Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins head coach Dan Muse gives a STRONG first impression!

Episode Date: June 11, 2025

The Pittsburgh Penguins have a new coach in Dan Muse and he introduced himself to the media on Wednesday. Hunter and Patrick give their takeaways from his introductory press conference and how he cont...inues to impress, but the actions have to meet the words. Then, a bombshell report from Pierre LeBrun states that Mario Lemieux and his ownership group are potentially exploring re-acquiring the team from Fenway Sports Group. They break down what it would mean for the Penguins and whether or not it's a good thing. Finally, they celebrate June 11th since the Penguins went back-to-back on this day eight years ago.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHLfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply. Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.Wonderful PistachiosGet snackin' and get crackin' with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more! FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new FanDuel customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins!FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan News was introduced to the media on Wednesday, and Pat and I are going to give our immediate reactions to what he had to say right after this. You're Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-host, Pat, you can follow him on all social media platforms at Cylum for Wet.
Starting point is 00:00:39 And you can follow these shows, Twitter, at Eldo underscore Penguins. Of course, thank you all so much for making this, your first lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on a platform. So we finally saw Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan News speak to the media for the first time on Wednesday. And Pat, I don't normally like overreacting to these intro press conferences because you can learn a little bit about who he is, but you're going to learn the most once camp starts, once the preseason gets underway, and especially once the regular season gets underway, and we have a sample size to work with when it comes to his system, his ideas, his innovations, and all that good stuff.
Starting point is 00:01:16 But everything that he said during the presser today made me realize that I think he is more than ready for this opportunity. I said last week when he was hired that this could be Kyle Dubus's Spencer Carberry moved, and I still got that vibe after watching his presser this morning. I thought Muse had some really good answers about what he's looking for from his players and his overall vision. He also had an interview with Haley Hunter after, which was really good. I liked that he went into how he coached Rucker McGroarkey, how excited he is about coaching McGroorty again. He talked about the core players, what he's expecting out of them.
Starting point is 00:01:49 The younger players talked about two-way game, which Mike Sullivan cared a lot about that, especially during the height of his tenure, but I felt like to me, when I was watching this presser today, Dan Musme may care more about two-way play than Mike Sullivan, not saying something, considering how much Sullivan cared about it when the Penguins were obviously winning. But again, I'm just really pumped for a fresh coaching staff this season. I liked the vision that he laid out today. But again, I just don't want to overreact because we don't have any sample size to go off for meaningful games yet with the Penguins.
Starting point is 00:02:18 But I thought he looked apart today. It's a good start. It's a very good start in my estimation. And like you said, you don't want to overreact to an opening press conference because it doesn't really mean anything. can say all the right things. It's a matter of what you do once you start the job. That said, a lot of what he was saying fits right in line with, I think, what you and I were
Starting point is 00:02:43 looking for. He talked a lot about how he wants this team to grow and not just how he wants the young players to grow. He wants the veterans to grow. He wants the guys who come in in a transitional period that are looking for other gigs or looking to show that they can be part of a medium to long-term solution in Pittsburgh to grow. So I liked a lot of that. The biggest thing I came away with from this, more than anything, was there was a lot of confidence in the way he spoke.
Starting point is 00:03:15 And that does carry some weight because you think about the organization he's coming into coach. This isn't a team that, at least not in recent memory, just runs. through head coaches. This isn't an organization that isn't known for stability. This is an organization that has been overwhelmingly stable for about 25 years now. So you can't come in and mealy mouth your way around it. He spoke with a lot of confidence. He spoke with a lot of clarity. And at the end of the day, I think listening to what he had to say in the way he framed a lot of things, I'm getting more and more impressed with this hire by Kyle Dubus. And I know that you sent this to me, Hunter,
Starting point is 00:04:06 so I don't want to steal your thunder on it. Kyle Dubus did say something about the hiring of Dan Mews that was also extremely encouraging. I did like this quote and I'll read it to everyone here. Kyle Dubas said, I thought it would be a disservice to myself to just hire someone I know without going through the full process. Basically what that means people,
Starting point is 00:04:24 I don't want to hire someone I know and then I'm buddy, buddy with just for the same. of it. And hey, a lot of executives fall into that trap. You and I were coming on to the show throughout the process when Dan, not Dan Musil, obviously, when DJ Smith was really in there, and we were kind of like, hey, we don't want you just hiring your buddy for the sake of it just because you know him going back to your time in Toronto. But again, this has been a problem with executives all over the NHL. They love hiring their buddies. And even when a better candidate is out there, it just doesn't matter. So I really liked that Kyle Dubus made that point during the press
Starting point is 00:05:00 conference today. And there was one more quote from Dan Muse that I actually really liked as well. This is the really big kicker for me. He said, there is a period of transition here, but my approach is going to be working throughout the entire summer. I believe we have to work on both sides of the puck, and we will. We have to play with detail. That is the foundation to success. I love those last two sentences because I felt like the penguins weren't playing with any detail these last couple of reasons. It felt like they had gone too stagnant, too stale. They weren't doing the little things right. And I think Dam Euse can really install that back into the penguins with the tweaks that he wants to make to their game and all that stuff. So that to me, I think was the
Starting point is 00:05:39 big money quote. And I really like that damn you said that. Right. And our pal and frequent guest of this show, Jesse Marshall, had a great breakdown this morning about the type of style. that Dan Mews coaches in all three zones, not just his forecheck, not just his defensive zone coverage, his whole 200 foot strategy, as well as what he does on the penalty kill. And as we know,
Starting point is 00:06:02 those are things that have ailed the penguins for the past couple of seasons. Now, some of it is personnel driven. They have not had the greatest of teams over the past couple of years, but you could see that the structure was starting to break down quite a little bit,
Starting point is 00:06:18 regardless of who was playing. playing on the team. And you look at a lot of what Dan Mews tries to do. It is very puck support heavy. And I think that very similar to the end of the Dan Bilesma years, the end of the Mike Sullivan years got away from puck support. And it's going to be a big thing to see. So that to me, when you talk about Mews is the way he says he wants this team to pay
Starting point is 00:06:46 attention to the details to implement the kind of system that he, wants to implement or we assume he's going to want to implement because this could all change at the NHL level, there's going to be a lot of need for attention to detail when it comes to a puck support system because if one thing goes wrong in a system like that, it can spell disaster. Right. And I only went into a few minutes of the tape last week once the hire was announced. Jesse went into a ton of tape in his article. Please go check that out. He did a really good job. But it kind of confirmed what I saw Pat, even though it was only. for a few minutes. Puck support and puck pressure. Those are the two big pillars of his system.
Starting point is 00:07:25 And I'm really looking forward to seeing what he's going to do with the Penguins this fall and then into next season and then potentially beyond that as well. He also did say his coaching philosophy, it's relationship-based. He wants to get to know each person himself and then the coaching staff. And one more thing, Penguins video coach Madison Nichol is returning next season. Very good news for that. Madison Nicol, one of the best in the business in terms of video coaches. Mr. I, I will take your goals away when it comes to offside challenges. He is so good in that department, Pat. So I did want to shout out that to end this first segment.
Starting point is 00:07:57 Really good that he's coming back on the staff. Yeah, that's big because the penguins have the exact opposite problem that the Pittsburgh Steelers do. Whenever you saw a penguins coach challenge a play, you knew more than likely whatever they were challenging was going to be successful. Can't really say that for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The last thing I want to say about Mews is to go along with the confidence. The other thing that stood out to me was the reverence that he had for the organization and the job. He understands what he's walking into. He knows that this is a storied organization.
Starting point is 00:08:38 This is a storied team. There are future Hall of Famers currently on the roster. And he's not going to come in and poo poo those older guys. because he's a developmental coach. He is a guy who wants to get the most out of everybody that he has. And I know a bunch of people who are probably shaking their heads at me saying that, but it would be really easy with where this penguin's team is. And there have been some pundits who have suggested this,
Starting point is 00:09:07 and I think they need to go give their head a soak, that this was a hire maid to force out the veterans. Well, you've listened to the way he talked today. he has absolutely no intention of alienating those guys. All that said, again, I'm going to end where I began. The words are nice. We've got to wait to see the actions, but the words to start were pretty impressive.
Starting point is 00:09:32 I agree. Again, I'm just really looking forward to seeing what changes he makes during camp preseason and obviously during regular season games, but it was a good start. I liked everything that I heard today during the press conference, and we have to see what else he does to help the team over the offseason. and then, of course, into the regular season once he gets to start coaching actual games that means something for this team.
Starting point is 00:09:51 But that would do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, is there going to be another ownership change for the Pittsburgh Penguins? Pat and I are going to discuss that right after this. Looking for a snack that's both delicious and nutritious, crack into a good source of protein with wonderful pistachios. Wonderful pistachios is one of the highest protein nuts. Each one out serving has six grams of protein, giving you over 10% of your daily value.
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Starting point is 00:10:52 I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-s, Patrick Dammit. Pat, you and I were going over our notes, right as Pierre LeBron dropped this absolute bomb on Twitter, where he tweeted, hearing from sources that the group of Ron Berkel, Mary Lemieux, and David Morehouse are investigating the possibility of buying back the Pittsburgh Penguins Fun Friendly Sports Group. Remember people, Lemieux and company, They sold the Penguins to FSG in 2021.
Starting point is 00:11:16 We also have known for a while now that FSG has been looking to sell a partial share. And that's where the tweet kind of confuses me, man. Like, Mirle of Mew is already a minority owner of the team. He kept a small stake in the team when he sold the majority share to FSC. So are he, Berkwin-Morhouse, trying to buy back the majority share while FSG goes to the side? Are they just trying to buy back that partial share that's for sale while FSG still maintains the majority stakes of the team. It's just kind of worded weirdly.
Starting point is 00:11:49 We still really don't know. I will say this though, man. It would be nice having Mario Lemieux back just because he hasn't been around that much these last few years since selling the majority share of the team to FSG. And I will also say this about FSG. I think that ownership group takes a little bit too much crap from some fans in the fan base. They gave Kyle Dubas a pretty big contract. The Penguins still spend up to the salary cap literally every year.
Starting point is 00:12:13 here, this ownership group has a ton of money. They give Kyle Dubus every resource available to hire the best front office. They gave Mike Sullivan a crap ton of money as owners. Again, you can say what you want about that extension, but they still cared about this team. I feel like just some fans, they take it a little too far when it comes to FSC. But Pat, your thoughts about this move? And would it be good for this old ownership group to come back for a majority share of the team? or be that partial share that's for sale.
Starting point is 00:12:46 I'm debating in my head how I want to say this because I know I'm going to upset some people when I say this, but I don't want it. I don't. And I'll, I will kind of couch this a little bit. If they want to have like a majority, minority kind of deal, where it's still FSG, but the Lemieux group is also a lot. large part of it. I do think that could work because you would have a ton of money and resource
Starting point is 00:13:19 available between the two. And that can really go a long way. But I don't know if I want the Lemieux group to take over again. Because here's the thing. They have forever a place in our hearts for everything that they have done since they took over way back when they secured the new arena. they kept the team in Pittsburgh. They brought three Stanley Cups in that era, taking the total up to five. They did a lot of really good work, modernizing the franchise and everything else,
Starting point is 00:13:54 but we can't forget about the last couple years of their ownership. When Jim Rutherford resigned, they fumbled the bag pretty hard on a very crucial hire. And we have gone over and over about how bad the Ron Hextall year and a half experiment was. That's how much damage he did in a year and a half. And they hired a manager that could only do half of what they kind of wanted him to do. They wanted him to tear the thing down and start over, but they never really gave him a coherent direction.
Starting point is 00:14:35 And a lot of it, if you believe some of the reporting, which I am inclined to do, was that there was a lot of power play between each other in the background, not including Lemieux. Lemieux was just kind of like, I'm the figurehead, I'll help out when I need to, but between a lot of the people at the top, there was a lot of backstabbing and power plays and knifeing going on.
Starting point is 00:14:58 And while I'm not in love with Fenway Sports Group, I think they're fine. They're a pretty bog standard ownership group in the sports world. They're totally fine. Like, again, I think some Penguins fans just, hate them for the sake of hating them. Again, they've spent quite a bit of money on this organization. Again, they gave Kyle Dubis the keys to run this whole thing.
Starting point is 00:15:19 They stay out of his way and rightfully so. They don't really intervene with that stuff. They gave Mike Sullivan that big contract. You want to crap on them for that. Okay, whatever. They still gave him all that money. The Penguins still spend up to the salary cap every single year that they are owners. Like, I think there's some of the criticism of them is just a little bit misguise.
Starting point is 00:15:40 it to me. And here's the thing that I'll say about that. Going back to my original point, if this turns into a thing where, you know, FSG has the like 52% and the Lemieux group has like 48% or however you would want to break that down, I think that would work pretty well because you have the ownership group that stabilized the franchise that went through everything that they did has ties to the community and can do a lot more with community building and an economic building in the city. That would work well.
Starting point is 00:16:13 And then you have the big rich benefactor up at the top that is going to help with your influx of capital. But again, they always have a place in my heart for saving the team, keeping them here, getting PPG paints arena secured and built. But the way they ended it before they sold off to Fenway, I, to kind of get on what you were saying about how unfair some. fans are to FSG.
Starting point is 00:16:40 Yeah, they're not the legend. They're not Mario Lemieux. Even I was kind of sad and annoyed back in 21 when they sold the Fenway because they're a Boston group. They're not a Pittsburgh group and they had the greatest player in franchise history owned the team for the majority of my life. So it was definitely weird.
Starting point is 00:17:01 But at the end of the day, they did such a poor job at such a crucial moment in the team's history that I have a little bit of side eye for them. I do think that is a bit fair. And to your point about FSG, I would always see this take out there, social media, you know,
Starting point is 00:17:18 Reddit, all these other places. Oh, they're absentee owners. They're never around. They would have someone at games fairly often. They still do. They always have someone there watching games.
Starting point is 00:17:28 It's just that they hired Kyle Dubas to run the show. He's the GM and the president. And that's what he's doing. They're giving him the resources to try and succeed while kind of staying out of his way. But again, they're still around. So I again wanted to make that point. I do get what you're saying, though.
Starting point is 00:17:44 They fumbled the bag with that 100%. But to me, having Mario around would just be great once again. And yeah, I get it. He's been retired for a while. You know, he sells off the majority share. He goes and does the things that he wants to do. He's won five Stanley Cups, two as a player, three as an owner. but it would still be so awesome having him around so much more,
Starting point is 00:18:09 considering everything he has done for this organization, both on and off the ice. And I don't know, like some weird part about me, I don't know, this might be a weird take, but some part about me, it just feels like the Penguins haven't totally been the same since he just totally sold the big stake of the team and just became a minority owner.
Starting point is 00:18:29 Again, I'm not trying to crap on FSC here. I just literally defended them a little bit, but still part of the Penguins to me just hasn't felt the same since he kind of left just because he's not really around that much anymore. So I would love to see him come back around again. And also, Yarmu Yager is in Pittsburgh today. And I tweeted this. I'll say this again here.
Starting point is 00:18:47 If he somehow helps Mary Lemieux buy back a big portion of the team, I think the city might explode. But in all seriousness, Taylor Hoss did report exclusively that Yager met with Kyle Dubus and scouts today at the arena. That's one of the reasons why he was there. it looks like the main reason why he is there. Really cool that he's back. But I still, I had to make that point about him and Mario.
Starting point is 00:19:09 Yeah. And that comes back to the thing we've talked about, how there's been a ton of reports that Yager likely will be more involved with the franchise in the near future. And that was a little bit sent into flux after Kevin Acklin stepped down as the team's president of business operations because it was Acklin who did such a great job repairing the relationship. with the team in Yarmir Yager.
Starting point is 00:19:35 But the thing that I would like to see, if nothing else, I've been on record as saying this before, is you don't need them to be some sort of official hockey operations kind of scout or whatever. If you make him a team ambassador, especially over in Chequia, that's a huge asset to have because he is still a massive legend over there. and if he can go out there and spread the gospel of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Penguins,
Starting point is 00:20:06 that is something that in a hyper-competitive, hard salary-cap league can work in your favor. You find some guys who don't get scouted, some guys who fly under the radar, they can turn into good talents and come to your franchise because they met with Yarmar Yager. That's a hell of a weapon to have in your arsenal. 100%. And Kyle Dup was a company can rely on his expertise during some of these scouting meetings when they're looking at some players to sign, some players to draft, some players to trade for, and all that stuff.
Starting point is 00:20:33 So I'm glad that he met with Kyle Dubas and company today. And one more thing before we end this segment, Pat, Pierre added literally just a couple seconds ago, the ownership group of Lemieux, Morehouse and Berkel, they declined comment. And he said he's also hearing that Fenway is already talking to another group about the partial share. So there's a lot of moving parts.
Starting point is 00:20:51 I will say this. If they sell that partial share to another ownership group, oh, okay, they might be booed for an eternity. in this city, to be honest. Yeah, free piece of advice for you, FSG, if anybody from your outlet listens to this show, get this under control ASAP, because if you're going to sell anything right now
Starting point is 00:21:11 and you have the Lemieux Group's name in there, even for someone like me who's got my doubts, that's going to be a huge PR nightmare for you. So just proceed with caution here. I literally just spent a few minutes defending them from some of the fans that go a little bit too far. I will potentially join some of those fans a little bit if they mess this up and sell it to a different ownership group that has nothing to do with the city of Pittsburgh as well. Again, I've defended them a little bit, but you better make sure you're doing this right when it comes to selling the partial share or the majority share or whatever they decide to do because some of this is a little bit confusing right now.
Starting point is 00:21:48 But that'll do it for this second segment coming up to end the show. It's June 11th. You know what that means. the Penguins went back to back on this day in 2017. Pat and I are going to reminisce a little bit on that right after this. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-host, Pat Jam, happy June 11th day, my friend.
Starting point is 00:22:15 On this day, the Penguins went back to back in 2017, defeating the Nashville Predators in six games. And that entire run was so much fun. I still think the 2016 run for me of the three that I've been alive to watch is probably the most fun. but 2017 is right up there as well, seeing them go win that Stanley Cup without their best defensemen and a little bit of a makeshift defensive group, if I'm being completely honest,
Starting point is 00:22:40 without Letang in there, seeing Matt Murray and Mark Andre Fleury do their thing, seeing Afghani Malkin and Sidney Crosby really up their game when it matters most. It was everything I wanted in a Stanley Cup run and so much more. You know, that first round series against Columbus, the Blue Jackets played them fairly well, but the Penguins, they made Bob,
Starting point is 00:22:59 turned into a pumpkin in that series, and Mark Andre Flores stood on his head. That series against Washington, I'll say this. That Caps team on paper was probably better, but they were never going to beat the penguins in a winner take all game seven in D.C. that year. Yeah, it was looking a bit dicey after game six, but I still felt confident going into game seven of that second round. I'm like, yeah, you can beat us in Pittsburgh, but are you going to beat the penguins at home with everything on the line on all that pressure under your name?
Starting point is 00:23:28 on all that pressure under you now that you tie back up the series, I had my doubts, and I'm glad that Mark Andre Fleury delivered a game for the ages. So many great saves, obviously the big one on Ovechkin, lunging his stick out, incredible. The series against the senators, it was a little bit tougher than I thought it was going to be, but just because the senators played such a different style,
Starting point is 00:23:48 but man, the senators really made them earn that. Eric Carlson, that's probably the best I've seen him play. To me honestly, he was the senator's best player on one leg, that run. And the Penguins, again, when Matt Murray was needed, he was fantastic in that series. The debt players really stepped up. Crosby and Malkin were once again great. Justin Schultz, I felt like had a great series against Otto. He had a great playoff run, to be honest. And then that series against Nashville, you go up to nothing, one of those games, you score your first goal on their first shot in over 30 minutes, just crazy. The legend of Jake Gensel continued to grow. And then
Starting point is 00:24:26 it had to be Patrick Hornquist of all people ending it in Nashville against his former team in game six what a goal and then Hagland to end it with the empty netter puts the hand up to his ear Sullivan has to back away because the sticks are flying up and all that just a what an amazing run to the Stanley Cup that was for that team it was so much fun and my one of my biggest takeaways from that run more than anything was for two of the four series that they played in, being the Columbus series and then the final against Nashville, they played against two shorefire future Hall of Famers in Bobrovsky and Pecorina. And they made them both look absolutely human in both of those series. And the funniest part, especially about the final,
Starting point is 00:25:23 was the Jekyll and Hyde of Pecorine in that series was crazy to me. Because in Pittsburgh, Pecoreen could not stop anything. Yep. But when they went to Nashville, he was damn near unbeatable. And you look at that run, and it really is the, there's two things about it. One, it's the encapsulation of how many things need to go right for you to win a Stanley Cup because I don't think they were ever in any jeopardy of losing to Columbus. Columbus played them hard, played them well, just weren't as good of a team.
Starting point is 00:26:05 And it was just a matter of when and not if. But the rest of the run, like you said, that Caps team was a juggernaut. And they probably didn't have any business beating them and they find a way. Ottawa, they were the one of the only teams in that run of both years that really had the ability to lock the penguins down. Yeah. We'll get the rest of those series throughout 16 and 17. Most of the close ones was just all counterpunching. You think of the Tampa Bay series in the 2016 Eastern Conference final.
Starting point is 00:26:39 That was just two highly skilled fast teams just trading punches back and forth. I still would be curious to see for that series. If Ben Bishop had stayed healthy and Stamco's was fully healthy as well, how that series went away. Because again, Penguins deserved to win that series. It would have been really cool, though, Pat, seeing how that series would have gone if Stamcoast and Bishop were healthy. It would have been, I think, even more of a beggar than it already was. And then you watch Ottawa in that Eastern Conference final. They frustrated the Penguins for six of the seven games.
Starting point is 00:27:13 They really did a good job locking the Penguins down. Penguins win game two, one nothing because of a late, and I mean late Phil Kessel goal. I was in the building for that game, and I probably got some hearing damage thanks to it. But then the other, now that we started the show talking about the current coach, we have to talk about the former coach.
Starting point is 00:27:36 If and when Mike Sullivan gets inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame, the 2017 season and playoff is why he's going to get in, not just because he won a Stanley Cup, because it was a coaching masterclass from him. The way he utilized his team, the way he motivated his team, and the way he was able to get a beat-up, tired team to a consecutive Stanley Cup victory. It was beautiful from Mike Sullivan. And I think the way he adjusted, especially in that series against Ottawa, when the Sends were really frustrated them through,
Starting point is 00:28:13 especially those first three games in that series, Pat, like the Senators were up two games to one through three games. And I was kind of like, oh, like Game 4 is in Ottawa, chance they could go out on 3-1. And the adjustments they made in game four to tie up that series, bring it back to Pittsburgh, blow them out in game five. And yeah, I know they lost game six, really tight game. But just the way that he was able to adjust throughout that run, especially against the Senators, that was a master class for me.
Starting point is 00:28:39 I think that's when you look at his tenure, I think I would agree with you. that's probably the best coaching job he did. 16 was also really good again, that he turned that team into a juggernaut. But in terms of coaching adjustments and everything else, 17, I think was a little bit more bread and butter, in my opinion. But it was so good.
Starting point is 00:28:57 And the biggest thing for me about this is it solidified the legacy of this era of Penguins hockey because we kind of forget now with everything else going on and with the two Stanley Cups in 16 and 17, it's a very real world where this group of penguins severely underachieve because this was supposed to be a modern day dynasty when they all got going, when they all showed up on the scene and made the playoffs in 2007. And the fact that they went in 2009 and have a lot of disappointment between then and 16, and then they're able to get two more and really solidified that they did everything.
Starting point is 00:29:40 they could and that they should have done in the expectation. It was just the sweetest cherry on top for this group of players. Just an amazing run. I still wish the next year after an 18, I still wish they would have beaten that Caps team and had a shot at Tampa. It's funny, you look at 17 and 18, Pat. The Capitals had the better roster in 17. Penguins won that series, at least in my opinion.
Starting point is 00:30:03 I felt the Capitals were a little bit deeper than the Penguins, and they had a better season. But the Penguins, again, they found a way to win that series, because the Penguins were the Caps bogeyman forever. 2018, that Caps team wasn't nearly as good. I thought the Penguins had a better team. Caps found a way to win that series. Yeah, the Penguins were gassed a little bit,
Starting point is 00:30:21 but we still have to give credit to the Capitals. They played a really good series. And I think that series changed for the worst in Game 5 when Crystal Tang, again, we love him on the show. He did not have a good third period in Game 5. And again, that's where I'll kind of leave it for this one. It's kind of a little bit of poetic justice. Penguins, they beat the Caps in 17, even though they were probably outplayed for most
Starting point is 00:30:43 that series. 2018, out of the Penguins, they were mostly the better team, but the Caps, they found a way to won that series as well for that one. But thou do it for this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back with another show for you all on Thursday, June 12. Another pretty big day in Penguins franchise history. We'll also discuss the previous two Cups as well, since we know we missed those dates as well.
Starting point is 00:31:08 but hey, we're going to touch on those on June 12th tomorrow. So for Patrick Damp, I am Huntser Hodes. Thank you all so much for tuning in. We appreciate it. We'll be back on Thursday.

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