Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins prospects STEP UP to tie the series in Toronto!

Starting point is 00:00:00 Wilkesbury, Scranton got a huge win over Toronto in game four of the Eastern Conference final on Wednesday night, and Pat and I are going to recap that game, plus discuss Connor Clifton's season in review 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 to the Thursday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes. you can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes joined by my co-s, Patrick Damp, you can follow him on all social media platforms

Starting point is 00:00:42 at Sendin for Wet. You can also follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins. And you can find us on Instagram at Lockdown, underscore Penguins. And of course, thank you all so much for making this your first lesson slash watch today. We are free and available on our platforms. Connor Clifton, a very up and down first season with the Penguins. We're going to continue our season

Starting point is 00:01:03 in-review series with Clifton a little bit later on in the show. Also, Dan Muse does not win the Jack Adams, but neither does Lindy Ruff, which I find that even stranger. John Cooper won that award on Wednesday, and Pat and I have a lot of thoughts about that. That's coming up a bit later on in the show as well. But first off, Pat, congratulations to the Wilkesbury Scrant Penguins, picking up a huge four to three win in game four of the Eastern Conference final against the Marley's on Wednesday night. The series is now even at two games all, and the best of seven is now a best of three it didn't start out really well for wilkesbury in game four though sergey meroshov commits a blunder behind the net and pat when you're a goaltender tend to the goal yes he made a mistake

Starting point is 00:01:46 he recognized it right away it was a literally an empty net goal for the marley he's basically short-handed thought he had it behind the net go rolls over his stick easy tap in goal marlies make it one-nothing they make it two nothing a bit later on in the first period and take that two-nothing lead into the first intermission. They had all the momentum going into the final 40 minutes. But credit to Wilkesbury. For the final 40 minutes, I felt they were the better team. And they showed a lot of grit and determination in coming back to win this game.

Starting point is 00:02:15 Scooter Bricky gets the Wilkesbury Scram Penguins right back into it, making it 2.1. And then another defenseman scores Chase Patilla making it 2-2. And then, oh yeah, Gabe Closson makes it a 3-2 game in the final minute of the second frame. what a pass by Billy Coivinen, by the way, on that third goal. That was a thing of beauty. I loved to keep that Owen Pickering had at the blue line on that 3-2 goal, but don't discount that awesome pass from Villay-Coyvenin making it 3-2 to Gabe Klossin. And then in the third period, we get some more weird shenanigans.

Starting point is 00:02:49 Pat, I have no idea how that third goal was not goaltender interference. Marrashaw was clearly contacted. He was run into. They originally ruled no goal. but then they confer and they call it a goal. I don't understand it. In the HL, you cannot review goaltender interference. That whole thing is a sham.

Starting point is 00:03:09 That was goal interference. That was a joke to me. And then the Penguins had their puck don't lie moment. Easton Cowan, bad pass, and Rutgers McGority gets a huge moment in one of the biggest games of his life. And Pat, he made sure to have one hell of a celebration. It was, I don't want to say vindication. for Rutger McGroarkey because that's not putting it correctly, but he self-admitted he did not have a good game in game four.

Starting point is 00:03:39 So for him to score a goal that big is nothing but a confidence boost for him. And it's another game where you look at a lot of the key contributors. Sergei Mureshov, tough first period, balances right back from it, plays extremely well in the final two frames, makes a bunch of big saves. You talked about the Coivinin Pass on one of the goals, and then Rucker McRourty scores the game winner. Those are the players at this moment. If you're the Penguins organization, you want to see making a difference in this playoff run. And they continue to do that. An underrated part of last night's game.

Starting point is 00:04:19 And you brought his name up is Owen Pickering. Owen Pickering, I don't know what his ceiling is, but it's trending towards. he looks like the kind of player that if he can replicate or better what he has been doing in this playoff run when he's been in the lineup, we'll have some usefulness because he's playing sound defensive hockey. And we know that he's not an offensive defenseman. We know he's not a big time bruiser. But if he can learn to be a steady stay-at-home defenseman and he can continue to develop

Starting point is 00:04:57 that way, it will have value for the. the penguins moving forward. Obviously, we know that development is not linear. We know that things take time. But if that's the lane that Owen Pickering can find, he might be able to salvage something over the next couple of years if he can be a steady two-way defender, because you know that Harrison Brunick is looking like the guy who could potentially develop into a top pairing defenseman one day. You know that there's going to be a couple other players, whether it's via trade or the draft that are going to come up over the next couple of years. So if Pickering can find a way to develop that way and run in that lane,

Starting point is 00:05:37 that would be good news for both him and the organization. But overall, I cannot be more excited and I cannot be more proud of this Baby Penguins team because you go to Toronto down 2O facing potentially three straight games in Toronto and you get two straight wins, you take home ice advantage back, and you have completely reversed the pressure onto Toronto in this series. They have been great on the road, especially in these playoffs. Pat, it's weird. I looked at some of the splits doing some notes for today's show.

Starting point is 00:06:09 Wilkesbury, they're five and one on the road in the HL playoffs, only three and four at home. And they've had home ice and all of these series. So definitely an interesting split, but they've been really good on the road since that first series. against Hershey where they won both games to win that series in four games. They were good on the road again Springfield. And so far you're seeing now, they've been great on the road in Toronto.

Starting point is 00:06:31 They win game five on Friday. They will have a chance to advance to the Calder Cup final on Sunday, which will take place in Wilkesbury. So they have taken back call mice. Even if they lose on Friday, Pat, they'll still have hopefully two games in Wilkesbury to win this series. But obviously, you know, I'd like to sweep these three games here in Toronto and come back with a chance to advance to the Calder Cup final.

Starting point is 00:06:51 going back to Pickering for just a second. Right now, I kind of have them in your category for what you call a quad A player, where, you know, he hasn't shown enough yet that he's ready to be in the NHL, but he is at least playing, you know, fine enough to good in the HL playoffs. I just think that we're coming up to a point where it's going to be now or never for him. So we'll have to see what he can do with that opportunity. I kind of think that's where we are with him right now. I don't want to overstate my analysis of it.

Starting point is 00:07:24 This isn't me saying Pickering is saved and hold your stock in Owen Pickering and think that he's going to turn into something. But one of the biggest things missing from his development and his play thus far in the Penguins organization has been, we don't really know what he was or what they wanted him to be or what he even could be. It was, is he going to be a big bruising defenseman? Is he going to be more offensive minded? what direction is he going to go.

Starting point is 00:07:51 And it's kind of been a jumbled mess of a little bit of everything. In this postseason in Wilkesbury, though, he has been a solid two-way defender. And every team, even if it's not here in Pittsburgh, every team is usually in need of one or more of those guys that you don't notice them throughout the majority of a game. And I mean that in the most positive way. They just play sound defensive two-way hockey

Starting point is 00:08:18 on the blue line. They give you some cushion, especially if you pair them up with an offensive-minded defenseman. So if he can pick that track up and run with it, it might help him in the long term, whether it's here or somewhere else. Yeah, we'll just have to see.

Starting point is 00:08:34 I like the way he's trending at least right now, but I still think he has a bit of ways to go, but it's also getting to the point where, at least from an Henschel perspective, getting close to now or never for him. But I at least like the way he's playing right, now for philly coiffinan he also has some confidence he scored that goal in game three has that really nice passing game for setting up the game clausin goal just really nice all around game from

Starting point is 00:09:01 covenin so that's back to back good games from him and then from a grorty just an awesome goal there great celebration and that's a type of goal that could potentially send a message to the penguins manager staff and the coaching staff being like hey this guy might have it at some point in the n hs that was just such a huge moment for him. And lately now, that's two goals and five points in his last five games. So great stuff from him. I was super happy to see he got the last laugh. And one last thought, this one comes regarding Sergey Mureshov.

Starting point is 00:09:34 I actually thought this is the worst game he has played in the playoffs. And he still wasn't even that bad. It was more meh than anything else. But they still found a way to win it. I don't think you're going to see too many other performances. where he kind of has a meh game like that one. They still want it. The commonality between Murashav and Magrorty last night in Toronto is that you put the

Starting point is 00:10:01 win in the winning goal to the side and you just put the whole context in front of you. Those two players had early performances last night. Magrorty takes a couple of bad penalties. Murashov gives up a couple of bad goals in the first period. it would have been really easy for the two of them to spiral and go into a doom loop, especially with them needing to tie the series. But they kept pressing, they kept playing, they kept pushing in their performances, while not five star, while not their best nights,

Starting point is 00:10:36 they had moments and they stepped up when they needed to. And that says a lot more about the character of the player than it does the ability of the player. It's a high pressure environment. They're facing down potentially falling three to one in the series on the road with another road game to go. And they didn't have great starts. But the fact that they kept their heads down, they kept working, and both of them got rewarded. That says a lot more to me than McGrody scoring the goal or Murashov mostly shutting the door the last two periods. Would have been real easy for them to fall apart and they didn't.

Starting point is 00:11:14 Right. It goes back to what I said to open the show, where they showed a lot of grit and a lot of determination in coming back to win this game. And they were the better team, in my opinion, in the final 40 minutes. Honestly, I know the series is tied to two right now. I think Wilkesbury has been the better team for the majority of the series. Now, he's still got to win two of these next three games. But I think so far they have been a better team. They just have to keep that up to win a couple more in advance to the Calder Cup final. Game five in Toronto. on Friday, you can watch that on Flow Hockey or any other illegal stream. Flow hockey is the main website that you can watch it. All the other websites are just illegal, like, you know, on Hockey.TV and stuff. And then game six, that's back in Wilkesbury on Sunday. Game 7, if necessary, we'll be on Tuesday. But that's going to do it for our first segment. Coming up in our second segment,

Starting point is 00:12:06 Connor Clifton brought the good vibes and brought the physicality this year, and Pat and I are going to recap his season coming up right after this. But before we get to that, we have a couple sponsors to tell you about one of which is Hems. ED is way more common than most guys think. Millions of guys deal with it at some point, and that's exactly why Hymns offers a straightforward way to handle it. Hems connects you with licensed healthcare providers online, giving you access to legitimate ED treatment options from the comfort of your home, no awkward appointments, no pharmacy lines, just a straightforward process that makes it easier to take care of yourself.

Starting point is 00:12:42 The whole process is simple. You just complete a quick online intake and a provider. review your information. If treatment is right for you, it ships directly to your door in discrete packaging, which makes the whole experience feel private and stress-free. It's straightforward, transparent, and designed to make getting care feel very easy.

Starting point is 00:12:59 To get simple online access to personalize affordable health care for ED, hair loss, weight loss, and more. Visit Hems.com slash locked-on NHL. That's Hems.com slash locked-on NHL for your free online visit. One more time, that's Hems.com slash locked-on, NHL. prescription is required. See website for details and important safety information.

Starting point is 00:13:19 Slide to Phil is the generic version of Viagra. Viagra is a registered trademark of Beatrice. Spaculty LLC. Hymns is not affiliated with or endorsed by Beatrice. And we're not done. We still have to tell you all about another sponsor, which is Calci. The hunt for the Stanley Cup is on,

Starting point is 00:13:35 and now you can trade every game on Calci. Calci, you can trade every single playoff game, every series, conference finals, and right now the Stanley Cup final. Vegas, they're up one game to nothing on Carolina, in the Stanley Cup final. And going into tonight, Vegas has a 41% probability to win.

Starting point is 00:13:50 And the payout would be about $244. On CalChi, you're trading against Pura's in a life market, meaning there's no house. And as the probability changes, you can buy in and out of your position at any time. For a limited time, down the Kelchie app and use code locked on to get $10 when you trade 10. That's Calci trade on anything.

Starting point is 00:14:14 All right, we're back here on the Thursday edition of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-host, Patrick Gamp. And Pat, it's now time for Connor Clifton's season in review, which was very up and down, played 50 games this year, two goals and six points during that time. We all knew that he wasn't going to give them a lot of offense.

Starting point is 00:14:33 That's just never really been a big part of his game. I mean, you look at some of the counting stats. He had one season back in 22, 23 of the Bruins when he played in 78 games, gave them five goals and 23 points. But other than that, the most points he's had in a season, is 18. and I came with Buffalo during the 23, 24 season.

Starting point is 00:14:50 But played in 50 games was more defensive this year, but I also don't think he was really good in his own zone. He was very physical along the boards, which I appreciated. He brought the good vibes. I mean, you always see the Penguins tweet out that meme of him laughing on the airplane. That's probably getting used for years to come, no matter if he's on slash off the team next year. And I think there's a pretty good chance he's not returning to the Penguins for next season.

Starting point is 00:15:15 And if I had to give a letter grade, Pat, it might sound harsh, but C, C minus. I just, I didn't really think he was that good throughout the season. If you want to say he's fine, that's okay. But I don't ever think he was above average at all this year, whether it was offensively, defensively on the PK, et cetera. You look at some of his underlines. When he was on ice, the Penguins had 48% of the shot attempts, plus four goal differential, which is good, 55% expected goal share.

Starting point is 00:15:45 51% scoring chance here, 55% high danger chance for. Those were all good, and I appreciate that his underlines were better than I expected them to be this year. But I still felt he really struggled in his own end, played in three of playoff games. You could tell that that playoff series was not really for him against the flyers. He was eventually replaced in the lineup for the final three games of that series. And again, I had no problem with it. And with that, Pat, I don't see a world where he comes back.

Starting point is 00:16:12 I think they're going to look for other options. to fill his spot in the lineup for next season. Yeah, I don't think he comes back next season. He's 31. He'll be 32 by the end of next season. And just he only plays 50 games. He's in and out of the lineup. His underlines are surprisingly pretty solid.

Starting point is 00:16:33 But at the end of the day, if I give him a letter grade, I'm going to be a little less harsh and I'm just going to go with a B minus just because when he was in the lineup, he was fine. I don't want to pretend like he was great. He wasn't bad either. He was perfectly fine. He had some physical play. He was a good locker room vibes guy.

Starting point is 00:16:53 But at the end of the day, he didn't move the needle really one way or the other. He wasn't, you know, he wasn't a defenseman that when the lineup card gets tweeted out and we see his name, we went, oh, no, Connor Clifton's in the lineup. What is Dan Mews thinking? And it wasn't the other end of it either. When he gets put back in the lineup, we go, oh, my God, finally. Mews is putting Clifton back in the lineup. He was fine. And he brought an element of physicality that I think this team has been missing for a couple of seasons.

Starting point is 00:17:22 I agree. At the end of the day, I say this and it sounds harsh, but it's just the reality. Defensemen like Connor Clifton are a dime a dozen in the NHL. You can find another one who's a little bit younger, a little bit better suited to the speed of the NHL, and maybe brings a little bit more to the table. It doesn't mean I think he sucks. It doesn't mean that I think he was a disaster or anything. But it was a fun little ride.

Starting point is 00:17:51 You got him in a trade at the draft. And you can shake his hand, say thanks for the memes, thanks for the good vibes. And we'll see you down the road. Yeah, I think that's the best way to say it. Thank you for your services. We appreciated what you did during the regular season. You played a few games in the playoffs,

Starting point is 00:18:06 even though, again, wasn't that good in those three games. You say, hey, thank you. but we're going in a different direction. I don't expect him back for the next season. I think they can definitely upgrade in that spot. There are plenty of other defensemen out there who I think better suit the team than Clifton. And again, I'm not trying to come off too harsh

Starting point is 00:18:23 or anything like that in his season review. I just think there are better players that can do more than what he did this past season. Again, you know, assuming that he doesn't come back, I wish him the best. You mentioned about the locker room. He seemed like a great human being, seemed hilarious.

Starting point is 00:18:41 both on and off ice brought some physicality. It was also, it was really funny seeing him, what's the word I want to use? Not really intimidate, but maybe spook some players on other teams, just with the way that he would play sometimes. But at the end of the day, those are my main thoughts on Clifton.

Starting point is 00:19:00 And, you know, I assume he's going to go to someone else in free agency, probably on a short-term contract. I don't think a lot of teams are going to give him term. But, you know, maybe a one to two-year contract, cheap money. He can be a depth defenseman, maybe be a starting number six on a team. I can potentially see that. Yeah, I think that really is kind of Connor Clifton's ceiling at this point is he's a bottom pair depth defenseman who will be good in your room. He'll bring some

Starting point is 00:19:27 physicality. But again, that that's something that you can find just about anywhere. And whether it's internally with somebody in Wilkes bear this year or if it's just a cheap trade or cheap depth UFA, the penguins can probably find someone a little bit younger and a little bit better suited to their timeline. So it was fun having them, but I think this is one of those players that at the end of the season, or once July 1 hits, he's probably not going to get an offer from the penguins. I agree with that. And with that, that'll do it for our second segment reviewing Connor Clifton season. Coming up to end the show, Dammeuse did not win the Jack Adams. And Pat and I have some thoughts about that. That's coming up right after this.

Starting point is 00:20:09 But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about one more sponsor, which is five-hour energy. If you've got a sweet tooth like I do, you know how tough it is to find that perfect treat without all the sugar. That's why the fruity rainbow five-hour energy shot brings that nostalgic flavor back in a whole new way. Fruty rainbow, five-hour energy shots, treat your taste buds to an explosion of fruity flavor with a tasty caffeine kick. It's a quick, easy way to satisfy that sweet craving while keeping things simple and on the go. I love a zero sugar treat that's sweet tooth approved. I also like how convenient it is. It's a small, portable shot that I can grab whenever I need a little pick me up.

Starting point is 00:20:48 It's become my go-to when I want something sweet without going overboard. Get candy-flavor canals with fruity rainbow five-hour energy shots available online at five-hour energy.com or on Amazon. We're back here closing out the Thursday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-host Patrick Damp and Pat Dammeuse, does not finish first. He does not finish second. He finishes third in the Jack Adams voting on Wednesday. John Cooper wins the award, which don't get me wrong.

Starting point is 00:21:24 John Cooper is one of the best coaches in the league. I think overall, you probably could say that he arguably is the best coach in hockey. He should have won a Jack Adams before this. My problem is, I don't think he deserved it this year over Dan Muses and especially Lindy Ruff. I was just stunned that Lindy Ruff didn't win it. considering how badly the Sabre started, how we turned that team into a wagon,

Starting point is 00:21:49 they came within literally a goal of going to the Eastern Conference Final to play the Carolina Hurricanes. How do you not give that award to Lindy Ruff? It really just is mind-boggling. And to make matters worse, over 30 people who voted on the award didn't even have Lindy Ruff in their top three. I really just don't know what we're doing here.

Starting point is 00:22:10 Again, I don't want to, like, you know, fully overreact. It's one Jack Adams, usually whoever wins this award pad, the running joke is that this coach usually gets fired a year or two down the line. But it's just when I see voting like this, I'm like, really? Come on, guys. Like you, I don't want to diminish John Cooper because he's maybe the best coach in the league right now, like on aggregate. Like he is probably the best coach in the National Hockey League of all 32. But when you look at the Jack Adams Award, when you look at the way it's usually voted upon, the way it's usually won,

Starting point is 00:22:53 it's usually one or two things that get you the Jack Adams. It's either the obvious one, which is the narrative winner, which is we thought you were going to suck this year. You turned out you didn't suck. so you get the Jack Adams. Or there's the other one that's usually kind of underappreciated. If you find the Jack Adams winner, go look at their starting goaltender's numbers.

Starting point is 00:23:18 Because usually there's a pretty deep correlation between having one of the best goalies in the league. It may not be the Vesna winner, but it's a goalie that played extremely well and helped the team win. And that coach gets the Jack Adams. So you look at the nominees from this year, it's Cooper, it's Rough, it's Muse. I said on the show when it got announced, I figured it was Ruff's award to lose. Because the Sabres, we were all about to, in December, we were all pinning the Fell Ford

Starting point is 00:23:52 Again award on our jackets because we all said at the start of the season like we have for the last years. I bet this is the year Buffalo does it and figures it out and turns it around. and they're going to be back in the mix. And by December, we were all like, oh, well, there's Buffalo again. Buffalo's not great. And then they just go on an absolute heater.

Starting point is 00:24:14 And to make it worse, they pass Tampa to win the division. A regular season award as well, which makes it even funny. Again, 32 of the 99 broadcasters that vote on this award didn't even have Lindy Ruff in their top three. I'm sorry. again, I'm not trying to overreact to this.

Starting point is 00:24:33 If you don't have Lindy Rough in your top three, I'm not sure you should be allowed to vote on this award, considering the way it happened. And this isn't also me being a salty penguins fan. I didn't think when the nominees got announced that Dan Mews was going to win it. I thought he was going to get second for this year. I think that's what I figured. I figured it was going to go Rough Mews Cooper.

Starting point is 00:24:51 Yeah. But clearly, this is a lifetime achievement award for John Cooper. And I'm genuinely stunned that up to this point, he's never won it because say what you will. There is a standard in Tampa Bay and there has been since 2015. So it's been a decade and he's the longest tenured coach in the NHL. So you can talk about how great their front office is because it is.

Starting point is 00:25:22 You can talk about how talented they've been because they are. But when players show up in Tampa, they are held to a certain standard and they have to play a certain way. And a lot of that is credited to John Cooper. So again, he is very deserving of being a Jack Adams award winner. But this year, when you've got a guy who broke a, who helped break a postseason drought that to put it in American historical context, Buffalo Sabres had not been in the Stanley Cup playoffs since Barack Obama's first term in office. That was the last time the Sabres were in the playoffs. And then you have Dan Mews. who started the season,

Starting point is 00:26:02 everybody comes out and says, there's going to be one team selling this year, and it's the Pittsburgh Penguins. Every other team is going to be looking to get better, and Pittsburgh is the only one that's going to sell, and they end up finishing second in the division and making the playoffs. So again, I'm getting more heated than I should be,

Starting point is 00:26:19 but at the end of the day, it's just baffling that you give this to John Cooper this year of all years. Not that he's undeserving, not that he's not a great coach, but it's just a weird year to give Cooper the award. Yeah, he should have won it prior to this year. I think when you stack up him compared to the other two coaches,

Starting point is 00:26:39 I just felt Muse and Lindy Ruff did better jobs than John Cooper did this year. At least that's my opinion. I will say this. Cooper does deserve credit for this year because there were a lot of injuries on Tampa. They had some dips in play. And at least for this season, the most competitive division in the league was probably the Atlantic division. So the fact that he battles through all of that gets Tampa back to the playoffs is worthy of a lot of credit. Even if the voting would have gone rough Cooper Mews, I still would have been

Starting point is 00:27:11 cool with that because he did a good job with Tampa this year. They still had to battle through a lot. They missed a lot of their key players. They had some dips in play. But at the end of the day, I mean, come on. Buffalo goes back to the playoffs for the first time in well over a decade. That should have been Lindy Ruff's award. Yeah, I agree with you on that. But hey, a lot of the voters, all differently. We disagree with them, but we can't do anything about it now. But I think that's going to do it for the Thursday edition of the Lockton Penguins podcast.

Starting point is 00:27:45 Thank you all so much, take the time to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back on Friday with a new season in review. And I know Pat's cooking off something for fan's sake Friday because Dylan Larkin just requested a trade from the Red Wings as we are finishing recording this. Yeah, he's going to have a prompt, probably a poll about, well, I'll just save it for tomorrow because Pat's going to be putting that on our YouTube and probably putting that on our socials as well. So again, that's going to do it for this one. Thank you so much tuning in. We'll be back on Friday.

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins prospects STEP UP to tie the series in Toronto!

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.