Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins dominate the Kraken at home, can they keep this blueprint for success going?

Episode Date: January 16, 2024

The Pittsburgh Penguins got a massive win over the Seattle Kraken on Monday night and it has Hunter and Pat feeling good on this Tuesday. They start the show by discussing how the blueprint continues to be there for this team to win games consistently, but they just have to do it. They marvel at how they defended all game long as it was a classic low-event game they needed. They also discuss how Sidney Crosby once again put the team on his back with two more goals and how they're fully back in the playoff race. They discuss the standings and how they got some help heading into a few days off. After that, they look at Drew O'Connor's play and how he continues to be tremendous over the last few weeks before shouting out Tristan Jarry for another stellar performance. Finally, they discuss Marc-Andre Fleury's milestone on Monday and what that means for the Penguins since his career is getting close to being over.Jase MedicalEmpower yourself when you purchase a Jase Case, providing you with a personal supply of 5 antibiotics that treat 50+ infections. Get yours today at jasemedical.com and use code LOCKEDON to get $20 off your order.SleeperDownload the Sleeper App and use promo code LOCKEDONNHL to get up to a $100 match on your first deposit. Terms and conditions apply. See Sleeper’s Terms of Use for details.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelRight now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED when you place a FIVE DOLLAR BET. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, the Penguins held up their end of the bargain on Monday against the Seattle Cracken, and Pat and I are going to recap that game 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, welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts, Hunter Hodes, joined by my host, Patrick Dam. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes.

follow Pat on Twitter at Center for Wet. And you can follow the shows, Twitter, at L.O. Understore Penguins. Of course, thank you all so much for making this your first lesson slash watch the day. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by GameTime, down the GameTime app, crane account and use code locked on for $20 off your first purchase. So Pat and I decided to go on a field trip to PBJ Paints Arena on Monday to watch the Penguins play

the Seattle Cracken. We decided to do this late on Sunday evening. were pretty inexpensive, to be honest, and that's expected because the Steelers are playing at 430 later on that afternoon on Monday. And it was money well spent because the Penguins get a big three-nothing shutout victory over the Cracken. And this was probably one of the more impressive performances of the season for the Penguins. You can add this to the few games that we've talked about a lot on this show where, again, the blueprint is there for this team to win on a consistent basis, they just have to do it.

I think you can make an argument that the penguins defended as well as they have all season in this game. They held the Cracken, if you look at natural statured to 1.55 expected goals who are at 5 on 5 that entire game. If you go to Moneypuck, it's about 1.2. So somewhere in that range, but still, that is very, very good. And the eye test matched up. The Penguins did a tremendous job limiting the Cracken to the outside.

not giving them any form of a high danger chance. Trishon Jari was taking a nap and net. I feel like that entire game, the Penguins also held the Cracken to one high danger chance through two periods. They had four in the third period when the Cracken were trying to push a little bit. But the penguins, even when the Cracken were pushing, the penguins would push right back. They didn't really sit on their heels at all during that third period.

And I just thought the way they defended, it was beautiful. I want them to do this much more on a consistent basis in the second half of the season. This was just a really solid, low event game where they really kind of needed it, to be honest. This was a very surgical and very efficient victory by the penguins. They gave nothing up. They were very efficient on the forecheck. We talked about it when we were sitting at the game that it seemed like every other shift, the penguins were hemming the cracking in their own end.

And they were getting shots and chances to boot. You know, you look at the numbers. They're not overly impressive. You look at the stat line. And the penguins got 33 shots. They only gave up 22. But you go by period. And it was 12, 12 and 9 for the penguins.

So they were generating most of the game. The biggest issue, again, was the power play. It goes 0 for 2. It looks completely pedestrian in doing so. But overall, you have to be happy with this performance because going into yesterday's game, the Cracken were probably the NHL's hottest team behind the Edmonton Oilers. And they made quick work of them. And it did not look at all like the outcome of that game was in doubt.

Even heading into the third period, I told you when I was next to you, I know the penguins have had difficulty defending leads. But with the way they were playing through 40 minutes, I was like, I don't think they're going to give this one up. of how they're defending. And sure enough, that defending continued into the third period. You discussed the power play already. We've already set our spiel on it so many times on this show.

Throughout the season, I don't think we have to hit on it again. But in terms of five on five in this game, it was just a really, as you said, a surgical performance because the Cracken really couldn't get anything going at even strength. Even when they were on the power play, they really couldn't get anything going either. As I said, Tristan Jari was just taking a nap in net for most of that. game. He had to make a couple of decent saves in the third period, but outside of that, this was a pretty easy game for him. And that's the type of game that any goalie should love because of the way your team in front of you is defending. And going back to five on five,

this Penguins team has been a really strong five on five team throughout the season. They've been top ten and expected goals, scoring chances, shot attempts throughout most of the season, I would say. And that obviously has continued into this one, their biggest problem. as we've said, the power play and then three on three. Well, they were able to get through this game while still having power play problems, they didn't have to rely on that unit to really get the two points. And of course, they didn't have to rely on winning in overtime considering their struggles. But overall, the way that they were able to shut down this team that won nine in a row,

hadn't lost in regulation in their last 10 games, it again shows that they can play and beat with some of the really good teams in the NHL. And another big part, they showed up to start this game, Pat. That was one of my big keys heading into this game because of the way they started first periods. Ever since that game against the Flyers, they just haven't been ready to play. You can go back even before that game against Washington, for example. They were dialed in from the opening puck drop and it continued through the end of that game. That was a true 60-minute performance, probably their best one since that game against the Flyers last Monday.

It also would have been really easy for them yesterday in the first period to, maybe fall into a little bit of a shell or something because we both talked about this. That was a very slow, slow start to the game. A lot of whistles, icings, off sides, puck covered. It was a real tough first period. It was a sleepy first period. And we've seen games like that where, especially with the penguins, when it starts off like that,

And by the second period, once somebody starts gaining a little bit of a foothold, the penguins fall out of it. So I was impressed with that in the fact that this started to have the makings of, you know, an afternoon game where the penguins are kind of sleepy. They don't start, they don't start poorly, but they just don't start much at all. And then they fall apart down the stretch. And then the exact opposite happened. It was a sleepy start.

and as the game started to get some flow, as the game started to get some pace, the penguins really took over and they were really good to me more than anything with puck movement yesterday. One thing they did really well was they were very smart with the puck. They didn't, again, outside of the power play, did not take a lot of risks with the puck. A lot of the passes were high percentage, simple passes. they didn't try to get too fancy through the neutral zone. If they didn't have anything, they put it deep and went to work.

And when they got looks at the net, they shot the puck. We kept talking about it yesterday watching the game. There was a handful of chances where they just gave what Seattle presented. There wasn't any sort of, hey, let's try to go back and forth, crisscross, mismatch, do all that. We have a shooting lane, take it. And that's what they did. And it was a very efficient victory.

And I feel like this could have been worse than 3-0, to be honest. I thought Joey Decord was keeping the cracking in the game throughout. I thought the Penguins played a, again, I already said it, a tremendous first period, and Decor made some really nice saves on the Penguins. For a second, I was like, okay, I really hope this isn't going to be a classic. The Penguins dominate, but they lose like 2-1 or something just because they can't finish their chances because they haven't been a good finishing team all year, but they're able to finish on a couple chances to start the second period to really, I guess, put the game out of reach at that point,

though. I know the Penguins have had trouble defending leads at this. point this season. But at that point with the way they were playing, I was like, okay, I'm at least decently confident in their ability to defend the lead. And sure enough, they're able to get the empty net goal later on in the third period. But this was another great game by number 87. And what was it, Pat? What type of game is this? It was a vintage Sydney Crosby performance. Goal number 25 and goal number 26. What a release to make. get 2-0 in the second period and then it gets the empty net goal.

He probably could have had a hat trick in this game, to be honest, a cord zoned him on a couple of really nice chances outside of the two goals that he had. And the Penguins, they go as he goes. That's no secret at this point. And I mean, I'll keep saying that the fact that he continues to put performance after performance like this season, it just continues to show why he is still one of the five best players in the league and why he should continue to be a favorite for the Hart Trophy. I mean, it's incredible to watch.

It's not just that he's putting up points in scoring, which is obviously very important and very impressive at his age. It's that he is involved in every aspect of the game still. He's still very much a very good defensive center when he needs to be. He has been one of the best face-off men in the NHL this season. overall. And you look at the way he plays the game. He's still playing it down low in the offensive zone. He's still creating turnovers when he's on the forecheck. He's still making passes that make your head spin. And I've said it before on the show, he's doing the thing that the all-time

greats always do. He is dragging his team into the fight. This Penguins team has its issues and they need to get better, they need to get some better depth and their defense needs improved. But night after night, Sidney Crosby is dragging this team into the fight and almost willing them into a playoff position, which makes me laugh because we're not going to get into it today. But you look at all the Jake Gensel trade rumor discourse. This guy is playing this way after missing the playoffs last season. Yeah, try to tell him you've traded his most favorite winger in a middle of a playoff push and see what happens. And the funny thing is you mention the playoff spot.

By points percentage right now, the penguins are in a playoff spot. I know when you look at the standings, there would be one point out, but by points percentage, they're one of the top eight teams in the conference right now. Imagine telling Cindy Crosby, oh yeah, we're going to trade Jake Gensel, even though by points percentage, you're one of the eight best teams in the conference right now, and you are very much in the race. Again, I just don't fully see it at this moment. Obviously, things can change these next six to eight weeks before the trade deadline.

But ever since Kyle Dubas challenged this team, the Penguins have won 10 of 16 games, and they've only lost three times in regulation. Bystandings-wise, they are one point out of a playoff spot. But they're also fourth in the Metropolitan Division, thanks to getting some help from the Boston Bruins. They beat the New Jersey Devils on Monday. And the New York Islanders got shot out by the Minnesota Wild. We'll discuss the Minnesota Wild a little bit later on this show because of Mark Andre

Flurry, but Penguins got some help yesterday, and all of a sudden, they're now fourth in the Metro and are very much alive in the playoff race. But that will do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, Pat and I are going to discuss Drew O'Connor's game, another shout-up for Tristan Jari. Plus, maybe we'll dive a little bit more into the playoff race as a whole. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about game time. You shouldn't have to worry when you're buying tickets to your next big event.

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You can also buy tickets in seconds with just two taps. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with game time down the game time app, crane account, use code locked on for $20 off your first purchase terms of apply again crane account and redeem code locked on for $20 off download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed all right we're back here on this episode of the locked on penguins podcast i'm one of your host honor hodies joined by my host patrick camp so i'm going to continue to shout out dro conner as long as he continues to play like this he gets his sixth goal opens the scoring for the penguins against the Cracken, by the way, really nice feed by Brian Russ to get that pup to O'Connor, who makes no mistake with that one-timer past Joey DeCord.

But O'Connor continues to play at a very high level. These last three weeks, I think, have been his best hockey as an NHL player. And he's very much deserved that promotion to have getting Malkins line. We've talked about that on the show numerous times. But when the Penguins have needed depth scoring outside of their top guys, Pat, he's been there to do it these last few weeks. And it's been awesome to see because he is looking like a bona fide NHL player right now after there were some questions earlier on this season and last season. There are really none right now to say the least. No, he's been very impressive. And the biggest

thing I saw from him yesterday was the physicality. He laid one of the cleanest old school hip checks I have ever seen in person. And it was beautiful. But that's the kind of game that he's going to have to play to continue to push this team back into the playoffs is he's going to have to score, but he's going to have to play with some snarl. He's going to have to be the guy who, you know, I was saying it last segment about Crosby. He has to kind of be the guy that drags the top six into the proverbial fight. And when the puck goes into the defensive zone and a guy's coming up the wall unchecked, put body on him. When the puck goes into the corner in the offensive zone, put a body on that defenseman. Let them know you're coming. Because the best

teams in the NHL right now, for the most part, when you look at something that they have, they have some sandpaper. And this isn't saying that you got to become a team that fights, a team that hits, you don't got to become a dead puck era, big physical slow team. But you have to make sure that your opponents understand. It's going to be a long night when you play them. It's going to be a night where your defensemen, when they retrieve the puck behind their net, are going to have to pay a press.

every single time. There was a moment early in the game yesterday, and I told you about it, and you kind of gave me a look like, what the hell are you talking about? But on one of the first shifts, Joey DeCord came out of the net and played the puck behind the net.

And instead of Crosby going on the boards around him, Crosby went inside him between him and the net. And I said, that is the hockey equivalent of a pitcher in baseball throwing high and inside to a batter crowding the plate. It's sending the message to Joey DeCord that, okay, you can come out and play the play. puck, but just no, Penguins 4 checkers are going to be there.

So keep that in mind before you go behind the net. So the penguins need to get a little bit of that. And DOC is a good guy to do it because he's got the size and he's got the aggressiveness to be one of the players that when the penguins come to town or you come to Pittsburgh, your defense, we're going to go, man, I'm going to see this guy all night. And it's the same thing for John Ludwig. I know he's not in the lineup right now, but it's similar in that regard because he will be physical and he will lay some pretty big hits when he's in the lineup.

And I'm not saying the penguins need to be this ultra-physical team that's leading every game in hits. I'm not really believe in that, to be honest. But if you can still lay a few pretty big hits to show that you can be physical at times, I will take that any day of the week. And I even said that to you when I was next to you. Like the hit stat, it's cool, but like a lot of times you don't have the puck when you're leading a game in hits.

But if you can still lay a couple of big thundering clean hits to show that you can be physical and to show that it's going to be a long night, I will take that every time, especially if they win the game. It's situational. You have to, early in the game,

take a couple, throw a couple hits, let them know you're there, set the tone that, hey, you're going to play physical on the forecheck tonight. And then late in the game, it has to be hitting with a purpose.

It has to be separating man from puck, creating turnovers, or stop, a scoring chance and a clean hit, but you're right. You don't want to be the team that just hits to hit because guess what? If you're throwing a bunch of hits, you don't have the puck, and it's really hard to win when you don't have the puck. Sources say it is hard to win when you don't have the puck on your stick.

Breaking news on the Lockdown Penguins podcast for all you listeners and watchers out there. But going on in a different direction, Tristan Jari gets his fifth shoutout tied for the league lead now in shutouts. And I know he didn't really have to do too much in this game. he did have a couple of nice saves, as I said earlier on in the third period. But to have five shutouts at the halfway point of the season, that is impressive. And his last two to three appearances have been really sharp. I know there's this thing going around that he kind of turns into a pumpkin after the new year hits.

And he did look a bit shaky, especially in that Capitals game. But ever since then, I feel like he's played the way he has for most of the season. And he's given them really strong goaltending. and is playing like someone who should be making over $5 million per year, I should say. Another really good performance from him. I would expect him to get the game in Vegas on Saturday. The Penguins have quite a few days off here, but he is showing why he should at least be right now the 1A goalie

and probably should be for the rest of the season. He's had some really strong starts over the last week. Or I shouldn't even say starts. He came in relief during the Vancouver game. I should say strong appearances over the last week, week and a half. It's nice to see that he's rebounding because this was always kind of the problem the last few years is that there would be a lull in the season at some point. There would be a down side, a few down moments.

He would have a bad start or not look good in relief. And then there would be a two or three week period where he kind of fell apart. But then he'd figure it out. Getting rid of that and being consistent was the biggest challenge. And so far this year, he has seemed to answer. that bell. He's answered bad start. He has more than answered for the rough start of the season. He's been fairly consistent the rest of the way. Now he's tied again for the league lead and shutouts, which is huge. And yesterday was, again, something that we have said about him plenty of times.

He didn't have to be spectacular. He didn't have to come in and steal the game. He just needed to make the saves he needed to make. And he did exactly that because the penguins controlled the game the rest of the way. Just so long as you don't lose the game, you're doing your job as a penguin's goal. I agree. I mean, you've been saying that throughout this season here on the show. And when I was talking about Dr. earlier, I didn't want to disrespect Alex Adelkevich or anything, because he has been tremendous as well. I'm glad that they have the tandem that they have. My overall point was that I'm just glad that Tristan is playing like the starter that I feel like we all know he can be in playing like that 1A goalie that, in my opinion,

will probably get the early nod over in Adelkevich if this team was to make the playoffs, especially if he continues to play at this level. That's all good there. And just to wrap up a show here, overall, when you look at the playoff race, this is tight man. I mean, the penguins are in a big dog fight right now. They're tied for fourth in the metro, but they have the tiebreaker because they have more wins than the Islanders. And oh, yeah, they've also beaten the Islanders twice.

They're one point ahead of the Devils. They're a couple ahead of the Capitals. but the wildcar race, they're only one point out. It was bad to start the year, but Crosby, Jari, the core in general, has gotten this team back into the race,

and that's all you can ask for heading into the second half of the season now. That's the biggest thing, I think. You got to keep stacking the points here. And there's going to be, we've been kind of talking about the way this team won yesterday and how they need to continue to play the rest of the way out, well you're looking to lead up to the all-star break coming up here in the next week you have a lot of very good opponents Vegas the coyotes are surprising and have good gold tending the florida panthers are still very good yeah

Montreal is not that great but still this is they're in the hl every time they play them and then once you come out of the all-star break it starts you're getting right back at it you've got winnipeg and then they're one of the better teams in the league Minnesota, not that great, but still, that's going to be, like we said, a flurry night. So good luck with that. Winnipeg again, then Florida, then the Blackhawks, okay. But there are a lot of really tough opponents coming up in this stretch. And with the way the playoff races, you have to keep playing the way you've been playing in stacking points because one or two off nights,

all of a sudden, you're three, four points out of a playoff spot, and it gets a lot harder to get in. And it's funny you say that because that's what happened with the New York Islanders over the last week to 10 days. This team was second to third in the Metropolitan Division just a week ago. And now they find themselves out of the playoff spot heading into their next game just because they got shut out by the Minnesota out. And speaking of that, we're going to discuss Mark Andre Fleury and how he hit another major milestone on Monday night and also helped out his former team in the Penguins by shutting out the Islanders in the final segment. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about Sleeper, which is the official daily fantasy app of the locked on NHL network. Sleeper is our number one choice for daily fantasy sports and especially daily fantasy hockey.

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NHL career. He got win number 552, and he now has the second most wins out of any goalie in NHL history. and I know I'm selling that kind of scoss at the wins stat each season for goalies and the NHL, but I'm not going to for this. 552 wins throughout your career is insanely impressive. Only one other goalie has more wins than you, and that's Marty Broder, who is a top three goalie of all time. 552, man, just crazy that he's been able to do this for so long.

And oh yeah, he helped out the penguins in the process. He shuts out the New York Islanders to keep the penguins in four. fourth place in the Metropolitan Division or at least keep them with their tiebreaker head of the Islanders. Another strong performance from him. And the Wilder going to honor him. They're going to call this Mark Andre Fleury Knight. They're going to do a pregame ceremony for their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins

on Friday, February 9th. That's going to be awesome. I can't wait to watch that and just see the pregame ceremony. Congratulations to Flower on another milestone. And the best Penguins goal tender in the franchise's history. I'll hand it over to you for more. Yeah, this is always tough to me because you guys all know I was a foot soldier in the Murray-Flurry era that just I got so tired of the discourse around it because people just refused to accept that it was the right decision at the right time no matter which way you cut it. It was.

But he's an all-time great. He's a first ballot Hall of Famer as soon as his name comes up when he's, he hangs up the skates, the hall is going to induct him because he deserves it. Between the Vesna Trophy, the three Stanley Cups, now the wins record, he's very much a first ballot, no doubt, or Hall of Famer. But the thing that makes it so bizarre to me is outside of the one year with Vegas, you really can't say that he was like the most dominant best goalie on the planet. He's always been among the best in the league.

If anybody tells you otherwise, they're just lying to you. But it's incredible to watch because you look at a lot of the names that he's around right now with the wins record. Waubrador, Belfour, a couple others, Roberto Luongo. And you remember a run of time when those guys were on top of the mountain. They were the best goalie in the league. When your team played their team, chances are you were getting one, two goals max. and a lot of it was going to be because of the goaltender. Then you look at Mark Andre Fleury's career, and it's very weird.

It was always very good. He had a three or four year stretch with the penguins where it wasn't really that great. And in the playoffs, he was an active liability. But he also has been doing this for almost 20 years now. And that's a feat within itself. So he is one of the best goalies in the history of the league. and he has done it simply because he's been able to do it for so long. Not many goalies can do it this consistently for this long in the NHL.

But he's been able to just because, as you said, he's one of the greatest goalies in NHL history. And when the hall comes calling, he will get in probably on the first try because he deserves it. Yeah, he had some screwups for the Penguins from 2010 to 2013, did not play well in the playoffs, whether that's the Montreal series, whether that's even the Lightning Series, though.

I kind of throw that one out the window a little bit just because the Penguins didn't have Cindy Crosby or Gany Malkin. 2012, I'll definitely put him in there. He wasn't good against Flyers, and then in 2013, wasn't good against the Islanders. But outside of that, I will say in the playoffs, he's been mostly pretty good. 2008, he was one of the biggest reasons why they got to the Cup final.

2009, obviously he makes the save on Nick Lidstrom in game seven. He was fine in the playoffs that year. He wasn't as good as he wasn't 2008, but he still was able to do the job. for the penguins. And then even after 2013, fine in 2014, 2015, he was fine. 2016. He didn't really play that much, but 2017, I'll always say Florida started it,

and especially against that series against the capitals, he was, I think, the main reason why they won that series. But Murray. Yeah, they don't beat the capitals without Mark Andre. They don't. There's no chance. And you said it too. It was the right call to go to Murray when they did because Flurry was a lot older at the time.

and you always go with someone who is a bit younger and especially who has a track record. I understand it didn't work out. It is what it is, but they made the right call. It was not a disrespect to Mark Andre Fleury. I will say, though, when Florey eventually decides to retire, I hope he does sign a one-day contract to retire as a member of the Hanglins. And maybe that's the fan in me coming out. It probably is, to be honest, because I loved watching Flurry growing up as a kid and as a teenager.

But I really do hope that that happened just because he saw, a lot of his best years with the Penguins. And I think it will be really cool for that to happen whenever he decides to call it, whether it's after this season or after next season, whenever it is. Well, two quick things on that. One, depending on how Alex Nadelcovic does the rest of this year, he might be off getting starter money somewhere next year. And if Mark Andre Fleury wants to come home for a season and split starts,

I could see it happening and making it his farewell tour. And then I want to ask you this before we go. See, the biggest thing with that, I just wanted to, I didn't mean to cut you off. The biggest thing with that, it's a good discussion. I know. The biggest thing with that, though, is how much pressure would be on Tristan each start, especially if he screws up, right? He allows a couple bad goals.

What happens at PBG if that happens, Pat? You know, what chance start to happen every time he starts to potentially have a bad game? It's just, I don't know. I get what you're thinking there. And I think it would make sense, but the pressure Andre would go sky high. Even though it's pretty high right now, it would go even higher, to be honest. And with PPG in mind, the one thing I want to ask you, because I know my answer, when he does hang up the pads and take the mask off, does 29 hang from the rafters at PPG paints arena?

This is a really tough call because I'm very stingy when it comes to. two Jersey retirements. Yager is obviously the right call. Crosby's going to go up there. Malkin will go up there. Let's hang will go up there. You can make an argument either way for 29. In my opinion, I'm going to go, no.

I don't think he should be up there just because of how sacred it is. Yes, Lori was here for quite a long time. He just hasn't been here as long as the Corps three. were and what they have all accomplished with the organization, I would put them up there before Flurry. That may ruffle some feathers for people that are listening to slash watching this episode, but I would lean towards, no, again, that might be an unpopular opinion, but that's my take on it. What say you? I think you do. I think it does get retired. I can see it. If you think about it, he was the first domino in this era of Penguin's hockey.

was the first one. That was the first guy who got it. He was the first guy that came in that brought us into this era. He was here for three Stanley Cups and an appearance in a fourth Stanley Cup final. He is one of the most beloved figures in the history of the franchise, just both on and off the ice. And we did this, we did this little trivia question. I want to see if you remember it. You remember who wore 29 before him? He said it. And I'm, I'm, I totally forgot by now. Just say it. Brooks or a pick. Right. It was Brooks Lord pick before he took 44. And you know who's worn 29 since Mark Andre Fleury left? Nobody.

Nobody. It has pretty much been soft retired by the organization. I'd be willing to bet that if somebody came in and asked for 29, they would say, no, you don't get to wear that number. So I think. I'm not going to be mad if they do it. Don't get me wrong. I mean, I will go to PPG and it will be a hell of a night for all the fans in the

organization in general and especially to everyone who grew up watching him and has just been a fan of him forever. It's going to be a special night if it happens. I just, you know, I guess I'm more stingy on Jersey retirements than some other people are, which is, which is fine. I don't mind being that way, but I can easily see the argument that you made being the one that wins out the day. And honestly, if I had the yes, it probably will win out the day, to be honest. I think it will too. and it's much deserved for everything that he's done for this franchise and in his career. And it's the team that everybody that everybody associates him with. And one last thing before we go, I wanted to thank you.

I wanted to thank the listeners. I wanted to thank the viewers. And I wanted to thank our little community because today is 100 episodes for me on the Locked on Penguins podcast. and here's to 100 more because you guys have been awesome and I'm loving every second of it. There'll be plenty more. Again, I wouldn't want to do this with anyone else.

I'm glad that I was able to bring you on about halfway through last year, a little over halfway through last year. And it's been awesome. I really appreciate you coming on here to give your takes on this team. And you are a tremendous ghost. I'll always say it, man. So I appreciate it. But that will do it for this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast.

Hopefully the Penguins will see Mark Andre Fleury in net. when they have Mark Andre Fleury Knight on Friday, February 9th. Hopefully John Hines is not a little bit of a sponge there and starts spill up dustus. And I don't think he will, but I'm sure it's going to be Mark Andre Fleury for that game. But again, that will do it for this alone. We'll be back with another episode for you all on Wednesday. The Penguins have a pretty long break here. They don't play until Saturday when they go to Vegas to take on the Golden Knights.

And that's a going to Knights team that is really banged up right now. William Carlson's hurt. Shea Theodore is hurt. and oh yeah, Jack Eichel is now hurt as well. We'll preview that game a little later on this week, but we'll be back with another episode for you all on Wednesday.