Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is going international again!

Episode Date: June 17, 2025

The NHL and IIHF announced the first six players for the countries headed to the 2026 Winter Olympics, and Sidney Crosby will once again represent Team Canada. Hunter and Patrick begin the Tuesday edition of Locked On Penguins, talking about how it's no surprise that Crosby was one of the first six players named and how this might be his final Olympic Games as a player. Then, they look at the rest of the first six rosters and how this can be one of the best Olympic hockey tournaments of all time. Finally, they preview Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final and react to the Penguins re-signing Joona Koppanen to a one-year deal.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.Wonderful PistachiosGet snackin' and get crackin' with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more! FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new FanDuel customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins!FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable 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) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Once again, Sydney Crosby has been called to Team Canada for the Olympic Games, and Pat and I are going to discuss that 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'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, joined by my host, Patrick Dam. you can follow him on all social media platforms at Sindenverwet.

Remember, you can also follow the shows, Twitter at L.O. Understore Penguins, and you can find us on Instagram now at Lockdown, underscore Penguins, of course. Thank you all so much for making this your first listen slash watch of the day. We are free and available on our platforms. And Pat, before we get to the meat of today's episode, we did have to correct ourselves from something on Monday because we had a case of the Mondays when we were discussing something regarding

Isaac Howard. We got the year completely wrong when it came. to his deadline to sign. It's August 15th, 2026, not 2025, though. Most of my point still stands. And that is Tampa Bay, they're still going to want to get this done sooner rather than later. Instead of having two months to move him, they have 14 months. But still, the closer you get to that date in 2026, the less leverage you're going to have. So I still think they're going to want to get this done sooner rather than later. But we didn't want to correct ourselves. We apologize on that. totally our fault. You can flame us for that in the comments and all that.

But we usually, we don't like any stuff like that wrong on the show. So we 100% apologize on that. But getting to now the meat of today's episode, Pat, we got the first six names for each Olympic country for men's hockey on Monday. And that was a great way to start my day. I am so excited for Olympic hockey to return. This will be the first time that NHL players are back at the Olympics since 2014. I can't even believe that's a real sentence just because.

it's been so long. The last time NHL players played at the Olympics, I was a sophomore in high school and only 16 years old. I was going to turn 17 that year, but I was literally only 16. I am now almost 30 people. It's been crazy how long it's been since NHL players have been allowed to play at the Olympics. And speaking of that, congratulations to Sydney Crosby. We all knew he was going to be one of the first six named. He's going to be the captain of Team Canada at the 2026 Olympics. he joins Connor McDavid, Kail McCar, Nathan McKinnon, Sam Reinhart, and Braden Point as the first six names for Team Canada.

And I'm stoked for him. Obviously, he's very upset by the way this summer went. He usually does not lose while wearing the Team Canada sweater. They lost at the World Championships before having a chance to win gold this year. But Sid, he's a two-time Olympic gold medals. He won at 2010 and 2014. He's won the World Cup of hockey.

obviously just won the four nations. He has succeeded basically every time he has worn the team Canada sweater outside of this year, of course, but he's really going to want to go out with a bang because you look at it, Pat, he's going to be 38 for the Olympics here. This is probably the last time he's going to be wearing that sweater at the Olympics. So that means this is going to be a bit bittersweet for him, but we knew he was going to be named as one of the first six players. so congratulations to him. No surprise at all that he's among the first six for Team Canada. It's a no-brainer.

Like you said, he is going to be capped in Canada once again. And this is probably his swan song. I won't rule out completely 2030, depending upon where he is as a player. But it would be a very, I would imagine in 2030, a very reduced role. He would probably be in the bottom six. He would probably be an alternate captain.

after giving way to Connor McDavid as the next captain, Canada. But this really is kind of, I would imagine, Sidney Crosby's last hurrah at the Olympics. He's coming up to the end of his career. He's done everything that you can possibly do in the sport of hockey. And let's be real here. He's still got game left. This isn't like this is a ceremonial Olympic invite for him.

He was one of the better players at the Four Nations. He had a very good year this year. And with him as a team Canada member, whether alternate captain or captain, they have been extremely successful under Sidney Crosby. And I know at the beginning of it, it was still Canada's world, in hockey at least. It was Canada and then everybody else. The thing is, over the past 15 years, the rest of the world is starting to catch up. We talk about Team USA getting really good and Team USA really starting to assert themselves as a true superpower when it comes to hockey.

A lot of European countries have continued to develop. A lot of Eastern Bloc teams have continued to develop his talent. So along with him still being one of the best players in the game, he's also continued Canada's dominance on the international stage as other teams and nations continue to develop. So as much as it is a Swan song, it's much deserved. Oh, 100%. I mean, he's one of 26 players to be in the Triple Gold Club. Of course, he's won the World Junior Championship in 2005.

He's won a World Championship in 2015. We were close pat to getting him to join the Double Triple Gold Club, but we'll have to see if that maybe changes next year if he plays in the World Championships. But I remember going back to the Four Nations, there was real concern that he was maybe not even going to be able to play because he had just suffered that nasty looking injury just days before the Four Nations face off was going to begin. And he goes there, he practices. He still looks a little bit iffy, but he goes up there and plays.

You can tell he's banged up. But he still goes out there and shows why he is still one of the best players in the world, despite being pretty banged up. You can tell while watching a lot of those games. He was not even close to 100%, but it goes to show how much it means to where, that team Canada sweater. He absolutely loves it. And it's going to be great seeing him captain that squad at least one more time. Again, we'll have to see for the World Championships next year. Maybe for the Olympics in 2030, though, I think he might not be captain at that point. I think it might

be Connor McDavid's time to be the captain at that time. But we'll have to see. But at least for this time, he is going to captain team Canada once again. And that roster is going to be absolutely stacked once again. I mean, they're going to go in as the favorite, even though they're going to have shaky goaltending. We'll have more on the other rosters coming up in the second segment. But you just look at the first six players that were named Pat. Team Canada once again, very much the favorite, at least right now.

For sure. And to kind of build off of your point about Sidney Crosby at the Four Nations, this is kind of something that I've always said about Sidney Crosby, and I know it's not the hottest take. I know it's not the most unique take. is that he just has the clutch gene. He has the ability to fight against whatever forces are against him to be one of the best players on the ice because he was pretty banged up,

like you said, going into four nations. And it was apparent, especially in the preliminaries, that he wasn't 100%, but he still made an impact as a playmaker. And then in the final, he was one of the best players on the ice. And he just has that as a player. is that when the games get bigger, so does he. And I'm not going to sit here and rattle off a list of players who don't, but you know what I'm talking about.

Like there are players who, when the spotlight starts to shine a little bit brighter, a little bit hotter, they shy away from it. Sidney Crosby runs to that. He always has. And that's part of the reason that, one, he is part of Canada's first six. It's why he's more than likely going to be the captain once again. And it's why Canada has continued to be one of the best hockey nations on the planet because that has an effect on the rest of the roster.

This guy has done everything you can do in hockey, gold medals, Stanley Cups, MVP's, random international championships. You name it, he's done it. and he still works his ass off. It's what Colby Armstrong always said about Sidney Crosby. Sydney Crosby works like there's a league better than the NHL that he's trying to make, as if it's not the top league in the world. And he's already one of the best players,

but he works like he is a day away from getting cut. It's so funny you bring that up because I was listening to 32 thoughts after the Four Nations face off ended. And there was all this talk about how excited so many players were to get the chance to play with Sidney Crosby on the international stage for the first time, just because we hadn't had Best on Best Hockey for so long. And they were loving it. Like they got to see how he was as a leader.

They got to see what he was doing in the locker room to really get the team ready. They got to see how he conducted himself on the ice. They got to be teammates with him. And a lot of those players that hadn't played with him on the international stage before, they fed off that and they're going to get the chance to do that once again at the Olympics in February. Also the schedule for team Canada for Cindy Crosby. Canada will play the Czech Republic on February 12th. The 13th, they will play Switzerland and then the 15th they will play France.

So those are the first three games of the Olympics coming up next February. Again, I cannot wait. This is going to be awesome. But that will do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, Pat and I are going to discuss the other six players that were named to a lot of other countries on Monday, including Team USA, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, all that good stuff. Stay tuned for that coming up here in the second segment. Before we get to that, though, we have to tell you all about our first sponsor, and that is

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They are always my go-to. And if you love cracking open every shell for that satisfying crunch, the in-shell options are a classic favorite. Get snacking and get cracking with a snack that packs a protein punch. Visit wonderful pistachios.com to learn more. All right, we're back here in this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-host Pat Damp and Pat. I am super stoked for Olympic hockey to return just because we are going to be seeing a lot of players

that really have not had the chance to represent their countries on the Olympic stage. We do have to start, though, of course, with Team USA. We'll be rooting for them just because that is our home country. Austin Matthews, of course, will be there. Pat, he won't be on Team Canada, as I joked four years ago on this podcast. probably the dumbest thing I have ever said on this show and I accidentally said that Austin Matthews would play for Team Canada. If you want to go find that, please go do.

You can roast me for it. Probably the dumbest thing I've ever said on this pod. But Austin Matthews will be there. So will Brady Kachuk. So will Matthew Kichuk. Charlie McEvoy was also named Jack Eichol. And of course, Quinn Hughes. He wasn't there at the Four Nations because he was hurt.

But I'm really stoked for him to be at the Olympics in 2026. USA will play Latvia on February 12th. They'll then play Denmark on February 14th, and on the 15th, they will play Germany. Leon Drysaddle will be there for Germany. Tim Stozzler will be there. Mo Sider, I'm really stoked to see Leon Drysadol play for Team Germany, by the way. It's going to be great seeing how he does for his home country. But for Team USA, most of the roster picks itself, but they still need to work around the edges a little bit.

You don't need to bring players like Chris Kreider, Brock Nelson, and, Vince Trocheck back. I think you can learn from those lessons of the Four Nations, and you can bring in players that are better, like Tage Thompson, just scored a golden goal for Team USA at the World Championships. There's no reason why he should not be on this team come February. I think Cole Cofield makes a lot of sense,

and I also think Jason Robertson makes a ton of sense as well. I think those are the three players that should be replacing those three players that I just named. And also, maybe Jake Sanderson gets some more minutes for Team USA. I was maybe a bit surprised at that they didn't include Connor Hellebuck, just because he won A, the Vezna and B the Hart Trophy, but I guess they wanted to go with both Kachuk brothers for this one. But still, Team USA also one of the top favorites.

This is going to be the best Olympic USA team, I think, of my lifetime, that's for sure. They're going to be really good. There's no two ways about it. There is a lot of American talent in the NHL that's going to be available to the U.S. Olympic program. This is also going to be a big Olympic. for Team USA because it has been 16, it'll be 16 years since they've even meddled at an Olympics. They have not won a medal since 2010 when they lost to Canada in the gold medal game getting silver.

That's how long it's been since Team USA has even been on the podium at the Olympics for hockey. So there is a lot of expectation for this group. As for the goalies, I mean, I think we're pretty well set that it's going to be Jake Ottinger and Connor Helleb. I don't think we need to make that announcement right now. Like you said, this is a team USA that a lot of the roster has already been picked and picked itself because of how good some of these players are. And let's be completely real here. The first six is part of a very smart marketing strategy between the I-IHF and the NHL.

It's to continue to build hype and build excitement for the Olympics. and the way you do that is you slowly leak out who's going to be on your team rather than what they used to do, which I don't know if a lot of people remember this from both 2010 and 2014. They just announced the rosters at the Winter Classic. They just had guys come out and say, this is who's on the team. And then in two months, or a month and a half or however short the time period was, these guys will be playing at the Olympics.

So go have fun. And that was not a good way to build excitement for it. So it's a good lesson learned by the I, I, IHF and the NHL to get people excited for this. Here's the question that I want to ask you because this is a Penguins podcast. Do you think Brian Rust has a chance to make Team USA? I think he has an outside shot, but I think that the United States at this point has a little too much talent for him right now. Maybe you can argue as an extra.

I don't want to sound like, you know, I'm being biased against him or anything like that. but just with the way that the U.S. has really developed talent these last several years, I think there's just some better players than him right now. Don't keep it wrong. I'd love to see Brian Russ there. He has had a fantastic career. But I think when you look at some of the players that were left off of Team USA from the Four Nations, again, like a Tage Thompson, Cole Cawfield, Jason Robertson,

I think those three names make more sense to replace the other three names that I mentioned. I'd rather have Brian Russ over someone like a Kreider, Trochecker Nelson, but I think when you look at the three names I just named, they're better players at this point. So I hear you, but I will say, Pat, if Eric Carlson and Ricard Raquel are both still penguins at the start of the season, you will see them on Team Sweden. So there's only one penguin that's named to the Olympic rosters right now,

and that is Sydney Crosby, but that can potentially change if Ricard Raquel and Eric Carlson are still penguins come this October, we very much expect them to be on Team Sweden for the Olympic Games after they were on the Four Nations team. I also look at it this way with Brian Rust is we know that the I-IHF roster limits are larger than what it was at the Four Nations. The four nations went with NHL rules, obviously because it was an NHL sanctioned tournament. But you can have 22 skaters on your roster when you go to the Olympics. the roster limit is 25, 22 skaters, three goalies.

And if Brian Rust is skater number 22 and he's not an everyday guy, you play him in the preliminaries once or twice, and then once you get to the metal round, should you make it to the metal round, we obviously don't know assume because we saw what happened with Canada at the world championships, anything can happen. But he strikes me as a guy that with Mike Sullivan, and Bill Garon being the guys running the show for Team USA.

He could be forward skater number 22 as a lifetime achievement award. Hey, you've done really well. You probably would have had a crack at it back in whatever that would have been, 21, 22, whenever the last time that they could have gone when he was really looking like one of the better American players before a lot of these young guys really started to come up. I can see him being a 20-second skater, but I also look at it as there's a lot of stiff competition for American skaters right now.

And is he in the top 25 best American skaters? I'd say so, but when you can only take 22, it's going to be real difficult to justify putting him on the roster. It just goes to show how deep the USA is now compared to where it was in 2010 and 2014. Like that 2010 team, I still remember it very vividly. That team was really good. That team was deep.

This 2026 team is going to be even deeper. And that just goes to show how great the U.S. development program has been at turning out players in the NHL and not just turning out players, turning out very good to elite players in this league. So again, I like Brian Russ quite a bit. I would say I agree. Top 25 is fair. But I think if he makes it, it's right along the edges for that roster. as are some of the other six players that were announced to their respective countries, Pat,

I am very excited. For example, Switzerland announced theirs. You have Nico Hesier, Roman Yosi, Jonas Siegenthaler, Nino Niederrider, Kevin Fiala. That team is going to be, I think, pretty underrated at the Olympics for Germany. You have Tim Stutzelaw, Mo Sider, Lian Drysidl. That's going to be a lot of fun. Again, seeing Leon play for Team Germany, the Czech Republic, saving David Posternak get a chance to play for his team.

You got Marty Natchez there, Pavel Zaka, Lucas Dostol, Andre Palat, Radico Goudas for the Czechia. And then obviously for Finland, you got Sebastian Aho, Sasha Barkov, Mero Haskinen, UC Soros, Miko Ransinen, S.Lendell, obviously for Team Sweden. Congratulations to Gabe Landisog. He is one of the first six there, and I would imagine, Pat, that he will be the captain for Team Sweden at the Olympics. He came back beautifully at the end of the season for Colorado Avalanche into the playoffs. he is there along with Rasmus Dahlin, Lucas Raymond, William Nylander, Adrian Kempbe, and Victor Hedman. Again, we can keep going down the list here if we want. There were some really fun players named to some of the other teams like France,

Italy. There are some NHL players on Denmark, of course. Latvia, obviously. I'm just really stoked to see a lot of these other countries and a lot of these NHL players get to play for the respective countries that weren't there for the Four Nations face off. I said that was kind of like an appetizer. We're getting closer now to the main course, and I can't wait. This will be a little bit of a hot take,

but this might shape up to be one of the best Olympic hockey tournaments in a very, very long time because there's going to be one or two cannon fodder teams. I imagine France and Italy aren't going to make a ton of noise. Italy's obviously there because they're a host country. And the host country gets an automatic bid. France has a couple players here and there, but it's a lot of former and fringe NHL guys. But like you rattled off a ton of countries that are going to be competitive.

Are they in the top tier? No, but this is a two and a half week tournament where one mistake puts you out of the metal round. One one big moment puts you in the metal round. And this will be a ton of fun. And it really shows how much the sport as a whole has grown over the last two to three decades, because these are teams that even as, even as soon as five, ten years ago would have been considered cannon fodder teams.

Oh, okay, they're going to play Canada. They're going to lose by eight goals. They're going to play the U.S. They're going to get knocked around. They're going to play Sweden or Finland, and it's not going to be much of a contest. Now, these are teams that have some deep rosters. They have some good top tier talent. Are they going to push for medals?

potentially, but it's not going to be an easy out for a lot of the big countries to get to the metal round. They're going to have to earn their way there. This will be a really, really fun tournament. 100%. Like there's going to be a lot of really good games, even outside of the big four, you know, Finland, Sweden, the U.S. and Canada playing. You know, again, Germany is going to be a ton of fun, as I've said. I think Switzerland is going to be a lot of fun. Heck, Denmark just had an amazing run at the World Championships. They're now going to gain a few more NHL players. That is also going to be a team to watch. You know that Latvia also plays usually the top teams,

very tough of the Olympics. I am really excited for some of these other countries to play some of the big dogs in this tournament. But that will do it for the second segment coming up to end the show. Can the Four Panthers close out the Edmonds and others tonight? Pat and I are going to discuss that right after this. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes.

Join with my co-host, Patrick Nampipat. We literally have breaking news right as we are coming out of break here. The Penguins have announced that they have re-signed forward Yonokinin into a one-year contract. It is a two-way deal, and it's worth $775,000 at the NH level. He spent a lot of time with Wilkesbury during this past season, spent a little bit of time on the penguin scoring one goal in 11 games. With Wilkesbury scored eight goals, 23 points in 56 games, only played two games in the

playoffs, of course, for Wilkesbury. I'm totally fine with this. He's a 14th, 15th forward, probably on the NHL roster, but he can come up and down between Wilkesbury and the Penguins throughout the year, especially if injuries arise. There is no shame to having as much depth as possible in your farm system. So I am totally cool with this. Yeah, it's a perfectly fine signing.

He pretty much tops out as a bottom six forward. And this is going to sound kind of mean, but I don't mean it that way. He's a guy. he's not going to give you a ton at the NHL level, but he's also not going to hurt you either. He's going to be there, like you said, 15th, 16th forward. When injuries arise, he can take up a spot in the bottom six. He's not going to put up a pile of points and be productive,

but he's also not going to be an anchor on your bottom six. He's a guy that will help when you need them, and he'll be good depth in the system for the team. So getting him for one year at less than a million on a two-way deal doesn't hurt. Yeah, I'm totally good with it. That's another piece of business that Kyle Dewas is taking care of, especially after resigning Vogue or Mama to one-year deal. We have to see what else he decides to do with some of the RFAs and then some of the other

UFAs as well. But game six of the Stanley Cup final is tonight. The floor panthers will try to go back to back and take out the Edmonton Oilers for a second straight year. they dominated the Oilers in game five very much a Panthers-like performance, especially after choking away a three-goal lead in game four. Pat, it's very simple. We talked about this a little bit during a Monday episode,

but I will ask you here, does this series end tonight, or do the Oilers send this back to Alberta for a winner take-all on Friday? My head says we get a repeat champion tonight. My heart says Edmonton forces game seven. The thing that has stood out to me so far through five games in this series is that Florida, for the most part, has been the better team for the vast majority of the series. They've led for most of the series. Edmonton has had their moments, but there has not been a lot to show me throughout this series that Edmonton can beat Florida. Now, if Connor McDavid and Leon Drysidal put on the Superman capes and pull this team back to Alberta, they have a shot.

Edmonton has the firepower to put up with anybody. The problem is they haven't been able to stop Florida. That's the biggest problem. They have not held them to less than three goals in any of the games so far this series. And while I'm not saying Edmonton needs to turn into a defensive master class type of team, they haven't been able to slow down Florida. And you can only outscore your problems so many times before you get yourself in trouble. And the thing is, the biggest difference now, as I always do, quote Jeff Merrick,

you might as well just call hockey goalie. And Edmonton doesn't have goaltending. Skinner's been fine, Pickard's been fine. But when the guy at the other end is Sergey Bobrovsky, and he has shown how good he can be, it's a problem. And the thing is, everybody is going to compare the 0809 to this year. The Penguins switched up their style, the final two games of the 2009 Stanley Cup final and turned into a defensive clinic type of team.

They won both games six and seven, two to one. And they shut down Detroit's big guns. and Detroit had some big guns in that series. Florida, as we know, has some big guns. And I really don't know if Edmonton has it in them to become a defensive team that can shut down Florida. Because as you've said, Hunter, Florida can play and beat you any which way. You want to play a 7-6 track meet? They'll play a 7-6 track meet.

You want to play a 2-1 hard-fought defensive game? They'll shut you down and beat you in that game. You want to play a Goon Squad 5, 4 circus type game. Buddy, they pretty much invented that. So I think I'm going to go out on a limb and I'm going to say, I think we get a repeat Stanley Cup champion tonight. I'm going to take the Oilers to send this back to Alberta just because I'm not going to waver for my prediction of Oilers and 7, but I still won't be surprised in the slightest

if the Panthers do end this tonight and prevent a return trip to Alberta just because they have been the better team throughout the series. They've led for most of the series as well. The biggest thing I need from the Oilers tonight is a much better start. They're spotting the Panthers, you know, one, two goal. Obviously, you saw in game four, a three-goal lead. They're allowing the Panthers to get off to such these great starts. And I know a lot of the Oilers' MO this playoffs has been,

oh, we're good from playing from behind. We don't mind it. You know, we have two of the five best players on the planet and all this good stuff. But, like, there's only so much you can do. when you keep doing that game after game after game, especially against a team that just won the Stanley Cup last year. You can get away with it against some of these other teams, but even against a team like the Panthers,

where, yes, they did come back from multiple goals down twice in that series, very unlike the Panthers, but you weren't going to do it again in game five, especially with the way the Panthers were playing. So, A, I need to see a much better start. B, when it comes to the goal tending, I actually don't think Pickard and Skinner have been that bad in this. series, I think they've been left out to dry quite a bit. Now, do they still need an upgraded goal?

100%. They badly do. And I think that's, that was pretty much all I was saying, sorry to interrupt you, Hunter, is that like, it's not that they have been bad, but they have not been good enough. And that's fair. Like, you're going up against Sergey Bobrovsky. He's one of the five best goaltenders probably right now on the planet, one of the best big game closers right now, especially with the four panders. He's going to make the hockey Hall of Fame probably is going to be a first bout hall of famer if i'm being honest with if i be being even more honest with everyone on here excuse me but i think picker and skinner have been they've been fine they just haven't you said they haven't matched bob which is very hard to do i still they need they need an upgrade in goal and i do think

they could potentially get that this offseason via the trade market hey we can joke about sending trish and jar are there for a bag of peanuts that'd be funny for days but i think they'll probably look to go a little bit more big game hunting maybe they try to go get john gibson out of anaheim all that good stuff so they need to upgrade there. But, you know, this is a legacy game for their big guns tonight. Connor McDavid, this is the second straight year. You are down in a series against the Porter Panthers? What are you prepared to do about it?

You are the best player on the planet? How are you going to find a way to send this series back home for a winner take-all game seven on Friday? That's still another one of the biggest things I'm going to be looking for in this game. I will take the Oilers to win, but as I said, I will not be surprised. at all if the Panthers win this game and win the Stanley Cup to go back to back. But I think that I'll do it for today's episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back with another show for you all on Wednesday to discuss the latest

Penguins news and everything else for running the NFL. Hey, maybe we'll discuss the four panders winning the Stanley Cup on Wednesday if they can close out this series tonight at home. So for Patrick Dan, I'm Hanser Hodes. so much for tuning in we appreciate it we'll be back on wednesday