Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins/Flyers rivalry revisited and the future of it with Locked On Flyers!

Episode Date: September 19, 2023

It's a special crossover edition of Locked On Penguins on Tuesday as the hosts of Locked On Flyers join the show! During the episode, they discuss how the Penguins fanbase feels about the team heading into the season and whether Kyle Dubas has injected enough life into it with this offseason moves. They also look at how great Brayden Yager played during prospects camp and how he was the best player on the ice, especially during the third game. They also look at whether the Penguins can compete for the Metropolitan Division title this season, plus what realistic expectations are for Erik Karlsson before looking at the Penguins-Flyers rivalry and how it's gone down a bit in recent years. They also analyze what can make it get back to its glory days and how the NHL is better off when the rivalry is in full swing.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BirddogsGo to birddogs.com/LOCKEDONNHL or enter promo code LOCKEDONNHL for a free water bottle with any order. You won’t want to take your birddogs off we promise you.AG1If a comprehensive solution is what you need from your supplement routine, then try AG1 and get a FREE 1-year supply of Vitamin D AND 5 free AG1 Travel Packs with your first purchase. Go to drinkAG1.com/NHLNETWORK.Jase MedicalSave more than $360 by getting these lifesaving antibiotics with Jase Medical plus an additional $20 off by using code LOCKEDON at checkout on jasemedical.com.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Right now, NEW customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get TWO HUNDRED in BONUS BETS - GUARANTEED. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today is a special edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast as Rachel and Russ from Locked-on Flyers, join Pat and I to discuss the Penguins off-season what the future holds for the team and the Penguins Flyers rivalry right now and whether it can get back to its glory days. You're Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. All right, so continuing our Metro Division season preview crossovers with our fellow

Locked-on NHL host, thrilled to welcome Hunter and Patrick from Locked-on Penn's. Welcome, guys. Thank you for having us. Yeah, excited to be here. New Knights the Flyers Penn's rivalry a little bit. Yeah, well, we're going to talk about that a little bit. But I want to start out with the sort of beginning of the off season for y'all. Like, what was the feeling around the pens at the end of last season?

And did the hiring of Kyle Dubas kind of changed that pretty quickly going into the draft and free agency, Hunter? Yeah, I mean, I think Kyle Dubus, when he was hired, he just ignited a, just a rebirth, I think, for this franchise and its fans just because of how last season ended for the Penguins. You lose the Chicago Blackhawks. They win the lottery anyway. You miss the playoffs for the first time in over a decade and a half. General Manager gets fired. Present Hockey Operations gets fired. A lot of change happens.

But once Kyle Dubus came in, started to really just set his mark on this team, the fans really started to get excited. You know, you see July. Actually, sorry, before July 1, the Riley Smith trade. That was a really good move. You have July 1 with some of the bottom six signings. You sign Ryan Graves. You bring back Tristan. Jari, which obviously carries a big risk, but I think at that point, they didn't feel like they had

that many options. And then, of course, you top it all off with the Eric Carlson trade, which really, I think sent the fan base over the edge. Right now, I think everyone is just super excited to get this thing going. There's about three weeks until opening night when the Chicago Blackhawks, funny enough, will come to PPG Payne's Arena to take on the Penguins, Connor Breda versus Cindy Crosby. That's going to be so much fun. But I think the fans now, again, like they're just super excited for this season. This is probably the most excited I've seen the fan base in four to five years, just because of the moves they made, the players they have the new GM slash present hockey

ops in there. I think it's a really exciting time for this franchise. Yeah, I think, and this will eventually turn into a question, that with Dubus, I saw him put his stamp on the team at the draft. I'm a draft guy. I wanted to see I was watching him in 10. Bentley and two picks really, really caught my eye, the Braden Yeager and Emilio Yorventi. Or Yorventi is not a very well-known guy, but I watched him at the Five Nations and people

could go to Sportsology.com, my website and read about him. But I think that was a really good sleeper pick. But Yeager was a pick that was sitting out there and was a very, to me, a very astute pick because he's one of those guys, like he's a dubious guy and he's not everybody else's guy in the sense that he's under six foot. He's not necessarily the fastest guy. He doesn't necessarily have the best shot, but he's a really good hockey player that knows how to score, knows how to play, super smart. And I just want to get your guys feeling on how the fan base feels about it, because I thought that was one of the best picks of the draft, honestly.

Well, if you know anything about the last 10, 15 years here in Pittsburgh, we're not exactly worried about the draft. We're more worried about, you know, getting free agents and trades out there and prospects to the wind, whatever. But for me personally, and I've been beating this drum since he got hired, is that having a general manager and president like Kyle Dubus is great for where this franchise is right now. Because one thing he's great at, and you talked about it with those two draft picks, is he's not afraid to. go against conventional wisdom. He's not going to sit there in a room full of scouts who've been scouting

Saskatchewan for 40 years and are going to tell you this guy's got the grit and the heart and a toughness and you got to pick this guy because he's big and brute. Kyle Dubas is going to go, you know that this league is fast and offensive now, right? So no, I'm not taking the 6-5 defensemen who cross-checking the teeth. I'm going to take the 5-8-59 guy who's got wheels and a nose for the net. And Hunter and I talked about it yesterday on Locked-on Penguins. Braden Yeager all of a sudden is putting a big stamp on the Prospects Challenge. And I said it too after watching his film when he was drafted.

This is a guy who might end up in the NHL sooner rather than later just because he possesses a lot of tools that can make a young guy succeed in the NHL or the AHL when he's going to go up and down. So, yeah, I mean, considering that the stars are aging out and they're not going to go into any kind of a rebuild anytime soon, having a guy like Kyle Dubus is great because he's going to sneakily restock your prospect pool. You look at his time in Toronto. A lot of guys you never thought of all of a sudden got drafted in the later rounds. they were making an impact for the Toronto Maple Leafs two, three years after that. So for where the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise is, I wrote about it and said it just had to be this guy.

And so far, so good. Yeah, and just based off how he did at the Prospects Challenge, they wrapped it up just the other day. Brady and Yeager had a ridiculous goal in that final game. Just beat his defender down the right side of the boards, goes forehand, backhand, top cheese, just a beautiful goal there. I'm really excited to see what he does on his junior team this year. I liked him coming out. I think he has one of the best releases in the draft, in my opinion.

He can just work on his 200-foot game a little bit more. I don't think there's, you know, there's no reason why he can't be a contributing center in the NHL. But I think he was the best player at the Penguins Prospects Challenge, him in St. Palin, I would say, but he was fantastic in that final game. Yeah, we talked about Yeager on our show when we were doing our draft. profiles and really liked him a lot. So I definitely think it was a good pick for the pens. You mentioned Dubos making a lot of moves and trying to sort of change the character of the team. And there was a lot of turnover this offseason losing Dumolin, Jason Zucker's gone, Benina's gone.

But there's, you know, the Larzeller pickup, Rem Pitlick, Matt Nito. So it feels like an almost new team despite the fact that, you know, Crosby and Malkin are still around. Like, do you feel like the team has a different vibe and a different character than it's had? I think, yeah, I definitely think the vibe is different this year. I think everyone is really excited to get this thing going. Cindy Crosby was delivering season tickets earlier this week and he was asked a few questions by the media. And he basically said, yeah, I just want to get on the ice with these guys. I'm really excited.

I've been off the ice for so long. It stinks. Not being in the playoffs and playing. Just watching from home is awful. And you can just tell that the vibe around this offseason has really just, again, ignited not just the fans, but the team in general. The top six is expected to be really good, I think, this year. The bottom six should be better, especially defensively.

But the biggest question with that is how many goals will they score compared to last year? And especially in that Eric Carlson, in trade. I thought Kyle Dubus again did a tremendous job getting out of some of those bad deals or trades that Ron Hextall had made over the past year. You know, someone like a Jan Ruta, selling like a Macau Granland. You know, you get Jeff Petrie sent to Montreal before he got dealt to Detroit. It just feels like a different group heading into this year. Now, do they still have the Jeff Carter contract for another year? Yes, that's a little annoying, but they're going to have to put up with it for one more year.

But outside of that, there's really not too many bad deals on the team. And just with how this core really wants to win another one, they're just chomping at the bit to really get this thing going. Yeah. It does feel a little different. The one thing I will say real quick, and I said this on our show a bunch, the biggest thing for me is that is Kyle Dubus and Mike Sullivan and the rest of the front office, Feels like they're creating competition for the bottom six and bottom defensive pairings going into camp.

And when you're a franchise like the Penguins who have kind of had their big names locked up for the longest time, it's easy to get complacent. So making it so some younger guys and some vets from the outside are going to have to battle to make the team, I think is one of those rising tide lifts all ships kind of things. So I'm excited looking at this roster going into game. So let's talk about Mike Sullivan. because every year I go to cover the USAHFall Classic, I get to watch him in practice and practices. And the years they went to the Cup, you know, so I've seen a lot of Mike Sullivan going back to the ruins, Rangers,

all that because I've been in this business for a while. And, you know, and he keeps getting better, but like two years ago, I noticed he really was pushing guys for pace and for speed. And now you've, you know, you got Kyle Dubas there. So now Sullivan is a big name coach. And he's the one that got Tristan Jerry signed. Like I think we all know that. And so there is a dividing line.

Well, you could talk about it if you don't think so, but I think he did. There's a dividing line that now Dubas is going to have to try and cross over the next year or two to maybe get some of his way with Mike Sullivan, but it's going to be hard. So I'm curious as to, you know, how you feel that that's part's going to go. It's funny that you bring this up because we actually did talk about this just yesterday. Okay. I'm of the belief he's a top five, if not top three, NHL coach, and you don't look that gift horse in the mouth. And by all accounts, him and Kyle Dubas seem to get along pretty well.

They seem to be kind of on the same page for the most part. It's human nature. They're never going to be 100% in agreement. They're going to clash on some things. But the way I see it with Jari specifically is I actually don't totally disagree. agree with you that Mike Sullivan had a huge hand in getting him signed because Sullivan is a I have my guys kind of guy. But the way I've always described this Tristan Jari extension is I think this was more than anything a move to help him mentally because he, you look at his body of work,

right? He replaces a guy who wins back to back Stanley Cops. And regardless of how far Matt Murray he fell, that's still a big shoe to fill. And then he melts down in 2021 against the Islanders. And then he has a stellar bounce back season and then gets hurt against the or before the Rangers series and can't play in that. And then last year, kind of the same deal. Can't stay healthy, a little inconsistent. And also weighing on his mind is, where am I going to play next year?

How am I going to play next year? What kind of contract am I going to get? it. So the penguins come out and say, here's five years, just go play goalie. Don't worry about anything else. You are the guy for the next five years. And sure, we're going to put some backups behind you who might take your job, but that's about the on ice, not the off ice. So all of your focus now is on your play in between the pipes. Before we get back to a really fun talk with Rachel and Russ from Locked On Flyers, we have to discuss Fandle. Snap into action this NFL season with Fandu America's number one.

sportsbook. Right now, new customers get $200 of bonus bets, guarantee when you place a $5 bet. That's $200 in bonus bets win or lose. If you've been thinking about joining Fandle, there's no better time to get in on the action than right now. The app is super easy to use. There's a wide range of betting options, including spreads, player props, over unders, and so much more. So visit fandle.com and kick off the NFL season. That's Fandle, the official partner of the NFL and locked on. Yeah, that's a real interesting way to look at it because I think from an outside perspective, Jerry just does not seem like a goaltender that's going to take him to the Stanley Cup. Like, he just doesn't.

And so he was a great junior goalie. Like he was a championship junior goalie when he was the backup won that job. So I don't know, Rach. I've seen him do it. I think with him, his two biggest issues are, are ones out of his control is injury, because I say this all the time, whether it's in writing or on podcasts, I think the term injury prone is stupid because you can't predict injury. It can be a fluke. It can be just something that happens. So I think that's silly. And the other, the thing he can control is his consistency. Because when he's consistent and he's not getting overworked and he's healthy, he's a pretty good goalie.

And when you're the goalie, I say this the honor all the time, he's going to get sick of me saying it is when you're the goalie, of the Pittsburgh penguins since the 1980s, you don't need to be a Vezna candidate. You just need to not lose. And if there's one thing Tristan Jari can do when healthy is not lose. Right. I mean,

I'm not asking. I personally am very happy that Casey DeSmith is gone. I'm happy for you. I'm happy for you. I'm happy for us. I think it's a win-win situation. I have a slight bias and I understand what he did and all this stuff. But

he came in to, as the goal of, for the Wheeling Nailers, the same season I came into work for the team. So like, I kind of have that in the trenches of the miners mentality, but I'm also like, he wasn't the greatest guy. Yeah, I just, you know, we saw him a lot, you know, covering the phantoms as well.

So it was like, you know, just a lot of Casey Dismet in my life. So glad that era is over. We only have to maybe see him every so often with Monter. Can't run that tandem back. No. No. So with Eric Carlson, what is, I'll tell you, my feeling is that he's somewhere in between the guy last year and most of his average seasons with Otto. I do think injuries got to him. I do think he had to learn how to play differently with the group they had there.

And that's fine. That happens. But when he's not hurt, he's terrific. Now, the thing is, the conflict there is, I think, going to be. puck touches between him and LaTang. So that could be a problem. What do you guys think? I think with that, I mean, and I do agree with you, Russ. I think for him this year, my expectations for Carlson, I don't think he's going to hit 100 this year, though I would love to be wrong on that. I think he's going to be somewhere in that 75, 80, 85 point range.

Maybe he hits 90. I think that's also really not out of the realm of possibilities. Somewhere in between there, I think he hits. With your question when it comes to LaTang, they're going to treat those top two parents. like they're two number one pairings because they kind of are. You signed Ryan Graves to that massive term. I think they think he's going to be the Brian Dumlin replacement. I've said on my show a lot.

I don't think he's a top pairing defenseman. I would probably put him down on the second pairing, but then you would have Marcus Pedersen come up. I think they're going to start the season with Ryan Graves with Chris, and they're going to start with Marcus Pedersen with Eric Carlson. You can flip-flop them if you want. I think Pedersen's the better of the two, I think that's how they're going to do it.

But they're going to split up their minutes. I think they'll get 23 to 25 each game. And then that'll leave the bottom pairing to get 10 to 12 minutes per game, something like that. When it's all sudden, Dan, you're going to have Eric Carlson and Chris is hanging on the ice for 80% of every game. Yeah, but what if there are two goals down in the game and you're on the power play, are you going to put them both on the power play?

I would. Yes. I would start. I would start the season with both of them on the power play. Pat and I have been discussing that a lot on the show. My dream unit for them is Cindy Crosby down low, Fgeny Malkin on the right half wall, Eric Carlson up top, let's hang in the castle spot, and then you can put Jake Gensel in front of the net. They may not do it that way.

They're almost all Hall of Famers. They're almost all Hall of Fameers. I know. I'm like, I don't like, I don't like that Power Play unit. Poor us. We have to rule out all these Hall of Famers on our Power Play. Oh, please, pity us. That's the deal. It is interesting you brought up Graves, though, because I had a question about his deal, because I feel like that was the one sort of maybe ding on what Kyle Dubas did this offseason. Like, that's a lot of term for him. Like, how do you see that playing out?

I like it just because he's still young enough that by the time that contract ends, you know, assuming we don't have another world halting pandemic, knock on wood. The salary cap is going to continue to escalate and get higher. And I think by the time that contract finishes, if Graves doesn't work out, won't be that hard to move or at the very least won't be that hard to eat. And I'm a lot higher on Ryan Graves than most. I think he's your Brian Dumlin replacement with a little bit more offensive upside,

if only for the fact that he's more willing to shoot the puck than Brian Dumlin was. And if you have two guys on a top pairing or a second pairing, whether he's with Chris LaTang or Eric Carlson, depending on how the pairing shake out, that actually gives them a little bit more of a varied attack. Because one, you know Eric Carlson's going to be going for offense once you get into the offensive zone. That's what he does. But if there's a chance Ryan Graves is going to put the puck on the net, who do you cover and how do you how do you structure that defensive zone system so i think it's i definitely agree at first i was kind of like oh that's a lot for ryan graves and i kind of went

back watch the tape looked at his numbers and i was like you know what for what he is and can be i think you're putting a little bit of a bet on what he is going to become and continue to be and end of the day i'm i'm i'm pretty happy with that bet We'll be right back with our talk with Rachel and Russ, but before that, we've got to tell you all about the Jace case. Everyone should be empowered to care from themselves and their loved ones during the unexpected. That's why Jace Medical offers the Jace case. The Jace case provides five life-saving antibiotics for emergency use and gives you a peace of mind so that you are not just hoping to you have access to medication in an emergency.

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So looking at the division overall, the Metro is very highly competitive this season. And there's not going to be a lot of room for error. I think, obviously, you know, with the flyers, we're in year one of a rebuild. So expectations are a little different. But I think given all the moves that Dubas made this offseason and the Crosby-Malkin era and is looming, there's got to be a lot of pressure on the pens. And do you think they can compete with the canes and the Devils and maybe the Rangers in there, too? I definitely think they can compete for a top three spot in that division.

I think it's more so that the Rangers are the more vulnerable of the three. That's just my opinion, though. I think the Rangers really good entering the year, but I'm not really sure how much of a bump they're going to get from Peter LaVuette compared to Gerard Gallant. The Cains and the Devils are the two big ones. When Pat and I did our Metro predictions about a couple weeks ago, we had those two as the two best teams in the division.

And the Penguins, they're going to have to find a way to solve both those teams. teams. They did not win any of their eight games combined against those two teams last year. That is a problem, whether it was regulation losses or overtime. They looked bad against those teams. And that cannot be the case for a second straight year. Carolina, they're very deep. Their defense is awesome. Their goal tending. It's good enough. You know, Rod Rendemore plays a very stingy system and their goalies just have to be average from them to go far in New Jersey. It's a little bit different with their speed and skill. That's, I think, going to give the Penguins some more fits compared to Carolina.

Both are kind of bad matchups, but I would rather play Carolina than New Jersey. But I do think with how this roster is constructed right now, they can compete for a top three spot. Again, more of a number three in that division compared to number one and number two. But maybe that goes a little bit higher depending on what they do at the

trade deadline because I don't think Kyle Dubas is going to be standing pat there because I still think they need another impact winger for their bottom six that can contribute goals on a nightly basis because when I look at the team right now, I still see a team that's a little more top-heavy compared to some other teams in the conference, and that's maybe not going to get as much offense from the bottom six compared to some of these other, you know, really good teams in the

metro. Yeah, I think that's pretty spot on. You know, I think that third spot, like, it's going to be a battle royale for that third spot. I think between, you know, the pens and the Rangers and, you know, maybe the caps want to try, but I don't know. I just looked it up and the penguins were two and two against the Rangers. Now one of them was a six nothing loss, but they still gave up 14 goals against the Rangers. And if Panering, you know, is back to being Panarin, I think those are going to be really hard games,

but also I think they're going to have, I just think the penguins will have a hard time being that, even that number three. And it doesn't mean they can't make the playoffs, but I think it's going to be a hard time. Yeah, I don't disagree. I think Rachel nailed it. The Metro is always just a complete and total war.

But I look at the Rangers, and the one thing I see with them is they got a little bit older and they didn't really add to any of their deficiencies. Like now, you have Igor Shisterkin, who great equalizer is always goaltending. It can make a great team better. it can make a bad team look like they're just average. So I also, and you guys know this is Flyers fans, they also have Laviolet. And in the first couple seasons of Laveolette's tenure, wherever he goes, he gets that team to overperform what the expectations.

So that's the big concern for me more than anything with the Rangers is as soon as La Vioette takes the bench behind any team, those first two, three years, a roster that may not be overly impressive, suddenly is making a run at the division and winning a couple rounds in the playoffs. What if he gives Lafranier bigger minutes? Like there's a younger guy there. And there's other younger guys there that actually could do better if he opened things up for them. So that's something where I think that could be the equalizer.

I don't know for sure, but it could be. Yeah. And those two, Lafranier and Paco, there are the two guys I'm looking at most. this year. And I said it on our Metro preview episode is if they continue on the trajectory to just look like middle six forwards and the Rangers have problems. But if they all of a sudden, under LaVuette, who is good with younger guys, gives them heightened responsibility, heightened minutes and they take them and run with them, then I'm with you guys. I don't know how easy it's going to be for the Penguins to finish in third. So the Rangers are the big wild card in the

Metropolitan Division this year. I also think real quick, a team to keep an eye on, regardless of all the drama surrounding them right now is Columbus, because it's not a horrible roster. I don't think they're going to make the playoffs or a wild card, but they can play spoiler in this division that's already going to be a battle as it is. Yeah, I mean, look, they're going to get more out of Linae because Pascow Vincent knows Linae and Lainey loves them. So that, that's a plus. Linae was not going to be good for with Babcock. I think we all know that. But now he, you know, you might actually get more out of lining. So that that could be a problem.

And hey, you know, the Islanders are always like that bad penny. They always turn out somewhere. Oh, yeah, they're a hard team too. I know Islander fans, you know, if they catch wind of this, are going to be like, wow, come you're not saying. Well, listen, because the Islanders didn't do anything, but it still doesn't mean they're not going to be hard to play against. And sure, they can make the playoffs.

I mean, injuries and all those things come into play. But, yeah, the Islanders are there, too. It's the hardest division in hockey. I'm sorry. It just is. Absolutely. I agree. Yeah.

that's the most fun part about doing these in division crossovers i think is talking trash about the other teams that aren't here so uh and talking trash about the islanders is always a fun past time for me so enjoy that moment but um we want to wrap up here with the kind of where we started and like what is the perception of the flyers from the pens fan base and like do they see the rivalry the way it was or like where do we stand here and like who would you think your biggest rival is? I don't think the Penns Flyers rivalry right now is where it was, say, in, you know, 2012, heck, even 2018 during that series with the Penguins won in six games. I think right now, the biggest Penguins rivals are A, the New York Rangers and B, the Washington Cavils. You put the Islanders up there too, but the Rangers with how that playoff series really catapulted them up to at number one spot.

I was telling this to Pat the other day. It feels like these rivalries go in cycles. Like sometimes it's the Flyers at the top. Sometimes it's the Rangers as it is now. Sometimes the Capitals. Heck, the Capitals probably were the Penguins top rival from, I would say, 2015 to 2017. You can even say 2018 in there with that final series.

After that went down a little bit, but I would still say it's top two right now. Rangers and Penguins have always had a great rivalry. And you go back to when Adam Braves broke Lemieux's wrists and they hate that. I'd rather not. I know, but I'm just saying the hate that that was there for that was palpable, right? It was unbelievable. Oh, yeah.

I was living in New York at the time, so, like, I know. I'll never not share or retweet or re-X or whatever we call it now. The picture of the guy at the Penguins game in that series had the sign that said Barry Graves. It's one of my favorite, it's one of my favorite historical pictures in this franchise's history. Right. That was a good one. That was definitely a good one. But I know, like, for me, like, I have a lot of love for the Penguins Flyers rivalry,

and I can't wait for it to, no pun intended, get off of ice again and heat up because I went to a college that, for whatever reason in central Pennsylvania decided to be 50-50 Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. So, and that was between the years of 2009 and 2014. Okay. So that was like the height of this modern rivalry of the Penguins Flyers. And that was, I was there for that 2012 series that was a complete gong show. Oh yeah. I couldn't even, I couldn't even, I would look down, put down, try and type to somebody

scored, somebody else scored. I'd look down someone. It was just goal, goal, goal, goal. It was crazy. And I do know that at least in my experience with the people in my life and the people I know, there is a begrudging love for this rivalry because you just love to show up to a game or sit down for a game on TV against the Flyers when both teams are good and just everything that team does regardless of what it is annoys you and that's my favorite part and I've met and gotten to know through both social media podcast just life and general so many people who are Flyers fans. And anytime we're not playing them, love them to death,

would go get beers with them, hang out with them, do whatever. But on game day, don't come here. Listen, I, you know, with the media, I was, I sat right near Iceberg and I had to endure his stupid drum all the time. I hate Iceberg, man. I hate him. Listen, listen, I hate the drum, too, so you're not going to offend me off that. It's annoying.

Good. Well, it's fun. but it's also nasty. I can't say the same for some of the other Penguins rivalries, but I've had the most fun, I think, watching these two teams at the height of their rivalry. I mean, you know, just the line brawl before the playoffs series.

I'll always have that in my head because I know exactly where I was during that time. You have the other crazy games from 2009 in that series, even 2008, the 2012 series, obviously, where, as Pat said, it was a gong show. You had fights every five seconds. Goleys couldn't say. stop anything. No. No.

2018, it was a fraction of that. And I don't know if it's ever going to get back to the level that we saw in 2012. I can only maybe hope it can get close to it, not the total gong show, but hockey is better when these two teams are, you know, both, I would say competitive because I know the Flyers are rebuilding right now and also just, you know, each other's top rivals. Yeah. As somebody who's a long, lifelong flyer, fan whose brother wound up in Pittsburgh and raised children who became Penn's fans. I had to buy my nephew a Malkin jersey, and that was one of the worst days in my life. That being said, it is fun, and I agree with you that hockey is better off when this rivalry

is going strong. Guys, thank you so much. Where can people find y'all out there? You can find me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, and you can follow the shows, Twitter, at L.O. underscore Penguins. shows are on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Amazon, Music, Sirius XM, all that good stuff. Pat, you can plug your Twitter now. Yeah, you can find me on Twitter, basically any social media app by the same name as Twitter.

At synonym for what, you can see my last name if you get the pun. So that's where you find me. You can also, I'm going to have a new one this week on Friday. You can also find my Penguins Perspectives column on KDK.com. And those come out every Friday morning. It's going to get kicked back up now with training camp here. And thank you guys for having us on. This was a ton of fun.

Yeah, a good time. Absolutely.