Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins captain Sidney Crosby remains GREAT

Episode Date: May 25, 2026

It was another point-per-game season for the Penguins’ captain as he once again proved to be the model of consistency. Hunter and Patrick continue the Locked On Penguins Season in Review series on this Monday by taking a look at the season for Sidney Crosby. (1:30) The captain once again scored at a point-per-game pace and looked like his usual self, but a slowdown could be looming. Then, it’s time once again to take a look at the farm clubs. (11:30) The Wheeling Nailers are coming home down 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals after letting a couple of golden opportunities slip away. Meanwhile, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are heading to the Eastern Conference Finals after an 8-1 mauling of Springfield. Finally, May 25 is a big day in the Penguins’ history. They look back at Chris Kunitz’s game seven winner and the Penguins' first Stanley Cup in 1991. (23:50) Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Indeed Now, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to https://indeed.com/podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. KALSHI For a limited time, download the Kalshi app and use code LOCKEDON to get ten dollars when you trade ten. Kalshi. Trade on anything. Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now new customers can bet just five dollars and get one-hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game. 5-Hour ENERGY Get candy-flavored chaos with Fruity Rainbow 5-hour ENERGY®️ Shots - available online at https://5hourENERGY.com or Amazon RugietGet 15% off your treatment → https://rugiet.com/lockedonnhl Rugiet. Performance medicine for men. 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.

Sydney Crosby was still very much Sydney Crosby for the Penguins this year, and Pat and I are going to dive into his season review 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 to the Monday edition 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 Gamp. to follow him on all social media platforms at Send him for Wet.

You can also follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins. And you can find us on Instagram 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 today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get $150 in bonus bets. If your first bet wins, head to fandul.com to get started. and we want to wish everyone that's listening slash watching in the United States

a very happy Memorial Day on this Monday. I'm back. Pat did a great show on Friday. I had to go to a wedding this weekend. That's the only vacation I'm taking until probably after the draft in free agency. I can say the same thing about Pat. I don't think he's going anywhere until after July 1 because once that happens, we're going to go down to three shows a week.

But for today's show, Sidney Crosby was still Sydney Crosby this year. Wilkesbury, they advanced to the Eastern Conference Final. Congratulations to them. Wheeling, they're in a bit of a hole. And, oh, yeah, Pat, May 25th, a pretty big day in Pittsburgh Penguins history. We're going to end the show by talking about what happened on this day. But Pat, first off, Sidney Crosby plays in 68 games this year, finishes with 29 goals and 74 points, another point per game season for him.

Ho-hum, he is still the model of consistency in the NHL. only 23 power play points this year, which honestly when I was doing some prep for the show today, I was a bit surprised by that. So a little over 50 even strength points this year goes to show how great of a player he still is at five on five. He obviously did miss some time and the season had that knee injury during the Olympics. But Penguins, they were able to weather the storm without him and of Gennie Malkin at times as well. They were able to still make the playoffs. Crosby comes back.

And I will say, Pat, there were times this year where he definitely wasn't himself, especially, for example, right before the Olympics, you could tell that he was struggling a little bit. Even after coming back from the injury, you could tell that he was still a step slow sometimes. But he's been playing at the world championships. It's playing fairly well. He's going to have a full all season to train, going to be fully healthy going into next season. I'm not concerned at all. For this season, I'm going to give him an A-minus. a B plus and something that, you know, he did poorly.

It's just that, oh, you see 74 points in 68 games. It's just a little bit down compared to what we saw last year. We had 91 points to 80 games where, you know, he had three straight seasons of 90 plus points. I know he could not keep that up forever as he continues to age. But I'll still say, man, A minus slash B plus for him this year. Totally valid. He was still easily one of the Penguins best players. and that's not changing anytime soon.

Yeah, I don't see that being anything different in the next couple of years. And as we know, and as we've discussed on the show, he's kind of looking at the year to year way. He with his career now, he's not, you know, planning long term. He's not looking for big extensions. It's probably going to be one potentially two year deals for the rest of the way out until he hangs them up. And I'm right there with you. I think I'm going to give him about a B just because there were some lulls. this season. And that's kind of where I want to begin with his season in review because there's

so much positive that I do eventually have to do some nitpicking. The one concern I've got about Crosby and it again is nitpicking moving forward. And he's admitted it himself is that he's at a point in his career where extended time off doesn't do him very well. We saw him kind of say that that when they would have two or three days off. It would take them a little bit to get ready and raring to go for games. And to me, that's a little bit of a concern because this was a condensed Olympic season. So even though next year will be a longer season with 84 games, they're going to have some more extended time off. And I'm curious to see what he does with that. Now, it's Sidney Crosby. He's going to figure it out. He's one of the five best players of all times.

So I'm not like overly concerned about it, but it is something I'm keeping an eye on. Yeah, I sometimes I do have to remember that the season is extending to 84 games next year. It feels weird just because it's been 82 for as long as you and I can remember. But they're adding those two extra games, mainly for divisional purposes, because you see some teams in the division. They only play each other three times. For example, Pat the Penguins only played the Capitals,

three times this year. That's going to change going forward. and then they also only played the Islanders three times this year as well. It'll be so now you play each divisional team four times during the regular season because the NHL loves all the divisional play. But again, going back to Sid, the lulls is the reason why it's not a full A plus to a straight up A. That's why I'm giving him more than a minus, you know, 90 to 92%. That's nothing, of course, bad or anything like that.

but I think if he hadn't had any of those lulls, I think I'd easily be giving him an A plus for this year, especially if he had like a 91 point season like we saw last year. And I do think that he would have gotten really close to that or potentially hit it if he didn't miss all that time after the Olympics. He definitely would have had over 80 plus points this year easily. I think he probably finishes in that 85 to 90 point range. But still, even before that injury,

just felt like going in the Olympics, he wasn't himself fully. Even in the playoffs, I didn't see him just take over one of those games against him like I expected him to. Now, again, not blaming him or anything like that. That is a whole team effort for why they lost against Philadelphia. Singling someone like him out is just a joke to me.

But still, another great season from him. I hope he keeps playing into his 40s. I don't even want to think about life without Cindy Crosby on the Penguins just because it's been over 20 years. But still, Pat, he's the model of consistency. He's been elite of the elite ever since coming into the NHL. And he continues to be over a point per game. Does so many great things for this team, night in and night out. Did a lot of the little things right this year once again.

I just, I can't say enough about him, man. I do think we have to adjust our mindset a little bit. to kind of build off of what you were saying about he didn't really take over any games in the playoffs. We're not going to see him, I don't think, that often or frequently, quote, unquote, take over games. Now, that doesn't mean he's not going to have great games. What I think we need to adjust our thinking to is him being a menace more like. Because I don't see him more often than a handful of times throughout a season and a playoff at this point in his career, having one of those four to five point monster games that he would have back in the day. But you will see him now

have games where he's generating offense at a really high level. He's really good in the defensive zone, really good in all three zones. He's setting guys up. He's scoring a goal or two. It's not going to be like we used to see years ago where he would put a team on his back and win a game individually. But with where he is in his career and the way he plays now, I do expect to see more, maybe not more frequent, but the way I would describe him taking over is that just he's the best player on the ice and he's the most effective in all three zones, but it's not going to end up with a monster game on the score sheet. So again, you look at the way he had just his game, the way he plays now, that more to me is seeing Sid at his peak at this point

in his career. So we saw that quite a few times this year where he was just winning puck battles. He was owning the puck in the offensive zone. He was shutting things down defensively, and he was a catalyst for offensive chances. So while he continues to do that, that is the bar I want him to reach. And more often than not, that's going to lead to multi-point games, going an assist, going to assist, two goals and assists, so on and so forth. So again, model of consistency, another solid year. Hard to give him an A just because of the injuries and some of the lulls. But again, with where he is in his career, it was another very, very good season for the captain. I agree. And he's going to be more motivated than ever to come back even better for next year and to try to bring this team.

back to the playoffs and also try to end the playoff series drought because they have not won a series since 2018, Pat, when they meet the Flyers in the first round. Still this year, even though I felt like Pat, he didn't only take over a game against the Flyers, still finished with a goal in five points in six games. So still right around point per game, even though, again, I don't feel like he ever fully took over a game, but still had some of that production. But again, he's going to be more motivated than ever. I think he's going to have another really good year next year. for me, I give him an A minus to a B plus for this season. But that's going to do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, we're going to update everyone on the farm.

Wilkesbury, they're going to the Eastern Conference final while wheeling. They're in a bit of a hole going back to West Virginia against the Everblades. And we're going to talk about all of that coming up right after this. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our first sponsor, which is Fandul. The NBA playoffs are here and every possession matters. If you're looking at getting even closer to the action, Fandall has a great offer to get you started. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins.

That's right, turn $5 and do $150 in bonus bets just for getting started. I like using Fandall during the playoffs because everything I need is right there in one place. You can check the stats, the trends, and the matchups before making your picks, which makes the whole experience feel a lot more informed, whether you're looking at player props or just following your favorite stars, It adds another level of excitement to every game. Head to fandul.com to get started, and that is fandle, play your game. All right, we're back here on the Monday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.

I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my host, Patrick Damp. And Pat, let's get the bad out of the way. First, Wheeling, they are down 2O, going back to West Virginia for hopefully all three games, as Wheeling will try to now hold serve at West Bank Arena. they played Florida really tough in those first two games only gave up three goals. Taylor Gaudier has over a 940 Sabres. He is doing everything in his power to wilt the nailers to a win here. But Pat, it's simple.

The nailors just can't score. That's the biggest problem in this. And it's really hard to say when you get down to the final four in any playoff that a team didn't win a game more as a team. beat themselves, but this is getting dangerously close for the Wheeling Nailers because make no mistake about it. I said it on the Friday episode, and I've said it before talking about this playoff run for the Nailers, their reward for winning two rounds is to play one of the best teams in the ECHL in Florida. And that's not just this season. That's historically. The Everblades are an institution in the ECHL. They are a damn good franchise. And the problem with the Nailers through

two games is they have had several opportunities to swing momentum in their favor, including in game one, they had a five-minute major power play that they couldn't convert on. And Florida has continued to give the nailers power play opportunities, but they have been unable to convert on them. And you have to give credit to the Everblades for playing well defensively, being opportunistic. And just like I was previewing on the Friday episode, Yeah, the nailers have Gaudier, but the Everblades have Johnson, who is another really, really good goalie. So this is going to be a bit of a slog of a series for the nailers

because you're playing a team that is very good defensively, has a really good goalie. It's going to have to be a series of patience, and you can't let these opportunities slip away. So if Florida, when we go back to West Virginia, decide to continue to parade to the penalty box, the nailers are eventually going to have to make them pay or they are not going to be able to get out of the Eastern Conference playoff

because the Everblades are given them the opportunity. They are just not taking advantage of it. I agree. And they're right there in both those games. I know they've really struggled on the road. You go back to the second round series against Maine where they literally did not win a single game up in Maine. Now here, Pat, they didn't win any games in Florida.

If you want to win this series, I know it sounds cliche, you're going to have to win one of these games on the road in Florida. Obviously, it all starts May 27th on Wednesday, where you got to get right back in this series. That's game three in Wheeling. You win that game. You'll have a chance to tie up the series on May 29th, which is this Friday. And then game five, if needed, will be Saturday in Wheeling. So, in bat.

Got to hold serve here at home. I know it's, again, very cliche. day, but all the matters is the game in front of you. You win that. Okay, your fans are going to be even more crazy in the next game. You can say that for game five potentially as well. So special teams have got to be better, but they're also, their five-on-five play has got to be better as well.

They're right there. They're just not capitalizing on their chances. Taylor Gaudier is doing everything. He's making a lot of really big saves, a lot of timely saves from them. Now it's on the offense to give him some help. Now, switching over to Wilkesbury. Congratulations to them, Pat, for the first time since 2014. The baby penguins are advancing to the Eastern Conference final,

and they'll be taking on the Toronto Marley's, a little revenge series kind of for Kyle Dubus. It's so funny. Cleveland looked like they were going to win that game five. They were up by one with less than five minutes to go on Sunday. Toronto ties it with less than five minutes to go. They win the game, Pat, with 10 to 11 seconds left in the third period. just stunning the Cleveland crowd.

If Cleveland had won that game, I was hopefully going to drive up there for one of those games just because obviously, Cleveland is a bit closer here to us, folks in Pittsburgh, but they're going to be playing Toronto. I think Wilkesbury is the favorite going into this series, especially with the way that they have been playing.

And speaking of that, Pat, an 8-1 beatdown of the Springfield Thunderburns. Jordi Romanov just had no chance on really any of those. Tristan Bros. two goals. He played arguably the game of his life in game five. Raphael Harvey Pannard also had two goals. Billy Coivnin had a really strong game, finished with two goals. Harrison Brunick with probably the selly of the playoffs so far for Wilkesbury,

does the Superman. Awesome goal. He was also fantastic in that game. And you know where I'm going with this, Pat. Sergei Murashav in these playoffs, a 1.74 goals against average and a 9. 43 Saver Sedge. He is absolutely locked in right now. Yeah, it sucks that he didn't get the shutout against Springfield

because the baby penguins just rolled over Springfield in that game. It was a case of Wilkes Bear remembering who they are and how they are the better team than Springfield. And they played like it in game five. It was exactly what you and I said we needed to see from the baby penguins in that game. They came out pissed. They came out motivated. And they just put the hammer down on Springfield for an entire game.

And for those of us who are more focused on the big club, this is exactly what you want to see. All of the players who you hope are going to be contributors at the NHL level played a huge role in them winning this game. And at the end of the day, I think you're right. I think that if you're looking at the Calder Cup playoffs at this point and who is left, it is Wilkes-Bairs to win. Now, favoritism doesn't mean, or being the favorite,

I should say, not favoritism, different word, but being the favorite doesn't mean it's a guarantee or a prediction. They still- Ask the Avalanche. Yeah, ask the Colorado Avalanche right now,

who are down 3-0 in the Western Conference final. But you look at the rest of the teams. They're all very good. But the baby penguins have looked like one of the best teams in this playoff field. They still got to earn it. Toronto, while not being what they were a few years ago, still have a good bit of high-end talent that they're going to have to contend against, that they're going to have to slow down.

But for Wilkes Bear, I'm going to end this where you ended it. Baby Penguins have the great X factor in Sergey Murashop. The Toronto Marleys have yet to face him this year. according to Tony Androquodas, every time that the Marleys and baby penguins met, it was not Marischov in the net. So they are going to go up against arguably the best goalie in the H.L. He needs to be the X factor here because there are really good players on the Marleys. And if he's able to stop them and the baby penguins can produce some offense, they can

punch their ticket to the Calder Cup final. Agreed. And that should be a scary thought for the Marley's that they have yet to face Sergei Marishov, who is just absolutely going off right now. And honestly, Pat, if Wilkesbury is able to not only win this series, but potentially win the Calder Cup, I think Muroshov is probably the MVP of the Calder Cup playoffs,

especially with the way that he is playing. He's just locked in right now. He's making all the timely saves. He's been clutch in huge moments. He's just been so steady in the crease, showing Kyle Dubas and the rest of the front office and potentially the coaching staff that, I mean, right now, Pat,

he looks ready to make the NHL next year. And this is exactly what I want to see from someone like this. It's why I was just beating the drum on keep him in the A for the rest of the season, but I want to see him go on a deep playoff run. I want to see him play in those highest stakes games. And you know what? He's playing his ass off and he's looking at HL ready. Now, they still got to finish this off.

This is going to be a good series. Toronto earned that series win against Cleveland, Easton Cowan. For example, Pat, he's been very good. I mean, it's playing out for the Marleys. That's going to be a tough challenge here, especially when you look at the way Springfield, they were so scrappy in the second round series. I think I kind of get those vibes here from Toronto,

where I think they're also going to be really scrappy. They're going to be hard to play against. But Wilkesbury keeps doing what they're doing. They keep getting the offense that they've been getting from literally all four lines. We haven't even mentioned McGority and Avery Hayes Pat, and they were also great in that clinching game. They continue to show so much chemistry. I thought Bill Zonan was once again good,

Atley Calvert. Had a really nice game. Don't forget about him either. If they keep defending the way they have been defending and Murshov keeps being the X factor, I like their chances to advance to the Calder Cup final here and play one of Colorado or Chicago. But Wilkesbury, they have earned this.

And Pat, the first two games will be in Wilkesbury. It is the same format as the ECHL, first two of Wilkesbury. The next three will be in Toronto. And then if needed, the final two games will be in Wilkesbury. So exciting times, man, for both teams on the farm. I mean, and I'll say this, you brought this up about Springfield compared to Toronto. The thing I will say is this. I said this for the Springfield series that the penguins had to be patient. They had to take their chances, stick with their system, do what they knew

they how to, knew what they could do because Springfield plays a frustratingly defensive game. Toronto, they're going to be a little bit more up-tempo. They're going to be a little bit more offensive-minded. If you're the baby penguins, you obviously don't want to throw defense to the wind. You never want to do that because it usually burns you. But if I'm Kirk McDonald, I'm looking at this roster of Toronto and I'm looking at my roster and thinking, you know what? I'm going to let my horses run in the Eastern final. I'm going to take some shackles off and tell this team, show them you've got the better high-end talent,

because we've also got the guy in the net who can be there as a backstop. Doesn't mean they got to play careless, doesn't mean they have to play reckless. But this is a series where you can push your chips into the middle and say, we think we've got the better hand, so we're going to play it. Agreed. And again, for the schedule, game one, Wednesday in Wilkesbury, game two Friday in Wilkesbury before the series shifts back to Toronto. I'm excited, man.

This is going to be a lot of fun to watch. And there's a real chance that this team will play for the Calder Cup trophy in potentially a couple weeks. So we'll see how this goes. That's going to do it for the second segment. Coming up to end the show, oh yeah, May 25th, a pretty big day in Pittsburgh Penguins history. And Pat and I are going to discuss that coming up right after this. Hello, I'm JD Young of locked on sharks. And as a father, I want to make sure that my kids will be protected in case the unimaginable happens.

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Get your free quote at ethos.com slash lockdown NHL. It's ethOS.com slash lockdown NHL. Applications times vary. Rates may vary. All right. We're back here on the Monday edition of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-host Patrick Damp. And Pat, I'm just going to say these first few words and you know where it's going. fresh from the bench it's crosbie and we all know what happened after that chris kunitz sends the pitzer penguins to the stanley final double overtime winner over the ottawa senators may 25th 2017 just mayhem inside pbg paints arena i was watching they came at the house with my mom and she also went nuts she was sitting in her very superstitious spot on the couch i was sitting on the ground in my very

superstitious spot. And that was just, what a moment, man. That knuckle puck goes in. The whole arena goes nuts. Social media blows up and the penguins, they go back to the Stanley Cup final to defend their crown and they're able to, of course, beat the Nashville Predators in six games to win the second half of their back to back. Pat, what do you remember from that day? I remember more than anything. What a moment that was for Chris Kunitz because if you remember the 2017 run, Chris Kunitz was kind of starting to fade. He wasn't the Chris Kunitz that we had fallen in love with from 09 up to that point. He was kind of a different player. He was more of a depth piece. He was more of a role player. And he hadn't played particularly well through that playoff up to that point.

He had a couple moments here and there, but it was kind of a open question for a lot of us in that playoff run in 17 is, you know, should they consider scratching Chris Kunitz? Should they demote him down to the fourth line kind of deal with the way he had been playing in that playoff run. And that is kind of what you need when it comes to championship runs like that. You need players like that to have a moment. You need players like that to step up when they need it. And game seven double overtime with a chance to go to the Stanley Cup final. Chris Koonitz recaptures that old magic he has with 87 in that moment where you go back and watch Ottawa, which was, this was, it was very uncharacteristic of that senator's

team because they were so disciplined defensively. You didn't get anything against that senator's team. And the fact that they all kind of fixated on 87 coming out of the corner, Kunitz was able to kind of sneak behind their defense into that soft spot in the slot, unleash that knuckle puck one timer, and send the penguins back to the final. It was the exact moment that that team in that moment needed. Elite celebration, and you can tell still just watching that replay 100,000 times, because I think probably every fan has watched that replay 100,000 times that that buck just

completely fooled Craig Anderson. He had no idea where it was going. He really couldn't track it well. And hey, what a job by Chris Cunits. He has his moment. That picture of him celebrating back in like 2017, that was my lock screen for a while, just an awesome celebration before he just jumps into the boards and all of his teammates mob him.

but that's part one for today. But also, Pat, May 25th, 1991, the Penguins win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. Remember, they were down two games to one of the North Stars, and then they just blitz them in those last three games of the series. 5-3 in game four, six to four in game five, and then an eight-nothing drubbing in game six. Mario Lemieux has a vintage performance, a goal in three assists for four points. Ho-hum, the goat does goat things. Joe Mullen, Pat, has a really strong game, of course. Bob Erie scores.

Hell, Jimmy Pack scored in that game as well. Tom Barroso, of course, gets the shutout. But I know, Pat, obviously, that was before I was born. I've obviously gone back and watched those games. But it was so fun seeing the Penguins just, take that Minnesota team to the woodshed. And I was, I found this when I was doing some prep for the show today. This was in the Star Tribune back in 1991.

And the headline was 8-0-exclamation point. It wasn't in the stars. I absolutely loved that headline. And I had to include it for today's show. We got to get back. We got to get back to a time where we got great newspaper headline writers because they were in their bag for that one back in the day. Absolutely in their bag.

But as the narrator of the Penguins' 1991 Stanley Cup, VHS tape, it all came down to May 25th, 1991 in Minnesota. It was the Pittsburgh Penguins appointment with destiny. And you look back at that series, and it was a tale of two teams that did not belong there. There were so much, there were so much, adversity for both teams. There was so much working against them. And the funniest thing about this Stanley Cup run for the Penguins and going into this final is that in this series when it began in

1991, the Penguins in the North Stars were mirror images of one another. Every series, the Penguins lost game one. Every series, the North Stars, one. game one. So they go into that final in the script followed that exact line. North Stars win game one, penguins lose game one. And the rest obviously is history. But for this game specifically, you will look at the top line and you will see eight nothing penguins. They, they drob the North Stars to win their first Stanley Cup. Here's the underrated part of this. And remember, it's 1991, much different game back in 91. Tom Barrasso gets the shutout.

Do you know how many shots he faced in that game, Hunter? I want to say it was 29 or 39. There's a nine at the end of it. I'm just not sure which one it is. You got it right the second time. 39 save shutout for Tom Barrasso. And I don't want to say that Barrasso is an underrated part of the Penguin Stanley Cup wins in the 90s because,

He's a Hall of Famer. He's one of the best goaltenders in the history of the sport. But he was an anomaly in that time because remember the context. We're talking about the 70s and 80s into the early 90s where goaltenders for the most part were kind of cardboard cutouts. They made saves. They had moments. They weren't terrible. But they weren't what we know goaltending to be today, where they were incredibly sound.

incredibly athletic, hard to beat. Barassau was different. Barassau was genuinely a lot closer to what we see in goaltenders today. So you add that to the fact that the Penguins, you know, you look at this 91 winning roster, Paul Coffey, Ron Francis, Yarmour, Yager, Mary Elamue, Joey Mullen, Larry Murphy, Mark Recky, Kevin Stevens, Brian Trottier, just Hall of Famer, Hall of Famer, Hall of Famer, Hall of Famer, But right behind him is Tom Barrasso, who was just an elite goaltender in a time when you didn't really see elite goaltenders. I agree. And also, just when you think back to that Stanley Cup, Patty, really just kicked off so much dominance. When you think of 91 all the way up until 2017, five Stanley Cups in less than 30 years, we are spoiled with this franchise man.

Like just considering you go from that area with that era, excuse me, with Mario and Yager to the era that we have had for the last 20 years, 20 plus years, I should say, with Crosby, Malkin, and Latang. I mean, literally Pat, everyone here is insanely spoiled. Yeah, I mean, our bill has got to be come and due here at some point, but maybe it won't be. maybe we're just the luckiest franchise and fans in the history of the sport. But yeah, May 25th, 1991 was really the beginning of this few decades of dominance by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sure was. And again, just the way that they dominated from start to finish in that game six. Awesome.

And seeing all their top players really step up in that game was great as well. So that's going to do it for today's episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much to take the time to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back with a fresh episode for you all on Tuesday discussing all things penguins continuing our season and reviews. And the draft big board is going to come out here pretty soon as well. Probably at the start of June I'm finishing it up. So that's coming here pretty soon, really excited about it. But for Patrick Damp, I am Hunter Hodes.

Thank you all so much for tuning in. We appreciate it. We'll be back on. Tuesday.