Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins look to close out 2024 on a winning note!

Episode Date: December 31, 2024

The Pittsburgh Penguins will close out the calendar year with a New Year's Eve date with the Detroit Red Wings. Before Hunter and Patrick preview that game, they dive into the Jesse Puljujarvi situation and why they're confused about the Penguins placing him on waivers. They discuss how he deserved more of a runway to show what he had before previewing Tuesday's matchup. They analyze what the Penguins have to do right in order to end the year on a strong note and just how bad the Red Wings have been this year. Finally, they take a look back at some of the most memorable moments of this past year for this hockey franchise.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.FanDuelYou can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - if you win your first FIVE DOLLAR 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 will look to end 2024 on a high note by beating the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night. Pat and I are going to help you get you all set for that game. Plus discuss the S.E. Poyarvi getting placed on waivers on Monday 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. joined by my co-s, Patrick Tramp. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes.

You can follow Pat on all social media platforms at Sinom for Wet. And of course, you can follow the shows, Twitter, at L.O underscore Penguins. Of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen slash watch today. We are free and available on all platforms. So, Pat, before we preview this final game of 2024 against the Red Wings, we have to discuss the big news from Monday, and that is the Penguins placing Yesy, Poolyarvy on waivers. We won't find out if the Penguins lost him to waivers for another few hours. We're recording this right now, 10.50 Eastern Times. So we'll find out 2 p.m. on whether

Poo Yardv has been claimed by another team or if he will be reassigned to Wilkesbury. But when I saw this, I was kind of a little upset, if I'm being honest. I usually laugh at the people who get upset about this stuff because, you know, you've seen so many people get mad at, you know, other fringe players, you know, Alex Neeland. or comes to mind. There's a certain subsection of fans who got really mad at how the penguins handled that situation. And I was kind of just like, okay, I mean, he hasn't really done much at the NHL level. But Poolyarvi, I very strongly felt that he was one of their 12 best forwards. I have been saying that all year. I mean, even just looking at the counting stats, Pat, three goals, eight points this year. That's already more points than someone like Matt

Nietto, who continues to get quite a bit of ice time in the bottom six, but yet really really doesn't do anything outside of killing penalties. I guess I'm still kind of confused about that overall. But with Pooley-R-V, I feel like he just didn't get a fair shake here. Why would you sign him to that, you know, PTO? Then you extend him, but you're not really giving him enough looks at the NHL level. I think that's what I'm kind of the most upset about. Again, no people, the world is not ending. Yes, they've been playing very well the last 15. games are 10 in 4 and 1. But I do think some criticism should be warranted at, you know, Mike Sullivan, Kyle Dubus for the way they've kind of handled this because I don't think they gave

him a fair shake. Yeah, I don't get it. That's kind of where I stand right now is I don't get why they're doing this. And it's it's genuinely confusing because like you said, this isn't the end of the world. It's not a player that if they lose him to waivers, the world is over, pack it all in, let's go for the first overall pick next year. He's been fine and yes, I've memed about him and made him, you know, kind of my Jeff Carter of the year where I just defend him hilariously for no real reason other than it's a meme. But there's two schools of thought I have here and they're kind of competing with one another

when it comes to Yesy Pooey-R-V. One, you touched on it. He has been one of their 12 best forwards this year. Has he been phenomenal? No, he's been fine. Like you said, he's played 21 games. He's got three goals and eight points. That's perfectly fine.

It's not great. It's not horrible. It's middle of the pack for a bottom six forward. He also hasn't really done a whole lot this year. He's stood out for three, four games. He's disappeared for four to five games. games and been a pedestrian. The other school thought I have that competes with this one is,

why is a player like Yessie Poo-Yarvi part of Mike Sullivan's one-strike-in-your-out policy? Matt Nietto, Noel Achari, I get it, they're veterans, they've got a longer track record, they've got a bigger body of work in the NHL, but they've kind of been at the same level as Yassie Poo-Yarvey. They've been fine. Have they been bad? no have they been good also no so i i just i don't get it the then the last thing i have on this is we don't know what's going on behind the scenes and you can call that a cop out you can call it a

blind defense whatever you want but we don't know what his attitude is we don't know what his attitude is in practice we don't know what his attitude is on the bench we don't know what his attitude is with other players maybe it's maybe there's nothing there maybe he's a perfect fine teammate and he doesn't slouch and doesn't turn anything into a negative. Maybe that is the case. Maybe he's upset that he's scratched and he's not giving a good effort and he's not earning his way back into the lineup away from being scratched. We also don't know what the team's metrics are on him because we know that there are a lot of advanced analytics that teams do not make public that we don't know about.

So it's confusing. I don't get it. Maybe, and this is where I'll end it, maybe they're looking at it in a similar way, and I'm just making a loose comparison here, to Rucker McGrory. We'd rather him go down to Wilkes Bear, play for a few weeks,

and actually play, than be in the lineup for two to three games. We pull him out for two to three games. Then he comes back for two to three games. And if he does well down there, maybe you slot him in and see if he can, absolutely snatch a lineup spot. I don't know.

See, I kind of pushed back on that last point, Pat, because it was obvious those first few games that McGrady definitely needed seasoning in the AHL. He had a little bit of a slow start to his initial career, played a few games, get sent down, was a bit slow at the start in the AHL, but he's really turned it on as of these last two to three weeks. Playing really well down there,

I would not be surprised if a call-up is coming in the second half of the season, probably if I had to guess maybe February, March, after they maybe make some trades and all that stuff. but with Puyarvi, he's shown that he can play in the NHL. I mean, he's more than NH already. It's just that you're right. The one strike in your out policy from Mike Sullivan with this player

compared to other players who haven't played that well this year, too, just doesn't make any sense. I mean, you didn't even mention Drew O'Connor. Yeah, he played really well against the Islanders in the second half of that back-to-back. We're into 30-plus games now where he has not scored a goal. Why have you not scratched him? and put Poo-Yarvy in the lineup. Again, I know O'Connor was great last year, but it's very obvious to everyone that he is not the same player this year. Yeah, some of it is bad

finishing luck. He's not finishing his chances. But a lot of these games, he hasn't been noticeable. So also, why aren't you scratching him in putting Pooey RV? And you can ask the same question about Matt Nietto. Yes, people, I understand he kills penalties. But I also don't think penalty killing is this big skill that everyone has to, you know, flaunt about. Eric Carlson just kill penalties for the penguins and the second half of the back-to-back. And yes, granted, it was against the Islanders who have the worst power play in the league, but you still saw Eric Carlson kill penalties out there, and the PK really never missed a beat.

So I just don't really get the defense for that. He's really not contributing anything at five-on-five. You look at Poo-RV's underlying this year, and this is when he's on the ice, this is what the penguins have. So 21 games, 220 minutes of five-on-five ice time. When he's on the ice, the penguins have 51% of the shot attempts. They also have 52% of the expected goal share about 50% of the scoring chances, 53% of the high danger chances, five high danger goals for two high danger goals again.

So the data supports him should be being in the lineup. So do the counting stats. You know, again, just looking at the goals, assist, points. It's just a very weird situation. It is, and it's a very puzzling decision. I will kind of add this to the mix. is the penguins are tied for the sixth best PK in the league. And that's not nothing.

That's something that's very valuable for this team. And while, yes, I agree with you to an extent that it's not some over the top, irreplaceable skill. I think you're taking it off that PK. It's still probably a top 10 unit in the league. Yeah, you're letting me build to that is what I'm saying is it's, I say this all the time. Killing is simply just discipline and effort. That's all it is.

You don't have to have some over the top skill to be a good penalty killer. If you have the discipline to stay within the system, you don't have a lot of fear of blocking shots and you're willing to work your butt off. You can be a solid penalty killer in the sport of hockey. But I do think when you look at Poo-Yarvey's game, has he shown that he could kill penalties? He hasn't really been given a shot.

But at the same time, you know that you have. two good penalty killers in Matt Nietto and Noel O'Hari. And that is something that they bring to the table. Is it overwhelming? Is it tremendous? Is it the greatest asset in the world? None of the above. But I will say, this is the thing that I have been saying all season about Puyarvi.

Again, I think it's puzzling to waive him. I think it's puzzling the fact that he has him getting an opportunity. But there have not really been moments for him consistently. He hasn't consistently shown I belong in the lineup every single night. He's had flashes. He's had moments where you go, okay, they should give him more of a look. I agree, you should get more of an extended look. But he does have a tendency to disappear for quite a while.

And it's just, again, I don't get why you wave them, but I also can understand, hey, you didn't lose some blue chip prospect here, should he get claimed? No, I get what you're saying on that. I just think they should. have given him more of a runway to see what he can do. Yes, I agree with that. More of a sample size rather than just what you said, Pat, one striking your

out compared to other players in this lineup right now who are playing, honestly, worse than he was the season when he was playing. At least, but I think that's enough of yes, people we already talked for the first segment. We'll provide an update for the Wednesday episode, whether or not he gets claimed and what that means for the penguins going forward. But again, that'll do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, it's time to preview the. final game of 2024 for the Pittsburgh Penguins as they take on the Red Wings also for the third

and final time the season. The Penguins won the first matchup before losing the second matchup in overtime. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about our first sponsor, and that is Rocket Money. Did Rocket Money help you find any subscriptions you forgot about or that you were paying for twice? That's definitely happened for me. I had a few subscriptions that I didn't even realize I was paying for, and Rocket Money made it so easy to track them all down. It's like having a personal assistant for your finance. is Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings.

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All right, we're back here in this episode of the Locked On Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Sandra Hodes, joined by my co-os Patrick James Sopat. Penguins Red Wings for the third and final time comes your way. New Year's Eve, 8 o'clock start time for those that are going out on New Year's Eve. please stay safe and make sure you have a safe ride home for everything. But Penguins Red Wings, this is a game, the Penguins really got to bank these two points. This is the easiest game of the week here.

The Red Wings have been really struggling this year. They just fired Derek Boulon, their former head coach, who looks like Dracula, the hired Todd McLuhan in his place, who plays a very defensive system. It's obvious when I was watching some of that Steve Eisenman press conference back, and yes, people I did watch some of that press conference because I'm a sicko. It was obvious that he wants this team to play a lot. lot better defensively. And I think Tom McClellan will at least have them doing that,

considering his track record as a head coach in the NHL. Offensively, they've struggled a bit this year. I mean, Lucas Raymond is still really good. He's a point per game player. But Dylan Larkin isn't having the best year compared to other years, 28 points and 36 games. De Brinkett, he has 15 goals, but still only 27 points in 36 games. Most sider, still a number one defense. They got J.T. Comfer there. Patrick Kane, Andrew Kopp. You look up and down this lineup again. They're top six. I like it.

The bottom six, it's okay at best, but defensively. Yeah, Ben Chavon on the top pair with Mo Sider. I really don't know what they're doing there. The rest of their defense is kind of meh. And then goaltending, it's kind of gone down a little bit in recent weeks. You have Alex Lyon and Cam Talbot as the two goalies for the Red Wings. But, you know, the Penguins, they play the Red Wings. Pretty good this year.

Three out of four points. They dominated them in Detroit to start the season. they lose that second game and overtime really wasn't the penguin's best effort. But I still want to see again another simple clean game, making sure you're making the right decisions. I want to see the depth scoring come back now. And of course, I want to see the stars continue to be red hot as of way. We'll also have to see if Marcus Pedersen returns in this game. He was cleared for full contact heading into that back-to-back against the islanders.

The penguins held him out. But I do think there's a shot that we see him during this game. And heck, that news could break while we're recording at 11.03 right now. but Pat, what do you want to see from the Penguins in this game against the Red Wings, a team that is quite a bit lower than them in the standings right now? I'm going to be a little vulgar-ish here. I want to see them kick a team that is down. This team is awful.

Let me hit you with some narrative and then hit you with some numbers. Gotta quote the great Jeff Merrick, who currently is back in the podcast game and you should go listen to him when you're done with us. It's called The Sheet. It's Jeff Merrick being the most Jeff Merrick you could possibly imagine, and it's awesome. But what does he always say? Hockey might as well just be called goalie, because most things come back to goaltending and look at the Red Wings goaltending. It's putrid.

They are a team that is very similar to the Penguins in that their main goaltender, Cam Talbot. He's got a save percentage above 900, but just barely. everybody else is sub 900 and you can look at this team and think like you said hunter look at their defensive pairings look at the team the players they have on defense they're not very good and you add that with a goaltending i don't know what you would call it there's four of them a foursome that have played games for the red wings this year and only one of them can barely break 900 that's a problem here's another number that might blow your mind mind. And this is probably why they went and got Todd McClellan. There are five teams in the

National Hockey League who have yet to score 100 goals this season. Detroit's one of them. And they're right there with Calgary who plays a solid two-way game. They are not an offensive team. They make sure you are going to lose a two-one rock fight every time you go up against them. And then there is Chicago who is in the depths of a rebuild. There is Anaheim. who has been terrible for about a decade, and Nashville, who nobody saw being terrible this year, but they are in fact terrible. So this is a team that can't score goals, can't play defense, and can't get goaltending. So hello, Todd McClellan, you are going to play boring hockey in Detroit for a little while.

But for the penguins, take advantage of all that. You have been red hot on offense. You're generating some of the best chances at five on five of any. team in the league right now. So continue to do that. Bary those chances and end this year on a high note against the team that is tied for last place in the Atlantic with the miserable Buffalo Sabers. Yeah, I mean, this was the year I think for Red Wing fans out loud. I think we've been saying that for the last couple now, but this, at least for Steve

Iserman, I should correct myself. I feel like this was the year he really wanted to see them take that next step. they were really close. Slasher came down to that final night, as everyone knows. But he was kind of like, okay, made some more moves. I want to see how it goes this year because I expect this team to compete for a wildcard spot. They have done anything but that. And I do think if this year continues to go south and Todd McClellan doesn't help,

I really do wonder if Steve Eisenman's job is on the line at the end of this season. I really do, considering when I look at his body at work in Detroit, yeah, I know he inherited a bit of a rough situation, but these last couple of years, He spent a lot of money in free agency. He made a lot of trades. A lot of these moves haven't worked out the way he thought they would. And I feel like that kind of comes back to him at some point. You know what I think the Illich family would do with Stevie Y?

I don't think they would fire him. I think they would kick him upstairs. He would become like the president of hockey operations or the head of the hockey ops department. And they would go get a general manager who runs the day to day. because it would be genuinely difficult for any, and this isn't just a cop out for the red wings. It would be like,

imagine if, say, things go differently in the penguins history, and Mario Lemieux goes into the front office and becomes the general manager, and it's not working by year four to five. There's no way in hell the penguins would fire Mario Lemieux. They would make him the, they would give him some front office upstairs management position,

where they go, hey, listen, you didn't do good at that, but we're not going to fire you, but this is a firing. So go ahead upstairs. We're going to go get someone else. The other thing I will say that I don't think this Red Wings team is too far away because you look at their forward group. This is a good forward group. That first line of Valeno, Larkin, and Raymond's a solid first line.

Cop de Brinkat, Kane, not a bad second line. Comfer, Teresenko, Bergrin, that's a good third line. And yeah, their fourth line's okay with Tyler Mott, Casper, and Rasmussen, but at the end of the day, their biggest problem is their defense stinks. They got to find an answer for defense. Mosider, great defenseman. He's going to be great for years to come. Ben Sherrott, he's a meme at this point. Edvenson, he's all right.

Jeff Petrie, he's all right. Gustafson, nope. Justin Hall, nope. So they can find some answers here on defense. they're going to be a good team. That and if they can, you know, get some more scoring. But again, that also comes down to more of the players, I feel like, living up to expectations. Another thing I really want to see from the Penguins tonight,

really continue their special teams dominance, both the power play and the penalty kill, top 10 in the league heading into this game. I want to see that continue. The power play is red hot right now. And I feel like that could also be a pretty big difference in this one. I would assume that Jari will start in this game, but we'll have to see. They're doing the morning skate right now. So who knows, maybe by the time we end our final segment where we do our 20, 20,

40 year in review, we'll have all the details as to who's a game time decision and who's starting and all that. But if I had to guess right now, I do think Jari is going to start. But yeah, go ahead. And one thing I want to add to what you said, the Detroit Red Wings coming back to being unable to defend 31st in PK percentage, the penguins, they're four. in power play right now. So you have to make this Detroit team pay on the power play.

Otherwise, what are we even doing here? If you saw the Penguins having a top five power play unit at any point this season, if you saw that coming, please, I ask that you step forward, considering how bad it was last year. But I think that I would do it for the second segment to preview this game against the Red Wings. Coming up to end the show, we're almost in a 2025. So that means it's time to look back at most of the best moments of 2024 for the Pittsburgh for penguins. And of course, we got to sprinkle in a little bit of the tough moments for this

franchise as well. That's all coming up right after this. All right. We're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Huns, or Hodes. Join my co-host, Patrick. So, I feel like we got to start with a really great moment from this year. And that is Yarmu Yager's retirement ceremony in February. 68 comes home forever. His jersey is in the rafters forever. Being there for that, it was a dream come true. I almost had tears coming down my eyes during that entire ceremony, considering how great it was and seeing Mario come out and all of Yager's great teammates from over the years, seeing him join the Penguins for warm-up,

seeing the mullet wigs from players and all that. Yeah, I know the Penguins lost that game, but it was still such an incredible weekend. It was so long overdue. And the Penguins, as usual with this type of ceremony, they blew it out of the water. It was perfect. It really was.

And I don't care that they lost. I really don't. I know we were in the throws of this team doing its dance last year where they would win and then lose and then win and then lose. They could never really string wins together. But that day, I did not give one single shred of a crap about the hockey game. It was all about number 68. It was all about Yarmir Yager. I remember,

I'm trying to remember exactly what we were doing. I think we had friends in town for the weekend, and it was a group of people we hadn't seen for quite some time. And I literally said to them, listen, when I get home from work, because I was still working weekends at the time, I was like, when I get home from work, I'm watching the Yager retirement ceremony,

and then you got my full attention the rest of the day and the rest of the night. But this is my childhood right here. I have to watch this. And it was perfect. And just the whole celebration was great. And I would be remissed if I didn't give a shout out, not that he needs it from me,

but to Kevin Acklin for everything he's done to repair the relationship with Yarmir Yager in the Pittsburgh Penguins in the city. So shout out to that. It was a perfect moment this past year. And number 68 up in the rafters exactly where it belongs. 100%. And a couple more. big milestones as of this season as well. You know, if Gennie Malkin gets to 500 goals,

that was a great night, especially that game as well, Pat. Back and forth, back and forth, the Penguins eventually win that game. Also, Cindy Crosby, 1,600 points. Congratulations to him for that. And then, of course, just recently, Crosby, all-time assist leader for the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, something that, again, I'll never get tired of celebrating all these milestones for the big three. And that's really, something that our listeners and people who read what I write know about kind of my take on where the penguins are right now. Yes, we are going to analyze them. I'm going to analyze them. When they say their sites are set on getting back to the playoffs, I'm going to hold them to

that standard. But as a fan, I am in full milestone mode. I want to see 87 go for records. I want to see 71 reach certain milestones. Same for 58. And hell, even same for 65 now that he's a penguin. We have been beyond spoiled for 20 years that, yes, I want them to win. I would be way happier if they're in the playoffs and going on long runs and winning championships, but we have experienced in 20 years what some fan bases haven't experienced in 100. So yes, we're going to analyze them. We're going to hold them that standard. But seeing Crosby reach these milestones, seeing Malkin reached these milestones and seeing these three continue their penguins careers together really keeps things in perspective.

100%. But I was also going to give this back to you because I know you have other big moments from this year that you wanted to touch on as well. Because I've said a good chunk of mine. I have a few more in my notes. But Pat, what are some of your other moments from this year? Good or back.

Yeah, I was going to say. So I kind of did this in a positive and negative way. We just went over a bunch of positives. So let's go with two quick negatives. We're not going to spend too much time on them because you guys know. They miss the playoffs again. That sucks. It's the second.

It's only the first time in about 25, 30-ish years where they've missed consecutive playoffs. We kind of forget the dark ages of the penguins in the 2000s. It's only about three, four years. It wasn't like they were in a decade of darkness, like say the Edmonton Oilers. But missing the playoffs is still something that's hard to grapple with because you make it for all those years. It just feels like a right of passage that once the calendar hits April, the first round starts, whether it's games three and four in Pittsburgh or games one and two in Pittsburgh, you knew that there were going to be playoffs.

The other thing is, and I'm going to spend a tiny bit of time on this, was the Jake Gensel trade to Carolina. This one hurt because the move made sense. You understood the move, especially now as we're nearly a year removed from it happening. You totally understood that now this team is doing a retail on the fly. They're going to try to get younger. They're going to try to get a bunch of assets. And where they were last year when they traded him, it was the smartest move they could make.

On the other hand, he was a homegrown talent. He was one of the best scoring wingers this franchise has ever seen. And I fully believed if he would have remained a penguin for at least the majority of his career, once 87, 71 and 58 hung them up, he was going to be the next Penguins captain. He was going to wear the sea after Crosby because he is just a blue collar kid who plays the game. excuse the cliche the right way scores goals has a lot of leadership abilities and i figured if he remained a penguin he was going to be the captain one day it's probably going to be him or brian russ now especially that russ is still here if he is there also once they retire i 100% think

i'm russ will be the captain but yeah if jk had said and they had signed him to that extension it probably would have been him or russ you probably could not go wrong with either pick a couple other more for me, at least from this year. Michael Bunting's insane late goal against Tampa Bay. I was there for that game. That's the loudest I've ever heard, PBG Payne's Arena. No people. I have not been to a playoff game there yet. I'm hoping to check that off my bucket list really soon. Maybe even this year, if they're able to sneak into a spot. But that is still the loudest I have ever heard that arena. It was a playoff like crowd. And when he scored, I thought the roof was going to blow off the building. That game is on my positive list. Yes.

because yeah, they missed the playoffs again, but damn, that game felt like a playoff game. And it felt like that 2016 series against the Lightning where it was just two heavyweights trading haymakers back in forth and back and forth. And yes, I know that Penguins team last year was not very good, but the way they played against Tampa that day, it was a throwback feel for that team. And the way they had that big lead, they blew it, and then they get the goal late in the third period. And then they almost blow it again, considering the six on four, six on five, but still. And that always comes back to, if I can go on a quick little rant here, it always comes back to my least faith.

And I get it as a sports fan. I get it. You're going to focus on your team. But it always comes back to my least favorite sports fan trope where it's like, no, we didn't lose to a good team. We beat ourselves. Tampa's a great team. So, yeah, they punched back. Heck, you know, the other game I also really want to shout out, at least from last season, was that crazy.

OT gaming against the Red Wings late in the year where the Penguins, they have that league going into the third. Eric Carlson vomits all over himself in the third period. And then he's like, you know what, I'm going to redeem myself in overtime. Scores a banger of a goal, has a banger of a celebration, keeps the Penguins' playoff hopes alive. That was an awesome back and forth game. Again, it was very much like a playoff game between those two teams, even though it was during the regular season. you have the Rucker McGority trade. I think that's also a pretty, I would say it's a positive.

I know some people are a little bit more down on it right now, considering that McGority is in the H.L. And yes, Yeager is doing pretty well for himself. But I do think when this is all said and done, and Magrorty comes up to the NHL full time, I do think the Penguins will come out as the winners of this trade. I can only hope I'm right about that, though. I mean, even if they don't come out as winners,

I don't see a world unless Magrory completely tanks, which I don't see happening. At the very least, it's a mutually beneficial deal. Yager fits Winnipeg's timeline a lot better, and McGrady fits what the penguins are trying to do a lot better than he did with Winnipeg. So assuming he doesn't throw it, assuming he doesn't completely lose his development track, which the way he's been performing in Wilkeshire the last few weeks,

I find it extremely hard to believe that's going to happen. I think it's a mutually beneficial deal. I think a lot of people were trying to turn this into, to there's got to be a king's ransom to get him out of Winnipeg. There's got to be X, Y, Z. And if you don't have that, they're not going to deal them. I think a lot of it, Winnipeg went, all right, let's find a guy who fits our timeline a little bit better than Rutger does.

And we can send him to a team where he may get a better chance. And Kyle Dubas seized upon that. So I don't know if they'll become the winners, but I think at the very least, it's a trade that benefits both parties involved. Yeah, I would agree. But do you have anything else from this year that you want to focus on? before we wrap up here? I don't,

I got one thing and I don't know if I want to call it a negative. I get everyone's going to call it a negative because of what it is, but it's just, it was something so bizarre to see. And that was Tristan Jari getting sent to Wilkespaar. Yeah, it was. It's just,

yeah, it's a negative because he's your starting goalie. He's making a bunch of money. You've got him on the books for a few more years. But it's really one of the first and only times I can recall a player getting sent down without waivers. they didn't wave him and then send him down. They put him on a conditioning stint, which I was completely unaware you could do.

And it kind of worked. Like, has he been great? No, but has he been better than what he was to end last year and start this year? I would certainly say so. So it was just, was it a negative yes because of who he is and what he makes? Was it a positive? Kind of. So it was just a bizarre moment from this year.

a little positive. He's been a bit better, but again, the bar was on the floor. He still got to play even better for me in the second half, where he's struggled quite a bit throughout his square. Once the calendar flips to January, that's where he's really struggled. So I really hope that does not come back this year. But I think that I'll do it for today's episode of the Lockdown 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 episode for you all on New Year's Day, January 1, 2025 to recap this game against Red Wings and give our picks for Warrior Helmette Wednesday. Again, if you are going out for New Year's tonight, please stay safe, make sure you have a ride to get back and all of that good stuff. So for Patrick Damp, I am Hunter Hodes. Thank you all so much for tuning in. We appreciate it and we'll see you all in 2025.