Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins DOMINATE the Carolina Hurricanes to close out 2025!

Episode Date: December 31, 2025

The Penguins closed out 2025 with a dominant victory over the divisional rival Carolina Hurricanes, and it might have been their best of the year. Patrick and Hunter close out 2025 on a high note, the... same way the Penguins did on Tuesday night when they dominated Carolina from start to finish. They begin with the overall team play of the Penguins, and how, across 60 minutes, they smothered the Hurricanes defensively and took the fight to them in the offensive zone. (0:00) Then, they look at the individual performances that carried the Penguins to victory. They include the likes of Justin Brazeau, Tommy Novak, and others who stepped up in a big way against Carolina. (13:00) Finally, the New Year's Eve episode ends with a tradition. It's still Wednesday, which means they hand out their MVP of the week in the final Warrior Helmet Wednesday of the year! (24:45)Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. So before tip-off, check the FanDuel app and see what’s dropping during NBA Happy Hour — every Friday from 6 to 7:30 PM Eastern.A little basketball, a little action, and a whole lot of Friday energy. 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.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The Pittsburgh Penguins ended 2025 with what might have been their most complete victory over a team that they rarely, if ever, beat. Hunter and I are going to recap the victory over the Carolina Hurricanes, as well as hand out our MVP of the week as part of Warrior Helmut Wednesday, right after this. You're locked on penguins, your daily podcast on the podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello and welcome in to another edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts, Patrick Damp. You can follow me across all social media platforms at Synonym 4Wet, joined as always by my good friend and co-host, the one and only Hunter Hodes.
Starting point is 00:00:54 You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. you can follow the show's Twitter account at L.O. underscore Penguins. You can also find us on Instagram at Locked On underscore Penguins, as well as TikTok at Locked on Penguins. Of course, as always, we appreciate you making us part of your daily routine. Don't forget that we are free and available wherever you get your podcasts as well as YouTube. Plus, if you follow us on YouTube, which you should be. Make sure you've hit the notification button. That way you can be among the first to know when we drop our daily Monday through Friday episodes. There is no two ways about it, Hunter. The Penguins played arguably their most complete game of the season to date. Maybe
Starting point is 00:01:46 their most complete game of the calendar year 2025. They end the year with a five. to one dismantling of the Carolina Hurricanes. And when you look at the box score, when you look at the final score, when you go on to natural statric or onto Moneypuck and you look at the analytics, you think maybe this game was a little bit closer than the final score may tell you. But when you go back and watch this game, it was not at all close. This was a top to bottom, start to finish, beating of the Carolina Hurricanes. The penguins, they took control of the game pretty much from the jump.
Starting point is 00:02:32 They did not let up, and they scored a huge two points in the Metropolitan Division. As we record this here on New Year's Eve, the Pittsburgh Penguins find themselves just two points out of a wild card spot and just four. points out of third in the Metropolitan Division, given how rough December was for this team. As we head into 2026, they are right there in the mix, but let's keep the focus on Tuesday night's game. Unbelievable performance top to bottom. And there is not anything in my opinion that you can really be mad about from that. No, there's really no negatives about this one. I guess if you want to get mad that Stuart Skinner gave up a goal at the end of the second period to spoil his shut out, you know, do you?
Starting point is 00:03:26 Crystal Tang struggled once again, but you know what? We're not really going to nitpick things here and be negative. This is a full positive episode of Locked on Penguins because this team deserves it. They kicked Caroline his ass up and down the ice in this game. It's the best that they've played against them in it. At least five years, if you want to argue maybe six to seven to eight years, no, we're not doing the meme. Don't do the meme.
Starting point is 00:03:47 I knew it. You just did it. shame on you for that. We have to end 20, 25 on the show with your stupid 6-7 meme that all the 10 to 12-year-olds do. But in all seriousness, that is the best they have played against Carolina in several seasons. Total domination in every facet. And I tweeted this last night, Pat, and I'll say it here. That game is the perfect example of what this team can be when they play a full 60 minutes.
Starting point is 00:04:12 And, you know, they made quick decisions. They gave Carolina absolutely nothing in their own end. each player understood their assignments when they were out there and to me it was their best game since their 5 to 1 win in Philadelphia earlier this month and you can make an argument
Starting point is 00:04:26 that this was their best top to bottom game of the year. This looked way more like the October Pittsburgh Penguins and that's the thing. Ever since then, you know, they've obviously struggled quite a bit especially in the month of December. You know, they had that eight game losing streak,
Starting point is 00:04:40 losing 9 to 10 of course. But even during that losing streak, you would see spurts of the October Penguins come out. They just weren't able to finish games off, and they were mentally fragile. Now, especially in this game on Tuesday, you see that game against Chicago, more of the October Penguins are coming out. And that team is still in there. Like, you've been able to see it recently. It's just, can they get the October Penguins out there in a more consistent basis? That's been the thing. And they also just haven't been playing a lot of full 60-minute games this year,
Starting point is 00:05:13 especially during this recent stretch with the losing streak. Last night, however, full 60, pedaled to the medal. They shut things down in the third period. I know Pat people were out there when Jankelski scored. Oh, no, here we go again. A four-go lead going into the third period. But they gave Carolina next to nothing in that period. They were aggressive.
Starting point is 00:05:33 They weren't sitting back, waiting for something bad to happen. And it's because they finally have some confidence. That's the biggest thing. And very quietly now, they've won three out of four going into the new year. Can they keep it up? That's the big question, but this has been a different team since the Christmas break, and it's been nice to see. The Christmas break really did come at seemingly a perfect time because, granted, we're all of two games into it, but even then, you can poke your holes in it because Chicago, not very good. They were on the second half of a back-to-back with some travel.
Starting point is 00:06:10 Same thing against Carolina. They were on the second half of a back-to-back with travel. but the thing that I always, the two things I should say that I always come back to in those situations are one, the NHL schedule is not a restaurant. You can't look at the schedule makers and go, sorry, this wasn't made to the right way. So I'm going to hand this back to you now. You play the games in front of you. And they were served up, pun absolutely intended.
Starting point is 00:06:37 They were served up two opponents who were on the second half of a back-to-back and had to travel. But then the other side of that for me is that, you have to take advantage of that. They very easily could have gone out and said, hey, you know, Chicago, they're struggling. They're not very good. We can take this night off and cruise the two points. They didn't.
Starting point is 00:06:57 They played maybe not a great game, but they definitely were opportunistic when they needed to be. This game against Carolina, I thought was miles better than their game against Chicago. Oh, absolutely. And then you look at Carolina last night, same deal. It's a team that, sure, they're missing some of their key contributors due to injury.
Starting point is 00:07:15 They're on the second half of a back-to-back, but it's still a very good Carolina team, even without those players. We talked about it on the Tuesday episode. Even without those guys, it is still a very deep, very talented team that most importantly, and we may dislike it as hockey fans and hockey consumers, but in Phil Bork said it on the broadcast, you go to the Carolina Hurricanes and you play under coach Rod Brindamore. you are either playing the team's system or you are not on the team. Everybody is bought in top to bottom. So even with injuries, that's how they continue to be a solid team in the Metropolitan Division. And the Penguins said, you know what? We don't care.
Starting point is 00:07:58 We are coming out tonight and we are going to take it to you top to bottom. And they did. And the last thing I want to add because I didn't get a chance to drop it in when you were going here a little bit ago. yeah we all winced when jankowski scored because it was less than 20 seconds after the penguins made it five nothing and we have all seen this film before this season but the way i described it to you was when you're playing nhl online with your buddies you go up big you're all yucking it up over the headphones and the mics and you're talking about oh this is over we got this and then your opponent scores you go oh wait nope never mind lock back in lock back in and as soon as the third started
Starting point is 00:08:40 They locked back in, they shut it down, and it was, again, a tremendous performance. I agree. And, you know, going back to your second point, you're right. You still have to show up even when the, even when you have an advantage, you're waiting for the team that played the night before. We've seen the penguins struggle in those types of circumstances this year, Pat, where a team is coming in from out of town, the penguins are waiting for them, and the penguins are flat in some of those games.
Starting point is 00:09:08 These last two, they haven't been. they're going to get another one on Thursday. The Red Wings play today, and then they come to Pittsburgh tomorrow. So the schedule makers, it's serving up the Penguins well to end 2025 and open 2026. But again, you still have to show up because these aren't just going to be, you know, easy, freebie points. You still have to go out there and kick these teams asses. And these last two, they've done a great job with that, especially on Tuesday in Carolina. Penguins got things started off really nicely.
Starting point is 00:09:33 Sidney Crosby, when he goes down to one knee, it's over. Also, shout out Ricard Raquel. I said I wanted to see a little bit more out of him in this game. That pass was awesome. Listen, I want to say this because we got a ton more to get to with this game. But let's close out this segment with that opening goal. I said it on social media last night when the film came out of it. That goal was perfect from top to bottom.
Starting point is 00:10:01 The forechecking pressure to cause a turnover by Brian Rust was exactly how you draw it up. It was an unbelievable pass from Ricard Raquel to find Sidney Crosby. And then for Sid, the edgework and the ability to get to a spot and anticipate that play happening, everybody on that line played a role in that. And it was exactly how you draw up a goal against a team like Carolina. You put their defensemen under duress. You cause a turnover. Yes, Rickeld's pass was a high.
Starting point is 00:10:37 highlight real pass, but they all put themselves in position to make that goal happen. And it was a thing of beauty. Right. And you got to that high danger area. And it goes back to what I said on Tuesday, Pat, when you get those high danger chances against Carolina and usually don't get many, you have to make them pay. And I thought they did exactly that throughout this game. A couple of the goals that Freddie Anderson gave up were not high danger chances.
Starting point is 00:11:02 Hello, the Tommy Novak goal. That one was an absolute haler. I didn't think Freddie Anderson would be worse than Spencer Knight was on Sunday, but he definitely was. He was not good in this game. And he has not been good for a lot of this season. But so when they got their high danger chances, they made use of them and they put them in the back in the net. And you ought to especially do that against a team like Carolina. I know you have to do it against every team, but especially against Carolina who doesn't give you a lot in their own zone.
Starting point is 00:11:28 It's even more paramount. It really is. And we have got so much more to get to. about this 5 to 1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. So hang with us. We're going to be back right after this. But first, we've got to tell you about today's first sponsor, and that is our friends at Fandul.
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Starting point is 00:12:31 it adds a little extra energy to Friday night basketball without overthinking it. So before tip off, check the Fandul app to see what's dropping during NBA Happy Hour every Friday from 6 to 7.30 Eastern Time, a little basketball, a little action, and a whole lot of Friday energy. That's NBA Happy Hour only on Fandle, the official sportsbook partner of the NBA. a back here on the wednesday edition the new year's eve edition of locked on penguins i'm patrick damp running right alongside my good pal hunter hodies and we got to keep talking about it a massive massive victory for the pittsburgh penguins maybe their most complete game a borderline
Starting point is 00:13:20 perfect game by the pittsburgh penguins it was a thing of beauty to watch there is one player you brought up right before we went to break that I want to talk about from last night. And that's your boy, Tommy Novak. You have been riding and dying with that man. And you got paid off last night because, yes, he scored a goal to make it four to nothing. But it was more than just the goal. I loved his game last night. He was everywhere.
Starting point is 00:13:51 Every time his skates touched the ice, he was helping drive offense. He was playing really, well in the defensive zone it was much like this victory maybe his best game in a penguin's uniform and it's a bet that even though we've still got about half the season to go it really looks like kyle dubis's bet on tommy tommy novac being a key contributor for the penguins is starting to pay off i liked that trade at the time i like it even more now because again you go back to his time at nashville he's always been a very sound under the radar play driver. But I wrote about it numerous times on the hockey news. I said it here. He also has an
Starting point is 00:14:32 underrated shot and you've seen it throughout this season, especially last 90. It was a little deceptive. I still think Freddie Anderson easily should have saved it. But you can see he it was a little deceptive with the way that he released it. And he's doing a great job centering Justin Brzoe and Anthony Mantha right now. I think we all know that Afghani Malkin is going to be back in that spot once he's ready to return. But you still need to have Tommy Novak. in the lineup. We all know that Uyghur Chinov is going to be in the lineup at some point. I don't envy DMUs with the roster decisions that he's going to have to make here. I think one of them might be Coyvenin coming out of the lineup, which, you know, it's unfortunate.
Starting point is 00:15:09 But again, it's, it's only been about 30-ish games. I don't want to write them off or anything like that. His underlying numbers are still really good, but I still think as of right now, they may take him out and put Chinov on that third line, and then they got to figure out something else when the any malcolm comes back. But you can't take Tommy Novak out of the lineup. He is too important to this team in a, you know, middle six top nine role, the playmaking that he has the release, the power playability. Again, he's kind of a jack of all trades player, except on the penalty kill.
Starting point is 00:15:38 He can play up and down your lineup at five on five, can play in your second power play. You can put him also, and even in, you know, five, e six situations for an empty net threat. So I just, I'm really liking his game right now. And let's get into it, man. Justin Brazo, you can only hope to contain this man. right now. That goal that he scored to make it 2-0 was arguably the goal of the year for the Penguins. First off, outrageous stretch pass for Brett Kulak. He was awesome last night. That stretch pass was incredible. And the way that Brazil was able to finish that off while going down
Starting point is 00:16:14 was unbelievable. He continues to showcase puck skills that I never thought he had. And his breakout this year has been something else. He already has 12 goals. Pat, he had 11 goals last year. He's already at 12 and we're not even at game 41 yet. I mean, who's to say he doesn't hit 20, 25 this year at this rate? He, you know what he's shooting percentages right now? 28.6%. Maybe he'll shoot at this rate all year at this point. He continues to be so good. The give and go with him and Anthony Mantha later in the game was also spectacular. Those two have such great chemistry. And Anthony Mantha man has 14 goals with this team. If If Kyle Dubus decides to flip him at the deadline,
Starting point is 00:17:00 who I think he can get back a pretty solid return there, my friend, because he has been awesome for this team, another great game from him. There's a good bit for me to unpack there. First off, if Tommy Novak is your ride or die, Justin Broseau has been mine. I said it in our preseason preview that this was going to be the signing from Kyle Dubus this season that everybody looks back at and goes,
Starting point is 00:17:26 that was a great piece of business because I've said it before you look at his at least at the very least his professional trajectory whether it was the E the A and now the NHL it follows the path he takes a year or two to figure it out his numbers those first year or two they're okay fine nothing that would jump off the page and then you get to that second or third gear and he blows up. He just, he figures it out. It all comes together for him. And it's looking like that trend is continuing at the NHL level. You look at his last couple years, fine enough numbers. They weren't great. You looked at it and went, he's a good depth guy, good guy that you can have in your bottom six. You have a little bit of sandpaper, a little bit of skill. And then this year,
Starting point is 00:18:17 you put him in a position to succeed, and he does extremely well. As for Anthony Mantha, I am of two different mindsets when it comes to him. He has been everything you have hoped, which is, and again, I'm not going to go into anything negative because it was a great game. I look at it of one of two ways. How committed is Kyle Dubus to this plan? Because we know that he wants to not speed up or speed run through this retooling, but we do know that he wants to keep this team in the mix.
Starting point is 00:18:52 He doesn't want a bottom amount. He doesn't want to just say, I don't care how good. He doesn't want to pull a Doug Armstrong in 2019 and go, yeah, my team stinks. I'm selling everything off. Then all of a sudden they go on a run. But if this team finds itself after the Olympic break in the mix, in striking distance, or even in a playoff position, that's going to be a really tough decision. Because to this point, he has been one of your best forwards.
Starting point is 00:19:21 And it would not be the best. I think, to your team to go, no, this guy's been really good. No, he's helped us win, but I need the assets. So I would, but at the same time, you kind of did get him to trade them because you put him on a one year deal. You hope he bounces back. And then, well, you know, that's what we got him for.
Starting point is 00:19:44 But I also think it'd be really tough if this team's in the mix come in around the trade deadline to go, yeah, thanks for everything. We know you guys like him. We know he's been good, but see ya. We still got to see where they are at that point. I still think he's going to get quite a few calls on him. He's already had 14 goals. By that point, I'd be stunned if he wasn't at 20 plus goals.
Starting point is 00:20:07 And 20 plus goal scores, you can get at least a second. I mean, heck, Anthony Bavillier got a second round pick at this past year's trade deadline, and he didn't even get to 20 goals. If he's at 20 plus, again, maybe you can try to scrounge out an extra first from a team that's desperate for a playoff or there's something. like that. Again, I think you could see some wild offers get thrown around for a song like Anthony Mantha. Again, I'm not guaranteeing anyone is going to get dealt, but I think you can see Kyle Dubas getting some big time offers in terms of, you know, first or second for Mantha and
Starting point is 00:20:39 Brazil. I know Brazil has an extra year left on his contract, but a player that can play up and down in your, you know, top nine, middle six, really good goal score, soft hands, teams are going to be knocking on the door for that type of player at least top contenders will I will say this this is actually where we can kind of comb combined all of this together
Starting point is 00:21:05 there is a world where you can move him and you know who slots right into his position Tommy Novak yeah to where you'll have Gino you'll still have Brazo because I am very much in the camp of
Starting point is 00:21:20 you hold on Justin Brzeau because he may be 27, 28 by the time we get to 2026, but not a lot of miles on him. And he still has, at least in my estimation, room to grow. So you want to hold on to him at least through that second year. And if it kind of feels like he's trailing off or he's not as good as he was his first year, you can try to get something for him. But that's so far down the road, you'll be able to reward Tommy Novak
Starting point is 00:21:47 because you're still going to have Igor Chinikov, who is on his way. And to something you brought up earlier, I think the covenin and stuff, it's not so much that he has been underperforming. Because I do think he has struggled a bit over the past few weeks. But he's the only player that's waivers exempt right now that you really think is worth sending down. You're not going to send down McRority. You can't send down Kindle. So it's almost like just a tough luck situation for him where, hey, you're the easiest move for us to make. plus he would benefit from a few weeks, maybe a month in the
Starting point is 00:22:24 HL to kind of get his swagger back and get his confidence back. But realistically, you don't envy Dan Mews for these roster decisions. I don't either. I definitely don't envy Kyle Dubas with the decisions he's going to have to make over the next few months. Oh yeah, Kyle Dubas is going to be very busy over the next month. I mean, well, not the next month. Over the next few months, I should say until the trade deadline.
Starting point is 00:22:46 And honestly, Pat, he's probably going to get calls on like half the roster no matter what, like, hey, what are you thinking here on Russ? What are you thinking here on Raquel? What are you thinking here on Carlson? Like Lazot, pending UFA, Nola Chari, pending UFA, Justin Broseau, Anthony, Anthony, if I can keep going on. Obviously, he doesn't have to do anything if he doesn't want to, but I'm sure he's going to take calls on quite a few players.
Starting point is 00:23:07 So he's going to assess their values, see what's going to see where, what teams are thinking of them. And I'm sure he'll make informed decisions once that time comes. But I think there is something to be said for this team. sticking in the race and not really moving out a lot of the players. I still think you might see a couple guys get sold off, but time will tell on just how many do. I think he's going to be very active, though. That's the main thing. That again is going to be the most difficult part of all of it, is that you don't want to
Starting point is 00:23:41 get that short-term sugar rush of, hey, we're in the race, we're doing well, so we got to try to make a big move or make a big deal or not doing that I don't think you're trading big assets for like a rental or something like that that's not on their radar right now but you also don't want to send the message to your team that hey you played really well up to this point it doesn't matter I'm still doing everything I was doing before so obviously time is going to tell so are the results but enough about the future we got to talk about continue to talk about I should say the and it's Wednesday. So that means, even though it's New Year's Eve,
Starting point is 00:24:22 we don't stray from the plan here on Locked on Penguins. That means it is time for us to hand out our MVP of the week as part of Warrior Helmet Wednesday. You might have an idea of who's getting the helmet this week, but you're going to have to stick around to find out, and we'll tell you right after this. We're back here on the Wednesday edition, of Locked-on Penguins, I'm Patrick Damp, right alongside Hunter Hodeys.
Starting point is 00:24:52 And yin's guys know it's Wednesday. It may be New Year's Eve. We're not doing anything. This isn't Hunter and Patrick's New Year's Rock and Eve. It means it's Warrior Helmet Wednesday, where if you are new here, Warrior Helmet Wednesday is our recurring segment where we hand out our MVP of the week. It pays homage to the 2016 Stanley Cup winning Penguins, which In a day, it's going to be 10 years since that Stanley Cup, which is a little crazy, but I digress. During that run in the regular season and the playoffs, after wins, they handed out a warrior helmet in the locker room for their player of the game. We hand it out as our player of the week. And we're switching up the rules a little bit because are there really rules?
Starting point is 00:25:40 We made this segment up. It's new. It's something that we made up. It's not real. but usually each of us gets one warrior helmet to hand out. But I got a text from Hunter this morning and said he wanted to do something different. So Hunter, what's this different thing that you're doing for Warrior Helmet Wednesday? I'm not just handing out one Warrior Helmet today.
Starting point is 00:26:01 I'm handing out two because both of these players deserve their own Warrior Helmet. The first one goes to Justin Briseau for his last week. four goals in his last three games also six points during that time he has been fantastic got the hatrick against chicago gotten a goal and an assist against carolina last night got an assist against toronto last tuesday and then the other warrior helmet anthony mantha as well my friend four goals over the last week he has been also just outrageous for the penguins he continues to stay hot he's been great in front of the net especially As of late, got the two goals last night against Carolina, got the goal against Chicago,
Starting point is 00:26:45 and it says also scored against Toronto, had five points in the last three games, too. Both these players continue to be so great on the second line. They have outstanding chemistry. I still can't wait until Gennie Malkin comes back because I feel like their chemistry is going to skyrocket, which is saying something because it's been awesome even with Tommy Novak, but Manta and Brzo get their own warrior helmet just because of how great they have been over the last week. I'm changing up because they both deserve it.
Starting point is 00:27:14 You are not incorrect, my friend. Those are two very good nominees for Warrior Helmet Wednesday, pulling up the weekly tracker here. I'm also going to give my Warrior Helmet to Justin Briseau. You went over the stats. He has been tremendous these last two games. And frankly, he has been tremendous all season long for the Penguins. I'm just going to continue to take my vision.
Starting point is 00:27:40 victory lap when it comes to Brazil because I told you guys. I told you guys this was going to be an under the radar great signing for the penguins and Kyle Dubus and he has delivered on that. The guy, he plays like he should be a speedster who's under six foot with great hands, but nope, he's a big man who plays like a big man, but also has skill. And that has been shining through pretty much since he donned a penguin's uniform. It's been great for him. So I give it to Justin Brzoe, and now we've got to pull up. If you're watching us on YouTube, you'll see it on your screen.
Starting point is 00:28:20 Our tracker up to this point this season for Warrior Helmet Wednesday, Captain Sidney Crosby leads the pack with four. Evgeny Malkin and Justin Brzoe each have three. Kyle Dubis, Ben Kindle, and Sergey Muroshov, each with. two and quite a few people there with one on the season, Eric Carlson, Anthony Mantha joins the list, head coach Dan Mews, the special teams unit, both the power play and the penalty kill, and former Penguins goalie Tristan Jari. So you may be asking, why are we keeping track of this? Well, when we get to the end of the season, we're going to hand out season long
Starting point is 00:29:02 warrior helmets could be one person could be multiple again we made this whole thing up there's no rules we can do whatever we want with it it's our show get out of our faces okay we're just going to do what we want with it but hunter before we close it out it is indeed new year's eve also i did want to say one thing shout out to everyone with the stew chance last night yes yes we did almost forget that this dumb city you guys picked up on it right away it has been awesome but again it's the last day of 2025 just got to say a massive thank you to everybody who has been a part of this community over the past couple of years and this year as well would not be possible without any of you guys whether you've listened to one episode a couple of episodes
Starting point is 00:29:51 or you've ridden with us every single day we from the bottom of our hearts truly appreciate it. I completely echo what Pat said. The show grew in ways this year that we never thought it would. We just passed 4,000 subs on YouTube. So thank you all so much for continuing to support the channel. We continue to see an uptick and audio downloads as well, literally every week. So thank you all for continuing to listen to slash watch the show. You are all absolute sickos in the best way. We both really appreciate it. And we're hoping that 2026 is going to be the biggest year yet for the pod. So stick with us. I hope you all have a very safe and happy new year.
Starting point is 00:30:30 If you're going out tonight, please be safe. Don't be stupid. Make good choices, all that good stuff. But thank you all so much for always listening. And Penguins be back in action on Thursday. Pat and I are going to preview it right here for the Thursday episode against the high flying Red Wings who have been very good this year, which I didn't see coming. But again, thank you all so much for listening, whether, as Pat said, it's one episode,
Starting point is 00:30:52 five, ten, or every single one. If you've been listening to every single episode, you are an absolute sicko. in the best possible way. And as I said before, didn't mean to interrupt, Pat. Shout out to all the Stu Chance last night. Stuart Skinner was on one. And I think he might have the best mustache in the NHL, to be honest with you, too. It's right up there, man.
Starting point is 00:31:11 I'm jealous of it. It's a great stash. But like Hunter said, we aren't going away in 2026. So if you're nursing that New Year's Eve hangover on New Year's Day, you can turn the volume down just a little bit because we are going to be back on New Year's day to preview the game. and anything else that may happen between now and then, because as we saw, as soon as the Christmas portrayed freeze ended,
Starting point is 00:31:34 Kyle Dubus got active. So it's always a chance we're going to have something to talk about. But again, thank you all so much for hanging with us in 2025. We're looking forward to a big 2026, and it starts right away on January 1st as we get ready for the penguins and the Red Wings. So make sure you join us for that. But for now, for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp. Thank you once again.
Starting point is 00:31:58 And we will talk to you on New Year's Day.

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