Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins kick off a massive 7-game road trip tonight in Buffalo

Episode Date: January 17, 2025

The Penguins will embark on a seven-game, 15-day road trip and it all starts tonight against the Buffalo Sabres. Patrick and Hunter begin the episode by taking a look at the Sabres who, despite having a comically long losing streak earlier this season, have rebounded nicely as of late. The Penguins will need to bring their A game against Buffalo if they hope to get back into the win column at the start of this road trip. Then, on Saturday night, it's off to the nation's capitol to take on Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals. The Caps currently lead the NHL with the best record and Ovechkin scoring like he's back in his prime. They break down what it will take for the Penguins to score an upset. The show closes out with some ideas for trades as well as a trip down memory lane, remembering some of the best Sidney Crosby vs. Alex Ovechkin moments. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Indeed:Now, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to Indeed.com/LOCKEDON right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply.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.FanDuelFrom the first whistle to the final drive, FanDuel makes the NFL Playoffs even more exciting!Right now, new customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get THREE HUNDRED BUCKS in BONUS BETS – if you win your first bet!Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The penguins have a new goalie on the roster, and they're about to embark on their longest road trip of the season. Hunter and I are going to get you set for that 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 edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Patrick Damp. You can follow me on all social media platforms at Synonym 4 Wet. Joined as always by my co-host, 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, we appreciate you making us part of your daily routine. Don't forget that we are free and available wherever you get your podcasts as well as YouTube. Plus, if you follow us on YouTube, don't forget to hit the notification button. so you'll be among the first to know when we drop our daily Monday through Friday episodes. Hunter, a huge, huge road trip begins tonight for the Pittsburgh Penguins. They will have seven road games over a span of 15 days, and it begins tonight in Buffalo, New York, where they take on one of the NHL's worst teams.

But spoiler alert, they have just one less regulation victory than the Pittsburgh Penguins. so maybe we shouldn't throw stones here in our old black and gold glass house, I digress. But this will be a chance for the penguins to get right, so to speak, because while the vibes, they're still not all that great. They feel a little bit better now that Tristan Jari has been sent to the American Hockey League. Yowell Blumquist is back with the team, with Mike Sullivan and Kyle Dubus both saying that there is a plan in place to make sure that Blumquist gets playing time,

as well as Nadelcovic, still having some backup time as well. So we're going to get some runway to see who starts in net tonight. But let's focus more on their opponent this evening. While Buffalo has had a nightmare few years, and this season has been yet another one in a long line of disappointing seasons, they have actually started the calendar year fairly well. They've got a handful of wins. over some good teams.

They most recently beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4 to 2. They also scored wins over the Ottawa Senators, 4 to nothing. And they beat the Washington Capitals in a shootout last week on January 2nd. While it was an overtime loss, they played a pretty solid game against one of the better teams in the NHL, the Colorado Avalanche, ultimately falling 6-5 in overtime. But this is a team that went on an obscenely long. losing streak earlier this year.

But they have rebounded just a little bit. It's a full-on youth movement in Buffalo right now. They've got as many forwards that are 23 years old or younger than they have 24-year-old or older year-old forwards. So this is a very young team with some talent. But the problem is they've yet to take any real big steps. So Hunter, is this a game that the peasant? penguins can get themselves back into the wind column.

They definitely can. I will say Buffalo, as you said, they are playing a bit better as of late. They've won three of the last four games. They've actually won six of ten since breaking that double-digit losing streak on December 23rd against the Islanders. Remember Pat, they did not want a game in a calendar month before that game against the Islanders, and the Sabers blitz them seven to one. And they have beaten some good teams over that stretch.

You know, they played the Avalanche tough. they lost. They beat the capitals in a showout on January 6th. They beat the senators who were in a playoff position, well, or in the playoff race on January 9th. And then they just beat the hurricanes this past Wednesday. I was actually watching a good chunk of that game. And Buffalo was playing really tough.

You know, Ryan McLeod had a hat trick. He's played really well for the Sabres this year. I could see them potentially getting a little bit of a haul for him at the deadline. But they were locked in defensively. Their goaltending was pretty solid in that game. Yeah, Carolina did make a game of it in the end of the third period. and part of me even said at the time, man, it would be kind of funny if the hurricanes tied this because it would be a peak Buffalo moment considering how their season is gone,

but the Sabers were able to get the empty net goal to win that game for it too. So while they have had another nightmare season, they are at least playing a bit better as of late. But the Sabers, man, this goes back a decade plus, Pat. Like it's been really rough for the Sabres and their fans. I mean, this goes back to multiple coaching staffs, multiple front offices, you're not going to obviously change out owners unless the Pugula family sells the team. But it seems like anytime they make seismic changes, it doesn't matter.

And I think a little part of that is because it takes a while for losing to get out of your organization when it's been in there for so long. And it doesn't matter what player they bring in, what coach they bring in. It's just, it feels like a little bit that they're cursed with the way that each season continues to go. But that said, this team still has quite a bit of talent. The Penguins can definitely win this game, but they need to slow down a few of their top players, including Tage Thompson. He's been a penguin killer through these last few years, and he's been great this season as well. 19 goals, 35 points and 39 games. Old friend Jason Zucker has also been great for Buffalo.

15 goals, 33 points this year. I can see the Sabers trading him to a contender at the deadline. Alex Tuck has had a good year. J.J. Patirka, Rasmus Dahlin is still playing really well. He's always had a point per game. Ryan McLeod, as I mentioned, he's double-digit goals. Dylan Cousins, he's been a bit below expectations this year, 22 points in 44 games.

I still could see a contender trying to trade for him. It's just that salary cap, it's about $7 million for him. So I think they would try to get the Sabres to retain a little bit, but I think that's also going to be tough because I don't think the Sabres want to retain on that long-term contract. I also think they're scared to trade in because they've seen other players that they've traded blossom in other places, Pat. you know, Brandon Montor, Sam Ryan Hart.

I can go to Jack Eichel, obviously, as well. But I think they're just a bit spooked to trade some of these younger pieces because of what's happened with some of their other young players. But even though they are not that good, they are still very dangerous. Heck, we saw that in the first matchup this year in Pittsburgh. That was a really fun game. A lot of history was made that night, obviously Pat. But the Sabers dumped out to a 2-0 lead.

It was eventually 3-1. The Penguins came storming back to take a 4-3 lead. And then the Sabers were up 5 to 4-4. in that third period before Ricard Raquel scored with the net empty to make it 5-5, and then the Penguins won that game in overtime six to five, thanks to Cindy Crosby on the power play. That was a really fine back and forth game. So again, they have a lot of talent that Penguins just have to do a really good job neutralizing

it. And I will say the Sabers, they usually have a decent netminder in Ukapakalukin. Also, Pat, one of the best names in the league, by the way, Ukapakalukinan. He's been all right this year, you know, 898, say a percentage, 14, 13, 4, 2.99 goals against average. I think on a better team, he'd be better, but he's still hovering right around lead average this year, which, you know, better than both Penguins starting net minors and Nadelcovic and Jari. But we'll have to see which net minors the penguins start tonight between Blumquist and Adelkevich. If I'm Mike Sullivan and I am most clearly not, I would go Ned tonight, and I would throw Blumquist out to the wolves

against the capitals on Saturday. That, you know, he played really well in that first stretch. See what he can do against one of the top teams. We'll get to the capitals in just a second. But that's the goalie rotation that I would do if I were the head coach. Yeah, I agree. And you kind of beat me to that. I was going to say that Blumquist did actually play fairly well in his first stretch in the

NHL against the capitals when he was still up with the team. And as for the Sabres, I think you're dead on about the assessment of this team. There is some talent there, some young talent. I will say this for the Sabres going into this deadline. They're going to be extremely active because they're going to be able to be. Yeah, maybe they're not going to move the likes of Tage Thompson or Dylan Cousins. They would be kind of stupid to do so because they are both extremely good players. But Jason Zucker, UFA at the end of the year.

Jordan Greenway, if he gets healthy, UFA at the end of the year. Nicholas Abe Cubell, same thing. 1.5 million UFA at the end of the year, ton of UFAs pending UFAs on the Sabres. So they do have an opportunity this offseason, starting at the trade deadline, really, to try to get this back on track with the amount of pending UFAs they have. And a lot of their talent is locked up long term.

So they have core pieces there to build. Like I said, Tage Thompson, Dylan Cousins, Alex Tuck has another year, and he's somebody from the area who wants to be there and wants to be part of the solution. So that's really good for them. Then you also have guys like Peyton Krebs, Beck Malenstein, good hockey players. And obviously Rasmus Dahlene and Owen Power both locked up long term, both very good defensemen with high ceilings. So this is a team that you're right.

They have to find a way to get losing out of their system. But it's not as if you're looking at the team. this team and it's just a collection of misfits. It's just a collection of guys who have nowhere else to go. There is some talent here and the penguins can't take them lightly. The last thing that I want to say about them is kind of building off of what you said, is the goaltending for Buffalo. You look at the three goalies who have played for them this season, James Reimer,

Ouka-Lukinan, and Devin Levi. The issue is that Devin Levi, their young goalie, who they were hoping to get something out of, has been something of a disappointment. He's only played in eight games this year, 876 save percentage. James Reimer in seven games, 903 save percentage, which is right at league average. And I think with Ouka Pekalukin, if this team gets better, him playing 32 games and still having an 898 on a bad team, tells me that this is a good goalie behind a not so good team. So they find a way to start really building this thing out.

And they've got good pieces that can take them into the future. The question now, as it always has been with the Buffalo Sabres is, will they actually do that? Right. And you looked at his numbers throughout his career pat. Even last year, 54 games, he had a 9-10 Sabres and his 2.57 goals against average. That was also on a bad Buffalo team.

last year. Even before that, 22, 23, you know, 892, a little bit below league average, but before that, nine games in 21, 22, 917. But he's a career 902 goalie. A little bit above league average when you look at where goaltending is right now. Obviously, a few years ago, that would be a bit different. But he's had some good seasons, including last year. This year, right around league average. So there is a good goalie in there. I think if you were to put him on a better team, especially more defensively responsible, I think that number, the 898 number pat would be in the 905, 910 range pretty consistently. I do think he is a good goalie.

So the Penguins will have to be on high alert for that. And, you know, this is the Buffalo team that the Penguins have struggled against a little bit. You know, last year they lost two out of three games. Their scoring kind of gave the Penguins fits in those games. You know, this first game this year, really high scoring. The Penguins came out on top. But I definitely know that they're going to want to have much better goaltending in the second game. Because in that first game, the goaltending was really rocked.

before Jari got pulled. For sure. So penguins kick off that road trip tonight in Buffalo at 7 p.m. You can catch the game on SportsNet, Pittsburgh. But then just one night later, they will head to the nation's capital to face an old foe in the Washington Capitals. Hunter and I will get you ready for that game as well when we come back. But first, we've got to tell you about our sponsor, and that is Fandul.

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visit fandul.com to join today and get started with $300 in bonus bets. That's fandul.com. Make this playoff season unforgettable with Fandul, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. All right, welcome back to the Friday edition of Locked-on Penguins, and I am Patrick Damp, joined alongside Hunter Hodes. And, man, we only get a few of these matchups left over the next few years. So I'm just going to start it with this. We'll talk a little bit. more in our quick hitter segment at the end of the show. But another Crosby versus Ovechkin matchup, they are most of the time absolutely electric, two of the greatest players to ever

place up skates. And we're going to get another taste of it on Saturday night. As we know, Sidney Crosby climbing his way up the all-time points ranks. And Alex Ovechkin is chasing down the once thought untouchable Wayne Gretzky goal record. He's 20 goals away from it. And he took another step on Thursday night when in uncharacteristic fashion for a team like the Washington Capitals, they beat the Ottawa Senators won nothing in overtime with Alex Ovechkin getting the game winner. Hunter, this is going to be one of the biggest.

challenges the penguins have faced, especially in the division, because right now the capitals are not only first place in the metropolitan division. They are atop the NHL. And going into Saturday's game, they have a nine-game point streak at 6-0-3 and an 11-game home point streak at 8-0-3. This is, and I say this with no hyperbole, a great hockey team. They are. They are one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. They have blown away every expectation I had for them this year. I mean, I said heading into the year, I wanted to see them prove it again after making the playoffs by the skin of their teeth last year. I was like, hey, I like what they did over the offseason, but I want to see if they can do this again. And

well, they told me to shut up in E. Crow, because they have been one of the best teams in the conference. And Pat, just won't let you know, he's 21 goals away. You're basically right there, but he's 21 goals away from breaking Gretzky's record. I think he might do it this season, man. It's crazy to say that because he missed over a month with a leg injury, and he still might break the record this year. We might be talking about that goal record in the final game of the Penguins regular season, Pat, mid-April, Penguins play the caps here.

That would be crazy if we saw history where Alex Ovechkin potentially breaks the goal record in that game. I thought it was looking a bit unlikely when he got injured for over a month, but he continues to score at such a crazy pace for someone who is as old as he is. Again, to me, he is the best pure goal score in initial history. I know other people have their other opinions. You know, Mario, you know, some people will say, you know, even Wayne. Some people will say Mike Bossy.

I will still say it is Alex Obeschen in my opinion. But I'm right there with you. I take into account that he plays in an era where teams know how to play more staunch defense, goaltenders are so, so much better. And I don't want that to come off as pushing aside guys like Gretzky, guys like Lemieux who played in that era because you can only play the game in front of you. You don't have any control over that. But considering how much more challenging it is to score goals in the NHL in this modern

era and the fact that Alex Ovechkin has continued to do it at the pace that he does, man, it's absolutely impressive. Now, I want to say this because I know that we often say, say this on this show. We are still fans of the penguins. This is still a rivalry. This isn't me suddenly rooting for the Washington Capitals. I want to see the Penguins get a win, but I can respect history.

Back to the actual game, though. Like you had to eat Crow on saying, I want to see the Washington Capitals prove it again, I have to eat Crow for what I said about this Capps team early in the season. The thing I said that worried me with this Capitol's team, excuse me, is I said early in the year. I like what they're doing, but I'm very worried about their goal tending falling off of a cliff. Well, Logan Thompson told me to shove it

because he has won 20 games this year. He's 22 and 3 with a 2.23 goals against average in a 924 save percentage. My man is about to get paid this all season. You know how much money he makes right now? $700,000. he is going to get a mammoth of a contract from some team. Maybe it's Washington, though.

They also have to figure out the Jacob-Chikrin situation. Chick-Rin has been fantastic for them. And who could have saw that coming considering that that was a great move they made. I didn't think he was going to be this good, but I knew that he was still going to make a difference for Washington. And he's also going to get paid this offseason two. You know, I don't think the Capitol's front office gets enough credit for how good they've been these last couple of years.

Heck, even last year, they still sold up a deadline and they made the playoffs, but they recuperated those assets to use for other trades to make their team better over the off season. I still could potentially see Kyle Dubis do the same thing this all season, again, just maybe a year behind the capals. But this cap's team, man, they are fantastic. You know, Logan Thompson, as you mentioned, 2.1, 3 goals against average, 924, say percentage. He's in the Vezna conversation.

Don't think he's going to win it because Connor, Hella Buck is having another all-star season. I think Helibuck, this is probably his award to lose, in my opinion, but I would still say that Logan Thompson's going to be a finalist. But look at some of their other pieces. We already talked about a betcha. Tom Wilson, he's always going to be annoying 19 goals, 33 points this year. Connor McMichael has been great. You have Dylan Strom. He's been awesome, a point-per-game player. Alexei Protas, he's been awesome since coming out from Hershey. He is 36 points in 45 games. The capitals have done such a really nice job of developing their young talent in Hershey

before they're ready for the NHL. And a lot of these young pieces have been really fun to watch. I already brought up pro toss. You know, McMichael has been really good. You know, Nick Down continues to be really solid in their bottom six. You know, this is a really good team from top to bottom. Heck, even pure look, Dubois, even though he only has seven goals this year, still has 34 points in 45 games.

He's playing a lot better than. I thought he would, considering that I thought he was cooked after his time in Los Angeles. So this is a team that's playing really high-end hockey. They're going to be a really tough out for whoever they play, and it's going to be a tough challenge. The Penguins, when they beat the Capitals earlier this season, Pat, I thought, and I still think this actually, that was their most complete 60-minute effort of the season, the way they defended, the way that Yowell Blumk was made some really big, timely saves in that game,

the way that they were able to get contributions from all four lines. they had a plan and they stuck to it. And I will say the capitals after that game, they kind of said, yeah, we really didn't expect Pittsburgh to play like this considering how they were struggling. And it was kind of funny to hear them say that because the penguins always wake up for games against the Capitol. So even though the Penguins have been struggling as of late,

they will be up for this game. It's one of their biggest rivals. They've already beaten them this year. It's going to be a really fun game. But I think if they want to win this, they got to use that same game plan. They really didn't give the Capitol as much of anything in that first mash up, especially in that third period.

Remember that third period? That was the blueprint for how they have to defend the rest of the season. They haven't done it obviously in a good chunk of their games, but the way they were able to shut down the Capitol's offensive attack in that game was second to none. They're going to need to do that again in this game against Washington if they want to win it. One thing I want to see from the Penguins to, or on Saturday night, is when you play this Capitol's team, it's very much in a similar.

mold to teams like Florida and teams like Ottawa. They are pests. They make you fight and earn every single inch of the ice. They are going to chip the puck into the corner. They are going to take a piece of your defense. They are going to play to the whistle and then a couple seconds after it. For the penguins, you cannot get sucked into that. You can't take that bait. You're going to have to pay a price against this capitals team. You are going to be in the locker room afterwards with ice bags, heat packs, and doing all kinds of stretches because you are going to take a beating against this capitals team. They are a team of gnats. They will just be in your face and annoy you for 60 minutes. And that is how you beat this team. You have to be willing to get

down in the mud and sling mud with them. That doesn't mean you take cheap shots. It doesn't mean you take runs at Tom Wilson as satisfying as that might be, but you have to understand they're going to hit you. You got to hit back between the whistles and you have to play, like you said, Hunter, a complete 60 minute effort. It has to be in all three zones. You cannot give them time in the offensive zone because this is a team,

not just with Alex Olvechkin, but just in general, knows how to score goals. And this is a team in their own end defends very hard. So there has to be patience. You can get some extended zone time. You might not score, but you have to keep paying that price. You have to keep pushing and you have to stick with it. You can't start to improvise and get a little impatient. Do exactly what you did against them earlier in the season and it should pay off.

Yeah, I will say this, you know, even outside of scoring, which Decapples have been really good at, they defend really well. Spencer Carberry has been a great coach for them these last couple of seasons. The way that he's been able to get this team to defend, especially considering how poor they were before he came in, has been awesome. He's one heck of a coach. And again, their goaltending man, that's been awesome. Both Thompson and Charlie Lingren have been great. Now, I will say right now, Charlie Lingren is hurt. You know, he is on injured reserve right now.

So it is probably going to be Logan Thompson in that game against the Penguins. And as we've said, that's going to be one of the best goaltenders of Penguins' face all year. So you've got to get traffic in his face. You got to get him moving side to side. It's got to be another classic Michael Bunton game here where he really gets the Capitals mad, gets in front of Thompson's face, make sure he doesn't see the Pucks. That's, so those are some of the big keys for this one against this really good Washington team. I still think right now, even though the Capitals are first in the Metro,

I would take the Panthers in a seven game series over them. I think if the devils are healthy in doing what they're doing, I would probably lean the devils, though it's close to a coin flip. Carolina is a total coin flip, but I think they can beat everyone in the east in a playoff series, maybe outside of Florida or New Jersey, but you could probably talk me into at least them, potentially beating them with the way they're playing.

But I think right now I would still take those who, teams in a seven game series, fully healthy playing at their best over Washington. But Pat, it's by the slimmest of margins. This is a very good Caps team. Very, very good. That game Saturday night, seven o'clock in Washington, as I like to call it Saturday night's main event. So that'll be a great game.

Sid Novi. We're going to do some quick hitters when we come back, including a little tidbit from Elliott Friedman. And we kind of did it at the start of this segment, but we'll do it a little bit. bit more in the third. Crosby versus Ovechkin, man. Let's take a walk down good old memory lane. And we will do that when we come back right after this. All right, welcome back. It's the final segment of the Friday edition of Locked On Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp alongside the one and only Hunter. Hodeys in Hunter. I'm going to let you take this one because you are the sicko who

gets up and listens to all the hockey podcasts and listens to everything. So, Elliot Free of Sports Netup in Canada, had a little bit of a thought, not really a rumor or a report, but just an idea that I think is pretty interesting for Kyle Dubus and the Penguins. Yeah, so him in Kyle Bocoscus, they were discussing the Trish and Jari situation on 32 Thorns, and then that Transformative talks about all what the Penguins are going to do at the deadline. And of course, you know, they're going to sell with the way they're playing. And Elliot mentioned again, you know, they're not going to trade the Hall of Famers. Again, people I know, it's breaking news here, no surprise.

they're not going to trade the Hall of Famers, but he did mention that he could see the penguins looking at the Sabres as a trade partner because of all the young pieces that they have and how Dubas continues to want to get younger in this lineup. And he thinks that Dubus would really have interest in some of Buffalo's younger pieces. So that could mean a wide variety of players, Pat, we could, we already mentioned some of the players that are on this Buffalo team that are really good and really young in the first segment. but that would be a fascinating idea if you can pry out one or maybe even two of Buffalo's

younger pieces that are good players but are maybe not fitting in with the current team. Yeah, and the way I look at it with a team like Buffalo with some of the younger players they have, I said it about them in the first segment that they have a solid foundation set, but you know that someone like Pagula wants this. team to start taking steps and they've been so bad for so long that you eventually just make moves out of panic and you think that doing this is going to shake up your franchise. But then you look at it from the Penguins point of view, to do this, you're probably going to have to part with some prospects or some picks.

And I know that Kyle Dubus doesn't want to do that. But if you can get a player that's pretty solid. is going to fit in the NHL in his say 23, 24, maybe even 25, and can be with the organization for 8 to 10 years and be very productive, that juice is worth the squeeze because you're not leveraging your future for somebody who's only going to be here for two or three years. So if you can get one of those younger players out of Buffalo and it costs you a pick or a prospect or both,

it's definitely worth inquiring about. Now, if they try to fleece you on it, you say, hey, thanks for the time. We're going to look elsewhere. But I do think that they are an interesting trading partner for the penguins. Another one that I brought up to you before the show, and it kind of depends on what they're willing to put out there. And it's more of just the old meme of identify the bad GMs, call them all the time. call Barry Trots in Nashville again because not only is this team completely underperforming. Barry Trots is saying things like we're going to give Ryan O'Reilly trade protection even though he doesn't have it.

So this guy is fully panicking and showing that he doesn't really know what's going on right now. So if you can get him in a vulnerable moment and go get a young player or a productive piece because he feels like he has to make a move of some kind, you have to call him. I could see that as well. You know, Dubus has already fleeced him once, at least for Tomasino.

They got Cody Glass. And while I don't think Cody Glass has done too much this year, I still at least appreciate Dubas taking the swing on a player like that, considering how young he is, how high of a traffic he was, how he showed some promise before. I totally get the thought process for that type of move. And again, you know, Thomasino, he's been great.

Another GM I would have on speed dial as well. Pat Verbeek and I'm ducks. I really don't think he's that good of a GM. So I agree with that sentiment, you know, get those GMs on speak dial, the ones that really don't know what they're doing, and just keep calling them throughout. And, you know, for Buffalo, obviously, that's Kevin Adams. And honestly, Pat, I don't think he's going to have a job after this season with the way that season is going in Buffalo. So again, I would at least keep calling some of these GMs to see like, hey, can we maybe try to fleece you a little bit? Obviously, you don't want to say that on the trade call, but, you know, you're a low-key saying it to yourself.

Can we maybe try to swindle you a little bit for one of your younger pieces? For sure. And we'll end the show here real quick. And we're not going to spend a ton of time on it because we are running a little bit long here today. But just real quick, Hunter, I want to ask you this because like I said, we're running out of Crosby and Ovechkin matchups here. There are a lot less remaining than there were even a few years ago, two of the greatest to ever do it.

So I just want to pose this question to you. If you were to be asked, like I'm going to ask you, what is your favorite Crosby versus Ovechkin moment? Because I have mine. Favorite Crosby Ovechkin moment? There's so many of them because they played so many iconic games together. I want to say the dueling hat trick game, but the Penguins lost that. So I'm trying to like figure out the win part because that is up there. The dueling hat trick game was just two guys saying like,

there's two guys trading punches with one another. I got you. No, I got you. No, I got you. No, I got you. That's literally what that game was. Just a truly amazing game between two outstanding teams with two of the best players that will ever lay some skates in the history of the league.

But if I had to pick a favorite moment or game between these, this is really, really tough because there's a lot of them. Honestly, man, I might go game seven of that series that year 2009. Because the way that Flore was able to make that save on Ovechkin to really set the tone for the rest of that game, you know what? Nope, you're not scoring on that. And we're going to go down.

We're going to blow you guys out the rest of this game. Just an incredible moment. And it really, that game really capped off. a great series between not just those two players, but those two teams. So if I had to pick one moment, it's Game 7 of 2009. I could go Game 6, 2016. I could go Game 7 of 2017 as well and as a few as a whole bunch of other regular season games.

I'm going to go Game 7 of 09, considering the stakes that were a part of that game and just how great that series was as well. That is a great pick. I'm with you on the Doling Hattricks. It's up there for me just because like you said, it's two of the greatest of all time just trading haymakers back and forth in the biggest moments. But for me, I'm going a little off the board. And I know I'm not the first person who have said this, but it's something I like to echo is the All Star game in Los Angeles, where they

were both on the same team. They're both miced up. They ended up on the same line together. And they're just having a blast together, just playing meaningless hockey together, set in one another up for goals and just talking on the bench and acting like it matters where they're like, oh, we can go out there. We've got to lean on some people. We got to go out there. We've got to make our presence felt. But it furthers the theory I have believed in so many others have believed that the two of them probably just kept skipping All-Star Games because they are so hyper-competitive and so dedicated to winning in their own teams. They knew they would give them. They would give along. They knew they would become sort of professional friends, like workplace friends, and they

just couldn't do that to themselves. So now with their careers winding down, they're solidifying their legacies and plays in the sports history, they're like, all right, you know what, it's time. The two of us, we're the two old guys now. We're going to go to All-Star Games together. We're going to go to NHL events together. We're going to have fun. And we're going to show these kids that we're still the guys. There's definitely going to be a moment after they both retire where they're going to be sitting in like one of their garages just smoking cigars, drinking a beverage. And they'll just be reminiscing on their careers together.

We need plenty of those. Maybe one of them can be like, I don't know, a podcast episode sometime or something like that, we need something like that, Pat. Yeah. As soon as they're done, it needs to be like the Kelsey Brothers kind of podcast. We're like they, it's not that. Don't give them their own podcast, but three hours where they just sit has a whiskey, OV has a vodka, they're smoking cigars talking about what it was like when they were in the

NHL in all of their battles together. But that is going to do it for this podcast, Locked on Penguins. Hunter and I will be back on Monday with a brand new episode, hopefully with our good pal, Jesse Marshall, to break down these games and get some other insights on the penguins. But for now, enjoy the games this weekend. Hunter and I will be back with a brand new episode on Monday.