Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Should Sid have been nominated for the Hart? Does it even matter?

Episode Date: June 11, 2021

Sidney Crosby wasn't nominated for the Hart Trophy today but as the title says, does it even matter? Hunter gives his answer for what his ballot would've been, even though Sid had no chance of winning the award, thanks to Connor McDavid's insane season. Before that though, Hunter recaps Evgeni Malkin's season and how it looked to be more of a huge outlier than a sign of things to come. He goes into the numbers, plus some of Geno's best moments of the season before providing a prediction for next season. Also touched on: What makes this Islanders run actually go? Do they have a shot against Tampa Bay? What was the injury that kept Casey DeSmith out?Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.WealthfrontTo get your first $5,000 managed for FREE, for life, go to wealthfront.com/LockedOnNHL.StatHeroStatHero, the FIRST Ever Daily Fantasy Sportsbook that gives the PLAYER the ADVANTAGE. Go to StatHero.com/LockedOn for 300% back on your first play. Lucy.CoGo to Lucy.co and use Promo Code LOCKEDONNHL to get20% off all products on your first order, including gum or lozenges.  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.

Your Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hello, morning, welcome to this Thursday evening episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hoodies. You want to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hoodies.

Follow the show's Twitter at L-HenSquare Penguins. Today's episode is brought to you by Stout Hero, which is the first ever daily fantasy sports book that gives the player the advantage, you can go to statenero.com slash logged on for 300%. Yes, that's 300% back on your first place. So for today's episode, we're going to touch on what happened with the Islanders and the Bruins last night. And yes, you're going to continue to hear me talk about the Islanders and how it just, it feels weird, but I will give them some praise because you don't get this far three years in a row, just based solely off luck. And I'm going to

honestly compare them to a Penguins team in the past that, It wouldn't be the same without some star power, but I definitely think they remind me of a Penguins team from not too long ago, which I will go into for today's episode. We also will continue our season reviews. Today we will go with Evgeny Malk and the other, of course, big center on this team, even though his season was definitely not what he was hoping for. And I'm also going to touch on the Golden Knights Avalanche series

as the Golden Knights are currently up 2 to 1 right now in game 6 because they looked to punch their ticket to the final four where they were playing the Montreal Canadiens. We already have Tampa Bay and the Islanders playing in the other one as a rematch from last year's Eastern Conference finals. So we basically have another Eastern Conference final this year with Tampa Bay versus the Islanders. And then, of course, you know,

you have like a conference versus conference one in the Final Four. That's what I was saying, people, you know. It was always going to be fun to get to the Final Four because you were going to potentially see some really wacky matchups. I mean, we have a chance to see potentially might. Montreal versus Tampa Bay in the final. Hell, we could see the Islanders versus the Canadians, and that's probably the final that we deserve,

considering how those teams basically set hockey back 10 to 15 years with how all those games, honestly, we would just be like 1-0. I mean, they would be absolutely terrible. But let's get into today's episode, and we will touch on, first off, Evgeny Malkin in his season review. So you go to natural stature for the regular season, 33 games played almost 500 minutes of time on ice. He was on ice for 51.8 of the shot attempts.

I'm a bit below what he was last year with 53%. His goals for definitely well below the norm, 20 goals for, 21 goals against. I think a lot of that does have to do with his early season struggles. I mean, last season he had 54 goals for any of his strength and 40 goals against for a 57% actual goals for. So it's definitely a lot different. I mean, his expected goals percentage was way off this year. This was the first time he was below 50%. since 2009 when he was at 49.3% this year, everyone,

47.9%. That is one of the lowest marks of his career. Actually, I think for as long as they've been tracking his expected goals percentage, this is the lowest that is it has ever been. Last season, everyone, 58.1% was his expected goals. I mean, we all know how great he was last season for Pittsburgh. I mean, he mostly stayed healthy, but this year, It was a complete 180. I mean, you look at his scoring chances percentage.

It was only on the ice for 48.4% of the scoring chances. Again, that is also a career low going back to 2007-2008. Last season, it was at 55.7%. The season before that, it was at 54% exactly. High danger, this was the worst it's ever been as well, 43.7%. But in terms of actual high-danger goals four on the ice, 15 to 13, So he was in the plus over 50% for that, excuse me. But in terms of high danger chances for, he was not generating quite nearly as much as he usually has.

I mean, like I said, I know a lot of that has to do with injuries. But, you know, only 73 high danger chances for, 94 high danger chances against and even strengthening. That's just otherworldly bad. I mean, now if we get to the playoffs, I mean, I actually think he was one of their best players during this run. I know he had five points in four games, and again, everyone, that was on a pretty bummed knee. He was on the ice for 59.6% of the shot attempts. That's the highest it's been in the playoffs since 2014 when it was at 60.6% in terms of goals for goals loud, you know, I'm not really, that's such a small sample size with six games, you know, 5.3. But, you know, if you go to the expected goals, 48.7%, but if you go to the scoring chances for, that's where he really made up for it.

He was on ice for 60% of the scoring chances for 35 overall 23 against the last season in the bubble, 32 to 26. His best, though, came during the 2014 playoffs where it was 65% of the scoring chances for high danger. It was in the negative 45% of fractal high danger goals for he came in at 500, so for 50%. So overall, we all know this was definitely a big struggle for him getting him all. and with that injury. I mean, he really busts his knee. If you had not seen that article from Rob Rossi, he confirmed that Gino actually tore two ligaments in his knees.

Obviously, not the ACL. If it was the ACL, he'd be probably not even being able to start next season. Who knows if he will be able to start next season? It looks like, as of right now, he's going to miss most of training camp due to the surgery he just had. But it's definitely not the ACL. If I had to guess, I think it's the PCL and the MLS. but the fact that he still came into the lineup in the playoffs,

scored at over a point per game places while playing on one knee, goes to show how freaking good he is, and that this meant so much to him because he knows his time is running out here to try and get a fourth Stanley Cup, which, of course, if you did not know, if Gino does get a four Stanley Cup, he will be the only Russian-born player to ever win for Stanley Cup. He's currently in a tie right now with a couple others with three.

So I remember Rossi, I think, touched on that piece a couple of years ago when he wrote The Athletic. Getting a fourth one really means a lot. Did you know it because he wants to be the only Russian player ever with four Stanley Cups? And remember, you know, him and Crosby winning a fourth Stanley Cup together. That would tie Messier and Gretzky for four as their duo. So that just puts you into the immortality stage. At this point, I mean, you know, sure, he's probably a top 30 player of all time,

one of the greatest Russian players to ever do it. But, you know, he's definitely still gunning for more. And I think next season you're going to see him also play in his 1,000th game, if I'm not mistaken. I think that comes up next season. I'm sure that's going to be a raucous ceremony just like it was for Cindy Crosby, even though there were a lot of fans there. It was definitely still very emotional to watch live, as I'm sure it's going to be when Afghani Malkin plays in his 1,000th game for the Pittsburgh Pings. If you go to Hockey Viz, though, or even-strength offense, plus 0.5-2 expected goals for per 60 minutes, plus 21%.

whole lot of red blob in the front of the net. So he was still generating a decent amount of chances. Even strength defense. His defense has obviously never been that good, but if you also go to his isolated 5E5 impact, his plus 20.5 expected goals for was the same as it was last season. His defensive play actually improved this season, plus 1.9% expected goals against.

The more you are closer to negative, or if you're in the negative, the better you are defensively. you're in the positive for defense, the worse you are. And then, of course, the more positive you are for offense and the more red there is, of the better that you're doing. So that's according to hockey viz with Micah's stuff. So, you know, he was still generating. You know, he just obviously wasn't getting the results during the other season just because

he was so banged up. And he also had that really horrid start to the season where he wasn't scoring. And he was just honestly just way out of it. He even, I think, admitted that his conditioning was really bad. And I think he blamed it on not being able to go to the gyms during. the summer with COVID and Russia. And then also I think when he was training in Florida a bit too during the start of the offseason. But he was able to finally come into it.

You know, the big goal that I remember that really kickstarted his season was the one. I touched on yesterday with one of my favorite moments of the season with about 12 seconds left against the Islanders. In mid-February, the Penguins were able to win that game. I'm in a shootout thanks to Sidney Crosby's goal. But, you know, I think Matt Martin and Calcutterbuck were kind of making him a bit angry in that game. And then Gino was able to tie it up with a vintage Gino bomb. from the right circle past Semyon-Bar-Lamov.

And those two points are obviously crucial for the Penguins because I'm not sure they win the division if they do not. One, send that game to overtime, and two, when they came into shootout, thanks to Sydney Crosby. So overall, for next season for Gino, I expect him to come back and stay relatively healthy next season. I think he still will be a point-per-game player.

I don't think you're going to see him put up 90 points. I think those days might be over for him, but this is still a really good player, one of the best players in the league, and I think he's going to show everyone next season that he can still play at a high level. No, everyone, he's not going to go anywhere, and he definitely should not be going anywhere.

I'm tired of these trade Gino takes. It's just ludicrous to suggest it. He is going to retire as a Pittsburgh penguin, and there really should not be any other discussion about that, at least in my opinion. But that concludes our segment about a Gennie Malkin season review. I think tomorrow we're going to go to Brian Ruster, Jake Ansel. I'm not sure yet, but I always enjoy doing these season reviews,

going over the underlying numbers, going through some big moments for Gino during the season. Another one that I remember when I think it was mid or early March. That was the weekend that actually my girlfriend went away to Philadelphia. I always joke with her that that's when the season turned for the Penguins because they were really not playing. They were kind of like middling in the standings and they weren't really making their move yet, but that game against Philadelphia at home to finish off that three-game series against them after they blew that three-nothing lead in the prior game.

You know, they were to win that game, obviously, with Jared McCann's goal in the third period. But Gino's goal with a wrap-round on Brian Elliott with how he froze him. That's another one of my favorite moments of this past season for Gino. And it really showed that he was fully back in the moment right there. So, like I said, I always enjoy doing these season reviews, and we're going to do another one for tomorrow's episode. But before we do get to the next segment, it's time to talk. about a couple of things. One of them that we have not really talked about before, but I did

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Follow these shows Twitter at L.O. where Penguins is the second period is just getting underway between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Colorado Avalanche, of course, with Vegas, still up two to one. and they lead the series, three games to two. A little bit of Penguins news today. If you did not see this on the Penguins official Twitter account or their Facebook or their Instagram, Casey DeSmith underwent successful surgery for a core muscle injury. He will be out six to eight weeks.

So that basically confirms that the injury that he was dealing with is a core muscle injury or a sports hernia. In other words, I don't know why I said core muscle injury after saying surgery, but this definitely sounds like a hernia. And those injuries are really not to be trifled with. Remember, Cindy Crosby had one. Just last season, he ended up missing, what, six to eight weeks as well. So now it definitely makes sense when I read during the practice when Casey DeSmith was

practicing before the playoffs, when he re-injured himself and then smashed his stick when he was going off the ice. So he knew he must have done something to that hernia. I guess he maybe tweaked it during the regular season, but he didn't fully injure it until it happened during the practice. So that's why he definitely seemed really upset as he was coming off the ice. And, you know, who knows what would have happened if DeSmith really didn't aggravate that injury before the playoffs. Because I think DeSmith definitely would have been called upon to start a playoff game or two.

Definitely, I think, game six, in my opinion, or potentially even game one with what happened with Tristan Jari. Maybe not after game one. I think maybe Mike Sullivan would have given him a shot to redeem himself as he did. But definitely, I think after game five with what happened with Jari, I definitely think you would have seen him go to DeSmith to start game six. and I actually think the penguins win that game if to Smith starts. But, you know, that's living in La La Land. That obviously did not happen. So we still have to live with another first-front exit for the third year and a row.

But, you know, speaking of the Islanders, though, of course, the Penguins lost them in six games. The Islanders did defeat the Boston Bruins in six games last night at the Nassau Coliseum. I understand what a lot of people are going to say. You know, I also have said this a little bit as well. I mean, the Islanders have definitely gotten lucky in this playoff run. but, I mean, you also need a fair amount of luck to advance in the Stanley Cup playoffs. If you're not getting lucky, you're not doing it right.

I mean, this Islanders team reminds me so much of the 2017 Penguins. And I know that's going to sound weird. I know, you know, Danny Shabby Irving was giving me a little bit of heat on Twitter when I said that to Adam Gratz, but allow me to explain my thinking here. So, and of course, you know, it looks like there's going to be a delay of game penalty, so it looks like Colorado is going to be getting a powerful here. But let me explain myself here. The Islanders are getting world-class goaltending.

just like the Penguins did. Matt Murray was 937 that run. Mark Andre Fleury was close to that. Novar Womov and Sorokin right now, I think are combined at least over 930, maybe 935. So they're getting elite go-tending. They're also scoring at will, just like the Penguins were.

I mean, I'm sure the Islanders PDO is probably top five for all playoff teams right now, just like how the Penguins were during the 2017 Cup. I actually think they led all teams in terms of PDO during their run. And also, you know, both of those teams have gotten so outplay. The Penguins got outplayed so badly in so many games during that run. It almost was just a miracle that they won the Stanley Cup.

It's been the same way with the Islanders. I mean, they've probably been outplayed badly in eight to nine of their games. But it doesn't matter because when the game shifts away from that and it goes a little bit towards 50-50, as Dan Hopper was telling me last night, the Islanders are winning that every single time and they're getting the results, not the other team. And that's exactly what happened with the Penguins in 2017 when the game would go towards a little bit more 50-50 and the Penguins were not getting outplayed.

Pittsburgh would win it because they would be getting the results. You know, you look at game three against Columbus, a game that they probably didn't deserve to win or maybe even game five with how many shots they gave up. I think they gave over 50 shots against the Blue Jackets, but Mark Andre Fleury was just a god in that. But they also capitalized on their chances that they did get on Sergey Bobowski, and that's exactly what the Islanders have done with their playoff run here.

They're just their capitalizing on the smallest mistakes that their opposition makes, and it's working in, you know, everyone always says that the Islanders are really good defensive. See, and they are, but, you know, if you look at the numbers, I mean, they're in the bottom half of the league and, you know, expected, well, not expected goals, I guess. I think, you know, shot attempts against per 60. I mean, high danger chances, scoring chances against. I mean, they give up a ton of chances and a lot of high danger, The biggest thing, you know, they're getting, again, world-class goaltending,

which is exactly what the Penguins got in 2017. So there's a lot of similarities there in terms of that Penguins team. Obviously, the Star Power is not at the Penguins level for the Islanders, but they just, they're getting the same results, even though they're getting outplayed in mostly every game. But I also will say this about the Islanders, you know, no other team can probably duplicate what they do. And, you know, that's obvious reason, you know, they have Barry Trots and, oh, wow,

looks like who just scores that. Miko Ranson and just tied the game against Mark Andre Florey. So 2-2 now, really hoping this game, this series goes seven. But anyways, going back to what I was saying, you know, this team has Barry Trots. None of the other teams have Barry Trots and the system that he runs. And he knows what he's doing, all of his players buy in. And remember, just a few years ago, this was one of the worst defensive teams in the league. And it's basically been the same players since Trots took over.

That's the weird thing. And he has just instilled a philosophy into them. And everyone has bought in. And that's, I think, the main reason why the Islanders have been doing this now for a third year in a row. I mean, you don't get, you know, as Adam Gretz wrote today for Pro Hockey Talk, you don't get to two consecutive final fours based surely on luck. You know, there is some skill involved. You have to actually be a good team to get this far, though.

It is weird, you know. It really, I think, goes to show that we really don't know anything about this sport, that with the fact that this team continues to do this because they get. don't have the superstar talent. They don't have, you know, a Norris level defenseman. It's just, you know, goaltending, everyone buying in despite really only having one great forward. Everyone else is really good to just good.

I mean, like I say, it's just a testament to how great of a coach Barry Trots is. I mean, I think that's the big thing here. And I still think Tampa Bay is probably going to wax them in six games. I mean, maybe it's five games with how, especially with how they played against Carolina. I know Florida took them in six games, but Tim Bay also took Carolina to the Woodrow. shit and they have more talent than the Islanders do. But like, you know, Barry Trots is a wizard, so I'm sure he's going to figure out how to beat this team in seven games.

But, again, kudos to the Islanders. It's definitely so annoying that they are going back to the final four again, even after just backing into the playoffs when they weren't even playing back good of hockey. And, oh, yeah, I mean, the regular season, Kyle Palmeri has, like, three points in 17 games after coming over from the Devils that trade's looking like a dud, excuse me, then it has, like, six or seven playoff goals already for the first two rounds. So that's just, like I said, people, we really don't know anything about the sport. It's just, it's literally the devil's sport, I think, is my big thing here.

So I really just want to take a segment, talk about that, and also an injury update for Casey to Smith. Well, we still have a little more to get to for this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. But before we do that, it's time to talk about rock auto.com. It's a family business serving auto park customers online for 20 years. You can go to rockado.com, excuse me, shop for auto and body parts of hundreds of manufacturers. They have everything from engine control modules and brake parts to tail lamps, more to oil and even new carpet, whether it's for your classic or daily driver,

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I'm in my opinion, I still would have had Sidney Crosby as a finalist for what he was able to do this season with Afghani Malkin missing almost half the games with how, you know, say it was a point-breaking player again, and, you know, he was a big reason why they turned it on in the second half, you know, as well as the depth. But I understand, you know, what, you know, the PHWA was thinking with McKinnon. I mean, he also had another ridiculous season. He's one of the top five best players in the league. But in my opinion, I just thought, you know, Sid was more valuable to his team this season than McKinion.

Either way, though, I mean, it's not really that big of a deal to me. Sid was never going to win the Hart Trophy. I'll say it, again, I said yesterday, if you thought that Sid was going to win the Hart Trophy, you're just not going to take attention, and you are just, you're flat out wrong. I mean, this is Connor McDavid's award to lose. You will see him win it. I think you'll probably see Austin Matthews to get second for what he was able to do goal-scoring-wise, and I think you'll see Nathan McKinnon get third.

At least that's just my opinion, at least for what the voting would look like. And then on the outside, I think you'll see Crosby and Helibbuck probably round out four and five. I think you'll probably see Sid at four, then Connor Hellebuck at five. I also could see a case for Hellebuck over Sid. I'm in a way just because of what he was able to do with the Jets and dragging them to the playoffs once again. But I guess I wasn't too surprised with the heart voting, but I think still in my opinion, I would have had Sid over McKinsey. Canon for that last Spotify, head of note on the PHWA. Also, I apologize my voice is sounding a bit scratchy.

Don't really know what it is. I guess maybe it's just recording late at night. I have no idea, but I know my voice has definitely sounded a bit weird for this episode, but I think I might call it. There's nothing really else going on in Penguinland. I promise it's going to get more interesting as, you know, the offseason starts coming, and, you know, we're getting closer to the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs. So the final four will actually start this weekend.

Sunday will be game one between the Islanders and the Lightning. I believe game one will be in Tampa Bay, 3 p.m. Eastern time on NBC. Not really sure who's going to be announcing those games. If I had to guess, it'll probably be Kenny Albert, hopefully not too much PR. We are getting close to everyone to the end of the Pierre-Maguire era with calling hockey games on NBC, as NBC will be done with the rights after these next two playoff rounds. It is kind of infuriating, I guess, to end this, that he really just keeps dumping on analytics anytime he gets.

And I just don't understand, you know, how his producers don't just tell him to shut the hell off. It's less, he keeps embarrassing himself and every time he says, like, analytic equation or, you know, just says, like, the numbers can't do enough or, you know, the numbers don't tell you, you know, what makes Casey Zazekis tick or something. And it's like, he's been one of the best defensive centers in the league for the last few seasons. He's basically a Teddy Bluger clone, if you look at it with how great their underlying numbers are. I mean, it's really just Calcutterbuck and Matt Martin that are not that good. And it's just, he has to say it for the sake of saying, and he knows it gets a reaction,

but he just, he couldn't sound more stupid if he even tried. And I'm just, I'm definitely really excited for him to stop calling the sport because, I mean, let's be real here, people. I mean, the game has passed him by, you know, this is not the 1980s and the 1990s anymore. And honestly, no one really cares where someone went to pee-wee hockey and all this. So I wanted to end it on that. And that note, thank you all so much for listening to this episode of Lodon. on Penguins podcast. We'll do another one of these tomorrow before we go into the weekend, and I will talk to you all that.