Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins head into a weekend of back-to-back preseason action

Episode Date: September 27, 2024

The Penguins will head to Detroit and Ontario for back-to-back preseason matchups and there are still several players looking to make their mark. In this episode, Patrick and Hunter talk about how cool it is the Penguins will yet again be featured in a Kraft Hockeyville game, what the event means for the league and the city they're in, and more. Then, it's time for a handful of players to make their marks this preseason with two big games and two big opportunities. Lastly, old friend Marc-Andre Fleury says he's not looking for special treatment or a farewell tour in his final season...well, too bad, buddy. You're getting that farewell in Pittsburgh. They talk about what a great night that will be and what MAF meant to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNHL and get $50 instantly when you play $5. PrizePicks. Run Your Game. FanDuelPlace your first FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - guaranteed !Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. IndeedStill searching for a great candidate for your company? Don’t search, just match–with Indeed.Claim your SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLAR CREDIT now at Indeed.com/LOCKEDON. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? You need Indeed. 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.

It's a weekend of back-to-back preseason games for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Hunter and I are going to get you ready for that and more on this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Your 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 edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Patrick Damp. You can follow me on Twitter at Synonym 4Wet.

joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can give our show's account a follow at L.O. underscore Penguins. And of course, thank you so much for making us part of your daily routine. And don't forget that we are free and available on all platforms wherever you get your podcast as well as YouTube. And before we get started today, today's episode is brought to you by Fandul. Place your first $5 bet and you'll get started with $200 in bonus bets, guaranteed. Visit fandul.com to get started. So Hunter, here we are. There is going to be hockey

played once again after a few days off for the Pittsburgh Penguins. They actually had a full day off today, Friday, September 27th from training camp after a few days of practices. But they will get right back into it this weekend when they have back-to-back road games this weekend, first on Saturday night in Detroit, where they'll take on the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesar's Arena, and then they will head up to Lake Elliott, Ontario for Kraft Hockeyville, Canada, where they will take on the Ottawa Senators. This is actually the second year in a row that the Penguins and Senators are playing

in a Kraft Hockeyville game. They did this last season, and that game was a lot of fun. And that's kind of where I want to focus. focus most of the first segment, just because we'll get into more what the next two games are going to look like this weekend, who to keep an eye on, what we think the lineups are going to be like. Chances are by the time you're listening to this show, you'll probably know who the penguins are putting in the lineup at the very least for Saturday nights game in Detroit. But again, day off for the penguins. So I'm not expecting them to drop the lineups

any time this evening. That'll probably be tomorrow morning after they have morning skate and get ready to hit the road to go to Detroit. But I digress. I have always been a huge fan of Kraft Hockeyville. This is its 18th year in Canada and in the United States. It's a really cool event that the NHL has been doing for community outreach, as well as taking the game to non-traditional places. You know, you look at some of the places this has happened across Canada in the United States. It's been these smaller cities that are hockey crazed. You think about right here in our own backyard. There was Johnstown a few years ago.

They played a game at the War Memorial. And then a couple years later, they were supposed to play at the Ice Palace in Belvernan. But that rink needed so much work that they were unable to actually play the game at Belvernon, so they did play it at the Lemieux Sports Complex. And I honestly, I love this event just because it takes something that a town likely wouldn't see now. Johnstown, of course, they've had several iterations of the Jets, the Chiefs, and a whole host of minor league teams go in and out of there.

The War Memorial, if you have never been, one of the coolest old hockey arenas that you could ever check out if you've ever got the opportunity to go up to John and check out the War Memorial. It's so cool. I have played multiple games in that arena, and it's super fun. But overall, I'm excited to see the penguins still involved with Craft Hockeyville because Sidney Crosby and of Gennie Malkin, man, they are still a draw. So, Hunter, your thoughts overall on Craft Hockeyville in what this means for the sport at

large. Yeah, I've always loved the Craft Hockeyville games, no matter if the penguins are playing in it, if they're not, it just, it means so much to the community or the town that they're being held in just because it's obviously super rare that they can get, you know, both these teams there to play a game in their respective community. And just seeing the outpouring of love and support that these fans show these players when they come out there, it's awesome to see. I mean, you saw it last year in the Hockeyville game up in Halifax.

You know, that was a packed place to come see Sydney Cron. Osby, Evgeny Malk, and you had the really young but still good senator's score there as well. And of course, the Penguins get shot out in that game in Halifax. Total Penguins thing to happen, by the way. But just seeing how loud it got. I mean, I was watching that game on Sports and Pittsburgh, and it was loud in that arena. And I just, I love this series. I hope it never goes away.

And I'm excited for this one because, honestly, it should be kind of a repeat roster. of what we saw last year. I expect, I know this can definitely change, but I expect the Penguins regulars to be playing in this game as their quote-unquote dress rehearsal. I also expect the Ottawa senators to have their regulars playing just because, you know, it's a big game, at least for preseason, you have all these fans coming in from, you know, a whole bunch of places. It's not even just the town at large. People are coming in from all over the country, heck, even from the United States as well to see this game. And I think both teams are going to try to at least get close enough to treating it as a regular season game as they can while also realizing,

okay, we still got to protect our star players and all that. But I love this series. I love seeing these small towns get these type of games. I love the Johnstown game just a few years ago. And I do hope, you know, another town in Pennsylvania is able to get a game so the penguins can play another craft hockey ball game here in PA. For sure. And the biggest thing that stands out to me for this is what the National Hockey League and Kraft provide for these events. And it's because when you see the feature story that they are going to do the night of the game prior to all of the actual game itself and all the other pomp and circumstance, they provide a ton of money. I believe it's $250,000 in upgrades to the arena because the majority of the time, When they go to these towns, yeah, they are very passionate hockey communities.

They likely have a bunch of youth teams, maybe a junior team that's not major junior, but is a town that has produced junior hockey players. And these rinks are the community center. These are where the people go. These are where they hang out. They bring their kids to play hockey. They go there for public skate. They do all these things that make it a communal event.

But because it's a smaller town, because it's a rink that's been there for decades, maybe the maintenance hasn't kept up as well as it should have. Maybe the town fell on hard times and the rink became kind of an afterthought if the city finds itself on the upswing. So it's able to take a very precious part of the community and help it build back up so that the kids, who play there can be better served. The parents who are up at five in the morning on a frigid winter morning so their kid can go get a skate in, actually have a concession stand to go get hot chocolate or coffee. And it's really an awesome thing that the league does and gets right because you are going to be more willing to pay attention to the NHL, to whatever teams

come to your rank. Because of this event. event because you're going to remember, hey, I'm here at 7 a.m. my kid's got a peewee practice and it's negative 5 degrees outside and I'm freezing in here. But man, this rink just a few years ago, it was a nightmare to sit in. But now, like, it's so much nicer and so much better. And it does so many things to help grow the game and make the league look better. It makes it all worth it just for those people that you were mentioning, Pat. People that, you know, get up at 7 a.m.

They go to the arena. They take their kids there and all that stuff. And just by getting this game and getting the upgrades, it makes all that hard work just so worth it for everyone that pitches in, you know, just to help that arena and all that good stuff. And we both know the NHL screws the pooch on quite a few things overall. They don't mess around with this. This is one of the things that they do very, very well every year.

And again, I hope it never goes away. Yeah, me either. I'm really looking forward to this one. It should be a lot of fun, especially because if you go to the NHL website right now and check out their continuing coverage live blog of it, Elliot Lake just looks like one of those classic Canadian Ontario hockey towns where everybody there plays hockey, everybody loves hockey. And it's a beautiful old barn that you know it's going to look great when you have NHL players on the ice playing in front of that. So that's going to be a ton of fun. That is Sunday night at 7 p.m.

You can catch the game on Sportsnet, Pittsburgh. If you're not in the Pittsburgh area, it will also be on NHL network. And in Canada, it will be on Sportsnet. So that's, again, 7 o'clock Sunday night, Penguins and Senators for Kraft Hockeyville in Elliott Lake, Ontario. But before that, penguins will be heading to Little Caesar's Arena. I have to keep reminding myself not to say Joe Lewis Arena all these years later. when Joe Lewis Arena has not been a thing for a while now.

I know. That's why I still have to keep myself from saying it, but they have that game first, and Hunter and I in our second segment when we come back, are going to talk about both of these games. Like we said, we're not sure what the roster is going to be yet, so we're going to kind of give our guesses,

who are keeping our eye on and what to expect from those games. But before we do that, we have to tell you about our first sponsor, and that is indeed. We're driven for the search for better, but when it comes to hiring, the best way to search for a candidate isn't to search at all. Don't search match with Indeed.

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They're heading to Little Caesar's Arena, not the Joe Lewis. Arena on Saturday to take on the Detroit Red Wings. And Hunter, we've kind of hinted at this this week so far that you look at the two games they're playing this weekend. Detroit on Saturday, Hockeyville on Sunday. Kind of feels like Saturday night, well, it might not be the last chance for some of these players. It's certainly going to be the next big chance for a lot of these younger guys who were

not part of the most recent round. of cuts. And it looks like it'll also be a chance for some of these bubble players who might not make the roster to really make a mark when they go Saturday night. Because as we know, with Hockeyville, chances are it's going to be very close to address rehearsal for fan service to help that community see some NHL players. So Saturday night, I don't think we're seeing a lot of NHL regulars. I think you could see a few regulars that maybe could play on Sunday as well.

but it's not going to be too too many. I mean, you could see someone like Emil Benstrom play in this game, maybe someone like Tristan Brose as well. I think Rucker McGority definitely has a chance to be playing in this one as well. But again, I'm just throwing a few names at you overall there. I could also see someone like Cody Glass playing in this game. Yes, he Poo-Yarvey as well, just because, you know, two of those players, you know, they're very much involved in this conversation,

or three, I should say, three players at least involved in this conversation of players that are fighting for a spot on the main roster. I could also see someone like Sam Poulin playing this game, even though I felt like he didn't really play that well earlier this week. I feel like Mike Sullivan at least could potentially play him in this game. Overall, just to get another look at him before, I think, the main big guns play on Sunday. So I mostly agree with you. I think you're going to see a lot of HL and junior players for this game,

but I do think you could see a few NHL players in this one again, you know, Cody Glass, someone like Yassie Pooley-R-V, Valetrae-Pusen, and Rokta McGority, just because the competition for those spots is still very much ongoing, at least. And then for goaltending, I don't think you're going to see Jari, on Adelkevich in this game on Saturday. I think if I had to guess,

and then this is a strict guess on my part, you're probably going to see some combination of, you know, Blumquist, Marashav. I would, again, I would prefer to see Marashav in this game. He hasn't played in the preseason at all yet. this is a good opportunity for him to get a game in before the game on Sunday. For sure. And I think it'll be very similar for Detroit because they actually play tonight against Chicago. I believe it's in Detroit. Yes, they're in Detroit tonight.

I just had to confirm that. But you look at who they're dressing tonight against Chicago. Teresanko, Mo Cider, Alex Lyon, Cam Talbot, Chase on, Comfer, Fisher. it's going to be a lot of, it's going to be very similar. It'll be a mix of some of their mainstays as well as some of the players they're keeping an eye on that they might see make the roster. So I think you're going to see a combination for them as well tomorrow night, especially since this is also a back to back situation for them. I'll be it, it's two games at home. They're not doing any travel. They're staying in Detroit.

And also back to the Penguins, I wrote about this today on my column on Katie. K.com, Penguins Perspectives. It was an outshut of what we briefly discussed yesterday on the show. And I called the column seven dogs in one bone. Because essentially, you have seven players who are fighting for what looks like one spot in the bottom six, one spot, whether it's wing or center. And the biggest player that I have to keep my eye on, especially if he plays on Saturday night, is Valteri Pustna, because I know everybody wants him to be on the team. And you can put me in that category as well, but you compare him to the essentially six other players that he's battling with.

He's not at the bottom, but he is probably middle of the pack right now. He's probably neck in neck with someone like Sam Poulan, who I think he's going to beat out, or Cody Glass, who. very similar situation where you look at their careers and they're very similar. Now, you also have to factor in Jesse Poyarvey, who has had a very solid preseason and has continued his uprising that he had to end the year last year. So I want to see what Val Terry Pustinen can do on Saturday night and hopefully again on Sunday when you start to see more NHL regulars because we know when he's in the lineup,

He's an effective player, but given how much competition he has around him and considering how many other players were brought in from the outside, this is going to be his opportunity to make his mark to make this team. Right. And you've got to keep giving him reps here overall. I mean, we all saw what he could do during the regular season last year. That release is fantastic. He improved.

I felt like as a playmaker as the season went on as well. I was going to crush you for, I think, comparing it to Poo-Anne. it didn't mean to interrupt you there. I feel like it's definitely more on the level that you said after Cody Glass. I think that's a better take, at least for me, in my opinion. Yeah, because the way that the way that I framed the column was that you have your young guys, the guys from the J. Gensel trade, Tristan Brose, Rucker McGority, Cody Glass, Faltary Pustinen, Yassie Pooley,

and when you look at the younger guys, you think, okay, chances are they're probably going to be in the minors to start the year. And that's just, that's not an indictment on them. It's better for their development to go out and play more. The more they play, the better. They have to develop their skills. They have to get that confidence of playing at the professional level. And then maybe they can come up and be productive rather than throwing them right into the fire.

But then you factor in the other three of Pustinen, Glass, and Poyarvi. And it's like one of the three of you has to separate yourself from the pack. And I've liked early returns from Poo-Yarvi and Glass. Now it's now it's on Pustin and to volley that ball right back and say, no, don't forget about me. I'm here as well. And I think this weekend is huge for him. No, I agree.

And that's why I think you play him tomorrow. Honestly, I play all three of those guys. I play Pooley-R-V. I play Cody Glass. I play Valetre Pusen. Heck, maybe. I also play Rucker McGority as well. Give all four of those players a pretty fair shot at this to see what they can do

in that game so that they can potentially boost their stop heading into that Sunday game, which is going to be those of the regulars, and then heading into next week where you end the preseason. Again, games matter a lot more than practice. I think Pustin has been fine during camp, but like I said about Morgority yesterday, it feels like Pustin hasn't had that big wow moment yet during camp, unlike Pau Yarvey, who did last week with the hat trick. I think Cody Glass has had a couple really good moments showcasing his speed, showcasing his shot. I want to see Pustin now do that, especially on Saturday, if he is in the lineup,

and I do think he's going to be. Yeah. And then one other player that I want to keep my eye on what there are a couple more actually, now that I think of it, I want to see what Harrison Brunit can do if he gets another shot, which I imagine he will in one of, if not both of these games. I thought he looked solid. I want to see him continue to make a case to be an option this year. I don't see him making the team out of training camp, but I want to.

I want to see him make a case to be an option when injuries arise because we know that they will. So I want to see him make himself a viable option. And then the other two, maybe even three that I would like to see possibly play in each game is Ryan Graves, Ryan Shea, and Jack St. Ivaney. Because the Graves-St. Ivany pairing is really starting to show some chemistry. They're really starting to seem to play well with one another. And if that's going to be your bottom pair to start the year, I want to continue to get them reps so they can continue to develop that chemistry. And not only does it aid in the redemption and rebuilding of Ryan Graves,

it gives you more security on that bottom pairing to where you're still going to give them sheltered minutes, but you can maybe take the handcuffs off ever so slightly and trust them just a little more, which will both help St. Ivany develop and Ryan Graves get back to a level they need him to get to. They're definitely giving those two a lot of reps during the preseason, and I like it just because, I mean, we all know that it looks like that's the favorite to be the third pairing. Though I will say, I think St. Ivany is still kind of carrying Graves a little bit more on that pairing. I felt like Graves was okay in the first game that he played. This last one, though, a little bit of a step back.

Again, I know it's preseason, but he still didn't. fully stand out to me overall, at least in my opinion. I felt like St. I havenie was by far the better player on that pairing. And I feel like there's the chance that that might be the case during the season where St. Ivan, he might have to carry him on that pairing, even though he doesn't have a lot of NHL experience to his name. But again, he still played really well down the stretch last year when he was given a chance. To go off your point about Bruneck, another player that I also am going to keep an eye on

potentially this weekend to see if he gets in Owen Pickering. You know, he's still around as well. He has not been reassigned to Wilkesbury to go to their training camp, which is officially starting this weekend. It was announced yesterday that their training camp is starting this weekend. Pickering, he also needs to show that he can be an option at some point if injuries arise as well. Obviously, turning pro this year, this is going to be his first full season, Wilkesbury.

How does he adjust to the pro game? I'm going to be curious to see. But I want to see him also have a good game this weekend if he's able to get in. Absolutely. He's definitely one that we also got to keep an eye on. But two preseason games this weekend, both on the road, Detroit on Saturday night at 7 o'clock, and then 7 o'clock on Sunday in Elliott Lake for Kraft Hockeyville. We'll be back with an episode on Monday breaking down both of those games for you.

But we're not done here on the locked on Penguins podcast. We have one more segment to go. And we're going to talk about an old friend who's going to be playing in his final season this year. And he had some comments to make about that. and Hunter and I will talk about that when we come back. But before we do that, we got to tell you about our last sponsor. And that is Fandul. NFL fans, you can start the season with a big return on Fandul,

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Head over there to get started with America's number one sports book. All right, welcome back to the final segment of the Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm Patrick Damp, that's Hunter, Hodes, and really, really awesome feature today in the athletic from Michael Rousseau about our old pal. one of the best goalies, maybe the best goalie in the history of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Mark Andre Fleury. This will be his 21st and final season in the National Hockey League. Earlier this offseason, he did announce that this will be his last. He is planning on retiring at the end of the season.

And Mark, I've got some bad news for you, buddy. He basically comes out and says, I don't want any special treat, I'm not looking for the farewell tour. Well, my friend, you may not get it in every single arena you go to. You might get one in Vegas. You might get one in Montreal from where you're from. And you are certainly going to get one when you come to PPG paints arena early in the season. And it was just so funny to read how everybody around him, including Bill Guerin,

including the coaching staff, including his teammates, and even Mark Andre Fleury himself, kind of know he is going to the Hall of Fame. He is one of the best goaltenders of the modern era, and yet they don't want special treatment. Sorry, you're going to get it. Oh, 100%. I mean, that is going to be one of the most emotional nights

during this season at PBG Paine's Arena. Mark Andre Fleury means so much to so many fans, so many people in this community, the entire Pittsburgh Penguins organization as a whole, they're going to make that a very special night for him. I mean, this is someone who there's a chance that someday his number could be retired by the penguins. I mean, I'm still kind of on the fence about it. I kind of lean towards no.

I kind of lean towards only Crosby, Malk, and Latang going up there. but I know people will argue that Fleury's 29 should be up there. I would certainly listen to it. I lean towards no. That said, this is going to be a hell of a night in Pittsburgh. The ovation that he's going to receive during the pregame is going to be spectacular. And the penguins always do this stuff right. They get this type of night right every single time it comes around.

I expect nothing different here with Flurray. he is going to be showered in so much love by this community, this fan base, this organization, and it's going to be a lot of fun to see. I mean, I remember when he first came back, you know, when he was at Vegas and they played that video, you saw fans, like just crying in the stands because I never thought he was going to leave. And Florey himself was crying. I think he will be crying during that ceremony.

I think he will see tears in his eyes. He knows how much Pittsburgh means to him. He knows how many fans here still love him that much. That's going to be one heck of a scene at PPG when that comes around this season. Fittingly enough, it's October 29th at PPG paints arena. And the thing that Rousseau talked about and Flurry talked about a little bit in the feature was that it comes at a really kind of advantageous time for Mark Andre Fleury, the Wild and the penguins. because the penguins get back that Sunday from a Western Canada swing. The game itself is on a Tuesday.

And then the Wild actually will have three days off after an afternoon game in Philadelphia. So they're going to have plenty of time in Pittsburgh. And Flurry basically said he's already got plans to go out to dinner with Crosby, Malkin, and Latang. We also obviously know the Wilds general manager. is Bill Garen, a Stanley Cup champion, former front office guy with the Penguins, loved his time in Pittsburgh. So it's going to be kind of just this culmination of all his time in Pittsburgh. And he even said, you know, he said basically every time we go to Pittsburgh and I've gone to Pittsburgh since I left the Penguins, it's been kind of an in and out trip.

This time, he basically said, I'm going to take time to drive around the city. and remember a lot of places, see some old friends, and go out to dinner with some of my old mates. So this is going to be really cool. And listen, we just a couple segments ago read an ad for game time. If you haven't gotten tickets to that game yet,

pull up game time and get them now because they are not going to be around much longer. And when they, the ones that do remain, they ain't going to be cheap. So if you're planning to go to the Mark Andre Flurry game, I'd act right now because you've got just about a month to go. Right.

Yeah. And they're only going to go up the closer it goes at this point, considering how big of a game that is for the city. But I agree with you, man. I can't wait to see him come in here and just, you know, joke around with Sydney Crosby, of Gennie Malk and Chris LaTang, the four of them were all super close during Florey's time here in Pittsburgh. And I know there were definitely some rough patches of play during his time here.

but man they don't win that 2017 Sintley Cup without him with the way especially he played against Washington I mean 2009 he was especially great in that series against the Red Wings 08 he was better than in 09 but obviously everyone remembers him in 09 for that save on Lidstrom and just overall of his play in that series

but his play in 08 too was just through the roof overall but the memory will never fade he provided so many great moments with the penguins in his time. And to finish up what you were saying, you know there's going to be some kind of prank for all three of them when he comes to town because Mark Andre Fleury is the ultimate prankster. But I think that's going to do it for the Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.

Enjoy the games this weekend. Enjoy your weekend. Hunter and I will be back with a brand new episode for you on Monday, giving you our thoughts on the two preseason games. as well as any news that may break between now and then. But for now, for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp. Thank you, as always, for tuning in. And we will be back on Monday.