Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins newcomer Blake Lizotte ready to light some fires

Episode Date: August 9, 2024

It's no secret these Penguins have been lacking in spark the last couple of years and Blake Lizotte just might be the guy to do it for them. On this Friday edition of Locked On Penguins, Patrick and Hunter discuss what Lizotte can bring to the table and parse some of his words from his introductory press conference. Also, we now have some clarity on what the Penguins TV broadcast team will look like this upcoming season. Finally, the Penguins big guns - Crosby, Malkin, Letang, and Karlsson, are all chasing down some historical milestones this year!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!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. eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotors.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! Visit FANDUEL.COM and add a big win to your summer bucket list!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.

Another one of the Penguins' newcomers spoke to the media this week, and he had quite a lot to say. Also, Hunter's got a very interesting comparison for one of these new guys. We'll talk about that and more right after this. 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 4 Wet, 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, we appreciate you taking time out of your day to make us part of your daily routine because we're your team every day. And don't forget that we are free and available wherever you get your podcasts as well as good old YouTube. And before we get started, today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Make every moment more as playoffs wind down and the summer continues on. The sports stop sporting the way we like them too. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or bonus daily. That's right.

There's something for everyone every day all summer long. So head over to FanDuel.com to get started. So Hunter, Penguins blessed us with a little bit of content to end this week to give us a little bit of a feel good Friday, and they introduced to us one of their newcomers, and that is Blake Lazot. And I have got to give all the props in the world to Michelle Creckiolo, better known as Penn's Inside Scoop on Twitter. She's the team reporter. She does amazing work.

But the headline choice for this story, absolutely perfect. And it's something that if you're a Penguins fan after the last couple of seasons, it's something and you've been dying to see it for quite a while. And it says, Lazott looking to drag the penguins into the fight. Pat, Michelle definitely listens to Locked on Penguins, 100%. She has to at this point.

I mean, what have we been saying now for the better part of a year that they need bastards? They need guys who are going to drag them into the fight, guys who are going to shake them out of their slumber when they need it most. And that's the quote that I want to start with from Lazot, which stood out to me. And he said, quote, I think that's what I do well.

When we maybe don't have our A game, I tend to bring players into the game, whether it be with tenacity, speed for checking, or whatever that might be. And Hunter, I'm going to hand this off to you because before we hit record here

for today's episode, an interesting comparison for Blake Lazot. And while I'll give you this little caveat, so you don't have to give it yourself, it's a loose comparison, people. It's not a 1v1, so don't get your panty

and too much of a bunch over this one. But Hunter, who's this reminding you of? Don't you think this reminds you just a little bit of Brandon Tannav with the way Blake Lazot plays? It feels like the penguins are really trying to still replace him. You know, they did for maybe a little bit with Brock McGinn at least maybe his first season, but then obviously that experiment didn't work out. But it feels like they still haven't fully replaced Tanev since he left.

I do think Lazan, again, a very loose comparison has the ability to represent. place him. One of the other quotes that really stood out to me, he said, I think for me, I just bring a little more youth in some energy to kind of give a heartbeat or some life to games. Well, for everyone that watched Brandon Tanniv when he was a member of the Penguins, he did exactly that. Yeah, he could score a little bit. He could play well in his own zone. But when this team was really needing some energy, really needing a big boost, he would go out there and lay a pretty big check and get the guys fired up on the bench. I do think Lazot has that ability in him when You look back at his film during his time in Los Angeles.

Obviously, he's good in his own zone. He can provide some offense as well. But it's nice adding a little bit more of a physical presence to that bottom six. And as Michelle's headline was, you know, looking to drag the penguins into the fight, that's what TANIV was doing when he was a member of this team. So that just got me thinking it looks like to me they're trying to find that next TANF, even though I know this front office was not around when Tanna was on the Penguins. Yeah, and you look at his stats over the last couple of seasons.

I mean, in total, the last two years, 160 hits if you look at his hockey reference page. So he's not afraid to throw the body when he needs to. And then you look at his other statistics, 18 goals, 31 assists, or yeah, 31 assists, excuse me. and that's not bad offense over two years for a guy who's going to play in the bottom six. So he really is checking a lot of boxes for this Penguins team in what they've missed over the past couple of years. And this is a guy who you can slot him in as your fourth line center. And if you get that similar production out of him that he put up last year with seven goals, eight assists, 15 points, while that's not fantastic, it's not as high as you would like it to be,

that's still going to provide you with secondary offense in the doldrums of the NHL season. We know how it gets in January and February when you're just slogging through it, trying to get through that playoff push, trying to get to the All-Star break, when nobody seems to want to play that kind of game, which mixes in with what he does. those are the kind of games where Lazot can step up and be huge. You are in the middle of a game against a bottom dwelling team, a rebuilding team, whatever.

It's a game that doesn't have the juice. Blake Lazot, his skates touch the ice. Somebody comes across the blue line with their head down. All of a sudden, this game's got some juice again. I think it's going to be hard also for the Penguins to have their bottom 6B worse than last year's unit. I mean, we got to hope it's definitely not worse, but I don't think it will be. but also with Lazot, I agree he will be able to provide you at least some secondary scoring, especially when some of the big guns are not producing on a given game, for example.

And also, I really like the quote that he said about the other sentence in front of him. He knows what role he's going to play on this team. He even said, yeah, there's two guys obviously up and down with Crosby and Malkin. They're not moving. But he also really shouted out Lars Eller, which was really nice that saying like, yeah, He's been in the league for a long time. He's played a lot of big games. He's won.

I expect him to play on the third line. He shouted out Kevin Hayes as well during his meat availability. He knows which line he's going to play on. So it's just nice also him knowing the expectations for himself and the team heading into this season. But this is still the move that I'm the most excited about heading into the season. Yeah, you can maybe count on a bounce back if you want to for Kevin Hayes, Bobillier Gris Lake, but you're kind of hoping for bouncebacks for.

all those players. You're really not looking for a bounce back with Blake Lazott here. He's been the same player he's been since coming into the NHL, and you want him to keep providing that value, if not maybe we provide potentially a little more value for the Penguins this season and the next season. Oh, for sure. And you said you think Krakiollo listens to Locked on Penguins. I think Blake Lazott might be a listener of this show too, because he also brought up near the end of his media availability, something that I have been saying for a little while this summer and is that he basically said, like, there is a lot of talent in this Penguins organization. There is the potential for this team to be a lot better than what its standing's

placement has shown over the past couple of seasons. And I agree with him. Now, do I think this is going to suddenly be a contender? No, I don't. I'm not going to be unrealistic about this. But I do think, and this again gets into how we've said if this team makes the playoffs, we won't be shocked. If they miss again, we also won't be shocked. There's a very wild swing. But in that spirit, I wouldn't be shocked if this team is better than we thought. If this team goes out and has a strong start, maybe they don't like the league on fire and all of a sudden we're talking about the penguins being near the top of the standings early. But if they're right in the mix and a good few games above 500 and looking like a team that could make some noise, that wouldn't shock

me. And I think that's kind of what Lazot was getting at. And I wouldn't be shocked to see it, because again, good foundation here with all the big names on this roster. And I think that's fair, but it's also dependent on a few things. You know, the core really starting out the season strong, the Penguins also getting good goal tending from both Tristan Jari and Alex Nadelcovich to start the season. How does David Quinn do on the bench, especially with the power play? Does the power play get off to a better start this year than it did last year. So it's definitely dependent on those few things. And also with the bottom six,

are the Penguins going to be able to get some big time depth scoring from players, maybe other than obviously Blake Lazot, who we're talking about here, you know Anthony Bavillier, Kevin Hayes, Lars Eller, etc, etc. Valtreepucent, of course. So it can happen, but it's very much dependent on quite a few factors, I think, going right for this team. For sure. But I was very happy to read all of that and listen to all that from Blake Lazotte.

Like you said, might be the move. that I'm most excited about and the player I'm most excited to watch this coming season. So very excited for the Blake Lizotte experiment here in Pittsburgh. We will see how it goes. And here's the hoping he drags them into the fight. But that'll do it for our first segment. When we come back, we got a little bit more clarity on what is going to happen on the television side for the Pittsburgh Penguins this upcoming season. Hunter and I are going to talk about that right after this.

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eligible items only, exclusions apply, eBay guaranteed fit available only to US customers. Welcome back to a Feel Good Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm Patrick Damp. That's Hunter Hodes. And we appreciate you guys taking time out of your day

to make us part of your daily routine. And as I said before we went to break, we do now have a little bit of clarity when it comes to the Penguins' broadcasting teams for this upcoming season. This is thanks to some reporting from our good pal, Rob Rossi, at the Athletic. As you well know, Steve Mears has left the organization

to become the Columbus Blue Jackets, play-by-play television commentator. Hats off to him. We know that's what he has always wanted to do. He is a TV play-by-play guy, and while he got the chance to live the dream, here in Pittsburgh, call games for his boyhood team on TV.

That plan did change as FSG came into the fold. He has since moved on. We look forward to seeing what he does, but here in Pittsburgh, we did get some clarity, as I said, with what is going to happen. Once again, on the TV side with Josh Gets Off, there will be a rotating cast of characters on TV filling in for color commentating.

That is Phil Bork, Mike Rupp, and Colby Armstrong. They will all rotate their duties as color commentator. And all in all, I like this call because the three of them are all radically different, different, I would say, the way they approach their broadcasting style, the way they analyze and look at the game. But overall, I would like sooner rather than later for them to pick one and let this team cook together and develop some chemistry rather than completely sticking with a rotating cast because at that point, you really don't know what you're going to get night in, night out. Right. That's where I'm at. I think it's okay in a vacuum if you're going to do this

rotating cast of three color commentators, but I still think the Penguins TV broadcast is at its best when you have all three of Josh Getsoff, Colby Armstrong, and Phil Bork calling the game together. That's what I want them to do. I want it to be where it's Getsov calling the games, Bork right next to him giving his color commentary, and Colby Armstrong kind of between the benches giving his views on the game unfolding right in front of them, just because I really trust his eye test overall, and he's also just hilarious, too. So that's what I wish the Penguins would do for their TV commentary, but I understand them going back to this direction. But Rob also did say in his report that Bork is going to get more games this year on TV. That's big news.

I think of those three, Phil Bork is the best. The way he will bury this team when they very much deserve it, the way he will also give them credit when they deserve it. He is, I think when you look at color commentators, at least these three, he's the most down the middle compared to Colby and Mike Rob. And I'm not trying to dogg on Colby and Mike. I think they're both very good. But when it comes to objectivity, Bork is the most down the middle.

And that's what I really like about him on the broadcast. I am really excited that he's going to get more games for the Penguins this year, but also excited about Colby and about Rupp as well. We also have to see who they're going to hire to be the new radio play-by-play announcer that has not been announced yet. Yeah, we're still waiting on that. We're still waiting to find out who we'll call games on the Penguins Radio Network 105.9 the X here in Pittsburgh. And you brought up something that I kind of want to build on here. I think you're absolutely right about Bork being the best of this group because like you said, he has no qualms burying this team when they

need buried. He's not the guy who is going to find the rosy side of a bad game or a bad retch and he's not going to also be the dinosaur and if you've listened to me and followed my analysis of the penguins you know who i'm talking about i'm not going to name a name but the kind of dinosaur is going to say well they just need to start throwing hits they got to throw hits they got to fight they got like that's not going to be his analysis he's actually going to give you good analysis but i also think and i know this isn't something they would be able to do because he has obligations both with spit and chicklets as well as NHL on TNT, but Colby Armstrong between the bench is great.

And it's not even just because of analysis. Let's be real here. If you're on a regional sports network and you're doing between the benches reporting, you're not reporting. You're not doing the actual... Sometimes you are, like, when there's injuries or things like that, you're there to do that.

But if you're between the benches, you're playing a character. You're giving people a look inside the game rather than just being the person who's sitting there reporting. If you're on a national broadcast, yes, your job between the benches is to report on both teams. But if you're on SportsNet, Pittsburgh, you're there to rib guys, you're there to have fun. You're almost basically, and I don't mean this in a denigrating way, the comedic relief. And you know, who's very- You also tell good stories as well about some of the guys in the rock room. I mean, obviously he played with Cindy Crosby.

So there's that. And just overall, he's a funny person. Like he's objectively funny. So that adds a whole new element to the broadcast. And again, I just want him there for quite a few games. I know he has obligations to the NHL and TNT, and I do think the NHL and TNT is doing a bit better than ESPN right now, overall, at least in the United States, excuse me.

But I still want to see Armstrong there for a good swath of games this year. And I want that number to keep going up as the seasons go on. Yeah, and just like I said, I don't mean that in a denigrating way. I'm not saying that he's the court jester of NHL analysis and he's not capable of analyzing the game. Colby's extremely smart. He has a great insight into the game, but he is at his best when it's loose, when it's fun, when you're telling stories, when you're ribbing guys who are out there.

And when you're on a regional sports network, that's what you're doing. For all intents and purposes, and this also is funny because we were just saying, that, you know, Phil Bork is not afraid to rip this team when he needs to, but when you're on a regional sports network, you're a little bit of a homer. Your job is to call the game for the fans of the team that have tuned in. So having Colby there as a guy who was a fan favorite penguin, who is still friends with a lot of these guys. And like you said, is a very funny, entertaining person. That all lines up great for it. But I'm really excited to see what they do with this, especially with Phil Bork getting more games, because I thought when he did have his time

on television last year, very good, as if we expected any less. But now that they're going to increase that workload, I think it tells me that they're looking at it as, all right, Phil, you are the leader in the clubhouse to get this job. And boy, I am really, really rooting for him. But also when you look at it, or you just think about it, excuse me, him and Getsov have such great chemistry together. I mean, just going back to their time on the Penguins Radio Network and it meshed so beautifully on television, you honestly really couldn't tell the difference. They're just that good together. And I'm excited for that to keep going. And I really like Getsal as a play-by-play announcer, man.

I think his debut this past season, at least on television compared to radio, was flawless. I honestly couldn't really tell the difference between his calls on radio, between his calls on television. They were very similar. and I think he's only going to continue getting better for this team this season and in future seasons. I think they have very much a rising star in Getsov. Absolutely agreed. I thought he was tremendous. And like you said, the chemistry between him and Bork, then again, Bork seems like one of the easiest guys to work with.

So having chemistry with him can't be all that difficult. But they made it work. They made it sound great. And we'll see. We will see what happens. But now we know when we tune into SportsNet, Pittsburgh this year, who are some of the names and the faces we will be seeing. But that will do it for our second segment of the Friday edition of the Lockdown Penguins

podcast. When we come back, you may not know this. Some of it you definitely do. But overall, there are a lot of milestones for the penguins to be chasing on the team this year. And Hunter and I will get into those right after this. Before that, though, we're going to tell you about our next sponsor. And that is Bandul.

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Fandul, official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball. All right, welcome back to the Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. One more time, I'm Patrick Damp. That's Hunter, Hodes. We appreciate you taking time out of your day to make us part of your daily routine. And as I said before we went to break there, there are a lot of milestones the penguins are chasing down this coming year. And for all intents and purposes, just so everybody knows right off the top,

I'm just counting the big four names on the penguins, Crosby, Malkin, Latang, and Carlson. Obviously, I'm sure there are plenty of others, whether it's games played, goals, you name it, because time keeps on slipping. Always has been. But for these four, there are a lot of huge milestones coming up for them. We've talked about Sid, we've talked about Gino before. But Chris LaTang, very low-key, this is where I'm going to start, has, some really cool milestones he's chasing down this coming season.

He is right now 24 assists away from 600 career assists. And should he do that, he would pass one of the best Penguins defensemen of all time in Sergei Gonshire. And not only would he pass Gonshar, he would be in the top 20 all time in assists by defensemen. Certainly good company. overall, and he's going to get that this year. I mean, 24 assists if he stays fully healthy, he should be able to get that. If I'm going to take a guess at this, maybe January, February,

if he's fully healthy, I think somewhere around that time frame is when he'll get it. That's a big milestone. He's also only 58 points away from 800. If he doesn't get it this year, he most definitely will in 2025, 2026. He's definitely going to hit the 800 point mark. but he's also 36 points away from overtaking Rob Blake for top 20 in points by defensemen all time. He's going to be in very good company in a couple of very strong categories this season and heading into the next season as well. And it continues to show that he is one of the most underrated defensemen of this era, bar none. Oh, no doubt. And we had this discussion very briefly a while back.

you and I about the big, especially the big three, Crosby, Malkin, Latang, and the Hall of Fame, the more I looked into Chris Latang's numbers, yes, he doesn't have the Norris trophy, but he's got three Stanley Cups, and then if he ends up in this top 20, knocking on the door, the top 15 of these statistical categories for a defenseman,

he might be first ballot. He just might be, but that's a different discussion for a different day. Sticking with the blue line, there is another defenseman on the penguins, Eric Carlson, who is pretty close to another solid milestone, especially for a defenseman in the modern era. He is currently 11 goals away from 200. And if we're looking at a bit of a pie in the sky season for Eric Carlson, should he have a 20 goal campaign, that would tie him with Zadano Chara for 20th,

all time in goals by a defenseman. So if he has that bounce back that we so crave under David Quinn and scores 20 goals, puts him in some elite company. He's going to pass some good all-time defensemen in terms of points also for this season. He's going to pass Doug Wilson only needs 10 points to tie him for 16th. After that, it's Gary Suter. He only needs about 27 to tie him at 15th. After that, you have Brent Burns at 881.

You have Brad Park at 896. 896, that's probably going to be the season after this one. But Scott Stevens after that at 908, I do think Carlson by the time he retires is probably going to pass Scott Stevens. Bobby Orr might have to see on that. Potentially Chris Chelyos at 948, but there is a real shot that Eric Carlson gets very, very close pat to top 10 all time among defensemen and NHL history in terms of points in the next couple of seasons with this team.

You know, he's still under contract for multiple seasons with the way he's producing and the way I expect him to produce this year, he's going to get very close to it. So I think by the time he does retire, because right now, look at number 10 all time, Chris Chelyos, 948 points. Carlson's at 817. That's definitely doable in the next few seasons

where Carlson is top 10 all time among points for a defenseman in NHL history, going back to Latang for just a second. He's tied for 25th right now with Mark Howe. He's going to break that this season. I think for this year, Lettang, So he needs 35 points to tie Rob, like, as we said.

He'll get into the top 20 all time. After that, you know, we'll have to see with Gonschar, a Gonshire finish with 8-11. I think he'll get that by the time his career ends as well. Letang, he's going to be very much in the top 20 when his career ends with a potential outside shot of being top 15 all time in terms of points for a defenseman. Again, that number 15 mark right now is held by Gary Souter with 844. Le Tang's at 742.

I definitely think Latang has 102 points left in his career. There is a lot of history on the horizon for a lot of penguins right now. And I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of it. And especially because like we've talked about, this team just has the feel of one that's got a chip on their shoulder after the last two years. So we could see them really raise their level this year. We'll wrap it up here. There are Sydney, with Sydney Crosby and of Gany Malkin.

We've talked a lot about them in the milestones they're chasing down simply because we've had a lot of Crosby and Malkin content this offseason. Sidney Crosby, four points away from 1600. That would be a huge milestone for him. He's also 45 points shy of tying Joe Sackick for ninth all time in points scored in the NHL. He's eight goals away from 600 career goals. If he gets 10, he passes Yari Curry for 20th all time in goals in NHL history.

I think he's going to score 10 this year. That would be huge. And under the radar one here, given everything he went through, which we talked about recently with the concussions and some of the injuries and the lockouts as well, he's only 28 games away from playing 1,300 NHL games. And given what we talked about earlier this week on his birthday, given everything he went through with the concussion saga and the broken neck, that was never a guarantee that he was going to play that many NHL games.

So that is gigantic. And finally, fun one here, a couple fun ones here for Evgeny Malkin, two goals away from 500. I think he's going to get that. Now, if he has a similar season that he did last year, scores 27 goals, he will tie Marion Hosa for 37th all time and goals scored. He's two assists away from 800. 800 career assists, four points away from 1,300 points.

if he scores five points, which I'm sure that he will this year. He will pass Jerome McGinla for 36th all time. And if he plays at least 55 games this year, he hits the 1,200 game mark. So a lot of history coming up for these penguins. Yeah, I mean, there's a real shot that Henni Malkin gets into the top 30 all time for NHL scoring. I mean, Matt Sondin at 1,349. So when you look at that for Evgeny Malkin, he really just needs 53 points. to tie that, which I mean, I think he's going to.

If he does have a very similar season, I think he's going to break that this year. So I really do think he's going to get into the top 30 all time for this year. Then he'll have a chance to keep rising before he retires. And also just going back to Crosby, you know, once he does pass Joe Sackick. After that Pat, Mario Lemieux, 1,723. Sid's not, I don't think he's going to hit it this year, just because, you know, age, I think if he were a bit younger, he would have a chance. But the season after this one, he's definitely going to pass Mario.

Oh, yeah, it's, it's all, assuming he stays healthy, that's the caveat and all of this. It feels like it is almost inevitable that he will do this. But that will wrap up our Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. As always, we appreciate you taking time to join us here in Talk Some Puck in the Dog Days of Summer. But for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp. We will be back with a brand new episode for you on Monday. Until then, have a great weekend. We'll talk to you once again on Monday.