Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Pittsburgh is out as a hub city, plus who gets into the Hockey Hall of Fame tomorrow?

Episode Date: June 24, 2020

We're back on Locked On Penguins this week and today, the Penguins confirmed that the city of Pittsburgh will not be a hub city for the NHL's restart plans that are expected to start next month. The list has been trimmed to just six cities now. Hear Hunter's thought on this, plus hear some comments made by GMJR to Josh Yohe from this morning as well. Also, Hunter shares who he thinks should get into the Hockey Hall of Fame tomorrow and one of his answers may surprise you. 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.

Hello, welcome to today's episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. Follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins, happy Tuesday to you all. On this June 23rd, we inch ever so closely to July. And with that, comes potentially a lot of sports coming back towards the late stages of July. We are about right now, so June 23rd, it looks like we're about at the least 35 days. So that's five weeks, guys.

So we're potentially five weeks away from seeing some sports for the first time in a long time. But still, you know, who knows what this pandemic going on? They could push back or, you know, they could even be counseled. We saw the news today with baseball. They're announcing their 60 game season, which will begin, I believe. I think it's like July 28th or something like that. I think their spring training would begin next week. You know, you combine that with the NHL's restart plan late July, early August,

the NBA's late July, early August. The NFL training camps would start late July. and yeah there's a lot of sports that are potentially coming who knows if they still will at about five weeks so really really exciting times in the sports world still you know we have a lot to get to on today's show um as always this this episode is brought to you by bill bar protein bar that tastes like a candy bar you can go to billepar dot com and use promo code locked on you'll get $10 off your first order we'll talk more about them later on in the show you know like i said we're going to have my hockey hall of fame thoughts

I believe it is getting announced tomorrow. I think it's the three players that are going to be getting in. I tweeted out my thoughts earlier, but if you guys didn't see it, I'll still share my deeper thoughts because I think some of the players on there really should not even be eligible for the Hall of Fame. Like Shane Don't,

who didn't even get to a thousand points for his NHL career. So we'll get to that soon. We also have a new segment back to the future this week for all the NHL teams. So, of course, for the Penguins, you know, what's the team going to look like five years from now, 10 years from now? I'm still kind of debating what I'm going to do for today's episode for it. You know, maybe I'll look at, you know, who the number one center is going to be, who the goaltender is going to be, who the number one defenseman is going to be.

I was talking with a couple buddies about that. They gave me some pretty good ideas. So we'll have that coming. Well, I guess we'll just start with for today. The Penguins, they officially tweeted out that they were, the city of Pittsburgh, I should say, is not going to be a hub city for the NHL. It was eliminated as well as Dallas. So there are now six cities remaining.

and if I can go down to those cities. According to Pierre LeBron, it is Vegas, Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Los Angeles, and Chicago. My thoughts on this, you know, I tweeted out a funny thought. You know, the Penguins never win the Stanley Cup at home anyway, so, you know, why start now? Who really gives a shit? No, I'm not really too worried that Pittsburgh is not going to be a hub city.

I know Pittsburgh is doing really, really well with their COVID numbers. Again, I'm still very skeptical as to why they have Las Vegas at such high of their list considering Nevada is a pretty big hotspot right now. It is just, it really, real weird to me. And especially, you know, the mayor of Las Vegas, I'm not sure if you guys saw her clips along, I think it was about a month ago. She was kind of embarrassing herself when she was talking about, you know, reopening the casinos.

So I really don't trust her to make good decisions there. If I had to guess what they will do, I think Vancouver is going to get one. I think Vancouver would be interesting. I think they're COVID numbers. are down and I think maybe Toronto I think those are honestly probably your best calls Vancouver you can put the West teams there it makes sense and then Toronto you can have the East teams there

Los Angeles I think California their numbers are pretty high I still like I said Vegas is stupid Edmonton I mean you can probably get away with that too for the West teams I don't think anyone would be really bat an eye at that Chicago no no one no one really wants that I've seen people say you know that they should have two Canadian hub cities, not deal with the United States, since the numbers are spiking in a lot of the states right now. I mean, yeah, I can see that. Like I said, I think Vancouver and Toronto

are your best bets. You know, the East teams can go play in Toronto and not have to deal with a Western time zone. The West teams can stay in the West. They can go to Vancouver, you know, Edmonton and Toronto, that works too. I really just don't understand the love for Las Vegas. It just, it really doesn't make any sense to me, to be honest with you. So, yeah, I'm just, I'm kind of lost on that. I guess the initials logic is money. yeah, they have a lot of hotel space, which is, you know, it's true, but you mean, you're going to have to put the players in a very, like, small bubble because the numbers in Nevada are just spiking so high right now, but still,

if I were then, like, I'll say this again, one more time, my two hub cities, if I were the NHL, Vancouver and Toronto, don't even deal with the nonsense the United States since a lot of states are spiking right now. Thankfully, the state I'm in Virginia is actually doing pretty good. They're moving ahead with phase three. Next Wednesday, it might be a little too early for that, considering some of those spikes in the other states, but I'm sure the governor who's a doctor in

my state is going to be paying attention very closely so he could also just push it back, which you know, I'm kind of hoping that he will do. But anyways, yeah, Vancouver, Toronto, I think that was your best bet. Another penguin news today, we also got a very awesome article from Josh Joey, talked to Jim Rutherford about a bunch of stuff, a Nick Bukstad update. The update I actually found pretty interesting. I'm actually trying to go find the update right now. Okay, I sent the article. So basically, he said, Jim Rutherford says, If we're able to make a long run in these playoffs, there's a chance he could be available towards the end. The thing with him is we want to be careful with him because he's coming off surgery.

He's just played in such a small number of games or the past year or two. But because of the timeline with these playoffs, yes, there's a chance he could be available at some point. Yeah, Jim, I'm going to have to go ahead and say no on that. I really don't think Nick Buechstad is going to be available. Hell, a lot of people have been, you know, using the joke. Who is Nick Bukstad? Because, of course, you know, he's just been banged up ever since he got to Pittsburgh. I kind of just feel bad because he never was ever this hurt.

during his playing days in Florida and then as of course as soon as he comes to Pittsburgh he just turns into Beau Bennett so I really really feel bad about him with that. I'm another thing from the article I'm not going to spoil the whole thing because I want you guys to go read it but you know basically Jim also said

he's not really sure how they're going to handle Bukestad he said we're going to have to make a decision on him at the right time he's just one of those guys I love that I love what a GM said that Jim says that he's one of those guys you know we have to make a decision on him at the right time he's one of those guys I just I can't stop you know whenever I read

read that statement. He's just one of those guys. I just chuckled because every GM says that. But anyways, you know, he falls into the category of a guy who might have the playoffs, determine what we do with him in the future. So basically talking about, you know, how the depth, how the depth forwards are for the penguins in the playoffs. Do they score enough or, you know, just how they play on each other's lines? He also says, you know, what happens in the playoffs could affect a guy like him. So, yeah, that's basically it on Nick Bukesstead. He did say also that, you know, they're going to have, They're going to have to move money around anyway this offseason when it comes to contracts. You know, with Matt Moraine, Dr.

injari, who knows what they're going to do with that. I think Jared McCann is up. I believe also Dominic Simone is up after this season. They have a lot of contracts that they're going to have to do this off season. And like Jim said, you know, they're going to have to move some money out one way or other. So, yeah, could it be Nick Bukes said on the way out? I would say that's pretty likely at this point. I don't think he ever plays another game in a penguin uniform.

There's also the potential that Jack Johnson could be bought out. I wonder if, you know, in the CBA extension, if maybe, maybe, just maybe they'll all give a team, the teams, an extra buyout. Because, you know, that would be such a nice thing to do and just a great gift for the Penguins to buy out Jack Johnson and that albatross of contract. Let's see. Jim is also, he's also not sure if he's going to attend the postseason games. Hell, if I were him, I honestly probably wouldn't. He's 71 years old. You know, that age group is, you know, pretty big for this pandemic.

A lot of the older people are very much, are very affected by it more than younger people. I mean, anyone can get it, but still, I think the older population can get it way worse than some of the younger population is what I'm trying to say. So, yeah, wouldn't surprise me if he didn't come to some of the games. Hell, all of them, you know, wouldn't surprise me if he just stays at home and watches them there. You know, I do love this quote from Jim, though. He said, you know, we are always looking ahead. We are right now. We don't have time to wait.

We've already had a lot of discussions about the 2020-2020 roster. That's why we haven't re-signed any of these players that you have to be ahead of it because things are going to happen fast. We don't know what the cap number will be. We need to have the ability to prioritize where money is going. He also said, I can tell you that some things and some decisions we're based on how certain people perform in the playoffs. I was talking about that earlier, you know, like Nick Bukstad, maybe Jack Johnson with Yuselrykola.

It's going to be a very important time for many reasons this summer. So, yeah, I mean, Jim Ratherford, yeah, he is going to be very busy coming up very, very soon, especially if the season starts up and during it. Because, you know, I think the draft is supposed to be in October if this all goes according to plan and free agency. So yeah, this is going to be a very, very interesting time for Jim Rutherford. He's going to have to deal with the draft. Free agency, trades, contracts, just all of it.

So, yeah, I do not envy Jim Rutherford during this unusual time. But just thought I would share some quotes with you guys from Josh Joey's article when he spoke to Jim Rutherford again. Josh, really great article, man. I love your work. I hope people subscribe to the athletic. I think they're doing a 30-day free trial right now before your subscription kicks in, excuse me, so

good Lord, I have a case of the Monday's I just keep suttering, so yes, definitely guys check that out, the athletic does absolutely amazing work. Also, please check out on Sean Shapiro's article on Stephen Johns, a Pittsburgh product who was battling concussions and just suicidal

thoughts, you know, the defenseman for the Dallas Stars. What an article that was. That article is honestly worth a subscription alone. If you guys haven't checked it out, please do. It's on the Athletic Dallas page, or just search up, you know, the Dallas Stars on the Athletic. was just absolutely incredible to read.

But with that said, the Lockdown Podcast Network, we all stand against racism and social injustice. That's why we, the hosts, are making personal donations to local and national organizations that are fighting for change. And in the month of June, Lockdown is matching the total of all host donations up to an additional $10,000.

To make your own donation along with us, please visit Lockedonpodcast.com slash Black Lives Matter. Also, guys, it's all time to talk about Bill Bar, They're a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar, 16 amazing flavors, eight chocolate nut flavors, eight chocolate nut-free flavors. The bars are covered in 100% chocolate. They're soft and easy to chew.

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So some of the players that are up for, Jerome McGinla, Marion Hosa, Patrick Elias, Sergey Donchard, Shane Donne, Robbrendemore, Daniel Alfredson, and Alexander Mogulini. Geez, if I mispronounced his name. Of course I know who he is, but I probably just mispronounce his name, and that makes me look like a complete moron.

So Mogilni, yes. If I got that wrong, please sue me. So those are most of the candidates. If you're picking, I mean, I think it's, what, three that get in. Me speaking, me personally. First one, Jerome McGinla. Jerome McGinla is outstanding.

He was always so underrated throughout his career, always really underappreciated. He played in almost 1,600 games, scored over 600 goals, accumulated 1,300 points. I mean, that's Hall of Fame stuff right there. I mean, he had, I think, was it 1-50, I think it was 2-50-goal seasons that he had, plenty of 30-goal seasons,

plenty of 40-goal seasons. He was just, he was a monster, man. He didn't get that 100-point season. His highest-point season was 96. That came in 2002 with the flames, 52 goals, 96 points in 82 games. Yeah, Jerome McGinla, that should be an easy decision for the hockey hall of fame. They don't put Jerome McGinlay in basically just to span the hockey hall of fame, to be honest with you. The next one, honestly, I think Rod Rendemore.

I know that's maybe a little bit of a hot take to some, but I think Rod Brindamor is absolutely a Hall of Famer. I think he's been getting snubbed for a couple years now. He was also pretty underappreciated during his time, too. He played in almost 1,500 games, almost a 500 goal score, just a little over 450. Almost had 1,100 points, 1184, to be exact. Nice 20 season career. Good Lord, I just cannot speak to that.

I almost messed that up, too. You know, two-time Selkees trophy winner. Also, of course, a Stanley Cup winner. Yeah, I think I would put him in the Hockey Hall of Fame tomorrow. If I were the NHL, like I said, I think he's been kind of overlooked for a little while now. And then my third pick, this was a toss-up.

Daniel Alpherson and Marianhosa. I love both of them. I think Marion Hosa is a Hall of Famer. I just don't think it's going to be this year. I think if there were me, I would put Daniel Alphanson in. He almost had 1,200 points for his career. He won the Calder.

He won the King Clancy Award twice. He's finished fourth in the Selkech trophy voting. Honestly, you know, it'll always suck that Alfredson never got to win this. Stanley Cup, of course, you know, the closest he came was 2007 against the Anaheim Ducks. They got absolutely walked by the Ducks in that Stanley Cup final. I think it was, what, five games? That was also the year that they swept the penguins out of the playoffs.

Actually, no, wait, excuse me. That was, that series went actually to five games. So, well, yeah, it was not a sweep. For the longest time, I thought it was a sweep. I keep forgetting they won game two of that series, four to three. in all the, but the rest of the series, the other penguins got walked. So, yeah, they made Cindy Crosby.

That was the first time they made the playoffs under Crosby. They made the penguins look like a bunch of babies, basically. Albertson was a boss in that series. I think I'm actually looking at this right now. In the five games, three goals, six points, led all senators. Chris Kelly was right behind. I'm looking at the roster. Danny Heatley, that was a prime Danny Heatley.

Jason Spetzel was just coming into the lead. Anton Vol Changov. I forgot that he played on the senators, too. Joe Corvo, Chris Neal, when he was still being an ad. Wade Redden, Andre Mazzaros, yet former flyer, Antoine Vermet, yep. That's right, Mike Fisher, yeah, he was on the senators for a very, very, very long time.

But still, in any case, you know, Daniel Alfredson, I think, should get into the Hall of Fame. You know, it also is lost on some people. He played in Detroit for his final season. You know, he was, I think, 41 at that point. 68 games that year, 18 goals, 49 points in 68 games as a 41-year-old. In the second of the last season with the Senators, when he was 39 in 2011-12, 27 goals, 59 points in 75 games. This guy was still producing, even as he got to 40, even over 40, still was basically a 20-goal score. So, yeah, I'd put him in the hockey Hall of Fame.

I always thought he was so – I know – I basically said as the other two players, too. I've always thought he was just so underappreciated. And, you know, the Senators need some good news during this time, since, you know, Eugene Melnick is their owner. and he's just a, he's such an idiot. So again, my three players that I would have going into Hockey Hall of Fame tomorrow, Robbrendemore, Daniel Alfredson, and Jerome McGam. But also, let's take a look at some of these other candidates that were on the list that, you know, I kind of just, I laughed at.

Patrick Eliasch, I mean, I think Patrick Eliasch is a really, really, really good player. I always thought he was just awesome on the Devils. I think he kind of belongs in the Hall of Very Good. Shane Donne does not even deserve to be in this conversation. He wasn't even a 1,000 point score, I don't even think, in the NHL. And, you know, I also think he just ran around like an idiot and was kind of a dirty player. I'll never forget that hit that he laid on Chris LaTang that ended his season. I think it was 2014-15, I believe is what it was, where he basically just smacked LaTang's head into the boards.

And then, yeah, you knew right then Latang was not going to be playing in the playoffs for the Penguins. So, yeah, I mean, Shane Dome does not even deserve to be anywhere near there. Patrick Eliash, I can maybe see it, but I think the Hall are very good. Like I said, Marion Hosa, he'll be coming in hopefully next year. Sergei Gonschar, you know, I love Sergey Gonschar as much as anyone, but, you know, I think he deserves to be in the Hall of Very Good. And then, Ma Gildony, I think potentially he may get in at some point down the road, but I think right now, I'm still saying he's in the Hall of Very Good. But, I mean, I think there's four choices for tomorrow. You got to put three of them in.

I'm not going to really be mad if Hosa gets in instead of Alfredson, but you got to put at least again, Lindel and Brindamore. there. I think if you don't put both of those players in and then make it maybe a toss-up between Alfred Sin and Hosa, you're doing it wrong. But, you know, those are just my thoughts on the Hockey Hall of Fame tomorrow. For whoever gets in, congratulations. So it's always a prestige honor to get into the Hockey Hall of Fame. And with that said, it's now time to talk about rockado.com. It's a family business serving auto park customers online for 20 years. You can go to rockado.com to shop for auto and body parts and hundreds of manufacturers. They have everything from engine control modules and brake parts to tail-land.

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five to ten years from now. Let's just get on into it. So who's the number one center five years from now? That's Cindy Crosby. I think Sydney will be, what, 37, 38. He'll still be here. I think that's going to be when his contract is expiring. I would expect him to probably sign it one more contract,

a two to three-year deal to retire for the franchise. Yeah, he's going to stay. Five more years. who's the number two center. I still think it's Gino. A lot of people for a long time have always said, oh yeah, Vgeny Malkin,

he's not going to end his career with the Penguins. It's just like, no, they're not going to do another Yager situation where they're going to trade Malkin like they did Yager. They traded Yager for completely different reasons. That was just mostly financial stuff. So no. Malkin is going to stay,

I think, and Rob Rossi's excellent piece about the free agency for Crosby and Malker last week on the Athletic. He did say, I think that Malkin wants to sign a three-year deal to retire. as a member of the Penguins. And I also think at some point he may potentially go back to the K-HL to play maybe one season there for his hometown team. But still me, he's not going to be playing for any other NHL team.

Five years from now, who's the number one goaltender for the Penguins? I'm going to say it's someone other than Tristan Jari. I really don't think Tristan Jari is honestly going to be here in five years. Goaltending is so voodoo. It's so random. You never know what you're going to get. You know, for all we know, Tristan Jari, with a bigger sample size, he really could potentially not be that good.

Who knows, but, you know, he could also be the second coming of Jesus. You know, that's just how the go-tending position is in this league. But if you guys want a name who I think it's going to be, Emil Laramie, I really think he's potentially going to be the number one goaltender of the future for the Penguins. He's still playing, you know, in juniors and the HL. I think he only played in nine games this season. Let me look up his stats real quick.

You know, just a little bit of a small sample size, but, you know, 3.55 goals against average, 883 Sabres Simmons. So not up to 2. too good of a start for the Wilkesbury's grand penguins, but he's still very, very young, and that's a very, very small sample size. I really think that this kid is going to be really, really good. And I think in five years,

he's going to be the starting goaltatcher with the penguins. In five years, who is the number one defenseman going to be? And, you know, I'm still going to say Chris LaTang. I know Chris LaTang will be in his late 30s. He might, you know, he could retire by then, but right now I still think Chris LaTang is going to retire as a member of the penguins. If they trade him at all during that, you know, that we all know that's a mistake.

And no, they should not trade Chris La Tang. But, you know, I guess if he falls off pretty bad, I guess maybe they could trade him. But I really don't see that happening because Chris La Tang is absolutely awesome. And he's one of the best defensemen in the league. But, you know, maybe if you go seven years from now, I think the number one defenseman is John Marino playing up on the top pairing with Brian Dumlin. Marino is going to be here, I think, for the long haul. He's going to get a nice contract when this current one is up. He is going to get paid and paid in a big way by the Penguins.

He is the real deal, folks. If you somehow thought otherwise, no, he is the real deal. Let's see, let's see some easy ones here. Oh, are the Penguins going to be playing in PBG Paints Arena? Yes, they're going to be playing in PBG Paints Arena? That's a question for 10 years from now. Are the Penguins going to be playing in PBG Paints Arena 10 years from now? Yes, they will.

They're not going to have a new arena just that quick. I think they signed like a, when they first, like, they got the arena deal. I think they signed like a 20 to 30-year deal for it or something like that. So, yeah, they're going to be playing in that arena for a long, long time, probably longer than the penguins played in Mellon Arena. So yeah, that's a stupid question. All right, here's one to end this. In five years from now, is Mike Sullivan,

the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins? Wow. I'm honestly, I'm going to say yes. I'm going to say yes on that. I know a lot of coaches have a short shelf life. You know, a lot of coaches survive 10 years with a franchise. But, you know, I'm going to say yes. Mike Sullivan is one of the very best.

best coaches in the league. Certainly has a case for being the best coach in Penguins franchise history. He's done a lot of good with the Penguins. And you know, you let him go. You know, he'll be hired in literally 30 seconds out. I think towards the late stages of Crosby and Malkins career in five years from now, I do think he will be the coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ten years from now, I'm going to say no.

I think he will be moved on, have retired or potentially be fired by the Penguins. But, you know, in five years for now, I'm going to say yes that he is still the head coach of Pipps for Penguins, not for the assistant coaches. For both of them, for Jacques Martin and Mark Weggie, I'm going to say, no, they're both not going to be here five years from now. I think he's going to make changes. For those two, maybe one of them will leave.

Go somewhere else, but, you know, that's just how I see it right now. You know, we're going to have more on this coming later in the week with some of this Back to the Future job. I've got to come up with some more ideas. Hopefully we'll have a guest or two on to talk about some of their own things that they could see happening in the future for the Penguins. But thank you guys so much for listening to this episode

of Lockdown Penguins. We'll be back either tomorrow or Thursday with another episode and then definitely won on Friday. So, you know, follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the shows Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins. And also, I'll be making the appearance. We'll be doing a live draft lottery show. The Red Wings guys are actually going to be doing it on Friday. So I'll be making an appearance there to talk about, you know, what if the penguins get the number one overall pick?

Because they lost to Montreal. So, you know, that would just be peak penguins and all the conspiracy theorists will come out. So I'll be sharing more details about that. coming up on the next episode of Locked on Penguins, but I thought I would let you guys know about this towards the end of this episode. So like I said, thank you guys so much for listening, and we will talk to you either tomorrow or Thursday. All right, take care.