Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins GROUNDED by the Jets in Winnipeg look to bounce back in Toronto

Episode Date: November 3, 2025

The Penguins had their first "bad luck" game of the season, falling to the Winnipeg Jets 5-2 over the weekend. Patrick and Hunter begin the show discussing the Penguins' loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday, and while the score made it look bad, it was more of a bad luck loss where nothing seemed to go right for the Penguins. They also talk about the play of Harrison Brunicke, who while still very promising, has one glaring weakness that could spell the end of his nine-game tryout (0:00). Then, they get you ready for the final game of this Penguins' road trip, which will conclude against the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team that while still talented, has struggled out of the gate. They get into what the Penguins need to do against the Leafs to get back into the win column. (12:38) Finally, the Penguins' challenging two weeks will conclude soon, but not before they face the likes of the Washington Capitals, New Jersey Devils, and Los Angeles Kings. For the Penguins, it's a week to prove that they may be better than many thought, and to make a statement. (25:58)Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHLfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.MonarchTake control of your finances with Monarch. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at https://monarch.com/lockedonnhl for 50% off your first year.FanDuelDownload the FanDuel app now by visiting FanDuel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Happy Monday, everybody, and unfortunately, as we wake up this Monday morning, the Pittsburgh Penguins have fallen all the way to second in the NHL. We're going to recap the Winnipeg game and more right after this. Your Locked on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Lockedon Podcast Network, your team every day. 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 the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can follow our show's Twitter account at L.O. underscore Penguins. You can also find us on Instagram at Locked On underscore Penguins. And of course, we appreciate you making us part of your daily routine. Don't forget, we are free and available wherever you get your podcasts as well as YouTube. And if you're following us on YouTube, 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.

Before we jump into it, this episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use our promo code Locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. more on them later. Hunter, it was a tough one in Winnipeg for the Pittsburgh Penguins this past weekend as they fall to the Jets five to two, unfortunately taking them all the way down to second place in the overall NHL standings. So we weep this Monday morning for such a fall. But all jokes aside, I actually didn't hate the way the penguins played against the Jets. I thought they actually put up a pretty solid performance. They just got behind the eight ball early, end up having too much of a deficit to make up.

And when you go up against the team as talented and complete as Winnipeg, you give them that big of a lead. It's going to become near impossible to break. So overall, didn't hate their effort, didn't hate the. the way they played, but you give up two goals in the first three minutes of the game and you're chasing it the rest of the way. It's going to be really difficult for you to come back against a team like the Jets. And even beyond that, Pat, they just took the first three minutes off. They were not ready to start this game and Winnipeg pounced on them 15 seconds in. That first goal, man, she loves

has got to have that. That's a really bad angle. Puck gets banked off him and in. He's got to do a better job there. I don't think she loves really had that good of a performance in this one. This was arguably his worst performance of the season, in my opinion. He's just got to be a lot better in that situation there to not allow the puck to be banked off him and in. And then Pat, a couple minutes later, Brad Lambert scores, Harrison Brood needs to be a lot better around the net front there. I thought he really struggled in this game. Pat, he does have one more game on the nine game trial. We'll have to see.

Like, is this trending towards him potentially going back to Cam Loops? I really did not like his effort in this one. I was really excited especially to see the pickering Brunich pairing did not go as planned. They were out. Yeah, let's park on that for a second because before we talk about the rest of the game. I said this to you during the game. I said it on social media. This isn't me suddenly declaring Harris and Brunich a bust.

It's not me walking back any of the other comments I've had about him. I think he is without a doubt. aside from maybe Owen Pickering, if you still want to classify him as a prospect, their top defensive prospect in the system. But his one glaring weakness right now is almost the one glaring weakness you can't have as a defenseman. And his net front defense is very subpar, whether it's positioning, whether it's tying up sticks.

And if that wasn't the only weakness or if, If that was not a weakness, I would say it would be perfectly fine to let him work through it at the NHL level, let him figure it out. But the entire operation falls apart because if you're not able to defend the net front well enough, you're going to give up grade A chances and you're going to leave your goaltender no matter who it is. We have our takes and thoughts on Shilov's and Jari, but it doesn't really matter which goaltender is in the net. If you're giving up that prime real estate and giving up big time chances. So I want to see if he gets one more shot, but given this is his one glaring deficiency right now, that is a flashing red light.

Right. And his inability to take away some of the cross-ice passes, the last couple of games that he's played has definitely also been a little bit of a red flag. So he has one more game left of the nine game trial. We'll have to see if he gets it tonight against the Maple Leafs. and then they'll have their full decision to make if they want to keep him up for the rest of the year or send him back to Canloops and he can also get time at the rural juniors and all that, which I also think if they do decide to send him back, Pat, I do think getting into the world juniors will also be very important. Again, that's if they make that decision.

But I do not think he played very well against Winnipeg. But after the first three minutes, all of the penguins settled, they found their legs, they started forechecking. The biggest difference to me in this game, it was two things, and it's two things that the penguins have had all season. Goaltending in scoring. Penguins have been getting the saves all season so far. They are riding a very strong shooting percentage for the most part all season. They didn't get either one in this game, and you know what?

That's going to happen on some games. And Eric Kamri, shout out to him, he was very good in this game throughout those 60 minutes. He made a lot of really big. And they'll say he's filling in for Connor Hellebuck. So, you know, it's. One game, you flush it down the drain, you move on to the next. I'm more curious, Pat, how do you respond after a game like this? You were getting blasted on the scoreboard, at least, even though I felt like the effort was there.

How do you respond to a game like this? Last time they got blasted on the scoreboard, at least Pat, remember the Ranger game? They went out, had a really nice winning streak right after one for their next five games. They can respond like that. And to that end, that's also something even before, because we're going to obviously preview tonight's game against the Maple Leafs in our second segment that I think they deserve a ton of credit for because this is a game that I don't want I know I've been saying this a lot this season but overall their effort in this game was really good you could see this was the kind of game

that they had been waiting to show up in one way or another that was lurking around the corner where they just don't get the bounces they have been getting they don't get the breaks they have been getting the puck doesn't go in as frequently but they played a mostly a full 60 we'll talk you know the first three minutes were pretty rough but away from that they kept pushing all game long and it's like you said you had a game where the puck wasn't going in as frequently they were not getting the best of bounces defensively but overall i look at their game i look at the way they played it and they they kept pushing right until the very end. And on a night where halfway through the game, you're down for nothing, it is human nature

to go, not our night, not our day. We got to get out of this healthy. We got to get out of this and head to Toronto and play our next game. But they just kept on pushing. Crosby gets a pretty painful power play goal as a pretty hard shot, hits him off of Carlson, goes into the net. then Blake Lazotte just gets a blue collar until I hear a whistle. I'm not stop and play.

And you look at it and go, it's four, too, with about half the period to go. And we'll see what they do. They try. They come up short. Kyle Connor gets the empty netter. And just end of the day, I will take that effort in a game where you are not at your best early on or things aren't going your way. So they have another opportunity to write the ship when they play Toronto tonight.

The process was very much there in this game. It wasn't like they were caved in or anything like that. You look at the five-on-five metrics that match the eye tests. Penguins have 51% of the shot attempts. They had 51% of scoring chances. High danger was dead even at five-on-five. And Pat, there were expected goals worth 3.35 for this game. The Jets was at 3.39.

So again, you had a little bit of the better of the play, but you didn't get the balances and you didn't get the saves. Now that this loss happened, how do you respond? That is what I am curious about. So let's see it. Yeah, and it's a big opportunity tonight in Toronto against a team that has kind of stumbled out of the gate. They're trying to figure out what kind of team they are, and they are ripe for the picking for the penguins who have, as we know, are off to a really, really good start. And I'll just say one more thing, Pat, winning in Winnipeg is very hard.

That is a loud building. It is rowdy there. So don't really react to this loss. Winnipeg is a very good team. It is a very tough place to play. But we talked about one of the losses recently. Is this just a one-off or is this the start of a potential trend? Well, they answer the question the first time, Pat.

So they have a big opportunity tonight. For sure. And good on you for bringing that up. I should have said that almost off the top. Winnipeg is not a house of horrors for the Pittsburgh Penguins. It's a house of horrors for the national hockey league. That is a difficult place not only to play, but a difficult place to win. And as I was starting to say, we're going to preview the Toronto game tonight against the Maple Leafs.

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com code locked on NHL for half off your first year. Back here on the Monday edition of Locked on Penguins, I'm Patrick Damp. running right alongside my good buddy, Hunter, Hodes. And it's the Kyle Dubus Bull, Hunter. It is the Penguins. It is the Maple Leafs in Toronto at 730 tonight. And this is a really interesting game to me tonight, because we were talking before we hit record. I don't know what the Maple Leafs are. And I don't mean that in a totally negative way. I'm not trying to dunk on the Maple Leafs. I'm not trying to dunk on the Maple Leafs. I'm trying to make fun of the Leafs.

But you can kind of see this is definitely a team in transition this season going from their Core 4 era where they had Matthews, Marner, Nielander, Tavares. Obviously, Marner leaves to go to Vegas this summer. They don't really do a ton to replace him. But I also look at this Maple Leafs team and I go, yeah, they're not as good without Mitch Marner, but I wouldn't call them. bad either. They're kind of a run-of-the-mill playoff team where if they get the right matchup,

as of right now, they can maybe win around, but anything more, unless they make a really big splash of the trade deadline, I would be surprised. It's very hard to replace a 100-point player during one off-season. You kind of have to do a multi-year process with replacing that type of player. And honestly, Pat, they didn't really do enough to even come close to replacing him during this off-season. And you look at their numbers so far this season. They have 3.58 goals for per game.

That is top 10 in the league. That is fairly good so far. But, you know, you start to go down a little bit. Their production has really only come from three players this season so far. And Matthews is, he's going to get going. But John Tavares has been great. He has six goals and 16 points in 12 games. Matthew Nyes has been really good, 15 points in 12 games.

Willie Nealander had three goals and 15 points in nine games. Pat, he said he was good to go for tonight. He's been a little bit banged up. So he is coming back. That is huge for them, considering that he is one of their four best players. And then Matthews, he has six goals tied for the team league with John Tavares. But only nine points in 12 games. He's going to get going a little bit more.

But those are the main four that you have to worry about with this team. Their power play, it's among the worst in the league this year at right around 12%, 29th in the NHL. their power play is really, and I mean really missing Mitch Marner, just with the playmaking ability that he had on that unit, they have not come close to replacing that. So this leaves team so far, their goals four per game, that's solid.

Their expected goals, 12th at 5 on 5. That's not bad. Their goaltending could still be a little bit better. Stollors has not really been that good to start the year so far. I mean, you look at his numbers, Pat, nine games, four, four, and one, 8.93 is 8.3.3. It's 3.1.3 goals against average. I think this is a goalie that can be had, not even above 900 right now. I would like to think that's going to turn around, but I'm still not fully sure. They just been very up and down this year. It's kind of very jekyll and

high with the leaf sweater. You're not really sure what you're going to get. Again, I think this is a playoff team. I just don't think they are a contender right now. No, I think that, like you said, barring a big splash at the deadline. This is a team that will make the playoffs, maybe win around, and then when the big boys start playing, it's going to be a bit of a struggle for them. But I also look at this team as one that there is a lot of potential there. We saw last year Anthony Stollers was looking like their answer in net.

He really had himself a solid season, and it looked like the Leafs finally got the starting goalie. they had been missing for so long. You go up and down their lineup. Matthew and I's off to a really hot start. That kid is for real. He is going to be a problem for quite some time in the Atlantic Division. But then you look at the rest of the roster.

You have Nick Robertson who it's up and down with him. It's hot and cold. There's a couple weeks where he looks like he's going to be a really good depth piece, a really good young forward in the NHL. And then he goes a few weeks where he goes cold. and he doesn't really do a whole lot for it. The same goes for Max Domi. He's the kind of player who, when he is hot, he is damn near unstoppable,

but when he goes cold, he goes ice cold. There is no middle ground for him. So for the Penguins tonight, like you said, the biggest thing they're going to have to focus on is those top three. Tavares, Nyes, Nielander, and yes, I should say four with Matthews, but Matthews hasn't had that hot of a start, but you know that's not going to last. So you want to keep him as ineffectual as you can.

You want to slow those guys down. And most importantly, this is a night where we're going to find out how good the penguin's offense actually is because they're going to have a game where you're playing a team where you look at the Leafs defense. I like their top pairing of Riley and Carlo. That is a very, very. very good top pairing. The rest of the way, though, Benoit McCabe, not terrible, not great. OEL Myers, that's a hell of a luxury having OEL on your third pair.

But overall, you combined a defense that isn't terrible, but I wouldn't put it up with the best in the league. And Stolars, who is starting tonight, has struggled out of the gate. That is something you have to take advantage mixed with. their power play should be lethal. It's not. Keep that going. Your penalty kill for the Penguins has been really good the last few games.

Keep that momentum going. 100%. Special teams, as always, is going to be a big key in this one. The Penguins penalty kill. I wouldn't say they're going to be licking their chops just because the least power play can still strike at any time, even though they've been really poor this year. But it's still a better matchup as of right now compared to some of the other top power plays that they have faced, but hell, you know, they just face the Wilds power play, which has been

lethal to start the year, and they handle that with ease. So you hope for the same here, the Penguins Power Play, ranked number two in the league, scored again against Winnipeg. You want to see them continue to do their thing. I expect Pat that Tristan Jari will start in this one, and considering the way that he has played this year, Penguins will have an edge in goal. But I just want to see a response, you know, at least on the scoreboard, you were getting blasted for a lot of that game on Saturday. How do you respond, even though, for the most part, the process was there. We also have to see if Justin Brazo is going to be healthy for the Penguins.

He missed Saturday's game. He was day-to-day with an injury. Morning skate is happening right now. We'll check for updates as we go into our final segment and look at the full week ahead because the Penguins have a lot more tests coming later on this week, especially against Washington and New Jersey. The Devils have been lighting everyone up to start the year. But another thing to have that we always have to mention with Toronto,

you don't want to get into a track meet with them just because how much high-end talent they still do have, even without Mitch Marner, I do not recommend that. Penguins really haven't played too many, you know, track meet style games this year. Dan Mus has done a good job, you know, really preventing that type of game from coming in. We saw it a little bit against the ducks. That was also a ton of fun to watch. But you don't need to see that every game considering the defense that the Penguins have. But, yeah, like those are just a couple, you know, of my keys to victory.

I guess if you want to call it, things to watch out for tonight against the Maple Leafs. I definitely think this is a team that can be had just because they've been very inconsistent this year. The vibes there just haven't really been the same compared to the last few years. No, and it does kind of feel like they did need that reset just because there was so much hope potential. And I'm not saying this from a let's dunk on Leafs fans because they underachieved. But it was one of those where you looked at it and went, this is not working. We can't swing. we can't have these wild swings over and over where they look like they are inevitable in the Atlantic to where you go, oh, no, they're not. They're going to screw up.

You have to find some equilibrium, and that's going to be a season or two of transition for the Maple Leafs. You know Austin Matthews is maybe one of the greatest goalscores to ever play the game. He's actually scoring at a faster pace than Ovechkin did at this age. So keep an eye on that. William Nealander is just maybe the most understated quiet superstar in hockey. He is incredible and you don't hear enough about him. So again, this is a game where you said it. You should have a response after what happened in Winnipeg.

But I will add this. I don't think you need to have a big response. I'm going to step a little bit on our good pal over on Locked-on Steelers Chris Carter's toes here for a sec. The Steelers beating up on the Colts this weekend through their defense. That was a response that the Steelers needed because the noise grew so loud about how poor their defense was playing. And it was about pride. It was about everyone needs to shut the hell up. We are still very good.

For the Penguins, you just had a bad luck game where you did most things right. A couple bad bounces didn't go your way. You don't need to get too high or too low. You don't need to look at the Winnipeg game as, oh, no, we suck again. You just look at it as had an off night, got behind the eight ball. We trust and believe in what we're doing. Let's get back to it when we go play Toronto on Monday night. 100%.

And a couple other players to watch out for. Easton Cowan just got his first NHL goal. He is a very good young player. So definitely have your eye on him. He's been on the second line with Tavaris lately. But now that Nealander's back, I think he actually might go down. We'll have to see Matthias Machelli, who they, got over the off season. I actually like him. He has a couple of goals already. Dakota Joshua

as a debt player. I've always liked him as well. So they do have some solid debt players that you do have to watch out for, of course, Max Domey. He's always a pest to play again. So just throwing out a few other names that even though, you know, they're not big names, you know, at least for East and Cowan potentially not yet. There's still players you got to at least watch out for when you're on the ice. But you know, this is going to be a fun one. 7.30 p.m. tonight people. Sportsnet Pittsburgh, and I believe it's also on NHL Network for you out of town folks. Yes, that is correct. As Hunter said, 730 Sportsnet Pittsburgh, NHL Network.

If you are not in the Pittsburgh region, big one tonight, the Kyle Dubus Bowl, live from Toronto, as the locals say. But that is going to do it for our middle segment. When we come back, Toronto is not the only test that the penguins have this week. their big couple weeks continues into this one, and we will make sure you're ready for that when we come back right after this. But first, we've got our final sponsor of the day and the title sponsor of today's episode, and that is game time.

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terms apply. Again, that is code L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-H-L for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go game time. Wrapping up the Monday edition of Locked-on Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp right alongside Hunter Hodes and Toronto. That ain't going to be the only test the Pittsburgh Penguins face this week. They have got Toronto tonight in Toronto. then they're back home real quick on Thursday when they welcome in Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. Then on Saturday they've got a back-to-back.

They will take on the New Jersey Devils at 1230 on Saturday afternoon. And then they are right back at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday. 2 o'clock start against the L.A. Kings. So if any of you sickos want to have yourself a true yins or day, on Sunday. You got the Penguins at 2 and the Steelers at 8 at Accresure Stadium. So big weekend for Pittsburgh Sports. But Hunter for our Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto, Washington, New Jersey, L.A. This is not going to be an easy week. No. And we'll start with the Devils because that team is just lighting everyone up to start the year. Tied for first in Metro right now, of course with the penguins.

nine and four penguins of course are eight three and two jack hugh's man has been unreal to start this year solidifying himself at least early as a heart trophy contender and you look at the stats so far for the devils at a team 3.5 four goals for poor game again they're lighting up teams it feels like every night and we all know the penguin struggles in newark pat the no no bounds it's going to be another tough one, especially a 12.30 p.m. game on Saturday. Washington. So far the caps this year, they are not in a playoff spot. They're six, five, and one, a little bit more up and down so far compared to last year. And I honestly figured that was coming. I felt like everything for the capitals went right last year. They got elite goaltending. They wrote a very high

shooting percentage for basically the entire season. They got contributions from some of their players that had career years. And so far this year, you're seeing them come back down to earth a little bit. I still think when it's all said and done, this will be a playoff team, but I still don't have them as a true contender. This is still going to be a tough test. Alexoveschkin is still Alex of Etchen. Tom Wilson is still Tom Wilson.

They have other good top forwards. They still, their goaltending has been fairly solid so far to start the year. They play very stingy usually under Spencer Carberry. So that is going to be a tough game. and then you have LA, which they're five, four, and four. So you combine the overtime losses with the regulation losses. They're below 500. I still think when it's all done,

this is a better team on paper than what their record indicates. And I do think they're going to make the playoffs by the end of the season. The Penguins struggled against them a little bit in their first matchup, but then they were able to really wake up for the final two periods, especially a third one when they really outplay the Kings in that third period. But you're going up against some bona fide teams this week. And, you know, how they do, I think it's going to be a good indicator for the rest of this month. Because after that, Pat, after Sunday, they don't play again until when the Sweden games against Nashville.

So they will have a lot of time off after this upcoming Sunday. Really big stretch where you're going up against some true top teams, at least, especially New Jersey to start the year. Washington was a playoff team last year. L.A. was a playoff team last year. How do you respond after that loss from Winnipeg? again it's the third time saying it but i'm going to be curious to see i am too and i look at this week as if you can come out with some semblance of a split you have had yourself a solid week if you if you can go two and two two one and one obviously the ideal is four and oh but let's not be

unrealistic even three and one would also be outstanding against this schedule absolutely and i also want to take a second to talk about the caps here because I look at them as like you said, everything for them what last year went right, everything that they needed to go right, went right. I also do look at it as they got a lot of a lift during the Ovechkin goal chase. And that's not to minimize what he did at all. It is the greatest thing I have ever seen in hockey in my life. It seemed like a record that was going to stand forever and ever on men. OV laughed and went, just kidding, I'm going to break it. But the team was all in on that.

They were all in on getting OV that record. And it wasn't, you know, saying getting, forcing the puck to him or trying to get him over the hump. They were just playing really good hockey in service of chasing that record. Now that it's in the past, a little bit different. Like, yeah, he's going for 900. and he's doing all this stuff, but you're not chasing that history. And that definitely lifted that team a little bit. Still a very good team.

Like you, I still see them making the playoffs. They are still a very talented team. Then you look at the rest of the week. We've already talked about Toronto. I'm almost counting Saturday as a schedule loss because they just never have it in Newark. It's not only a game in Newark. It's a noon 30 game. That is never fun for Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh. And then Sunday, you've shown you can beat L.A. You have shown that you have what it takes to to beat the Los Angeles Kings. You just have to get back to that. And then it's a week to empty the tank because like you said, you finish your game, your afternoon game against the L.A. Kings. And then you go to Sweden, which is going to be tough, but you get four days off between that game. And then you play on Friday afternoon at 2 o'clock in Sweden. Then you are off that Saturday. And then you play at 9 a.m. local time Sunday against the Preds for the second game.

And then it's four days off again. Yeah. So for the Penguins, this week is a huge test. But what comes at the end of it gives you the chance to say, we can go all out for these four games. And we get some rest and we go play our international games. And then we get rest at the end of that.

So huge opportunity. but they have to reach out and take it. Right. I mean, at the end of this week, they'll have three games and four nights. That's tough for any team. Hopefully they're not sitting there for the LA game being like, who we may not have it for this one.

We're pretty gas, but I still expect them to go all out just because they'll have all that time off. Then you're playing a Predator's team that has really struggled to score this year. This Predator's team has not been good. You've seen Steven's Damcoast and trade rumors already. The vibes are rancid down in national. field right now. That is just not a good team. So I agree. If you can go to one in one, two and two, hell obviously three and one four knows the goal, but I'll even settle for two one and one.

That's a successful week for me or even just two and two in general. I'm right there with you. Big opportunity for the penguins, not only to continue to stack points, but to really show the rest of the NHL that they might be for real. And obviously, we are going to be your place for all of that. right here on the locked on penguins podcast. That'll do it for our Monday edition. We will be back on Tuesday to recap this game against the Toronto Maple Leafs as well as cover any other news that might happen between now and then. So for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp. Thank you as always for tuning in and we will be back on Tuesday.