was starting to turn it on a lot this season.

But Jake just had that ridiculous start to the season. And, you know, he was well on his right to potentially challenging the Rocket at Rashad Raysan. He still could if he comes back this Sunday. He played 80 regular season games for the Penguins this year. Thirty-eight goals, 46 assists. That, you know, his goals and points led the team. And, you know, remember, he started this year, you know, he started, you know, just, you know, the 2020 season season, you know, with that shoulder injury. He was coming off that injury on May of 2020. Then, you know, comes back for a full regular season. You know, the shortened one plays his tail off this year, plays his tail off before he breaks it a little bit of his knuckle in the playoffs and then comes back and just goes on a tear during this regular

season. I know he didn't play his best hockey in the playoffs. I saw the takes that people thought they should trade him, you know, message boards and social media and sports radio and all that. I just tend to ignore that because I don't think they really understand what goes into scoring in the playoffs and just how hard that can be. I mean, for God's sake, Sidney Crosby and if Gennie Malkin struggled scoring in the playoffs or a few years in a row, which was one of the reasons why the penguins ended up losing. Did they need traded at the time? No.

But, you know, I would give the team MVP to Jake. He was magnificent this season. And when he comes back, hopefully this Sunday, I think you're going to see someone who's going to continue to, you know, lead the team in goals and just, you know, potentially make a push for that rocket. Norris Trophy, Crystal Tang, it's not even close. top 10 in game score this season for all defensemen. He's playing lights out hockey in both the offensive and the defensive zones. There's no better defenseman on this team than Tanger. He needs to be re-signed.

I have the saying I'm sure a lot of you are getting sick of it by now. The older he gets, the younger he gets at the same time, just because he plays so many minutes, just like he did when he was younger, and nothing seems to phase him. He may not have the foot speed that he used to have. but he's still contributing a lot to this team. And he's, what a career he has had. And he was just magnificent for the team this season.

So he would get my Norris Trophy award. Other trophies, Selke, Sidney Crosby, not really close. I don't think there. Astronerese would be a finalist for me. And I think Teddy Blugher would be the other one. But, you know, Sid is one of the best two-way forces in the entire NHL. was second on the team in points this season with 80. He's been much better defensively.

Just go back to game three on Long Island against the Islanders when it was a 5-4 game at the time just because Brandon Tannab just scored to get the game winner, the eventual game winner. But Brock Nelson has a chance right on the doorstep. Tristan Jari out of position. Sid puts his stick in there to flex it out of play. If he doesn't do that, we're looking at it. a 5-5 game going to overtime, and I'm not sure the Penguins win that, considering how bad their

overtime luck has been in the playoffs these last couple of years. I remember when Mike Sullivan first took that job and the overtime market was terrible. Then he turned it around a lot, right? And then the last couple of years, I think they've lost almost every overtime. The fact that I can't even remember the last time they won an overtime game is nothing short of awful, I think, at this point. They didn't win one in 2021. They didn't win one against Montreal. They didn't win one against downers in 2019. 2018, I don't think, I don't think they won one there.

The last time I'm pretty positive they won an overtime game in the playoffs was 2017. That is how bad it has been for the penguins in the playoffs for overtime. But, you know, again, overall, Sid, he gets the Selkie Award. and it's not really close, at least in my eye. And he had so many highlights throughout this year, you know, just taking the stick right off the bench in April, scoring five seconds later. Again, that defensive play,

so many other ridiculous plays that we're just used to seeing from Sid at this point. So overall, he gets the Selke in my eye. Vesner Trophy for the Penguins. See, coming into this year, I was going to go Casey to Smith. and I was still prepared to do that through the first three months. Well, I shouldn't say that. I was still prepared to do that as this season started.

But, I mean, you got to go with Tristan Jari. I know he stunk in the playoffs. But what he's been able to do these last three months is nothing short of sensational. And he was also decently consistent in January and February and March of this year when he was giving the Penguins some not great goaltending, but I would say good goal tending overall. It's not nearly as good as what he's doing right now when he's top five in goals,

same both expected, but he was still pretty good to Smith. He was a very reliable backup up until May, but he's been really bad this season. So I would have to give the edge to Jari in that regard. Art Ross, Jake Gensel gets that, 84 points. Most goals for the Rocket, Jake also gets that as well as congratulations to him.

I'm not really going to do a Ted Lindsay because, the players that have to vote on that. And I'm not a player. So I really can't do that. Jack Adams for all the coaching staff, Mike Sullivan. I mean, that's just a slam dunk right there. What he's been able to do at this team for both the 2021 and the 20, both the 2020-slash-2020 season and the 2021-122 season is nothing short of remarkable.

With how many injuries they had the last season, this year the same thing. And with two COVID breakouts, they've won seven in a row coming into this game on Sunday against San Jose. If he's not up for the Jack Adams Award at the end of the year, assuming this team makes the playoffs, and I think they will, I mean, I really don't know what the heck we're doing here. Top three coach in the league.

And I hope that he is here for a really long time. Let's just say that. Trying to be some of the other awards here. I mean, I really can't do GM of the year. I mean, I guess overall, between Ron Hextall and Jim Rutherford, I'm going Ron just because the Jeff Carter deal, Evan Rod Rieges,

Danton Hinen, the Brock McGinn signing, all of that. So definitely we'll give Ron the edge there. Let's see. I'm going to make one up here. The most underrated player of the year award. Man, this is actually tough. All right.

Teddy Bluger. One of the best penalty killers, not just on the team, but in the league as a whole. and just a great bottom six player in both the offensive and the defensive zones. As one of the team's leaders in goals this season, finally got another short-handed goal a couple weeks ago just before the league went on their little holiday break and then, of course,

with all the post moments for the Penguins, he's been awesome. I can see why they did protect him in the expansion draft. I know it wasn't popular by some people just because of what overall happened with McCann and Tanneth, but in my view, I still think they made the right call to protect him. He's a very vital piece to this team. And, you know, when he's out of the lineup, you can definitely feel it. You know, and it's, you can't say that about a lot of bottom six players. Usually just like, yeah, you know, you can plug them and go, right?

But with someone like Bluger, you can feel his impact on a nightly basis. I think, you know, it's just for this award that I made up overall, for the most underrated player, I will have to go with Teddy Bliger. So those are my thoughts on that. Still have a little more to get to, though, for this episode of the Locked-Arm Penguins podcast. But before we do that, Ben-in-Lan has you covered this holiday season with more props, odds, and lines than ever before. As football continues its march through the college bowls and the pro-football playoffs,

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All right, welcome back to this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hoadies. You're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, follow the show's Twitter at L-O-RenSquare Penguins. There was a funny award that I did see in this Pensburg article

just the other day. Someone did an award for biggest vibe and they put Kisbury Kappin in there. I would actually have to agree with that even though that he has really struggled this season, just because he always has the funniest outfits. You know, remember his post-game or his postseason media conference after the Penguins got eliminated by the Islanders.

The dude shows up wearing a purple shirt. I think it has like Nike across the middle of it, beach hat and aviator awesome sunglasses. It's just like, you know, that is the perfect vibe right there, Kathy. So that was that one that one I thought was pretty funny Best overall game We're going to get into more of these tomorrow But best overall game

See this is tough because the PINNs did play Quite a few games this season I really liked the one They played against the Islanders After the playoff series Where they were just shutting them down The entire game Not really letting anything

gets in them. But I think the best one overall was their win against Washington this season. Not the one they lost in D.C., but the one they won because that was a clinic. The Penguins were not really giving up anything to the capitals that entire game. I know Washington had a couple goals in the third period. Those do just a couple weird breakdowns. But overall, Pittsburgh was blocking off the shooting lanes, not letting them get to the high danger areas. They were getting a lot of really nice depth scoring. the defenseman were really jumping into play, which reminds me, I think the player that's made the biggest leap this year,

and it's based off mainly these last few months, is John Marino. I think you're really starting to see a lot more offense from him, especially when he jumps into the play more. His defense play has gotten a lot better as this year as a whole has gone on, and a lot of that does have to do with playing with his usual partner in Marcus Peterson. So I'll add that to a yearly award as well.

Going back to the game against Washington, though you know there are special teams, again were great. Tristanjari was flawless. Sid played a good game. Dentenheim had a goal. Brock McGinn had a goal. And it was just, you know, Pittsburgh's feed has always given the capitals fifths, especially for these last couple of years. And I think that's the main reason why I would take the Penguins in a playoff series over them. It's just because they're faster than them, and they also know how to play against a team like Washington. So I would say that's probably their best game as a whole of the year. I think game, two against the Islanders was also really good.

That was a defensive clinic. They got a couple orally goals, but then, you know, they were able to play that shutdown defensive hockey that we haven't seen too often since the 2016 and 2017 playoff runs. Again, the game against the Islanders this season where they won, what was it, won nothing, two nothing up on Long Island. That was a defensive clinic as well. And, you know, the game against Vancouver as well,

I think that's the one that's really turned their season around just because, you know, they needed those power play goals. and they got them and then some. So I would say those are my top Penguins games from this year. I'm going to have more on those tomorrow to make a little bit more of a list. But I'll do it for this episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. One more episode to close out this week before we hit 2022. Remember the Penguins are back in action.

This Sunday, I will have a full game recap on Monday with the Lockdown Sharks fellows. So look for that then. Remember one more episode coming for you all on Friday. It's going to be a fun one, part two of our year in review for the Penguins. So thank you all so much for listening to this one, and I will talk to you all on the other side.