Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins prospects start the AHL season strong!

Episode Date: October 24, 2024

With the Pittsburgh Penguins making their way across Western Canada, it's time for an update on the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins! Hunter and Patrick discuss the Baby Pens and how they've had a hot s...tart to the season, while also diving into which players are off to a good start. They look at Sam Poulin and how he's dominating while players like Rutger McGroarty and Owen Pickering are still adjusting to the AHL. After that, they dive into a piece in The Athletic about Jaromir Jagr and how time is just a number for the living legend. Finally, Connor McDavid endorsed Sidney Crosby to be captain of Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-off and they discuss how that shouldn't be a surprise. All that, plus much more is on this episode of the Locked On Penguins podcast.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. PrizePicksDownload the app or go to https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNHL to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. 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.FanDuelPlace your first FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - guaranteed ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started.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 ( Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 With the penguins off on Thursday, Pat and I are going to look at the farm a little bit and look at how Wilkesbury is doing this season. Plus, if anyone could be getting a call up here at some point pretty soon, that's all coming up 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 episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunters, you can follow me on Twitter. at Hunter Hodes. Join by my co-st, Patrick Damp. You can follow him on Twitter at Center in Furwet,
Starting point is 00:00:40 and you can follow the show's Twitter at L.O. UnderSwar Penguins, of course. Thank you all so much for making this your first lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by GameTime, down the game side map, grant account and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. So, Pat, I love the Western Canada trip. You know that. everyone that listens to the show knows that as well. But man, the only thing I don't like about it is how late in the day, East Coast time, the Penguins practice, because they're not scheduled to practice for another hour and 15 minutes. We're recording this at 3.15 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. And we don't want to be waiting for practice overall, considering that most of the lines are probably going to be similar. So we wanted to start off today's show by focusing on Wilkesbury and how the Wilkesbury's Grand Penguins off to a good start this season. They've won three in a row. They're three in one.
Starting point is 00:01:33 overall this season. Philip Larson is playing really well. Inette, Sergei Murashav has also had a really good start. And you look at the top point producers for this team, Pat, it's our good friend, Sam Palin. He already has one goal, six points in four games. You also have Emil Benstrom, who was on the Penguins for a good chunk of last season. He has two goals, five points in four games. You also have Billy Coyvenin. He's a point per game player. Jimmy Huntington, he's a point per game player as well. Rucker McRourty, he's only been there for a couple of games No point so far, but he's still kind of getting acclimated a little bit. I don't think it's going to last too much longer.
Starting point is 00:02:09 I think he's going to be really turning it on here, excuse me, at some point pretty soon. But you're seeing players doing what they need to do to potentially earn a call-up a bit later this season. For example, you know, someone like Sam Poulin, who I know we've both been a little bit tough on, but we've just been wanting him to show what he can do at the NHL level. But he just hasn't been able to do that at camp and in the preseason. and that's led him to being down to Wilkesbury for quite a while now. But I will say it is good that he's off to this start.
Starting point is 00:02:42 It is. And this is exactly what you want to see from a player like Sam Poulan. You want to see him dominate that level and get off to a good start, especially because I think there are like a lot of players that we've spoken about in Poulan's position. There's a little bit of a crisis of confidence with them. They have this first round pedigree. They're expected to make a difference.
Starting point is 00:03:05 It doesn't happen right away. And it can affect their game when they get to the NHL level and they don't produce as expected. But then you send him down to the AHL. And he's still very much young enough that there could be some runway. Now, it's rapidly decreasing, he's running out of chances and running out of time. But if he continues to produce in Wilkes-Bare, it's definitely worth giving him at least another shot later on down the down the road in the season. And it's been a good start for Wilkes-Barre overall.
Starting point is 00:03:38 They dropped their first game to the Charlotte Checkers, six or seven to six, excuse me. And then they win three straight. They beat the Thunderbirds, four to one. Then they get back-to-back wins against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, four to three and three-nothing respectively. And you're seeing a lot of good from this team. And it's, again, we always want to stress this,
Starting point is 00:04:00 especially with AHL games and AHL teams. and HL teams. You're not looking so much for the outcome of the game. Now, you do want them playing important hockey. You do want them being a competitive team because that helps build your culture as an organization. If you're playing meaningful hockey in the American League and you're held to that standard, it'll be a lot easier to go up to the NHL and play to that same standard.
Starting point is 00:04:27 But you also want to see the players you've got your eye on playing well. We talked about Poulin. Obviously, Bemstrom is a little bit different. That guy's had an HL experience, but it's another player you want to see go down to the HL in play very well because he shouldn't be at that level. But then, like you said, Coyvenin's a guy who we have high hopes for getting four assists and four games is very encouraging. Avery Hayes has two goals, which is huge.
Starting point is 00:04:55 That's another young guy that we would like to see turn into something. and the same thing goes for Tristan Bros having two goals and four games. These are players that in the next one, two, three years, you want to be with the Pittsburgh Penguins and making a difference. And they're off to a very encouraging start. Right. I'm really excited for Covenant just because when I look back at that Gensel trade, like yes, obviously, you know, Bunting performed really well at the end of last season.
Starting point is 00:05:23 He still hasn't found his level yet this season, though I'm hoping it's coming. but in terms of the prospects that came back, I was really excited about Coivinan because I feel like he has a higher ceiling, at least to me, over Ponomerov, and he's already off to a great start, even though he doesn't have too much experience playing North American hockey. This is his first full season in North America, and the fact that he's already off to this good of the start is encouraging.
Starting point is 00:05:50 And you said it for Tristan Bros. He has two goals in four games. I don't know if you're going to see him with the Penguins at all this season, unless a whole bunch of injuries come up. But I do think definitely next season, that could be a time where he really starts pushing for the main roster where you get out some of these veterans, especially if the team is not that good at the deadline,
Starting point is 00:06:10 you make some trades. But I definitely think next season is when he's going to start really pushing, at least for some time at the NHL level, maybe not someone that's going to play in the top six, but maybe someone on the third or fourth line. And also the same for Covenant as well, especially with the start that he's had to. You mentioned Avery Hayes.
Starting point is 00:06:26 Owen Pickering, he has no points in four games so far, though. I don't expect that to last too much longer. Again, this is his first full professional season. So again, he's getting used to some things. He had a really good camp, really good preseason. There's some injuries to the defense for the Penguins. I definitely think he's going to be one of the first players that comes up from Wilkesbury, as well as Sebastian Aho, who does have three points in four games.
Starting point is 00:06:50 I think Ajo, I don't think he's an everyday player at the NHL level, but I also don't think he belongs in the HL full-time, in my opinion. Kind of similar to Benstrom. I don't think those are full-time NHLers. I think they're just kind of tweeners at the NHL level overall. Those are some of the other things I've been noticing as well for Wilkesbury to start this season. For sure. And keeping that go and another good sign that we're seeing something we have gushed about on this show is the goal tending depth in the organization.
Starting point is 00:07:19 Obviously, we know Yowell Blumquist is with the big club right now with everything. going on with Tristan Jari. But the other two guys who are playing right now in Wokes Bear through these first few games are having some solid performances. Sergei Murshov has one game. He gets a win. He only gives up one goal, makes 27 saves on 28 shots. He's got a 964, which is a very solid starting save percentage.
Starting point is 00:07:46 And Philip Larson has played in two games. He's got a one-on-one record, but a 9-11 save percentage. he's off to a very good start himself, a handful of goals against for him, but in two games, a 9-11 save percentage with this team off to as good of a start as it is. We know that this team's future in net is hopefully going to be very bright, and this is a good start by them.
Starting point is 00:08:15 Again, obviously we want to stress very small sample size here. The season has only just begun for Wokes Bear. only four games, but a lot of very encouraging signs from the guys down on the farm to start the year. Right. And I do think if Blumquist stays up for the Penguins for a good chunk of this season, if not the entire season, you're going to see Larson start the majority of the games in Wilkesbury and then they'll have a decision to make. Do they want to have Marishaw be his backup? Or do they want to have Marishav start most of the games in Wheeling? Because remember, Wheeling season is starting at the beginning of November. So Kyle Dubus and Jay and Spets, and then they'll have some decisions to make overall when it comes to, you know,
Starting point is 00:08:57 Mirrashaw, will he be the backup or we'll start in the ECHL? But that's still, again, a very good problem to have if you're the Penguins as a whole. But I think that I would do it for this first segment coming up in the second segment. Yes, my friends, Yarmu Yager, still very much a legend. There was a great piece in the athletic today going into Yager's farewell tour overseas. And it was a delight to read. Pat and I are going to discuss that coming up here in the second segment. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about our first sponsor, and that is Fandul. HANFL fans, you can start the season with a big return on Fandul, America's number one
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Starting point is 00:09:58 So, Pat, this piece on Yager by Matthew Fairburn and the athletic was amazing to read. It just goes into, again, his farewell tour, how everyone in the hockey world loves him. And the money quote from that article, I sent it to you. It's he doesn't think he's better than anyone. He treats everyone the same, no matter what. And just seeing how his teammates speak about him,
Starting point is 00:10:22 seeing how, you know, the front office speak about him, obviously seeing how the penguins speak about him. Anyone in the hockey community has positive things to say about him. And obviously, it sucks that this is coming to an end for his playing career, even though he's still so old at this point. But he has such a swagger about him, even though he is old at this point. And reading that article, I had the biggest smile on my face. Obviously, they were talking about Yager's Jersey retirement with the Penguins, but then, you know, coming back, playing a little bit last season.
Starting point is 00:10:59 And then this season, it was a delight to read. It was really awesome. And we're not going to read this whole thing to you. If you have an athletic subscription, this is worth every single word in every single penny. Matthew Fairburn knocked this out of the park. It's a great kind of day in the life piece. and a little bit of reporting on the players over in Cladno that Yager plays with. And it kind of gets into just the whole, as they say in the headline,
Starting point is 00:11:32 there's this aura around him as both a third liner. Let's not get that lost. He is on Cladno's third line and owner and basically a de facto general manager because a bunch of guys that are quoted in the piece talk about how, their agents reach out to them and they don't say, oh, cladno wants to sign you. It's Yager wants to sign you. And it's, it's so great. And there's, they talked to, he talked to one player and I'm going to botch his name. So I apologize. But it's Edwards Trollmacks, I believe is how you say it. And he gives these incredible quotes about Yager. And there was one that he had that was,
Starting point is 00:12:21 just it sums up Yarmier-Yager perfectly. And I'll read this one verbatim. Like I said, I'm not going to read the whole article, but I'll read this quote verbatim. He says a lot of people, it's not like they're done because they don't like hockey anymore. They just want to live a normal life. For him, normal life is this.
Starting point is 00:12:39 And if that doesn't sum up Yarmir Yager, because everywhere he went, including his early days in Pittsburgh to his journeyman era at the end of his time in the NHL, every player to a man was like, oh, I'd come in early, he'd be working out, we'd be done with practice, he'd be on the ice, you know, an hour after practice finished, just doing whatever. And there were also stories from Philadelphia and New Jersey and other places that he played where he would get the keys from like the rink attendant and just be there late night training.
Starting point is 00:13:14 So this is just continued in Cladno, but it has so much more meaning because this isn't, a great team in the Czech League. They're a very, very fringe team that they have faced relegation multiple times over the past decade. And because of his work ethic, because of his aura, being able to sign players, he's been able to keep that team in the top Czech league. So this is just a really fun story. And the legend of Yarmier Yager just continues to grow by the day.
Starting point is 00:13:48 My favorite story from that article was that. that Yager apparently told his teammates he wanted to play in every exhibition game, but he only played in one because he tore his hamstring and he needed like six weeks without skating. And then the quote was, you think he took those four to six weeks? Three days later, he was already skating on the ice by himself. And then in two to three weeks, he was already on the ice with them and he wasn't taking that advice at all.
Starting point is 00:14:12 That is Yarmir Yager to a T. He's like, you know what? I don't care. Screw that. Hockey is in my bones. Every single day, I'm not abiding by that six weeks. I'm skating basically right away. And when I read that, I literally just laughed out loud because that sums up Yager to a T.
Starting point is 00:14:31 And I am really, really hoping that he gets to do some scouting for the Penguins or that they hire him to be some sort of advisor for the organization. Because I really feel like he would knock it out of the park, especially with how much hockey knowledge he possesses. For sure. And this feature digs into it of how he kind of appeals to players in Cladino. And it's not him just resting on his laurels and being like, hey, I'm Yarmir Yager. I'm a living legend. I own this team. You should come play for it.
Starting point is 00:15:06 It's not him making that hard, I know who I am pitch. It's that he's still one of the guys. And he doesn't, like I said, he doesn't make that hard pitch. not out there negotiating contracts. All of these players that were spoken to for the article basically said he calls us and just talks hockey. He doesn't try to make the hard sell or appeal to the agents or anything. He's just like, oh yeah, like, you know, I'll tell you stories about hockey.
Starting point is 00:15:36 I'll tell you about how I train. I'll tell you what I think you do well. I'll tell you what I think I can do better. and if you translate that to one day possibly working for the Penguins organization, that's an asset in and of itself because guys are going to want to talk to Yarmor Yager. He's a legend. He's one of the five, if not three best players to ever play the sport. But he doesn't have this arrogance.
Starting point is 00:16:03 He doesn't have this mystique about him. Yeah, he's got the legend. He's got the aura and your phone rings and it says Yarmor Yager, you're going to pick it up. But the fact that he's just like, oh, yeah, you know, when I was playing in the 90s, this was a guaranteed goal. Or, you know, when I was going from city to city and I had to learn how to train and all this stuff, all of a sudden, and one of the players in that, in that story says it where he's like, I have to pinch myself that I'm just having a hockey conversation with Yarmory Yager. And I can consider him one of my friends. So if you can translate that to him
Starting point is 00:16:39 being a scout to him being some sort of ambassador for the organization, that's going to give you a leg up over so many other organizations because you're not, there's not a million Yarmier Yagers. There's one of them, one of one. And if he has that, if he has that ability as a scout or an ambassador, you're going to get some diamonds in the rough out of Europe from Yarmier. And I know that the Argo mentions this, but I don't think he'd have to sell his team over there and also be working for the penguins. I think there can be a reality where he owns a team
Starting point is 00:17:15 and he also is an ambassador or an advisor for the penguins and maybe he can work remotely. And sometimes he can come to Pittsburgh for some select events or for some select games. But I think there's a reality where he can do both. He doesn't have to sell the team and also work for the penguins. I think he can work for the team while also owning his team in Cladno overseas.
Starting point is 00:17:35 And there's also the article also mentions this. And I agree with what you're saying. I don't think there's a world where he sells it. You can tell that as much, and we saw this last year with all the celebrations of Yarmor how much Pittsburgh means to him, how much the penguins mean to him. But you can tell that this cladno team, it's deeply personal. It is a deeply, he's deeply passionate about this team, that city, in keeping that team above water.
Starting point is 00:18:03 But they mentioned that there's other players from that area that could maybe be like ownership group along with him, and that's Tomas Placanix and Jakob Vorichek. And yeah, do they have the same clout as Yarmor-Yager? Not even close. But if you're a Czech team or a European team and you're owned by a group of players, including Yarmor Yager, and guys who had very successful NHL careers, that gives you a similar leg up. It's not just some corporation over in Europe that owns the team.
Starting point is 00:18:39 and you don't know them. It's a bunch of guys who carved out successful NHL careers. So there's definitely a world where he can do both. Right. No, I agree. And it's kind of like that. I forget what exactly the meme is, but it's like both.
Starting point is 00:18:52 Yeah, both is good. So hopefully there can be one day where he does some work for the Penguins organization while also still owning a team in Cladneau. But that will do it for the second segment. Coming up to end the show, we're going to dive into some news and notes around the league, including Justin Schultz, signing in Switzerland, Connor Sherry being waived.
Starting point is 00:19:09 and Connor McDavid saying that Cindy Crosby should captain team Canada at the Four Nations faceoff, and I'm sure at the Olympics as well. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our second sponsor, and that is Game Time. Game Time has a new feature called Game Time Picks that makes getting tickets for your favorite live events even easier. Game Time Picks filters out the flood to show you only incredible deals on great seats, so you don't even have to waste time searching through thousands of tickets. They have game time picks. Gratian makes it easier to save more on sports, concerts,
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Starting point is 00:21:38 lineup. All right, we're back here in this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Huntser Hodes, joined by my co-Cpatrick Dam. So Pat, dig me into some news and notes around the leagues and as Penguin-specific notes, we should say, starting with Justin Schultz signing in Switzerland on Wednesday, basically ending his NHL career as a whole. And I had such a treat, watching him, especially in 2016 and 17. And while I obviously will always love, the Chris Kunitz goal. It will be forever ingrained in my memory and obviously Penguins history. There's a small part of me that wishes Justin Schultz had that game winner in the third period. Just with the way he celebrated, the way that he played throughout that entire cup run, it was magical.
Starting point is 00:22:27 Especially with Chris Let's hang out for that entire playoff run. Schultz really stepped up, was the Penguins number one defenseman. That is the best hockey I think he has played during his career. And even in 16 as well, no one really thought. much of him after the penguins got him at the trade deadline everyone's kind of making fun of Jim Ruther for it and then he goes out there and is great on the third pairing and then he very much earned those minutes in 17 and he played pretty well I felt like for a couple seasons after that he obviously went a bit downhill towards the very end of his penguins tenure but when he was in
Starting point is 00:22:58 his prime with this team he was an absolute treat to watch and I'll never forget seeing him absolutely hammered at the parade the Schultz chug obviously and then of course him and Olimata chugging beers on the bus. And I'll always remember Olimata being passed out on the balcony. I think of his apartment or one of the teammates apartments. They were just gone that entire day. But Schultz, if that's the end of your NHL career, congratulations. It was one heck of a time.
Starting point is 00:23:27 And he was awesome in 16 and 17 for this team. It really doesn't get talked about or appreciated enough that Schultz's trade to the penguins kind of revitalized his. his career. Yeah. Because he had sky high expectations coming into the league with the Oilers, and he just did not meet them. And this wasn't really a case of, say, Yesy Poo-Yarvey, who we've talked about a lot,
Starting point is 00:23:55 where it was just not the right pick for that slot in the draft. He earned getting picked as high as he did and just did not live up to that expectation. and is because I remember, I believe it was a specter tweet after the trade where it said, you know, he was like, oh, they're not getting a defenseman. They're getting Justin Schultz, you know, in a very condescending tone. But as soon as he got here, they rebuilt him essentially, like you said, starts on the third pairing when he gets to the club from the 15, 16 season to the 16, 17 season, works his way up the defensive depth chart.
Starting point is 00:24:34 and they went defense by committee in the 2017 playoffs. And he was your de facto number one, but he put up a hell of an effort in that 2017 cup run. And he's one of the people, maybe not high up on the list, but definitely on the list of if they don't have that guy in 2017, they don't win the Stanley Cup. Absolutely not.
Starting point is 00:24:58 They do not, especially with the way he played throughout that regular season and in the playoffs too. And speaking of, other former penguins. Connor Sherry was also placed on waivers on Wednesday. He cleared waivers on Thursday. But it was unfortunate to see because as recently as a couple of years ago, he was still performing really well. Those last two seasons in Washington, 21, 22, and then 22, 23. He had 34 combined goals in the 21, 22 season. He had 19 goals, 43 points in 71 games. A season after
Starting point is 00:25:28 that, he had 15 goals, 37 points in 82 games. But these last couple years in Tampa Bay, just not really much of anything. In 60 games, four goals, 15 points throughout that time. And I tweeted yesterday that it was kind of a fall from grace. I got a little bit of flack for that, which I understand just because I feel like no one really expected him to do this well in the NHL considering, you know, his size and everything about his game. And I do think they make solid points because he's had a really solid career up until this point.
Starting point is 00:26:00 I mean, again, Pat, you look at his numbers, almost 60. hundred games, 591 to be exact, 124 goals, 267 points, really solid numbers as a whole. And I really hope that this isn't the end for him as for being a competent player in the league because he's had some really sound seasons
Starting point is 00:26:19 as a depth contributor for multiple teams. He carved out a solid little career after the Penguins as a depth player. And what I'm about to say may sound insulting. I don't mean it to be that way. But he is what everybody thought Jake Gensel was. He was very good with Sidney Crosby, but he was absolutely elevated by Sidney Crosby. And once he no longer had Crosby as a center, his game, as expected, decreased.
Starting point is 00:26:55 But in no world was he a bad player. It wasn't like Crosby was filling in for all of his flaws. It was just they had great chemistry together and he helped him elevate his game. But away from 87, he was, as you said, basically just a depth player who could pop you a few points and a few goals here and there. And I think part of the reason it hasn't worked out as well for him elsewhere is that he was getting put into roles to be a top. six contributor. And it just wasn't his game. Very solid depth forward, very solid career.
Starting point is 00:27:36 Would love to see him bounce back with Tampa Bay or somewhere else. But at the end of the day, his ceiling was depth contributor. And he played that role extremely well away from the penguins. I always loved seeing the line of Gensel Crosby, Sherry, just because, you know, it was sitting in his kids at the time. And it was, again, a joy to watch. and all three of them were performing well. And one more former penguin to discuss for this segment
Starting point is 00:28:03 before we get to the McDavid quote. That is Chad Rweedle, former Penguins defenseman. Chad Riegel was put on waivers today by the New York Rangers. And I hate seeing that for him just because he's always been a very solid number six, number seven defensemen, but I think the Rangers just really don't have the room for him right now. I've been seeing takes on social media about, oh, should the penguins claim him? I think right now, probably not just because of the way that, and Iveney is playing and they also have Ryan Shea.
Starting point is 00:28:30 I think if you claim Ruiedel, you're kind of just, I don't want to say we are raging deck chairs, because I don't think that's what it is, but you're just adding another number six, number seven defensemen for the sake of adding it. And I just don't think that's going to be too much of a difference over so unlike St. Ivany or Ryan Shea. And I also want to see St. Ivan to get more minutes because I continue to be high on him as a player. I'm right there with you. And you've already got 48 contracts on the books.
Starting point is 00:28:58 and you don't have a ton of cap space right now. So as much as I would like to see a solid defenseman like Ruido get a chance, it just isn't going to be here. Right. And last thing to end the show here, Connor McDavid was asked about who will be the captain for the four nations faceoff? And he had a very quick answer. He said,
Starting point is 00:29:17 should be Sid for sure. That's not even a question. So yes, Connor. Thank you for that answer. I think everyone knows that Sidney Crosby should be the captain of team Canada, and not only for the Four Nations faceoff, but also for the Olympics in 2026 as well. He is a great ambassador for the sport,
Starting point is 00:29:33 not just in North America, but all around the world. If you're not naming him captain for both those tournaments, what are we doing here? And it also was funny earlier this week. I was seeing this discourse around Tom Wilson for Team Canada.
Starting point is 00:29:47 And while I understand Tom Wilson is a very good player, one of the top power forwards in the league, should he be on Team Canada? No, sorry. I mean, I can think of at least 12 forwards who are better than him right now. But are they going to put them on there? Oh, you bet.
Starting point is 00:30:02 That's going to happen, people. But it was to the McDavid quote, it was funny because the question actually was who, it doesn't matter who the captain is. And McDavid didn't even hesitate. It was just, yeah, it should be Crosby. And he went on to say he's Sidney Crosby. He's been there so many times. He's the guy, but it's not like I haven't thought about it.
Starting point is 00:30:24 But it's just such a no-brainer. It should be Sid. And I think that's both correct in the sense that, yeah, it should be Sidney Crosby because he is still Sidney Crosby. But you figure the four nations face off and then the 20, would it be 26 Olympics, I believe. That's going to be the swan song for Sidney Crosby. That's going to be other than whatever other four nations face off or World Cup of hockey, that they put on between now in 2030.
Starting point is 00:31:00 You'll see Sid in those tournaments, but I would be genuinely stunned if Crosby was still at it in 2030. And even if he was, it's crazy to say he would be a fourth liner on that Canada team if he plays all the way to 2030. I mean, with how much depth Canada has right now and how much depth Canada will have down the line,
Starting point is 00:31:20 as you said in 2030, it's probably the case, though, again, that's no judgment. disrespect to Crosby with how great he's been throughout his career. But I think that's that said, though, before we, before we close out, I got to take one last quick shot, Hunter. Is somebody who'd be depth on Canada, would that be Austin Matthews? You know what? That's just not even funny. That's just ugly, Pat. That's what it is. That's, you know, again, for those that we're not listening to the show at that point, I legitimately once said that Austin Matthews was going to be
Starting point is 00:31:51 on Team Canada. And that is probably the dumbest thing I have ever said in the history of the show. And I started the show five years ago. So Pat, you know what? Thank you for that reminder. And you might be fired after this episode now. But I could know myself, man. I'm sorry. I know. We're just messing around. But no, Austin Matthews will very much be on Team USA and will be their top center for that team. And I'm excited for Team USA because this is the best roster of this country has had in a very long time. at least in my lifetime. That's for sure. I'm excited for that tournament coming up here in a few months, but I think that would do it for today's episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast.
Starting point is 00:32:29 Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back with another show for you all on Friday to get you all set for Penn's Oilers and Penguins Canucks. I can't wait for both games. The Penguins really need a win at least one of those games heading back to Pittsburgh for a nice homestandestand, including against Mark Andre Fleury in the Minnesota. Wow. We'll preview that game coming up. next week. But again, for Patrick Tramp, I'm Hunser Hodes. Thank you all so much for tuning in, and we'll be back on Friday for a couple of previews.

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